|
This List of Inner Hebrides summarizes a chain of islands and skerries located off the west coast of mainland Scotland. There are 36 inhabited islands in this archipelago of which Islay, Mull and Skye are the largest and most populous. The islands of Scotland's west coast are known collectively as the Hebrides; the Inner Hebrides are separated from the Outer Hebrides by The Minch to the north and the Sea of the Hebrides to the south. The Inner Hebrides are administered by two separate local authorities as part of larger territories that lie north and south of Ardnamurchan. The northern Inner Hebrides including Skye, the Small Isles and the Summer Isles are part of the Highland unitary council region. The southern group, including Islay, Jura, the Slate Islands and Gigha are part of the Argyll and Bute council region. In the past, the Hebrides as a whole were a strong Scottish Gaelic-speaking area and in 1921 more than 50% of the populations of most of these islands, including Skye, Mull and Islay were proficient in the language. However, although the Outer Hebrides have retained many Gaelic speakers, in the 2001 census only Skye (31%) and Tiree (48%) had more than 25% of the resident population able to speak Gaelic with Mull, Jura, Gigha and Coll recording figures of less than 15%.〔Mac an Tàilleir, Iain ''1901–2001 Gaelic in the Census'', PowerPoint Presentation made available via (Linguae Celticae ). Retrieved 1 June 2008.〕 The modern economy centres on tourism, crofting, farming, fishing, and whisky distilling. The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and there are numerous lighthouses as an aid to navigation.〔("Lighthouse Library" ) Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 14 July 2007.〕 There are various descriptions of the scope of the Hebrides. The ''Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland'' describes the Inner Hebrides as lying "east of The Minch", which would include any and all offshore islands. There are various islands that lie in the sea lochs such as Eilean Bàn and Eilean Donan that might not ordinarily be described as "Hebridean" but no formal definitions exist and for simplicity they are included in this list rather than elsewhere.〔Keay & Keay (1994) p. 507〕〔Encyclopædia Britannica (1978) states: "Hebrides – group of islands of the west coast of Scotland extending in an arc between 55.35 and 58.30 N and 5.26 and 8.40 W." This includes Gigha, St Kilda and everything up to Cape Wrath – although not North Rona.〕〔The definition of an island used in this list is that it is "land that is surrounded by seawater on a daily basis, but not necessarily at all stages of the tide, excluding human devices such as bridges and causeways". Other definitions are used in the Scottish context. For example the General Register Office for Scotland define an island as "a mass of land surrounded by water, separate from the Scottish mainland" but although they include islands linked by bridges etc. this is not clear from this definition. Haswell-Smith (2004) uses "an Island is a piece of land or group of pieces of land which is entirely surrounded by water at Lowest Astronomical Tide and to which there is no permanent means of dry access". This is widely agreed to be unhelpful as it consciously excludes bridged islands.〕 ==Etymology== Various Gaelic names are used repeatedly. The suffix ''ay'' or ''aigh'' or ''aidh'' is generally from the Norse ''øy'' meaning "island". ''Eilean'' (plural: ''eileanan'') also means "island". ''Beag'' and ''mòr'' (also ''bheag'' and ''mhòr'') mean "little" and "big" and are often found together. ''Sgeir'' is "skerry" and often refers to a rock or rocks that lie submerged at high tide. ''Dubh'' is "black", ''dearg'' is "red" and ''glas'' means "grey" or "green". ''Orasaigh'' is from the Norse ''Örfirirsey'' meaning "tidal" or "ebb island".〔Mac an Tàilleir (2003) various pages.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of Inner Hebrides」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|