Caithness
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Caithness is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland.
Caithness landscape, looking towards Halkirk from Beinn Freiceadain
St John's Loch near Dunnet Head has the distinction of supporting the most northerly hatch of Mayfly in the British Isle.
The County Offices in Wick (the curved building on the left)
John o' Groats
Orkney
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Orkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, the Mainland, has an area of 523 square kilometres (202 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney's largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall.
Midhowe Broch on the west coast of Rousay
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Harald Fairhair (on the right, with fair hair) took control of Orkney in 875. He is shown here inheriting his kingdom from his father Halfdan the Black, in an illustration from the Flateyjarbók.
Artist's conception of King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who forcibly Christianised Orkney. Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo.