What are the Outer Hebrides and where are they located?

The Outer Hebrides are a chain of more than 100 islands and small skerries located about 70 kilometres west of mainland Scotland. Also known as the Western Isles or the Long Isle, the archipelago features 15 inhabited islands, including Lewis and Harris, which is the largest island in Scotland. The region is a traditional heartland for the Scottish Gaelic language and supports a modern economy based on tourism, crofting, fishing, and weaving.

What we know

• The Outer Hebrides form an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland, separated from the Inner Hebrides by the Minch and the Sea of the Hebrides. [2, 4]
• There are 15 or 19 inhabited islands depending on recent estimates, out of a total of over 100 islands and small skerries in the archipelago. [2, 4]
• Lewis and Harris is the largest island in Scotland and incorporates Lewis in the north and Harris in the south. [2, 3]
• The modern economy of the islands centres on tourism, crofting, fishing, and weaving, including the production of Harris tweed. [2, 4]

Still open

• Sources vary slightly on the exact count of inhabited islands, noting either 15 or 19 inhabited islands.

Where to go next

• what caused itHow did the Highland Clearances impact the population?
• whenWhat is the history of the Norse kingdom of the Suðreyjar?
• how it workedHow is Harris tweed manufactured?
• a case in pointWhat makes St Kilda unique as an abandoned archipelago?
• compared withHow do the Outer Hebrides differ from the Inner Hebrides?
• an unexpected connectionHow does a remote civil parish include isolated Rockall?The civil parish of Harris officially includes the distant, uninhabited islet of Rockall, which lies hundreds of miles west in the Atlantic.

Sources

• [1]list of Outer Hebrides (Wikidata Q6593192) · CC0 1.0
• [2]List of Outer Hebrides · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Harris, Outer Hebrides · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Outer Hebrides · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Scalpay, Outer Hebrides · CC BY-SA 4.0