SUTHERLAND, a co. in the extreme n. of Scotland, is bounded on the e. by Caithness and the North sea, on the n. and w. by the Atlantic, and on the s. by Ross and Cromarty. Area, 1,207,188 acres; pop. '71, 23,686, or 123- per sq. mile. The coast-line is 60 m. in extent; and the shores, rugged on the n. and w., where they are broken by the force of the Atlantic, are comparatively flat on thb east. The southern and central regions of Sutherland are the most elevated; and rivers, mostly from the middle of the county, flow e. and s.e. to the North sea, and n., n.w., and w. to the Atlantic. The principal mountain peaks are Ben More in Assyut (3,243 ft.), and Ben Clibrigg (3,158 ft.). The chief rivers are the Oikel and the Shin—which, with other affluents, unite to form Dornoch firth—the Brora, Helmsdale Water, and Naver. Extensive moors, the haunt of herds of red deer, stretch across the county; and the rivers and lakes, the chief of which is loch Shin (q.v.), form numerous low-lying valleys or straths. In the interior and western districts, the climate is cold, and the county is often deluged with continu ous rains; but in the eastern districts the climate is mild, and the soil very fertile in all agricultural produce. In 1876 there were 28,346 acres under crops, of which 10,353 acres were under corn, 5,058 acres green crops, 6,691 clover and other artificial grasses, and 6,018 acres permanent pasture. The number of cattle iu the same year was 13,057; sheep, 228,503; and swine, 1239. Coal, granites of various colors, marble, limestone, etc., are found. In Nov., 1868, traces of gold were found in a burn in Sutherland.
A number of "diggers" were attracted to the district, but the gold found, though of excellent quality, was hardly sufficient to repay their labor. The Highland railway passes through the county. Manufactures are inconsiderable. There are good salmon, herring, and white fishings. Sutherland is well supplied with churches. The schools are well attended, and Gaelic is rapidly giving way to English. Almost the wholo of the county belongs to the duke of Sutherland. The present duke is eminent for the zeal with which he has devoted himself to the improvement of Sutherland, spending large sums in the reclamation of land by steam-plows, the construction of railways, etc.
Sutherland receives its name from the Northmen, who frequently descended upon and pillaged it prior to the 12th c., and called it the southern land, as being the limit on the s. of their settlements. The condition of the people of Sutherland before 1811, In which year the county began to be opened up by roads, was miserable. Their sustenance, dependent mostly upon their half-starved flocks, was very precarious, and would have failed them often had not charity administered relief. A former duke of Sutherland effected what are known as the " Sutherland clearances," by compelling such of his tenants as could not support themselves, owing to the unsuitability to agricultural pur poses of the districts upon which they dwelt, either to remove to more fertile districts, where they received land at a merely nominal rent, or to emigrate at his expense to Canada.