John Phillips, age 15, of Haggerstown, Md., for his question:
WHERE ARE THE HEBRIDES ISLANDS?
The Hebrides are a group of Scottish islands that lie just off the west coast of Scotland. They form an archipelago of about 500 islands and are located in the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes they are called the Western Isles.
More than three fourths of the islands are barren and have no one living on them. All together they have an area of about 2,500 square miles.
The island group was known as the Hebudae or the Ebudae in ancient times. Then in 563 A. D., an Irish missionary named St. Columba built a Celtic monastery on one of the islands.
In the 800s a group of Norsemen invaded the Hebrides and from about 400 years Norway controlled the area. Rights to the islands were transferred to Scotland in 1266.
From 1346 to 1504, a family calling themselves the Lords of the Isles ruled the Hebrides. Leaders on the mainland finally reduced the influence of the ruling chiefs and full authority went back to Scotland in 1748.
Writer Samuel Johnson visited the Hebrides in 1773 and wrote "Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland" in 1775. This aroused a great deal of excitement over the archipelago.
Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott wrote a novel in 1815 called "Lord of the Isles." It dealt with the Hebrides and the history of the islands.
Two groups of islands form the total area: the Outer Hebrides and the Inner Hebrides.
The Outer Hebrides extend about 130 miles from north to south and they include Lewis, North Uist, South Uist and Bara.
The largest of the inner Hebrides is called Skye. Other islands include Mull, Islay, Jura, Tiree and Coll.
Less than 100 of the islands are inhabited. Most of the people live on Lewis, Skye and Islay. Although tourists love the Hebrides, the population as a whole is declining.
The largest town in the Hebrides is Stornoway, located on the island of Lewis. It has about 9,000 people.
About 250,000 acres on the islands can be used for growing crops. Oats and potatoes grow well. Most of the terrain is rocky and there are many swamps, lakes and hills.
There is a quarrying industry and also the reproduction of woolen fabrics, featuring items of Harris tweed. Fishing and raising livestock also help the economy.
Boat and airplane traffic runs on a regular schedule between the towns in the Hebrides and mainland cities.
The New Hebrides islands lie in the southwest Pacific, about 1,000 miles northeast of Australia. They are made up of 12 principal islands and many smaller ones. The entire area was mapped in 1774 by the British explorer James Cook.