Scottish Blog

Lewis and Harris make up the largest island in Scotland.

Lewis and Harris are both names referring to different sections of the largest island in Scotland. The Lewis and Harris Island makes up an area of 841 square miles or 217,898 hectares. The closest points between the mainland and Lewis and Harris are 24 miles apart, separated by a body of water called the Minch Strait.

Of all ninety one Scottish Islands, Lewis and Harris is the largest not only in size but also population, with roughly 20,000 inhabitants. The most concentrated settlement on Lewis and Harris is Stornoway. The island was also one of the ancestral homes of the MacLeod Clan.

Although it is one island, Lewis and Harris sound like two separate places and often it is referred to as Lewis with Harris or Harris with Lewis. There are no equivalent names in either Scottish Gaelic or English that refer to the island as one. Although in Old-Norse the island is referred to as “Ljodusherad”, meaning “Lewis Province”, which is where the current name is thought to stem from.

The two areas of Lewis and Harris are as different in their terrain as they are their names. The boundary between the two areas is between the Loch Resort and the Loch Seaforth. The northern side is referred to as Lewis and is generally lower in altitude with less mountains then its Southern counterpart. Harris on the other hand is much more mountainous and rugged, comparative to the Scottish Highlands. Until 1975 these two areas belonged to different Scottish counties, Lewis to the Ross and Cromotary county area and Harris to the Inverness-shire County. Currently Lewis and Harris is in the Western Isles Council.