GEOGRAPHICAL

POSITION, TERRITORY,
RELIEF, POPULATION
OF THE UNITED
KINGDOM

.221531 (3)

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT

BRITAIN AND NOTHERN IRELAND

Geographical position

is situated on the British Isles.

The British Isles consist of 2
and Ireland, and about 5000

small islands.
The British Isles are separated
from the European continent
by the North Sea and the
English Channel. The western
coast of Great Britain is
washed by the Atlantic Ocean
and the Irish Sea.

E
H

AIN
RIT
TB
EA
GR

large islands, Great Britain

L
AT

The
Irish
Sea

Britain and Northern Ireland

C
I
T
N
A

the North Sea

The United Kingdom of Great

E
C
O

el
n
n
a
Ch
h
s
i
l
Eng
the

Territory
The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh,
Cardiff and Belfast respectively.

Wales

England accounts for just over half of the total area of the
UK, covering 130,395 square kilometres (50,350 sq mi)

Scotland accounts for just under a third of the total area

of the UK, covering 78,772 square kilometres
(30,410 sq mi) and including nearly eight
hundred islands, predominantly west and north of
the mainland; notably the Hebrides, Orkney
Islands and Shetland Islands.

Wales accounts for less than a tenth of the total

area of the UK, covering 20,779 square
kilometres (8,020 sq mi)

Northern Ireland, separated from Great Britain by the Irish

Sea and North Channel, has an area of 14,160 square
kilometres (5,470 sq mi)

Relief
The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotland is
mountainous and is called Highlands, while the south, which has beautiful
valleys and plains, is called Lowlands. The north and west of England are
mountainous, but all the rest - east, center and southeast - is a vast plain.
Mountains are not very high. Ben Nevis is the highest mountain. (1343)

Ben Nevis, in Scotland, is the highest point

in the British Isles

The topography of the UK

Population
The population of the United Kingdom is over 57 million people.
Foreigners often call British people "English", but the Scots,
the Irish and the Welsh do not consider themselves to be
English. The English are Anglo-Saxon in origin, but the Welsh,
the Scots and the Irish are Celts, descendants of the ancient
people, who crossed over from Europe centuries before the
Norman Invasion.