This article is about the Scottish island of Saint Kilda. For alternative uses of the term Saint Kilda, see Saint Kilda (disambiguation)

Mercator projection map of the Saint Kilda Island group with inset of the British Isles

The Saint Kilda archipelago, in the North Atlantic is at the outermost limits of the British Isles. Situated 66 km west-north-west of North Uist, only Rockall is further away from the British mainland. The entire archipelago is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and is a World Heritage Site. It is at and has a total land area of 854.6 ha.

Hirta is the largest island in the group, followed by Soay (2 km northwest of Hirta) and Boreray (6 km northeast of Hirta); there are several smaller islets including Dun, Levinish, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin.

The name most likely comes from Old Norse sunt kelda meaning sweet wellwater. Other theories invoke a corruption of Hirta or Saint Hilda. See the discussion page for further comment on the origin of the name.

Saint Kilda had been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times but the population dwindled with emigration to the United States and Australia. The population declined to such a level that the economy broke down. There were food shortages recorded in 1912 and an outbreak of influenza in 1913, then on 29 August 1930 the last 36 remaining inhabitants were evacuated, at their own request, to the Scottish mainland. The islands were purchased by the Marquess of Bute in 1931 and he later bequeathed them to the National Trust for Scotland in 1957.

After reading about the evacuation, in 1937 Michael Powell made a film about the dangers of island depopulation. However, The Edge of the World was actually shot on Foula.

There are no permanent residents today but the main island of Hirta is occupied all year round by the people who work on the military base (now almost entirely a civilian workforce), and scientists who carry out research on the feral Soay sheep population. The military base is part of the Hebrides missile tracking range (headquarters in Benbecula), where test firings and flights are carried out. The MOD lease St. Kilda from the National Trust for Scotland for a nominal fee.

The archipelago was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986 and this status was extended to the surrounding marine environment in 2003. It is a breeding ground for many important seabird species including Gannets (the world's largest colony), Puffins and Leach's Petrels. The small island of Dun is home to the largest colony of Fulmars in Britain.

The St Kilda archipelago is also the site of the most spectacular sea cliffs in the British isles. The highest point in the archipelago is Conachair at 430 m. The whole north face of Conachair is a vertical cliff over 300 m high, falling sheer into the sea. Boreray reaches 384 m, and Soay reaches 378 m.

In addition there are several offshore stacs, vertical pillers of rock. Stac An Armin the tallest of these is 196 m high. Another, Stac Lee is 172 m.

External Links

• St Kilda website
• St Kilda heritage
• Greenpeace Photographs
• Webshots photographs
• More Photos, including Soay sheep, Fulmars and cliffs
• UNESCO World Heritage Site. St Kilda and datasheet
• World Heritage Sites Protected Areas Programme - St Kilda