List of Inner Hebrides

A map of the island chain of the Outer Hebrides that lie to the west with numerous other islands – the Inner Hebrides – closer to the mainland of Scotland in the east.
The Hebrides. The Outer Hebrides lie to the west, with the Inner Hebrides (in red) closer to the mainland of Scotland in the east.
A body of water in the foreground contains several sailing vessels, including yachts, small fishing boats and an orange lifeboat. In the middle distance a variety of modern cottages are set amongst coniferous trees on a long grassy slope. Large and precipitous black mountains dominate the background.
The Cuillin ridge from Portree harbour, Skye

This list of Inner Hebrides summarises a chain of islands and skerries located off the west coast of mainland Scotland. There are 36 inhabited islands in this archipelago, of which Islay, Mull and Skye are the largest and most populous.

The islands of Scotland's west coast are known collectively as the Hebrides; the Inner Hebrides are separated from the Outer Hebrides by The Minch to the north and the Sea of the Hebrides to the south. The Inner Hebrides that lie respectively north and south of Ardnamurchan are administered by two separate local authorities as part of larger territories. The northern Inner Hebrides, including Skye, the Small Isles and the Summer Isles, are part of the Highland unitary council region. The southern group, including Islay, Jura, the Slate Islands and Gigha are part of the Argyll and Bute council region.

In the past, the Hebrides as a whole were a strong Scottish Gaelic-speaking area, and in 1921 more than 50% of the populations of most of these islands, including Skye, Mull and Islay, were proficient in the language. However, although the Outer Hebrides have retained many Gaelic speakers, in the 2001 census only Skye (31%) and Tiree (48%) had more than 25% of the resident population able to speak Gaelic; Mull, Jura, Gigha and Coll each recorded figures of less than 15%.[1]

The modern economy centres on tourism, crofting, farming, fishing, and whisky distilling. The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide. There are numerous lighthouses as an aid to navigation.[2]

There are various descriptions of the scope of the Hebrides. The Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland describes the Inner Hebrides as lying "east of The Minch", which would include any and all offshore islands. There are various islands that lie in the sea lochs, such as Eilean Bàn and Eilean Donan, that might not ordinarily be described as "Hebridean", but no formal definition exists and for simplicity they are included in this list rather than elsewhere.[3][4][Note 1]

  1. ^ Mac an Tàilleir, Iain 1901–2001 Gaelic in the Census, PowerPoint Presentation made available via Linguae Celticae[usurped]. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Lighthouse Library" Archived 2009-09-18 at the Wayback Machine Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  3. ^ Keay & Keay (1994) p. 507
  4. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica (1978) states: "Hebrides – group of islands of the west coast of Scotland extending in an arc between 55.35 and 58.30 N and 5.26 and 8.40 W." This includes Gigha, St Kilda and everything up to Cape Wrath – although not North Rona.


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