Our series on Remote Islands takes us to the St. Kilda Islands in the North Atlantic.
The islands are located about 35 nautical miles from the Outer Hebrides and 90 nm from the Scottish shores of Great Britain. While these islands have no permanent population as of 2022, they sustained a small population from the Iron Age until 1930. The journey to the main British Islands took several days on the locals' small boats, and harsh winters meant total isolation for months at a time. The residents lived in one small settlement on the main island of the group, raised sheep and poultry and farmed potatoes. The harshness of life on the island led the remaining population of 36 residents to ask the British government for their relocation in Scotland in 1930. As of 2016, there are no more native St. Kildans alive.
St. Kilda
