 North Uist ('north abode'; Gaelic: Uist a' Tuath), Pictured left, click image to enlarge). North Uist is one of the larger of the Hebrides, and covers an area of approximately 115 square miles. The islandt is about eighteen miles long and fourteen miles wide. The highest hill is Eaval at 1138 feet to the south-east of the island. The north and west coasts have fine stretches of sand, including the beaches at Clachan Sands, Vallay Strand, Vallaquie Strand and Traigh Iar, Traigh Leanthann.
The island once had a population of over 5000 but today it is less than 2000 with the largest settlement being Lochmaddy. The islanders are largely presbyterian and Gaelic speaking.  The Island has many prehistoric sites, chambered caims, duns, and standing stones and circles. There are a large number of these duns situated in small lochans and reached by causeways. Although these originate from the iron Age, many appear to have still been in use in medieval times, and even into the 16th and 17th centuries.
 The island was held by the Vikings, then the Lords of the Isles, then was granted to MacDonalds of Sleat in Skye from 1495 until 1855. The island had a thriving population at the turn of the 19th century, due to the good arable land and kelp industry. But when the latter collapsed, MacDonald of Sleat had much of the population cleared and replaced by sheep. This resulted in clashes between the islanders and police, some of them bloody as at Sollas. The MacDonalds sold the property in 1855.
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