List of Shetland islands
This is a short, easy guide to the Shetland islands in Scotland. The archipelago lies about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of mainland Scotland, and its capital Lerwick sits roughly the same distance from Bergen in Norway and Aberdeen in Scotland.
About 300 islands and sea rocks make up Shetland, but only 16 are inhabited. The best known islands after the Mainland are Unst, Yell and Fetlar. For this list, an island is land surrounded by seawater most days, excluding human-made bridges and causeways. Four islands are joined to the Mainland by bridges—East Burra, West Burra, Trondra, and Muckle Roe—and there is also a bridge from Housay to Bruray. No place in Shetland is more than three miles from the sea. Mavis Grind is a very narrow land bridge (only about 100 metres wide) that separates St Magnus Bay to the west from Sullom Voe and the North Sea to the east.
The rocks of Shetland are complex. They come from a long history of mountains and seas, including old and very hard rocks similar to those on the Scottish mainland, plus some unique rocks that formed when an ancient ocean floor was pushed up here. Unst and Fetlar have especially distinctive rocks that grew when the Caledonian mountains formed long ago.
A lot of Shetland’s economy depends on oil-bearing sediments found in the surrounding seas. The islands also have a dramatic natural history: around 6200 BC a huge tsunami, caused by the Storegga Slides off Norway, washed into the region and reached high waves.
Shetland is governed by the Shetland Islands Council. The people have lived here since the Neolithic era and were ruled by Norse people for centuries; the first written records come from Norse sagas. The famous Jarlshof site shows life in Shetland since Bronze Age times, and the annual Up Helly Aa fire festivals celebrate the Viking past. Lighthouses dot the coast to help sailors, and a wind farm in Shetland recently set a world-record for its 58% yearly energy output. The indigenous Shetland ponies are known for their strength and hardiness.
The North Isles group includes Yell, Unst and Fetlar. There are many other small islands in areas like Yell Sound and St Magnus Bay, which makes counting exact islands difficult. The islands have long been inhabited at various times, from Neolithic to Norse and modern days. A common name for the highest points on islands is “Ward,” named because high places were once used for warning beacons.
Population growth has slowed in recent years: about 21,988 people in 2001, 23,167 in 2011, and 22,986 in 2022.
There are also many uninhabited smaller islands and tidal islets that appear only at certain tides. Many of these are called “Holm” (Old Norse for a small rounded island). Names like Swarta Skerry (means “black skerry”), Linga, Taing (meaning “tongue”), Flaesh (meaning “flat skerry”), Hog and Calf are common twice over. Some islets are connected to the mainland at low tides by tombolos—sand or gravel bars that join them to the land.
Near St Ninian’s Isle is the largest active tombolo in the United Kingdom, which connects the island to the Mainland at certain tides; however, it is not counted as an island by the usual definition because it is not always surrounded by water. Gluss Isle is another example: it is technically a peninsula connected by a tombolo. Huney also has a tombolo that links to Unst at very low tides.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:55 (CET).