Scotland
Hebrides
Western Isles

Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides are the most westerly islands of the , west of the . They're sparsely populated with poor soil and few resources; historically they were in separate local government areas, which hindered their development and culture.
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Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo.
Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Lewis and St Kilda.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
and Harris are a single large island in the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland. It's the third largest island in the British Archipelago, only Great Britain and Ireland being larger.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small archipelago in the Atlantic, 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland, of which it's administratively part. Hirta is the main island, and there is no island called .

Photo: JamesMorrison, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is the main town on and the admin centre for all of Scotland's Outer Hebrides. Indeed it's the only town in these islands; it has the best amenities and transport links, and it's the obvious base for exploring both Lewis and Harris.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Harris and Barra.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Lewis and are a single large island in the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland. It's the third largest island in the British Archipelago, only Great Britain and Ireland being larger.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an island in the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland. The main village is the ferry port, Castlebay. A causeway links to the island of Vatersay, and further south are the uninhabited islands of Pabbay, Sandray, Mingulay and Berneray.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an island in the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland, with a population in 2011 of 1897. It extends 25 miles north-south and 5 miles east-west, and has long been linked by road north to Benbecula and North Uist, and since 2002 it has been linked south to Eriskay.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an island in the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It measures 20 miles north-south, 25 miles east-west, and is separated from Benbecula to the south by a tidal ford, nowadays bridged by a causeway.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, with a population of 1300 in 2021. The name is a medieval mispronunciation: "pen" meaning flat land turned into "ben" for mountain, which it doesn't have.

Photo: Jkirriemuir, Public domain.
is an island in the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland. It's about three miles north-south by two miles east-west, mostly low-lying, and is joined to the larger island of by road.

Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an island in the Outer Hebrides or Western Isles, linked by causeway to , and extending 3 miles north-south and 2 miles east-west.

Photo: Michael Earnshaw, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is the most remote island in Britain to have been inhabited long-term. It can be considered the outermost of the Outer Hebrides, but it's as far away from the rest of that archipelago as it is from mainland Scotland - 44 miles / 71 km.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Outer Hebrides

Latitude of center
57.6667° or 57° 40′ north
Longitude of center
-7.1667° or 7° 10′ west
Population
26,700
Open­Street­Map ID
node 302323560
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­county
Geo­Names ID
2640801
Wiki­data ID
Q80967
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Outer Hebrides from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Afrikaans to Zeeuws—“Outer Hebrides” goes by many names.
  • Afrikaans: “Buite-Hebride”
  • Arabic: “هبرديس الخارجية”
  • Asturian: “Hébrides Esteriores”
  • Asturian: “Islles Hébrides Esteriores”
  • Azerbaijani: “Qərb adaları”
  • Azerbaijani: “Uzun adalar”
  • Azerbaijani: “Xarici Hebrid adaları”
  • Basque: “Kanpoko Hebridak”
  • Basque: “Mendebaldeko uharte”
  • Basque: “Mendebaldeko uharteak”
  • Basque: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Belarusian: “Вонкавыя Гебрыды”
  • Belarusian: “Знешнія Гебрыдскія астравы”
  • Bengali: “আউটার হেব্রিডস”
  • Breton: “Inizi Gall Diavaez”
  • Breton: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Bulgarian: “Западни острови”
  • Catalan: “Hèbrides Exteriors”
  • Cebuano: “Eilean Siar”
  • Cebuano: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Chinese: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Chinese: “埃利安锡尔”
  • Chinese: “外赫布里底群岛”
  • Chinese: “外赫布里底群島”
  • Chinese: “西部群島”
  • Chinese: “錫爾島區”
  • Croatian: “Vanjski Hebridi”
  • Czech: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Czech: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Czech: “The Western Isles”
  • Czech: “Vnější Hebridy”
  • Danish: “Ydre Hebrider”
  • Dutch: “Buiten Hebriden”
  • Dutch: “Buiten-Hebriden”
  • Dutch: “Eilean Siar”
  • Dutch: “Na h-Eileanan an Iar”
  • Dutch: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Dutch: “Westelijke Eilanden”
  • Dutch: “Western Isles”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “هبرديس الخارجى”
  • Esperanto: “Eksteraj Hebridoj”
  • Esperanto: “Foraj Hebridoj”
  • Estonian: “Eilean Siar”
  • Estonian: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Estonian: “Välis-Hebriidid”
  • Faroese: “Ytru Suðuroyggjar”
  • Fiji Hindi: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Finnish: “Ulko-Hebridit”
  • French: “Hebrides exterieures”
  • French: “Hébrides extérieures”
  • French: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • French: “Western Isles”
  • Galician: “Hébridas de Fóra”
  • Galician: “Hébridas Exteriores”
  • German: “Äussere Hebriden”
  • German: “Äußere Hebriden”
  • German: “Eilean Siar”
  • German: “GB-ELS”
  • German: “Western Isles”
  • Greek: “Εξωτερικές Εβρίδες”
  • Hebrew: “ההברידיים החיצוניים”
  • Hebrew: “ההיברידים החיצוניים”
  • Icelandic: “Ytri Suðureyjar”
  • Indonesian: “Hebrides Luar”
  • Indonesian: “Kepulauan Hebrides Luar”
  • Indonesian: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Irish: “Innse Gall”
  • Irish: “Inse Ghall”
  • Irish: “Na hOileáin Siar”
  • Italian: “Ebridi Esterne”
  • Italian: “Eilean Siar”
  • Italian: “Isole Ebridi Esterne”
  • Italian: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Japanese: “アウター・ヘブリディーズ”
  • Japanese: “アウター・ヘブリディーズ諸島”
  • Korean: “아우터 헤브리디스”
  • Korean: “아우터헤브리디스 제도”
  • Korean: “아우터헤브리디스”
  • Latin: “Ebudae exteriores”
  • Latin: “Ebudes Exteriores”
  • Latin: “Hebrides exteriores”
  • Latvian: “Rietumu salas”
  • Lithuanian: “Išorinės Hebridų salos”
  • Lithuanian: “Išoriniai Hebridai”
  • Macedonian: “Надворешни Хебриди”
  • Manx: “Ellanyn Sheear ny h-Albey”
  • Manx: “Ny h-Ellanyn Heear”
  • Manx: “Ny h-Ellanyn Sheear”
  • Mesopotamian Arabic: “هبرديس اوتر”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Northern Frisian: “Bütjer Hebriiden”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Ytre Hebridene”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Ytre Hebrider”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Dei ytre hebridane”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Western Isles”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Ytre Hebridane”
  • Norwegian: “Ytre Hebridene”
  • Ossetian: “Æддаг Гебридтæ”
  • Persian: “مجمع‌الجزایر هیبرید دوردست”
  • Persian: “هبریدهای بیرونی”
  • Polish: “Hebrydy Zewnętrzne”
  • Portuguese: “Hébridas Exteriores”
  • Portuguese: “Ilhas Ocidentais”
  • Portuguese: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Portuguese: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Romanian: “Hebridele exterioare”
  • Romanian: “Herbidele exterioare”
  • Romanian: “Insulele Hebride Exterioare”
  • Russian: “Внешние Гебридские острова”
  • Russian: “Внешние Гебриды”
  • Russian: “На-х-Эланан-Шиар”
  • Russian: “Уэстерн-Айлс”
  • Scots: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Scots: “Ooter Hebrides”
  • Scots: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Scots: “The Waster Isles”
  • Scots: “Wastren Isles”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Eileanan a-Muigh”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Eileanan an Iar”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Na h-Eileanan a-Muigh”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Na h-Eileanan an Iar”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Scottish Gaelic: “Western Isles”
  • Serbian: “Спољни Хебриди”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Vanjski Hebridi”
  • Sicilian: “Èbbridi esterni”
  • Slovak: “Vonkajšie Hebridy”
  • Slovenian: “Eilean Siar”
  • Slovenian: “GB-ELS”
  • Slovenian: “Innse Gall”
  • Slovenian: “Na h-Eileanan Siar”
  • Slovenian: “Western Isles”
  • Slovenian: “Zunanji Hebridi”
  • Spanish: “Eilean siar”
  • Spanish: “Eileanan Siar”
  • Spanish: “Hebridas Exteriores”
  • Spanish: “Hébridas exteriores”
  • Spanish: “Islas Hebridas Exteriores”
  • Spanish: “Islas Hébridas Exteriores”
  • Spanish: “Outer Hebrides”
  • Spanish: “Western Isles”
  • Swedish: “Eilean Siar”
  • Swedish: “Western Isles”
  • Swedish: “Yttre Hebriderna”
  • Thai: “เอาเตอร์เฮบริดีส”
  • Turkish: “Dış Hebridler”
  • Ukrainian: “Західні острови”
  • Ukrainian: “Зовнішні Гебриди”
  • Welsh: “Eilean Siar”
  • Welsh: “Hebrides Allanol”
  • Welsh: “Ynysoedd Allanol Heledd”
  • Western Frisian: “Bûtenste Hebriden”
  • Western Panjabi: “بارلے ہیبرڈز”
  • Wu Chinese: “外赫布里底群岛”
  • Zeeuws: “Buuten-Hebriden”

Hebrides: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Islay, Iona, Isle of Jura, and Tiree.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Outer Hebrides”. Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.