Arran is an island off the shore of Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is the biggest island in the Firth of Clyde and also the seventh largest Scottish island, at 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi). Historically part of Buteshire, it remains in the unitary council location of North Ayrshire. In the 2011 census it had a resident populace of 4,629. Though culturally and physically similar to the Hebrides, it is divided from them by the Kintyre peninsula. Often referred to as "Scotland in Miniature", the island is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Border Mistake and has actually been called a "geologist's heaven". Arran has been continually occupied considering that the very early Neolithic duration. Various prehistoric remains have actually been located. From the 6th century onwards, Goidelic-speaking peoples from Ireland colonised it as well as it came to be a centre of spiritual activity. In the troubled Viking Age, Arran became the property of the Norwegian crown, till formally taken in by the kingdom of Scotland in the 13th century. The 19th-century "clearances" brought about substantial depopulation and the end of the Gaelic language and also lifestyle. The economic situation and also population have actually recouped recently, the main market being tourism. There is a diversity of wildlife, consisting of 3 varieties of tree native to the island to the location. The island includes miles of coastal paths, numerous hills as well as hills, forested locations, rivers, tiny lochs and coastlines. Its major coastlines are at Brodick, Whiting Bay, Kildonan, Sannox and Blackwaterfoot.