Orcadians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 21,349 currently resident population of Orkney | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mainland, Orkney | 17,162 |
| South Ronaldsay | 909 |
| Westray | 588 |
| Languages | |
| Orcadian (Scots), Scottish English; historically Norn and Pictish | |
| Religion | |
| Presbyterianism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Shetlanders, Caithnesians, Lowland Scots, Norwegians, Faroese, Icelanders, Greenlandic Norsemen, and Anglo-Metis | |
Orcadians, also known as Orkneymen, are an ethnic group native to the Orkney Islands, who speak an Orcadian dialect of the Scots language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history, culture and ancestry. Speaking Norn, a native North Germanic language into the 19th or 20th century, Orcadians descend significantly from North Germanic peoples, with around a third of their ancestry derived from Scandinavia, including a majority of their patrilineal line. According to anthropological study, the Orcadian ethnic composition is similar to that of Icelandic people; a comparable islander ethnicity of North Germanic origin.
Historically, they are also descended from the Picts, Norse, and Lowland Scots.