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The Outer Hebrides is a chain of more than 100 islands and small skerries located about west of mainland Scotland. There are 15 inhabited islands in this archipelago, which is also known as the Western Isles and archaically as the Long Isle ((スコットランド・ゲール語:An t-Eilean Fada)). Lewis and Harris is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles, after Great Britain and Ireland.〔Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 262.〕 It incorporates Lewis in the north and Harris in the south, both of which are frequently referred to as individual islands, although they are joined by a land border. To the south across the Sound of Harris lie the Uists and Benbecula, which were joined by a series of causeways constructed between 1940 and 1960 to improve transport links.〔("Fleet Histories" ) Caledonian MacBrayne. Retrieved 3 August 2009.〕 Further south are Barra and the smaller Barra Isles, whose southernmost extremity is Barra Head. There are other outliers with cultural links to the Outer Hebrides that are not part of the archipelago itself. These include the St Kilda group, which are quite distinct geologically and no longer inhabited,〔Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 313–331 lists these islands in "Section 9: The Atlantic Outliers".〕 Sula Sgeir and North Rona to the north and isolated Rockall, which is to the west of North Uist. The islands of Scotland's west coast are known collectively as the Hebrides and the Outer Hebrides are separated from the Inner Hebrides by The Minch to the north and the Sea of the Hebrides to the south. The Outer Hebrides are administered by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and had a population of 26,502 in 2001.〔General Register Office for Scotland (2003).〕 The Outer Hebrides have historically been a strong Scottish Gaelic (''Gàidhlig'') speaking area. Despite recent declines, in the 2001 census more than 50% of the resident population in each island was able to speak Gaelic, for an overall total of 15,842 speakers throughout the archipelago.〔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, fishing, and weaving, the latter of which includes the manufacture of Harris tweed. 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.〕 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". ==Inhabited islands== The inhabited islands of the Outer Hebrides had a total population of 26,502 in 2001〔 and 27,684 at the time of the 2011 census. The highest peaks of the islands have names deriving from both Gaelic and Old Norse indicating the historical importance of these two cultures. The archeological record for the period of Viking domination during the Early Historic period is however very limited, the Lewis chessmen being an exception. In addition to the North Ford (''Oitir Mhòr'') and South Ford causeways that connect North and South Uist, Benbecula and the northern of the two Grimsays in the southern part of the island chain, several other islands are now connected by causeways and bridges. Great Bernera and Scalpay have bridge connections to Lewis and Harris respectively, Baleshare and Berneray are linked to North Uist, Eriskay to South Uist, Flodaigh, Fraoch-eilean and the southern Grimsay to Benbecula, and Vatersay is connected to Barra by a causeway.〔〔Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 205–253.〕〔("Get-a-map" ). Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 1–15 August 2009.〕 This means that all of the inhabited islands are now connected to at least one other island by a land transport route. Ensay, Kisimul Castle and Eilean na Cille are "included in the NRS statistical geography for inhabited islands but had no usual residents at the time of either the 2001 or 2011 censuses".〔 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 Outer Hebrides」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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