Ross and Cromarty (Scottish Gaelic: Ros agus Cromba), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

The county also covered parts of the Outer Hebrides, principally the Isle of Lewis, including the town of Stornoway.

[3] The interests of landowners led to some variations in the 1661 definition of Ross-shire from the old province of Ross.

Likewise the Ferintosh estate on the Black Isle was made an exclave of Nairnshire on account of being owned by the Forbes family.

[4][5] Cromartyshire was significantly enlarged in the late 17th century to gain numerous separate tracts of land scattered across Ross-shire which were owned by George Mackenzie, Viscount of Tarbat, who owned the barony of Cromarty.

[11] Despite sharing a sheriff from 1748, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire remained legally separate counties.

From 1860 the commissioners of supply for the two counties were directed to work together on delivering some functions, notably relating to prisons.

The new county came into being on the passing of the act on 26 August 1889, from when the previously separate commissioners of supply for each former county merged into a single body, and the last Lord Lieutenant of Ross-shire, Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, became the first Lord Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty.

[15] The act also established elected county councils, which came into effect in 1890, taking over most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930).

The main exclaves in the area prior to the act had been the many parts of Cromartyshire scattered across Ross-shire, which were resolved as a result of the two counties merging into one.

After the merger, there still remained an exclave of Nairnshire at the Ferintosh estate on the Black Isle, whilst the parish of Urray straddled Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty.

(Scotland) Act 1994 saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with single-tier council areas.

The west coast of the mainland onto The Minch and Inner Sound (opposite Skye), is heavily indented with sea lochs and peninsulas.

[25] The eastern part (Easter Ross) is generally flatter, and consists of towns, villages and farmland bordering the Moray Firth.

The larger inland lochs are:[a] The county of Ross and Cromarty includes the northern parts of the Outer Hebrides, in particular the Isle of Lewis.

Due to its flatter, more fertile land, Lewis contains three-quarters of the population of the Western Isles, and the largest settlement, Stornoway.

The only other island in the Outer Hebrides that is in the county of Ross and Cromarty and was inhabited at the 2011 census was Great Bernera, which is linked to Lewis by a bridge.

[24] The county also includes numerous smaller islands closer to the west coast of the mainland.

Various buses operated by Stagecoach Group link the major towns of the east coast, with the 61 bus connecting Ullapool to Inverness.

[40] Various independent bus companies link the smaller towns of Wester Ross, though online information is limited.

The county contains one airport - Stornoway - which provides passenger flights to destinations within Scotland as well as London Southend.