It is of a similar size to Islay, but is much less densely populated with fewer than 300 inhabitants. The main settlement is at Craighouse on the east coast. Craighouse is home to the island's one distillery, which makes Isle of Jura whisky.
The Jura is dominated by three steep-sided conical mountains on its western side - the Paps of Jura rise to over 2000 feet.
A small car ferry that operates across the Sound of Islay between Port Askaig on Islay and Feolin Ferry on Jura. From Feolin Ferry a single road follows the southern and eastern coastline of the island. To the north of Craighouse the road is little used and the northern part is unmade.
At the northern tip of the island is the settlement of Barnhill, which was home to the novelist George Orwell, and is where he wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Immediately to the north of Jura is the Gulf of Corryvreckan which boasts a whirlpool that makes passage impossible at certain states of the tide.
The island has a large population of red deer.