Gruinard Island

Gruinard Island
Scottish Gaelic nameEilean Ghruinneart
Old Norse nameGrunnfjörðr
Meaning of name"Shallow firth", from Norse
Location
Gruinard Island
Gruinard Island shown within Ross and Cromarty
OS grid referenceNG945945
Coordinates57°53′24″N 05°28′12″W / 57.89000°N 5.47000°W / 57.89000; -5.47000
Physical geography
Island groupInner Hebrides/Islands of Ross and Cromarty
Area196 ha (34 sq mi)
Area rank111
Highest elevationAn Eilid, 106 m (348 ft)
Administration
Council areaHighland
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Demographics
Population0
Largest settlementNone
References

Gruinard Island (/ˈɡrɪnjərd/ GRIN-yərd; Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Ghruinneard) is a small, oval-shaped Scottish island approximately two kilometres (1+14 miles) long by one kilometre (58 mi) wide, located in Gruinard Bay, about halfway between Gairloch and Ullapool. At its closest point to the mainland, it is about one kilometre (one-half nautical mile) offshore. In 1942, the island became a sacrifice zone, and was dangerous for all mammals after military experiments with the anthrax bacterium, until it was decontaminated in 1990.