Unst

Northernmost of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, and most northerly of the British Isles, 64 km/40 mi northeast of Lerwick; population (2001) 720. It covers an area of 120 sq km/46 sq mi, including the islands of Uyea and Muckle Flugga, and is separated from the island of Yell by Bluemull Sound. The main occupations are fishing and the production of knitwear. Norwick, Haroldswick, and Baltasound (site of an RAF base) are the largest settlements.

Former talc and chromate mining activities have now ceased.

An operational automatic lighthouse stands on Muckle Flugga, just off the northern headland of Hermaness; the promontory is now a nature reserve. On the southwest coast lies the 16th-century stronghold of Muness Castle.