Shetland to Scale

Shetland is much bigger than many people realise, and would stretch from Cambridge to the channel coast.

New maps produced by Dr Richard Shelmerdine of the NAFC Marine Centre UHI illustrate the true size of the Shetland Islands by superimposing a map of Shetland over maps of other parts of the UK.

Download a pdf showing the 'Shetland to scale' maps - Shetland superimposed over London, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Dr Shelmerdine, a Marine Scientist in the Centre's Marine Spatial Planning team, commented that: "Many maps of the UK have Shetland squeezed into a small box to one side, or (like many weather maps) distort the size of the islands making them look like little more than a dot. These new maps make the true size of the islands clear by comparing them to places that people may be more familiar with."

With Shetland's capital, Lerwick, placed over the centre of London, the islands stretch from Cambridge in the north almost to the south coast near Chichester.

When Lerwick is placed over Edinburgh, the islands stretch from Forfar to Moffat, and from north of Fraserburgh almost to Dundee if Lerwick is placed over Aberdeen.

For more information please contact: Dr Richard Shelmerdine, Marine Scientist, NAFC Marine Centre UHI: 01595 772000, or richard.shelmerdine@uhi.ac.uk