No-one boxes Shetland in the corner: Island freed from the box in official Scotland maps

Up until now, Shetland was often seen hanging around the coasts of Moray or Fraserburgh which has been labelled geographically misleading. (Getty)

SHETLAND has finally been freed from the box as new legislation comes into force banning boxing the island in official maps of Scotland.

The Shetland mapping requirement section of the Islands (Scotland) Act stipulates the islands “must be displayed in a manner that accurately and proportionately represents their geographical location in relation to the rest of Scotland”.

Official campaigning has been going on since May 2018 by Shetland MSP Tavish Scott. He said: “There is no excuse now for the Scottish Government, its agencies or others to put Shetland in a box.

“The box is closed. It doesn’t exist, whether that be in the Moray Firth or east of Orkney.

“Shetland is now in the right place.

“It is ridiculous that I had to change the law to make this happen but so be it.”

How far Shetland is in reality from the Scottish mainland. (Google Maps)

Mr Scott said island-proofing duty the new law introduces – ensuring the islands are recognised in any law or government regulation – must work, arguing at the moment this is not happening.

The legislation also means a National Islands Plan will be developed aiming to increase sustainable economic development and community empowerment.

Islands Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “The Scottish islands have contributed and continue to contribute hugely to our culture and heritage and with this Act now starting to take force, will now have the opportunity to contribute even further to their own and our collective futures.

“On a more visual front, it ensures Shetland will no longer be ‘boxed off’ on maps which has been a cause of irritation to those living in Shetland.

Why did it happen?

Cartographers previously argued that because of the distance, Shetland could either be in a box, or may have to be left off maps of Scotland altogether.

18th century maps of the Shetland Islands show that boxing is not a new thing. (Getty)

Thanks to Shetland’s location – over 100 miles away from the Scottish mainland – for the purposes of map drawing, it had to be brought closer to the coast for the purpose of not wasting space.

However, in his campaigning, Mr Scott claimed this was a misleading problem for people attempting to get to the island, as people were led to believe the islands were far closer to Scotland’s coast than reality proved.

Who else gets boxed?

Shetland is not the only group of islands that boxing affects with the same thing often happening to the Islands of Orkney, who like Shetland, can find themselves mapped closer to the Moray Firth than their actual geographical location.

Alaska and Hawaii are also frequently put in misleading positions on maps far from their true geographical locations. (Getty)

The Channel Islands, Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall, Hawaii and Alaska also fall victim to the box, which again can mislead travellers to their location.

New Zealand have also been known to complain that they are often completely left off maps of the globe altogether, and disgruntled Kiwis have come together to create a web page via Reddit called Maps Without NZ, which has over 28,000 subscribers.

Perhaps they ran out of time to add New Zealand? (Reddit)

But, while New Zealanders are continuing their battle to be included on maps in general, at least for now Shetland islanders can say no one boxes them in the corner.