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Orkney (/ ˈ ɔːr k n i /), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but is now considered incorrect. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are ...
A report by Tavish Scott and the Orkney MSP Liam McArthur, submitted in response to the UK government's consultation on the independence referendum put forward the idea that the Shetland and Orkney islands could remain a part of the United Kingdom in the event of Scottish independence or potentially pursue independence themselves. [24]
The islands became Orkneyar meaning "seal islands". [143] An alternative name for Orkney is recorded in 1300—Hrossey, meaning "horse isle" and this may also contain a Pictish element of ros meaning "moor" or "plain". [116] Unlike most of the larger Orkney islands, the derivation of the name "Shapinsay" is not obvious.
Sick of being ignored by far-away politicians, officials on Scotland’s remote Orkney Islands are mulling a drastic solution: rejoining Norway, the Scandinavian country that gave them away as a ...
The company is owned by the Orkney Islands Council and was established in 1960 as the Orkney Islands Shipping Company. [1]In 1991, the Orkney Islands Shipping Company acquired a private sector ferry company also called Orkney Ferries, which had been established to compete on the short sea crossing from the Scottish mainland to the Orkney Islands, but which had not succeeded in establishing the ...
Orkney islands map This is a list of Orkney islands in Scotland. The Orkney archipelago is located 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of mainland Scotland and comprises over 70 islands and skerries, of which 20 are permanently inhabited. In addition to the Orkney Mainland there are three groups of islands. The North and South Isles lie respectively north and south of Mainland. The Pentland Skerries ...
The other islands in the Orkney Islands are generally classified as north or south of the Mainland. The exceptions are the remote islets of Sule Skerry and Sule Stack , which lie 37 miles (60 km) west of the archipelago, but form part of Orkney for local government purposes.
The Romans were aware of (and probably circumnavigated) the Orkney Islands, which they called "Orcades", thought to be a Brythonic Celtic name. A "king of the Orcades" was one of the 11 rulers said to have paid tribute to Claudius following his invasion of Britain in AD 43. Indeed 4th and 5th century sources include the Islands in a Roman ...