Place · island

Shetland

Also known as Shetland Islands

Shetland is an archipelago in the North Atlantic north-east of mainland Scotland, the most northerly part of the United Kingdom. Inhabited by Picts in the early Middle Ages, it was settled by Norse colonists from the ninth century and ruled from Norway until 1469, when Christian I pledged it to Scotland as security for his daughter's dowry. Fishing and, since the 1970s, North Sea oil have shaped its economy.

Shetland
Image: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 5 profiles

Kingdom of the PictsSocioeconomyKingdom of ScotlandFoundationKingdom of NorwayImpact, DeclineFree Hanseatic City of BremenImpactOld NorseSpeakers

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Shetland. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shetland
MLA
“Shetland.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shetland. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Shetland.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shetland.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Shetland’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/shetland (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻