Sutherland
Categories: Scotland geography stubs | Traditional counties of Scotland | Districts of Scotland
- This article is about the Scottish traditional county of Sutherland. For other uses of the name Sutherland please see Sutherland (disambiguation).
| Image:SutherlandTraditional.png | |
| Geography | |
| Area - Total - % Water | Ranked 5th 1,297,846 acres (5252 km²) ? % |
|---|---|
| County town | Dornoch |
| Chapman code | SUT |
Sutherland or Sutherlandshire[1] (Cataibh in Gaelic)[2], is a traditional county in the north of Scotland, bordering on Caithness to the north and both Ross-shire and Cromartyshire to the south.
Between 1890-1975 the county was administered by the administrative county of Sutherland. Between 1975-1996 the county was divided between the then new areas of Sutherland District and Caithness District, with the Strathnaver area of the county becoming a part of Caithness District (which included also the area of the traditional county of Caithness). However, shortly after its creation the boundary between the districts was redrawn to follow that between the traditional counties, as shown on the map herewith.
The district belonged to a two-tier system of local government, with local government functions divided between the district and the Highland region. In 1996 the region beame a unitary authority and the district was abolished.
Sutherland is today used as a registration county, a Lieutenancy area as well as for general geographical purposes.
The county is still very sparsely populated. Its only burgh is the county town, Dornoch. Other settlements include Lairg, Brora, Durness, Tongue, Golspie, Helmsdale, Lochinver and Kinlochbervie.
Contents |
Sutherland constituency
- Main article Sutherland consituency
The Sutherland constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom represented essentially the traditional county from 1708 to 1918. At the same time however the county town of Dornoch was represented as a component of the Northern Burghs constituency.
In 1918 the Sutherland constituency and Dornoch were merged into the then new constituency of Caithness and Sutherland. In 1997 Caithness and Sutherland was merged into Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
The Scottish Parliament constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was created in 1999 and now has boundaries slighly different from those of the House of Commons constituency. In the Scottish Parliament Sutherland is represented also as part of the Highlands and Islands.
Footnotes
- 1. ^ Sutherland derives from a Norse perception of the land as 'southern' (Suðrland meaning Southland). (The Norse referred similarly to the Hebrides, as the "Southern Isles", southern with respect to the "Northern Isles" of Orkney and Shetland).
- 2. ^ Sutherland has two main names in the county's indigenous Scottish Gaelic: Cataibh may be used for the whole county, but tended historically to apply to the south east, and Dùthaich MhicAoidh (MacKay Country) which was used for the north west, sometimes referred to as Reay Country in English. Cataibh can be read as meaning land of the Cat people and the Cat element appears as Cait in Caithness. The Scottish Gaelic name for Caithness, however, is Gallaibh, meaning land of the foreigner or of the Norse.
See also
External links
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