Geography of the United Kingdom

Coordinates:

540N 230W

United Kingdom

Satellite image of the United Kingdom

Location

Western/NorthernEurop
e

Coordinates

540N 230W

Area

- Total

243,610 km2
(94,060 sq mi)

- Water (%)

1.34

Area rank

80th

Highest

1,344 m (4,409 ft)

elevation

Highest point

Ben Nevis

Longest river

River Severn

Largest lake

Lough Neagh

Climate

Temperate

The United Kingdom is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental
Europe. With a total area of approximately 241,930 square kilometres (93,410 sq mi), the UK
occupies the major part of the British Isles archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain,
the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and many smaller surrounding islands. [1] The
mainland areas lie between latitudes 49N and 59N (the Shetland Islands reach to nearly 61N),
and longitudes 8W to 2E. The Royal Greenwich Observatory, inSouth East London, is the
defining point of the Prime Meridian.
The UK lies between the North Atlantic and the North Sea, and comes within 35 km (22 mi) of the
north-west coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. It shares a 499 km
international land boundary with the Republic of Ireland.[2][3] The Channel Tunnel bored beneath
the English Channel, now links the UK with France.
The British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are covered in their own respective
articles, see below.

Area
The total area of the United Kingdom according to the World Bank is approximately 241,930
square kilometres (93,410 sq mi), comprising the island of Great Britain, the northeastern onesixth of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland) and many smaller islands. England is the
largest country of the United Kingdom, at 130,410 square kilometres (50,350 sq mi) accounting
for just over half the total area of the UK. Scotland at 78,772 square kilometres (30,410 sq mi),
[4]
is second largest, accounting for about a third of the area of the UK. Wales and Northern
Ireland are much smaller, covering 20,758 and 14,160 square kilometres (8,010 and 5,470 sq mi)
respectively.
The area of the countries of the United Kingdom is set out in the table below. Information about
the area of England, the largest country, is also broken down by region.
The British Antarctic Territory, which covers an area of 1,709,400 km2 is geographically the largest
of the British Overseas Territories followed by the Falkland Islands which covers an area of
12,173 km2. The remaining twelve overseas territories cover an area 5,997 km2.
Other countries with very similar land areas to the United Kingdom include Guinea (slightly
larger), Uganda, Ghana and Romania (all slightly smaller). The UK is the world's 80th largest
country by land area and the 10th largest in Europe (if European Russia is included).

Physical geography
The physical geography of the UK varies greatly. England consists of mostly lowland terrain, with
upland or mountainous terrain only found north-west of the Tees-Exe line. The upland areas
include the Lake District, the Pennines, Exmoor and Dartmoor. The lowland areas are typically
traversed by ranges of low hills, frequently composed of chalk. The physical geography of
Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault which traverses the Scottish mainland
from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. The faultline separates the two distinctively different regions of
the Highlands to the north and west, and the lowlands to the south and east. Wales is mostly
mountainous, though south Wales is less mountainous than north and mid Wales. The geography
of Ireland includes the Mourne Mountains as well as Lough Neagh, at 388 square kilometres
(150 sq mi), the largest body of water in the UK.[13]
The overall geomorphology of the UK was shaped by a combination of forces
including tectonics and climate change, in particular glaciationin northern and western areas.
The tallest mountain in the UK (and British Isles) is Ben Nevis, in the Grampian Mountains,
Scotland. The longest river is the River Severnwhich flows from Wales into England. The largest
lake by surface area is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, though Scotland's Loch Ness has the
largest volume.

Geology
The geology of the UK is complex and diverse, a result of it being subject to a variety of plate
tectonic processes over a very extended period of time. Changing latitude and sea levels have

been important factors in the nature of sedimentary sequences, whilst successive continental
collisions have affected its geological structure with major faulting and folding being a legacy of
each orogeny (mountain-building period), often associated with volcanic activity and the
metamorphism of existing rock sequences. As a result of this eventful geological history, the UK
shows a rich variety of landscapes.[14]

Mountains and hills

At 1,344 metres, Ben Nevis is the highest peak in the UK.

Main article: List of mountains and hills of the United Kingdom

The ten tallest mountains in the UK are all found in Scotland. The highest peaks in each part of
the UK are:

Scotland: Ben Nevis, 1,344 metres

Wales: Snowdon (Snowdonia), 1,085 metres

England: Scafell Pike (Cumbrian Mountains), 978 metres

Northern Ireland: Slieve Donard (Mourne Mountains), 852 metres

The ranges of mountains and hills in the UK include:

Scotland: Cairngorms, Scottish Highlands, Southern Uplands, Grampian

Mountains, Monadhliath Mountains, Ochil Hills, Campsie Fells,Cuillin
Wales: Brecon Beacons, Cambrian Mountains, Snowdonia, Black Mountains, Preseli Hills
England: Cheviot Hills, Chilterns, Cotswolds, Dartmoor, Lincolnshire
Wolds, Exmoor, Lake District, Malvern Hills, Mendip Hills, North Downs, Peak
District, Pennines, South Downs, Shropshire Hills, Yorkshire Wolds
Northern Ireland: Mourne Mountains, Antrim Plateau, Sperrin Mountains

The lowest point of the UK is in the Fens of East Anglia, in England, parts of which lie up to
4 metres below sea level.

Rivers and lakes

Main articles

List of lakes and lochs in the United Kingdom;

List of rivers of the United Kingdom;

List of waterfalls of the United Kingdom.

The longest river in the UK is the River Severn (220 mi; 350 km) which flows through both Wales
and England.
The longest rivers in the UK contained wholly within each of its constituent nations are:

England: River Thames (215 mi; 346 km)

Scotland: River Tay (117 mi; 188 km)

N. Ireland: River Bann (76 mi; 122 km)

Wales: River Tywi (64 mi; 103 km)

The largest lakes (by surface area) in the UK by country are:

N. Ireland: Lough Neagh (147.39 sq mi; 381.7 km2)

Scotland: Loch Lomond (27.46 sq mi; 71.1 km2)

England: Windermere (5.69 sq mi; 14.7 km2)

Wales: Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) (1.87 sq mi; 4.8 km2)

The deepest lake in the UK is Loch Morar with a maximum depth of 309 metres (Loch Ness is
second at 228 metres deep). The deepest lake in England is Wastwater which achieves a depth
of 79 metres (259 feet).
Loch Ness is the UK's largest lake in terms of volume.

Artificial waterways
Main articles: Waterways in the United Kingdom, Canals of Great Britain, Dams and reservoirs in
United Kingdom
As a result of its industrial history, the United Kingdom has an extensive system of canals, mostly
built in the early years of the Industrial Revolution, before the rise of competition from
the railways. The United Kingdom also has numerous dams and reservoirs to store water for
drinking and industry. The generation of hydroelectric power is rather limited, supplying less than
2% of British electricity mainly from the Scottish Highlands.

Coastline
United Kingdom maritime claims

The UK has a coastline which measures about 12,429 km.[15] The heavy indentation of the
coastline helps to ensure that no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters.
The UK claims jurisdiction over the continental shelf, as defined in continental shelf orders or in
accordance with agreed upon boundaries, an exclusive fishing zone of 200 nmi (370.4 km;
230.2 mi), and territorial sea of 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi).
Inlets

Cardigan Bay

Lyme Bay

Bristol Channel

Thames estuary

Morecambe Bay

Solway Firth

The Wash

Humber estuary

Firth of Forth

Firth of Tay

Moray Firth

Firth of Clyde

Firth of Lorn

Headlands
The geology of the United Kingdom is such that there are many headlands along its coast. A list
of headlands of the United Kingdom details many of them.

Islands
Main article: List of islands of the United Kingdom
In total, it is estimated that the UK is made up of over one thousand small islands, the majority
located off the north and west coasts of Scotland. About 130 of these are inhabited according to
the 2001 Census.
The largest islands by country are Lewis and Harris in Scotland (841 square mi),
Wales' Anglesey (276 square mi), the Isle of Wight in England (147.09 square mi), and Rathlin
Island in Northern Ireland (roughly 6 square mi);

Climate
Main article: Climate of the United Kingdom
The climate of the UK is generally temperate, although significant local variation occurs,
particularly as a result of altitude and distance from the coast. In general the south of the country
is warmer than the north, and the west wetter than the east. Due to the warming influence of
the Gulf Stream, the UK is significantly warmer than some other locations at similar latitude, such
as Newfoundland.
The prevailing winds are southwesterly, from the North Atlantic Current. More than 50% of the
days are overcast.[citation needed] There are few natural hazards, although there can be strong winds
and floods, especially in winter.
Average annual rainfall varies from over 3,000 mm (118.1 in) in the Scottish Highlands down to
553 mm (21.8 in) in Cambridge. The county of Essex is one of the driest in the UK, with an
average annual rainfall of around 600 mm (23.6 in), although it typically rains on over 100 days
per year. In some years rainfall in Essex can be below 450 mm (17.7 in), less than the average
annual rainfall in Jerusalem and Beirut.
The highest temperature recorded in the UK was 38.5 C (101.3 F) at Brogdale,
near Faversham, in the county of Kent, on 10 August 2003. The lowest was 27.2 C (17.0 F)
recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, Scotland, on 11 February 1895 and 10 January
1982 and Altnaharra, also in Scotland, on 30 December 1995.

Human geography
The United Kingdom is composed of four parts: England,Northern Ireland, Scotland andWales.

Demographics[edit]
Main article: Demographics of the United Kingdom

Political geography[edit]
Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom
National government[edit]
The UK is governed as a whole by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Of the four countries
that make the UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved administrations and
parliaments/assembly:

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Assembly

Scotland Scottish Parliament

Wales National Assembly for Wales

England has no devolved system of government[clarification needed]that is, the Parliament of the United
Kingdom serves as (and historically was) the English Parliament. It is governed by UK
government ministers and legislated for by the UK parliament. Within England, London has a
devolved assembly but proposals for elected Regional Assemblies in England were rejected in
the first referendum covering North East England. See Government of England.
The UK (specifically, Northern Ireland) has an international land boundary with the Republic of
Ireland of 499 km.[2][3] There is also a boundary between the jurisdiction of France and the UK on
the Channel Tunnel.
Local government[edit]
Main articles: Local government in England, Local government in Scotland, Local government in
Wales and Local government in Northern Ireland
Each part of the UK is subdivided in further local governmental regions:

England: Unitary Authorities, county councils, district councils, parish councils

Wales: Principal areas, communities

Scotland: Council areas, communities

Northern Ireland: Districts

Historically the UK was divided into counties or shires: administrative areas through which all civil
responsibilities of the government were passed. Each county or shire had a county town as its
administrative centre and was divided into individual parishes that were defined
alongecclesiastic boundaries.
Between 1889 (1890 in Scotland) and 1974, the political boundaries were based on the traditional
counties, but due to changes in population centres, the traditional counties became impractical as
local government areas in certain highly urbanised areas. The Local Government Act
1972 created a new system of administrative counties, designed to take account of the widely
differing populations across different parts of the country.
In the 1990s further population growth led to more political changes on a local level. Unitary
authorities were formed across the entirety of Scotland and Wales, and in larger cities in England.
Many unpopular administrative counties were also abolished at this time, leading to a mixture of
two-tier and single-purpose authorities. Further reorganisations are planned if and when regional
assemblies in England are revisited in the future.

Economic geography[edit]
Main article: Economic geography of the United Kingdom
The economic geography of the UK reflects not only its current position in the global economy,
but its long history both as a trading nation and an imperial power.
The UK led the industrial revolution and its highly urban character is a legacy of this, with all its
major cities being current or former centres of various forms of manufacturing. However, this in
turn was built on its exploitation of natural resources, especially coal and iron ore.
Primary industry[edit]
The UK's primary industry was once dominated by the coal industry, heavily concentrated in the
north, the Midlands and south Wales. This is all but gone and the major primary industry is North
Sea oil. Its activity is concentrated on the UK Continental Shelf to the north-east of Scotland.
Manufacturing[edit]
The UK's heavy manufacturing drove the industrial revolution. A map of the major UK cities gives
a good picture of where this activity occurred, in
particular Belfast, Birmingham,Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield
. Today there is no heavy manufacturing industry in which UK-based firms can be considered
world leaders. However, areas of the UK still have a notable manufacturing base, including

the Midlands which remains a strong manufacturing centre, and the North West which accounts
for 60% of the United Kingdom's manufacturing output. [16] More recently, high technology firms
have concentrated largely along the M4 motorway, partly because of access to Heathrow Airport,
but also because of agglomeration economies.
Finance and services[edit]
Once, every large city had a stock exchange. Now, the UK financial industry is concentrated
overwhelmingly in the City of London and Canary Wharf, with back office and administrative
operations often dispersed around the south of England. London is one of the world's great
financial centres and is usually referred to as a world city. There is also a significant legal
and ebusiness industry in Leeds.
Regional disparity[edit]
The effect of changing economic fortune has contributed to the creation of the so-called NorthSouth divide, in which decaying industrial and ex-industrial areas of Northern England, Scotland
and Wales contrast with the wealthy, finance and technology-led southern economy. This has led
successive governments to develop regional policy to try to rectify the imbalance. However, this is
not to say that the north-south divide is uniform; some of the worst pockets of deprivation can be
found in London, whilst parts of Cheshireand North Yorkshire are very wealthy. Nor is the NorthSouth divide limited to the economic sphere; cultural and political divisions weigh heavily too.

Natural resources[edit]
Main article: Economy of the United Kingdom
Historically, much of the United Kingdom was forested. Since prehistoric times, man
has deforested much of the United Kingdom.
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about
60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. It contributes around 2% ofGDP. Around two
thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops.
In 1993, it was estimated that land use was:

Arable land: 25%

Permanent crops: 0%

Permanent pastures: 46%

Forests and Woodland: 10%

Other: 19%

Irrigated: 1,080 km

The UK has a variety of natural resources including:

Geological: coal, petroleum, natural gas, limestone, chalk, gypsum, silica, rock salt, china
clay, iron ore, tin, silver, gold, lead.
Agricultural: arable land, wheat, barley, sheep

The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10%
of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Due to the island location of the UK,
the country has great potential for generating electricity from wave power and tidal power,
although these have not yet been exploited on a commercial basis.

Environment[edit]
Current issues[edit]
England is one of the most densely populated countries/regions in the world, and the most
densely populated major nation in Europe.[17] The high population density (especially in the
southeast of England) coupled with a changing climate, is likely to put extreme pressure on the
United Kingdom's water resources in the future.[18]

The United Kingdom is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It has met Kyoto Protocol target of a
12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target of a 20% cut in
emissions by 2010. By 2015, to recycle or compost at least 33% of household waste. Between
1998-99 and 19992000, household recycling increased from 8.8% to 10.3% respectively.

International agreements[edit]
The United Kingdom is a party to many international agreements, including: Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic
Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol,Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands and Whaling.
The UK has signed, but not ratified, the international agreement on Air Pollution-Persistent
Organic Pollutants.

The United Kingdom is a sovereign state located off the north-western

coast of continental Europe, with a total area of approximately 241,930
square kilometres. It is formed of:
England is the largest country of the United Kingdom, at 130,410
square kilometres (50,350 sq mi)
Scotland at 78,772 square kilometres (30,410 sq mi),[4] is second
largest, accounting for about a third of the area of the

UK. Wales and Northern Ireland are much smaller, covering 20,758
and 14,160 square kilometres (8,010 and 5,470 sq mi) respectively.
The physical geography of the UK varies greatly. England consists of
mostly lowland terrain, with upland or mountainous terrain only found
north-west of the Tees-Exe line
The tallest mountain in the UK (and British Isles) is Ben Nevis
(1,344 metres), in the Grampian Mountains, Scotland.
The longest river is the River Severnwhich flows from Wales into
England.
The largest lake by surface area is Lough Neagh ((147.39 sq mi;
381.7 km )) in Northern Ireland, though Scotland's Loch Ness has the
largest volume.
2

The geology of the UK is complex and diverse, a result of it being

subject to a variety of plate tectonic processes over a very extended
period of time.
The lowest point of the UK is in the Fens of East Anglia, in England,
parts of which lie up to 4 metres below sea level.
The longest river in the UK is the River Severn (220 mi; 350 km) which
flows through both Wales and England.
In total, it is estimated that the UK is made up of over one thousand
small islands, the majority located off the north and west coasts of
Scotland
The UK has a coastline which measures about 12,429 km.
The climate of the UK is generally temperate, although significant local
variation occurs, particularly as a result of altitude and distance from
the coast. In general the south of the country is warmer than the north,
and the west wetter than the east.

England is one of the most densely populated countries/regions in the

world, and the most densely populated major nation in Europe.
According to the 2011 census, the total population of the United
Kingdom was around 63,182,000.[1] It is the third-largest in the European

Union (behind Germany and France) and the 22nd-largest in the world. Its
overall population density is one of the highest in the world at 259 people
per square kilometre, due to the particularly high population density in
England. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's southeast,
which is predominantly urban and suburban, with about 8 million in the
capital city of London, the population density of which is just over 5,200
per square kilometre.[2]
The United Kingdom is a unitary democracy governed within the
framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is
the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is
the head of government. Executive power is exercised by Her
Majesty's Government, on behalf of and by the consent of the
Monarch,
as
well
as
by
the devolved Governments
of Scotland and Wales, and the Northern Ireland Executive
The economic geography of the United Kingdom reflects its high
position in the current economic league tables, as well as reflecting its
long history as a trading nation and as an imperial power. This in turn
was built on exploitation of natural resources such as coal and iron
ore.
Agriculture is intensive,
highly mechanised,
and
efficient
by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only
1% of the labour force. It contributes around 2% of GDP. Around two
thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one third to arable crops.
The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy
production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of
any industrial nation. Due to the island location of the UK, the country
has great potential for generating electricity from wave power and tidal
power, although these have not yet been exploited on a commercial
basis.