Orkney Islands summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Orkney Islands.

Orkney Islands, Island group (pop., 2001: 19,245), Scotland. Lying north of the Scottish mainland, it comprises more than 70 islands and islets and constitutes the Orkney council area. The Orkney Islands, only 20 of which are inhabited, were the Orcades of ancient Classical literature. There is much evidence of prehistoric inhabitants. Norse raiders arrived in the late 8th century ad and colonized the islands in the 9th century. Thereafter they were ruled by Norway and Denmark until Scotland annexed them in 1472. It is a prosperous agricultural area. Kirkwall is the administrative seat.

Scotland Summary

Scotland, most northerly of the four parts of the United Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the island of Great Britain. The name Scotland derives from the Latin Scotia, land of the Scots, a Celtic people from Ireland who settled on the west coast of Great Britain about the 5th century ce. The

United Kingdom Summary

United Kingdom, island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom comprises the whole of the island of Great Britain—which contains England, Wales, and Scotland—as well as the northern portion of the island of Ireland. The name Britain is sometimes used to