Orkney: Geography
The Pentland Firth is a seaway which separates Orkney from the mainland of Scotland. The firth is 6.8 miles (11 km) wide between Brough Ness on the island of South Ronaldsay and Duncansby Head in Caithness.
Orkney lies between 58° 41' and 59° 24' North, and 2° 22' and 3° 26' West, measuring 50 miles (80 km) from northeast to southwest and 29 miles (47 km) from east to west, and covers 375 square miles (971 km²). Except for some sharply rising sandstone hills and rugged cliffs on the west of the larger ones, the islands are mainly low lying.
The hilliest island is Hoy; the highest point in Orkney, Ward Hill, is to be found there. The only other islands containing heights of any importance are the Mainland, with (another) Ward Hill (879 ft/268 m) and Wideford Hill; and Rousay. Nearly all of the islands have lochs (lakes): The Loch of Harray and the Loch of Stenness on the Mainland attain noteworthy proportions. The rivers are merely streams draining the high land. Excepting on the west fronts of the Mainland, Hoy and Rousay, the coastline of the islands is deeply indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally called "sounds" or "firths". However, off the northeast of Hoy the designation "Bring Deeps" is used. South of the Mainland is Scapa Flow and to the southwest of Eday is found the Fall of Warness.
The names of the islands indicate their nature: the terminal "a" or "ay" represents the Norse ey, meaning "island". The islets are usually styled "holms" and the isolated rocks "skerries".
The tidal currents, or races, or "roosts" (as some of them are called locally, from the Norn) off many of the isles run with high velocity, and whirlpools are of frequent occurrence, occasionally strong enough to prove a source of danger to small craft.
The islands are notable for the absence of trees, which is partly accounted for by the amount of wind. The formation of peat is evidence that this was not always the case, and deliberate deforestation is believed to have taken place at some stage prior to the Neolithic, the use of stone in settlements such as Skara Brae being evidence of the lack of availability of timber for building.
Most of the land is taken up by farms, and agriculture is by far the most important sector of the economy, with fishing also being a major occupation. Orkney exports beef, cheese, whisky, beer, fish and seafood.