Orkney Islands, group of about 90 islands and islets, northern Scotland, constituting Orkney Island Area (an administrative region), separated from the northern coast of the Scottish mainland by the Pentland Firth. The administrative center and largest town is Kirkwall, on Mainland (or Pomona), the largest of the islands. Other major islands include Hoy, Sanday, Westray, Stronsay, and South Ronaldsay. The islands are typically low-lying and treeless, and much less than 30 are inhabited. Soils are fertile, and agriculture, the main economic activity, is productive. Many of the islands have brocks (Pictish stone towers) as well as other relics of prehistoric habitation. The sea basin Scapa Flow, which was a British naval base during World War I and World War II, can be found here.
KIRKWALL is Orkney's capital and it has one fantastic aspect - its sandstone cathedral , without a doubt the finest medieval building in the north of Scotland. Part of the reason for Kirkwall's disappointing waterfront is that today's harbour is a largely modern invention; in the mid-nineteenth century, the shoreline ran along Junction Road, and before that it was flush with the west side of Broad Street. Currently, the town is very much separated into two main focal points: the busy harbour, at the north end of the town, where ferries come and go throughout every season, and the flagstones main street, which changes its name four times as it twists its way south from the harbour beyond daylight hour’s cathedral.
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