Lorraine Kelly named Orkney Island Games host

That has now grown to include more than 2,000 athletes from 24 islands or island groups competing across 12 disciplines; Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Bowls, Cycling, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Sailing, Squash, Swimming and Triathlon.

Participants include the likes of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, as well as fellow UK dependencies such as the Isles of Man and Wight and Jersey.

But other competitors come from further afield. Menorca, in Spain, Saaremaa, a region of Estonia and the Maltese island of Gozo are among the other representatives competing at the 2025 games.

Alderney, Guernsey, Shetland, the Western Isles, Ynys Mon and Sark, with a population of just 600, make up the British Isles contingent.

Åland, an autonomous region of Finland, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, in the Carribbean, the Norwegian municipalities of Frøya and Hitra, Gotland, in Sweden, Gibraltar and the Danish territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands come from further afield.

St Helena, perched in the South Atlantic about 1,200 miles (1,950km) off the coast of Africa is by the far most remote representative.

Athletes arriving from the Falkland Islands are set to travel 8,268 miles (13,307 km) to take part.