The island is relatively densely populated and has much fertile
farmland. The bulk of the Mainland is west of Kirkwall and is low-lying, with coastal
cliffs to the north and west and two sizeable bodies of freshwater, the
lochs of
Stenness and
Harray. The eastern part of the Mainland is shaped like the letter "W", the easternmost
peninsula being known as
Deerness. To the south,
causeways called
Churchill Barriers connect the island to
Burray and
South Ronaldsay via
Lamb Holm and
Glimps Holm. Mainland effectively provides the core of the Orkney Islands, linking the northern members of the archipelago with the southern ones. At the east, and west ends, islands proceed to the north and south, somewhat in the shape of an "X". The western part of the island is part of the
Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. The population in 2011 was recorded as 17,162, an increase of just over 12% on the 2001 population of 15,315. By 2022 the population had grown to 17,779.
Sandwick,
Birsay and
Stromness lie on the west coast,
Rendall and
Evie to the north west.
Holm,
Deerness and
St Andrews are located to the east of central
St Ola, which contains Kirkwall city.
Firth,
Orphir,
Stenness and
Harray lie west of Kirkwall and east of the westernmost parishes. Harray has the unique distinction of being the only landlocked parish in Orkney, although it too has a significant coast along the Loch of Harray, albeit a freshwater one.
Economy The economic sectors include agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as oil and gas. A 2020 report states that "over the last 20 years there has been a growth in ... manufacturing, tourism, food and drink processing and, more recently, renewable energy". Tourism is certainly significant with over 190,000 visits to the islands, many on cruise ships, in 2019. Tourism was negatively affected by the
COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and into 2021. A September 2020 report stated that "The Highlands and Islands region has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to date, when compared to Scotland and the UK as a whole". The industry required short-term support for "business survival and recovery" and that was expected to continue as the sector was "severely impacted for as long as physical distancing and travel restrictions". A scheme called A Support for businesses - Island Equivalent was introduced by the Scottish government in early 2021 to financially assist hospitality and retail businesses "affected by Level 3 coronavirus restrictions". Previous schemes in 2020 included the Strategic Framework Business Fund and the Coronavirus Business Support Fund.
Main settlements is the second largest settlement on Mainland, and Orkney in general. The three main settlements on Mainland, in order of magnitude are
Kirkwall and
Stromness, both of which are burghs, and
Finstown. ;Kirkwall Kirkwall, the capital of the islands, is on the isthmus between west Mainland and east Mainland, which historically enabled it to have highly active harbours facing in two directions for the southern and northern Orkney Islands; the southern one,
Scapa Flow, is a large, calm and immediately ocean-accessible natural harbour. Kirkwall has the seat of the
Bishop of Orkney, and
St. Magnus Cathedral is to be found there. It is also one of the island's ferry ports. ;Stromness A long-established seaport that grew with the expansion of
whaling, Stromness has a population of approximately 2,200 residents. The old town is clustered along the main street, flanked with houses and shops built from local stone, with narrow lanes and alleys branching off it. There is a ferry link to
Scrabster in
Caithness on the Scottish mainland as well as the Isle of
Hoy. ;Finstown Finstown is the third largest settlement, and used to be known as the "Toon o' Firth". The origin of its name is thought to be from an Irishman named David Phin who came to the area in 1811. It is on the direct Stromness to Kirkwall road. As in nearby Caithness, these rocks rest upon the
metamorphic rocks of the eastern
schists, and in Mainland where a narrow strip is exposed between Stromness and
Inganess, they are represented by grey
gneiss and
granite. The Lower Old Red Sandstone is represented by well-bedded flagstones over most of the islands; in the south of Mainland these are faulted against an overlying series of massive red sandstones. Many indications of glacial action exist in the form of striated surfaces in Kirkwall Bay, with boulder clay with marine shells, and many boulders of rocks foreign to the islands made of
chalk,
oolitic limestone,
flint, &c. Local
moraines are found in some of the valleys. The soil generally is a sandy
loam or a strong but friable clay, and very fertile. Large quantities of
seaweed as well as
lime and
marl are available for manure.
Surrounding islands 1654 map of Orkney and Shetland. It uses "Pomonia or Mainland". There are numerous smaller Orkney islands surrounding the mainland, some which are islets only separated at higher stages of the tide, or skerries which are only exposed at lower stages of the tide. These include
Barrel of Butter, Bo Skerry, Bow Skerries, Braga, Brough of Bigging,
Brough of Birsay,
Damsay,
Holm of Houton,
Holm of Grimbister, Holm of Rendall, Iceland Skerry, Inner Holm, Kirk Rocks, Little Skerry, Mirkady Point, Nevi Skerry, Outer Holm, Oyster Skerries, Puldrite Skerry, Quanterness Skerry, Scare Gun, Seal Skerry, Skaill Skerries, Skerries of Clestrain, Skerries of Coubister, Skerries of Lakequoy, Skerry of Work, Skerry of Yinstay, Smoogro Skerry,
Thieves Holm, Whyabatten, and Yesnaby Castle. The other islands in the Orkney Islands are generally classified as north or south of the Mainland. The exceptions are the remote islets of
Sule Skerry and
Sule Stack, which lie west of the archipelago, but form part of Orkney for local government purposes. ==History and notable sites==