Wikipedia:WikiProject Scottish Islands/Islands by population density

WikiProject Scottish Islands

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This is a list of inhabited islands in Scotland showing the population density of each one.

Data

• Population data is from the 2001 census save those indicated as below.
• Area data for offshore islands is from Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7. pp. 502-503 or the section tables. Islands marked with an asterisk are those for which he does not provide data. Area data for freshwater islands is from the census.
• (E) Indicates an estimate - no record provided by Census or Haswell-Smith.
• F = populated freshwater island.
• ? Populated but no record provided by Census.

Hoy and South Walls are amalgamated in this list, although an estimate for the latter alone is provided.

Usage

In the absence of an existing reference work that provides all of the information in the density column below, great care must be taken in using the information.

The subject was aired at the No Original Research Noticeboard in 2009 and the comment made there was that "this is the kind of case where you can use your own judgment, certainly if these matters are not disputable or disputed" and the subject is marked as "resolved".

With the exception of the items marked "(E)" the population and area data is not disputed (although there are small discrepancies between authorities for the latter). There is thus no reason not to add the density information to an article or infobox (except perhaps in some of those cases).

However, this should be referenced with the source of both the area and population data. Rankings are another matter and statements such as "this is the third most densely populated island in the Outer Hebrides" should be avoided unless a reliable source corroborates the information. The data for very small islands or those with very low numbers of residents may need interpretation.

Having said that, there follows some headline information.

Key data

• Most densely populated islands:

1. Easdale
2. Great Cumbrae
3. West Burra

• Least densely populated islands:

1. Rùm
2. South Rona
3. Shuna, Slate Islands

Density by island Group

Group	Highest	Lowest
Shetland	West Burra	Vaila
Orkney	Burray	Gairsay
Western Isles	Scalpay	North Uist
Inner Hebrides	Easdale	Rùm
Clyde	Great Cumbrae	Holy Isle
Freshwater	Inchmurrin	Inchfad

Inhabited islands showing area and population density

Population rank	Island	Local Authority	Population (2001 census)	Area (hectares)	Density (p/km2)
1	Lewis and Harris	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	19,918	217,898	9.14
2	Mainland, Shetland	Shetland	17,550	96,700	18.15
3	Mainland, Orkney	Orkney	15,315	52,325	29.27
4	Skye	Highland	9,232	165,625	5.57
5	Bute	Argyll and Bute	7,228	12,217	59.16
6	Arran	North Ayrshire	5,045	43,201	11.68
7	Islay	Argyll and Bute	3,457	61,956	5.58
8	Mull	Argyll and Bute	2,667	87,535	3.05
9	South Uist	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	1,818	32,026	5.68
10	Great Cumbrae	North Ayrshire	1,434	1,168	122.77
11	North Uist	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	1,271	30,305	4.19
12	Benbecula	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	1,219	8,203	14.86
13	Barra	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	1,078	5,875	18.35
14	Whalsay	Shetland	1,034	1,970	52.49
15	Yell	Shetland	957	21,211	4.51
16	South Ronaldsay	Orkney	854	4,980	17.15
17	Tiree	Argyll and Bute	770	7,834	9.83
18	West Burra	Shetland	753	743	101.35
19	Unst	Shetland	720	12,068	5.97
20	Westray	Orkney	563	4,713	11.95
21	Seil	Argyll and Bute	560	1,329	42.14
22	Sanday	Orkney	478	5,043	9.48
23	Bressay	Shetland	384	2,805	13.69
24	Burray	Orkney	357	903	39.53
25	Stronsay	Orkney	343	3,275	10.47
26	Scalpay	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	322	653	49.31
27	Shapinsay	Orkney	300	2,948	10.18
28	Hoy (inc South Walls)	Orkney	392	14,318	2.74
29	Great Bernera	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	233	2,122	10.98
30	Luing	Argyll and Bute	212	1,543	13.74
31	Rousay	Orkney	212	4,860	4.36
32	Grimsay	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	201	833	24.13
33	Raasay	Highland	192	6,405	3.00
34	Jura	Argyll and Bute	188	36,692	0.51
35	Coll	Argyll and Bute	164	7,685	2.13
36	Lismore	Argyll and Bute	146	2,351	6.21
37	Berneray	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	136	1,010	13.47
38	Eriskay	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	133	703	18.92
39	Trondra	Shetland	133	275	48.36
40	Iona	Argyll and Bute	125	877	14.25
41	Eday	Orkney	121	2,745	4.41
42	South Walls	Orkney	120 (E)	850 (E)	14.12 (E)
43	Gigha	Argyll and Bute	110	1,395	7.89
44	Colonsay	Argyll and Bute	108	4,617	2.34
45	Muckle Roe	Shetland	104	1,773	5.87
46	Vatersay	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	94	960	9.79
47	Fetlar	Shetland	86	4,078	2.11
48	Flotta	Orkney	81	876	9.25
49	North Ronaldsay	Orkney	70	690	10.14
50	Fair Isle	Shetland	69	768	8.98
51	Eigg	Highland	67	3,049	2.20
52	East Burra	Shetland	66	515	12.82
53	Papa Westray	Orkney	65	918	7.08
54	Easdale	Argyll and Bute	58	20 (E)	290
55	Housay	Shetland	50	218	22.94
56	Baleshare	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	49	910	5.38
57	Kerrera	Argyll and Bute	42	1,214	3.46
58	Egilsay	Orkney	37	650	5.69
59	Foula	Shetland	31	1,265	2.46
60	Muck	Highland	30	559	5.37
61	Bruray	Shetland	26	55	47.27
62	Papa Stour	Shetland	23	828	2.78
63	Rùm	Highland	22	10,463	0.21
64	Graemsay	Orkney	21	409	5.13
65	Grimsay, South East Benbecula	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	19	117	16.24
66	Wyre	Orkney	18	311	5.79
67	Ulva	Argyll and Bute	16	1,990	0.80
68	Holy Isle	North Ayrshire	13	253	5.14
69	Inchmurrin (F)	West Dunbartonshire	13	133	9.77
70	Isle of Ewe	Highland	12	309	3.88
71	Flodaigh, Benbecula	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	11	145	7.59
72	Papa Stronsay	Orkney	10	74	13.51
73	Scalpay	Highland	10	2,483	0.40
74	Eilean Shona	Highland	9	525	1.71
75	Erraid	Argyll and Bute	8	187	4.28
76	Lunga	Argyll and Bute	7	254	2.76
77	Soay, Skye	Highland	7	1,036	0.68
78	Canna	Highland	6	1,130	0.53
79	Sanday	Highland	6	184	3.26
80	Auskerry	Orkney	5	85	5.88
81	Danna, Scotland	Argyll and Bute	5	315	1.59
82	Gometra	Argyll and Bute	5	425	1.18
83	Oronsay	Argyll and Bute	5	543	0.92
84	Tanera Mòr	Highland	5	310	1.61
85	Gairsay	Orkney	3	240	1.25
86	Inchtavannach (F)	Argyll and Bute	3	52	5.77
87	Moncrieffe Island (F)	Perth and Kinross	3	46	6.52
88	Davaar Island	Argyll and Bute	2	52	3.85
89	Eilean Bàn, Lochalsh	Highland	2	10 (E)	20.00
90	Vaila	Shetland	2	327	0.61
91	Inchcolm	Fife	2	12	16.67
92	South Rona	Highland	2	930	0.22
93	Inchfad (F)	Stirling	2	103	1.94
94	Eilean Donan	Highland	1	1 (E)	100
95	Sanda	Argyll and Bute	1	151	0.66
96	Shuna, Slate Islands	Argyll and Bute	1	451	0.22
97	Innis Chonan (F)	Argyll and Bute	1	8	12.50
98	Eriska	Argyll and Bute	?	310	?
99	Fraoch-eilean	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	?	30 (E)	?