Geography of the UK

The UK is a country located in Northern Europe and is made up of four constituent nations (those being England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). It has land on two main islands, Great Britain and Ireland. It also has other, smaller archipelagos/islands dotted around Great Britain, some notable ones include the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, Isles of Scilly, Greater Hebrides, Isle of Wight and Isle of Man. It has a coastline on the North Sea, The Channel, and Atlantic Ocean. The four capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

The population of The UK in 2018 was 66.4 million including 56.0m from England, 5.4m from Scotland, 3.1m from wales and 1.9m from Northern Ireland. The quickest growing “country” was England with a growth rate of +0.75% a year, whereas Wales was the slowest growing with a growth rate of +0.33% a year. The largest foreign groups of people are Indian and Polish. The 10 largest cities are:

Obviously The UK uses English as the main language, but Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Irish Gaelic are all fairly commonly spoken.

The UK has some very interesting aspects of physical geography including rivers, mountains and lakes. The largest mountains are Ben Nevis (1,345m), Ben Macdui (1,306m) and Braeriach (1,296) and the largest mountain ranges are the Grampian Mountains, the Pennines and the Brecon Beacons. The longest river is the River Severn at an impressive 354km and the Thames is not much behind at 346km long. The largest lakes are Lough Neagh (Northern Ireland) at 392 square km, Loch Lomond (Scotland) at 71 square km and Loch Ness (Scotland) at 56 square km. There is also a national park in Northwest England called Lake District National Park, it is home to multiple famous lakes and mountains and gets an estimated 15.8m tourists a year.

The UK has many interesting cities, landmarks and places to visit. Even within London, there are many places you can visit, here are some top places: Buckingham Palace, The British Museum, the Tower of London, Big Ben, the London Eye, Tower Bridge and Hyde Park. All of these make London the most visited city in Europe with over 30m visitors! It is estimated that by 2025, the tourism industry will make up £257b making it just under 10% of The UK’s GDP.

In conclusion, The UK is a country with many languages, cultures and places to see and do. It has a rich history with many medieval castles dotted around the place.