Orkney Islands

Located in the Atlantic Ocean and west of the North Sea, the ORKNEY ISLANDS (or simply the Orkneys) are found closely north of Scotland (the county of Caithness, more specifically) and southwest of the Shetland Islands. There are over 70 islands, and nobody lives on at least 20 of those. Like in the Shetland Islands, the largest and most populated island is called Mainland. The capital and largest city, Kirkwall, is situated on the northern shore of Mainland and south of Wide Firth, a body of water surrounded by the islands of Mainland, Gairsay, & Shapinsay. Scapa Flow is a larger body of water surrounded by Mainland, South Ronaldsay, Flotta, Fara, and Hoy. Hoy, located south-southwest of Mainland, is the second largest island in the Orkney Islands. Featured in the close-up box on my map, Burray possesses smaller neighboring islands: Hunda, Glimps Holm, & Lamb Holm. The Churchill Barriers are shown in my inset map as lines connecting some islands. These barriers connect four islands to the Mainland. Barrier #1 connects Lamb Holm with the Mainland, barrier #2 connects Lamb Holm with Glimps Holm, barrier #3 connects Glimps Holm with Burray, and barrier #4 connects Burray with South Ronaldsay. Islands in the Orkneys that haven't been mentioned yet include Westray, Papay (Papa Westray), Sanday, Rousay, Egilsay, Eday, South Walls, Copinsay, Auskerry, Stronsay, & North Ronaldsay. Located in the Pentland Firth southwest of S. Ronaldsay, Swona and Stroma are not part of the Orkneys.