Welcome to Na h-Eileanan Siar

The Outer Hebrides is a special place. The geography, the culture, the Gàidhlig language, the history and the environment are all elements that contribute so much to the quality of life that the communities enjoy as evidenced in many studies which identify the Islands as one of the best places to live in Scotland and the UK.

Image credit: Elsie Mitchell

Na h-Eileanan Siar/the Western Isles, also known as the Outer Hebrides, are an archipelago of 14 inhabited islands to the northwest of the Scottish mainland, connected by inter-island and Scottish mainland ferry links; airports in Stornoway, Benbecula, and Barra; inter-island causeways and bridges. The inhabited islands measure approximately 130 miles in length from Lewis in the North to Vatersay in the South and have a combined land area of 2,898 km².

The landscape is rich in biodiversity with vast areas of peatland and rare habitats such as machair grassland. It is internationally famed for 95 named sandy beaches and an abundance of flora and fauna.  Large parts of the archipelago are designated as National Scenic Areas by NatureScot, are in community land ownership and have been shaped by centuries of low intensity agriculture.

Most of the population live on the Isle of Lewis (19,658) in the islands only town, Stornoway (13,009), which houses a hospital, a large secondary school and is the centre for local government by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. The rest of the population live in small, scattered, rural crofting settlements around the beautiful coastline of the long island chain. 

Macaulay College, an innovative Community Interest Company based on a farm on the outskirts of Stornoway, will lead Remembering Together: Na h-Eileanan Siar. Macaulay College provides adults and young people with additional social and educational requirements with a year-round programme of activities, co-created by and with their students.

Contact: John Saich (Project Officer)