Highland Council is to hold a consultation on plans to make Skye and Raasay its first area of linguistic significance (ALS) for Gaelic.

The local authority has proposed using powers in the new Scottish Languages Act to introduce the designation.

Places where 20% of residents have Gaelic skills qualify as an ALS, but areas with strong cultural or historical links to the language can also meet the criteria.

Highland Council is to recruit a community engagement officer to help take forward the proposals for Skye and Raasay.

There are 18,552 people in the Highland Council area with Gaelic skills, according to the latest census data.

The local authority's Gaelic committee heard earlier this year that Skye and Raasay would qualify as an ALS.

Councillors were told the status would confirm Highland Council's "clear commitment" to Gaelic.

Officials said evidence from Irish Gaeltacht areas suggested the designation could bring economic and educational benefits.

Gaelic and Scots were recognised as official languages as part of a range of new measures that came into force on St Andrew's Day last November.

The Scottish Languages Act, which MSPs voted through in June last year, also empowers parents to ask for a Gaelic school to be established in their area and aims to ensure that more qualifications are available in Gaelic.

It includes powers for ministers to commission research into the use of Gaelic and Scots and establish teaching standards for the languages.

Scotland's then Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes - a Gaelic speaker - called it a "historic milestone".