| Ross and Cromarty Ros agus Cromba (Scottish Gaelic) | |
|---|---|
| Historic county | |
 Ross and Cromarty: County (1889–1975) | |
| Area | |
| • Coordinates | 57°40′N 5°00′W / 57.667°N 5.000°W |
Ross and Cromarty (Scottish Gaelic: Ros agus Cromba), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a county.
Historically, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire were separate counties, with Cromartyshire comprising a number of disconnected tracts of land scattered across Ross-shire. The two counties shared a sheriff from 1748, and were both included in the Ross and Cromarty constituency from 1832. They were formally united into a single county called Ross and Cromarty in 1889.
The mainland part of the county had a coast to the east onto the Moray Firth, and a coast to the west onto the Minch. Much of the mainland is sparsely populated, including parts of the Northwest Highlands mountains. The mainland's principal towns are all on the east coast, including Dingwall (the county town), Alness, Cromarty, Fortrose, Invergordon and Tain. The largest settlement on the west coast was the village of Ullapool. The county also covered parts of the Outer Hebrides, principally the Isle of Lewis, including the town of Stornoway. The neighbouring counties were Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south.
The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since then, the mainland has been part of the Highland region, which became a single-tier council area in 1996. The Outer Hebrides parts of the county became part of the Western Isles, which since 1998 has used only the Scots Gaelic version of its name, Na h-Eileanan an Iar. The pre-1975 county boundaries are still used for certain functions, being a registration county. There was a local government district called Ross and Cromarty from 1975 to 1996, which was a lower-tier district within the Highland region, covering most but not all of the mainland part of the pre-1975 county.
The Ross and Cromarty lieutenancy area, which prior to 1975 had been the county, was redefined in 1975 to be the Ross and Cromarty district plus the neighbouring Skye and Lochalsh district. The registration county and lieutenancy area therefore have slightly different definitions. Notable differences are that the registration county includes the Isle of Lewis and Kincardine, which are not in the lieutenancy area, whereas the lieutenancy area includes the Isle of Skye, which is not in the registration county. The lieutenancy area is 8,019 square kilometres (3,096 square miles) in extent.