- This article pertains to the geographic region of the Scottish Highlands. See Highlands and Highlander for alternate meanings
Highland Sign with welcome in English and Gaelic
The Scottish Highlands (A' Ghàidhealtachd in Gaelic) include the
rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of
the Highland Boundary Fault. The Great Glen
divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. The Highlands are popularly described as one of the most scenic regions of
Europe.
The area is generally sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the
region. Before the 19th century however the Highlands was home to a much larger population, but due to a combination of factors
including the outlawing of the traditional Highland way of life following the Second Jacobite
Rising, the infamous Highland Clearances, and mass migration to urban areas
during the Industrial Revolution, the area is now one of the most sparsely
populated in Europe. The average population density in the Highlands and Islands is lower than that of Sweden, Norway, Papua New Guinea and
Argentina.
The administrative centre of the Highlands is Inverness. The Highland Council is the administrative body for around 40% of this area; the remainder is divided
between the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, Perth and
Kinross, and Stirling. Although the Isle of
Arran administratively belongs to North Ayrshire, its northern part is generally
regarded as part of the Highlands.
Culture
Culturally the area is quite different from the Scottish Lowlands. Most of the
Highlands fall into the region known as the Gàidhealtachd, which was, within the last
hundred years, the Gaelic-speaking area of Scotland. The terms are sometimes used
interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Highland
English is also widely spoken.
Some similarities exist between the culture of the Highlands and that of Ireland: examples
include the Gaelic language, sport (shinty and
hurling), and Celtic music.
Religion
The Scottish Reformation, which began in the Lowlands, achieved only partial
success in the Gaelic-speaking Highlands. Roman Catholicism remained strong in
much of the Highlands, aided by Irish Franciscan
missionaries who regularly came to the area to perform Mass, as they shared a similar
language. The Highlands are often described as the last bastion of Roman Catholicism in Great
Britain, with significant strongholds such as Moidart, Morar, South Uist and Barra. The Scottish
Highlanders' strong Catholicism led to much of their historical antipathy towards the Protestant English. This was in contrast to the Lowland Scots,
most of whom converted to Protestantism and thus were more willing to unite with the English to create the United Kingdom. On the other hand, some Outer Hebrides islands
(like Lewis and Harris) have large populations belonging to the Free Church
of Scotland or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Historical geography
In traditional Scottish geography, the Highlands refers to that part of Scotland
north-west of a line drawn from Dumbarton to Stonehaven,
including the Inner and Outer Hebrides, parts of Perthshire
and the County of Bute, but excluding Orkney and
Shetland, the northeast of Caithness, the flat
coastal land of the Counties of Nairnshire, Morayshire and Banffshire, and most of East Aberdeenshire. This Highland area differed from the Lowlands by language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and
customs centuries after the anglicization of the latter; the result of which led to a
growing perception of a divide with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the
14th century. The City of Inverness is usually regarded
as the capital of the Highlands. However, there are several definitions of the Highland line, which create further confusion.
Highland council area
The Highland council area, created as one of the local government regions of Scotland, has
been a unitary council area since 1996. The council area excludes a large chunk of the
southern and eastern Highlands, and the Western Isles, but includes Caithness. Highlands is sometimes used, however, as a name for the council area, as in
Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service.
Northern, as in Northern
Constabulary, is also used to refer to the area covered by the fire and rescue service. This area consists of the
Highland council area and the island council areas of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.
Highland council signs in the Pass of Drumochter, between Glen Garry and Dalwhinnie, saying "Welcome to the Highlands", are still
regarded as controversial.
Highlands and Islands
Much of the Scottish Highlands area overlaps the Highlands and Islands area. An
electoral region called Highlands and Islands is used in elections to the
Scottish Parliament: this area includes Orkney and
Shetland, as well as the Highland
local government area, the Western Isles and
most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government
areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local
government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary,
refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.
The
Quirang, Trotternish peninsula, on the Island of
Skye
Geology
The Highlands lie to the north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, which
runs from Arran to Stonehaven. This part of Scotland
is largely composed of ancient rocks from the Cambrian and Precambrian periods which were uplifted during the later Caledonian
Orogeny. Smaller formations of Lewisian gneiss in the north west are up to 3,000 million
years old and amongst the oldest found anywhere on Earth. These foundations are interspersed with many igneous intrusions of a more recent age, the remnants of which have formed mountain massifs such as the
Cairngorms and Skye Cuillins. A significant exception to the above are the fossil-bearing beds of Old Red Sandstones found principally along the Moray Firth coast.
The Great Glen is a rift valley which divides the
Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands. [1][2]
The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of
mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits
have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to
which the plateau has been subjected in various places.
Towns and villages
- Aberfeldy, Aboyne, Alness, Altnaharra, Applecross,
Arisaig, Arrochar, Aultbea,
Aviemore
- Back of Keppoch, Ballachulish,Ballater, Banavie, Banchory,
Beauly, Blair Atholl, Braemar Bridge of Orchy
- Cannich,Carrbridge, Coldbackie, Cookney, Corpach,
Crianlarich, Cromarty, Culbokie
- Dalmally, Dalwhinnie, Dingwall, Dornie, Dornoch, Durness
- Fort Augustus, Fort William,
Fortrose
- Gairloch, Glencoe, Glenelg, Grantown-on-Spey Glenfinnan
- Inveraray, Invermoriston, Inverness (a city since 2001)
- Killin, Kingussie, Kinlocheil, Kinlochleven, Kinlochewe, Kinloch Rannoch, Kyle
of Lochalsh
- Lochailort Lochcarron, Lochinver, Lochgoilhead, Lochearnhead,Lochgilphead
- Mallaig Morar,
- Nairn, Netherley, Newtonmore, North Ballachulish, Nethy Bridge
- Oban
- Peterculter, Plockton, Poolewe, Portmahomack
- Rosemarkie
- Shieldaig, South Ballachulish, Strathpeffer, Strathy, Strontian,
Stornoway
- Tain, Tarbet, Taynuilt, Thurso, Tobermory,
Tomintoul, Tongue, Torridon, Tullich, Tyndrum
- Ullapool
- Wick
Other places of interest
Gallery of Images
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Single Track Road, near Aultivullin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cape Wrath Lighthouse in the far NW of the Highlands.
|
|
|
|
|
See also
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
