Jura, Scotland

Jura ( JOOR-ə; Scottish Gaelic: Diùra) is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, adjacent to and northeast of Islay. With an area of 36,692 hectares (142 sq mi), and 258 inhabitants recorded in the 2022 census, Jura is more sparsely populated than Islay, and is one of the least-densely populated islands of Scotland: in a list of the islands of Scotland ranked by size, Jura comes eighth, whereas by population it comes 29th. The island is mountainous, bare and largely infertile, covered by extensive areas of blanket bog. The main settlement is the east coast village of Craighouse, on the Sound of Jura. The Jura distillery, producing Isle of Jura single-malt whisky, is in the village, as is the island's rum-distillery, which opened in 2021. Craighouse also houses the island's shop, church, primary school, the Jura hotel and bar, a gallery, craft shop, tearoom and the community-run petrol-pumps. George Orwell (1903-1950) lived on Jura intermittently from 1946 to 1949 and completed his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four while living at a remote farmhouse. Between Jura's northern tip and the island of Scarba lies the Gulf of Corryvreckan, where a whirlpool makes passage dangerous at certain states of the tide. The southern part of the island, from Loch Tarbert southwards, is a designated national scenic area (NSA), one of 40 such areas in Scotland. The Jura NSA covers 30,317 hectares (117 mi2): 21,072 of land and 9,245 of adjacent sea.