Geography of the UK

ENGLAND

SCOTLAND

WALES

NORTHEN IRELAND

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   The United Kingdom of Great Britain and North­ern Ireland is situated on the British Isles — a large group of islands lying off the north-western coast of Europe and separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover in the south and the North Sea in the east.

   The British Isles consist of two large islands — Great Britain and Ireland — separated by the Irish Sea, and a lot of small islands, the main of which are the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, Anglesea and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Hebrides — a group of islands off the north-western coast of Scotland, and two groups of islands lying to the north of Scotland: the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.

   Historically the territory of the United Kingdom is divided into four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The total area of the United Kingdom is 244 sq km.

   The name Britain is sometimes used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole. The capital is London, which is among the world's leading commercial, financial, and cultural centers. Other major cities include Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester in England, Belfast and Londonderry in Northern Ireland, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and Swansea and Cardiff in Wales. 

   The coastline of Great Britain is greatly indented, especially in the west and north-west where the moun­tains come close to the coast. The coasts of Scotland, as well as the coasts of the Hebrides, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands, are cut by numerous fiords. In the south and east the land gradually slopes down towards the sea, and the coasts are sandy and gentle, here and there interrupted by the ends of hill-ranges, which form low cliffs.