Sperrins

The Sperrins
Na Speiríní
Sawel Mountain, the highest point of the Sperrins
Highest point
Peak	Sawel Mountain
Elevation	678 m (2,224 ft)
Geography
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	Northern Ireland
Counties	County Tyrone, County Londonderry
Range coordinates	54°48′N 7°05′W / 54.8°N 7.08°W / 54.8; -7.08Coordinates: 54°48′N 7°05′W / 54.8°N 7.08°W / 54.8; -7.08
Geology
Orogeny	Caledonian orogeny
Type of rock	Schist, quartzite,granite, basalt, rhyolite

The Sperrins or Sperrin Mountains (from Irish Speirín, meaning "little pinnacle") are a range of mountains in Northern Ireland and one of the largest upland areas in Ireland. The range stretches the counties of Tyrone and Londonderry from south of Strabane eastwards to Slieve Gallion in Desertmartin and north towards Limavady. The region has a population of some 150,000 and is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

It has a distinctive glaciated landscape. The Glenshane Pass, part of the A6 Belfast to Derry road, is in the mountains and has notoriously bad weather in winter. Sawel Mountain is the highest peak in the Sperrins, and the seventh highest in Northern Ireland. Its summit rises to 678 m (2,224 ft). Another of the Sperrins, Carntogher (464 m), towers over the Glenshane Pass.

Geologically, the Sperrins are formed mostly from Precambrian metamorphic rocks, with some younger Ordovician igneous rocks in the southern flank of the range.