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Lewis And Harris




  GridReference NB240256
  celtic Name Leòdhas is na Hearadh
  norse Name Lióðhús og Hérað
  meaning Of Name Old Norse: Ljóðhús = "Poet's House" + Hérað = "a type of administrative district"
  area 217,898 ha
  area Rank 1
  highest Elevation Clisham 799&nbspm
  Population 19,918
  population Rank 1
  main Settlement Stornoway
  island Group Lewis And Harris
  local Authority Na H-Eileanan Siar
  references 2001 UK Census per List Of Islands Of Scotland Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004) ''The Scottish Islands'' Edinburgh Canongate Ordnance Survey Anderson, Joseph (Ed) (1893) ''Orkneyinga Saga'' Translated by Jón A Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie Edinburgh James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint) ISBN 0-901824-25-9


''' make up the largest island in Scotland . Indeed, this island is easily the largest of the British Isles after Great Britain and Ireland . It has an area of 841 square miles - slightly under one per cent of the area of Great Britain. It is 24 miles from the nearest point of the mainland, from which it is separated by The Minch .


GEOGRAPHY

The boundary between Lewis and Harris is formed by a line with Loch Resort (Reasort) (opposite - an t-Eilean Fada) although this is normally applied to the entire Outer Hebrides. Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Page 2 The northern part of the island is called Lewis , the southern is Harris and both are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. Thus the island is referred to as 'Lewis and Harris, 'Lewis with Harris', 'Harris with Lewis' etc.Thompson, Francis (1968) ''Harris and Lewis''. Newton Abbott. David & Charles. Lewis used to belong to the county of Ross And Cromarty and Harris to Inverness-shire , until 1975. The entire island group now belongs to the Western Isles Council .

Most of Harris is mountainous, with more than thirty peaks above 1000 ft. high. Lewis is comparatively flat, save in the south-east, where Ben More reaches 1874 ft., and in the south-west, where Mealasbhal (1885 ft) is the highest point.


HISTORY

They are the ancestral homeland of the Highland Clan MacLeod , with those individuals on Harris being referred to as from the clan MacLeod of Harris or MacLeod of MacLeod, and those on Lewis being referred to as from the clan MacLeod of Lewis.


TRANSPORT LINKS

The main town in Lewis is ''Steòrnabhagh'' ( Stornoway ) with ferry links to Ullapool and air services to Benbecula (for Barra ), Inverness , Aberdeen , Glasgow and Edinburgh . ''An Tairbeart'' ( Tarbert ) is the ferry terminal in Harris with connections to Skye and North Uist .


SMALLER ISLANDS

Other nearby inhabited islands in the Lewis and Harris group are ''Beàrnaraigh Ùig'' ( Great Bernera ) and ''Sgalpaigh'' ( Scalpay ). ''Tarasaigh'' ( Taransay ) and ''An Sgarp'' ( Scarp ) are now-uninhabited islands close to the shore of Harris.


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