Isle of Harris trip planner

Harris is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to as the Isle of Harris, which is the former postal county and the current post town for Royal Mail postcodes starting HS3 or HS5; see HS postcode area. A person from Harris is known as a Hearach.Rockall, an uninhabited islet is deemed to be part of the parish. It is west of North Uist.GaelicAccording to the 2011 Census, there are 1,212 Gaelic speakers in the Harris area.EtymologyHarris is most likely to be the island referred to as Adru on Ptolemy's map of the British Isles. In Old Norse, a Hérað was a type of administrative district, and the name may derive from that. An alternative origin is the Norse Hærri, meaning "higher" - a reference to the high hills, especially in comparison with the much flatter Lewis lying to the north. Most of the place names on Harris are Gaelicized Old Norse.The Gaelic name "Na Hearadh" was also an earlier term for the Rinns of Islay.GeographyHarris divides naturally into northern and southern parts which are separated by West and East Loch Tarbert. These halves are joined by a narrow isthmus at the main settlement of Tarbert (An Tairbeart or Tairbeart na Hearadh).