The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 applied. This area consisted of eight counties of Scotland:
The Highlands and Islands Partnership for Transport, established in 2006, covers most of the council areas of Argyll and Bute, Highland, Moray, Orkney and the Western Isles. Shetland is covered by the separate Shetland Partnership for Transport.
The name Highlands and Islands is much older than the electoral region. The Highlands and Islands area has a large area of overlap with the Scottish Highlands, and the two names are often regarded as representing the same area.
The Highlands and Islands region is the largest of the eight electoral regions in terms of area, but the smallest in terms of population and electorate. It has boundaries with the North East Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife and the West Scotland electoral regions.
The most high-profile MSP for the region has been Winnie Ewing, the matriarch of the Ewing political family.
Created for the 1979 European Parliament elections in 1979, Highlands and Islands was a single-member constituency formed from the grouping of numerous neighbouring Scottish constituencies of the UK Parliament.
...Highlands – video ... EdwardMountain, a ConservativeMSP for the Highlands and Islands region, said the second capture of lynx suggested there had been a concerted approach to reintroduce lynx illegally.
... illegally released in the Highlands ... ConservativeMSP for the Highlands and IslandsEdwardMountain said the second capture of lynx “would suggest a concerted approach to illegally reintroduce lynx”.
... illegally released in the Highlands ... ConservativeMSP for the Highlands and IslandsEdwardMountain said the second capture of lynx 'would suggest a concerted approach to illegally reintroduce lynx'.
MomentLynx was captured in the Highlands – video ...EdwardMountain, MSP for the Highlands and Islands, raised the issue at first minister’s questions on Thursday, calling for the illegal release to be recognised as “a very serious wildlife crime”.