Shetland Islands
§ This page gives an overview of the Shetland Islands local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. One of 361 district profiles on Baseview.
Overview ⁞ Shetland Islands are a remote archipelago in the North Atlantic, famous for their Norse heritage, wildlife, and fishing industry. Lerwick is the main town, and the economy is supported by energy, aquaculture, and tourism.
The administrative boundary of Shetland Islands can be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of Shetland Islands.
Key Facts about Shetland Islands
What region are Shetland Islands in? Shetland Islands are in Scotland, a statistical region and also a country in United Kingdom.
Is Shetland Islands a city? No, Shetland Islands is not a city. (Note: the UK has 76 officially designated cities.)
Who governs Shetland Islands? The local government for this district is: Shetland Islands Council (Scotland Council Area).
▶ Official website of Shetland Islands Council 🔗 shetland.gov.uk
Which police force covers Shetland Islands? Policing in Shetland Islands is provided by Police Scotland 🔗 scotland.police.uk, which covers the whole of Scotland.
Constituencies in Shetland Islands
A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies, 57 of them are in Scotland. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK parliamentary constituencies: List of Constituencies.
Wards in Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands is divided into 7 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Lerwick North and Bressay
- Lerwick South
- North Isles
- Shetland Central
- Shetland North
- Shetland South
- Shetland West
In the UK, a ward is a subdivision of a local authority area, used mainly for electoral and statistical purposes. Defined by the ONS, wards represent the primary unit for local elections, each returning one or more councillors to the local council. Wards are also used as a key geography for presenting population and census data.
Built-up Areas in Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands covers 11 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Brae
- Catfirth
- Graven
- Hamnavoe
- Lerwick
- Norwick
- Sandwick (Shetland Islands)
- Scalloway
- Scatness
- Symbister
- Weisdale
In the UK, a Built-up Area (BUA) is a continuous urban area of at least 20 hectares (0.2 km²), defined by the ONS as land where buildings are generally no more than 200 metres apart, such as towns, cities, or large villages. (Note: A BUA name marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the area is situated partly in the district of Shetland Islands.)