GEOGRAPHY OF UK

The official name of the UK is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It lies on the British Isles which are situated on the north-western coast of Europe. These British Isles consist of two big islands - Great Britain and Ireland.

Rivers and lakes: The longest river in the UK is the River Severn (220 mi, 354 km) which flows through both Wales and England.River Severn The longest rivers in the UK by country are: England: River Thames (215 mi, 346 km)River Thames Scotland: River Tay (117 mi, 188 km)River Tay N. Ireland: River Bann (76 mi, 122 km)River Bann Wales: River Tywi (64 mi, 103 km)River Tywi

The largest lakes in the UK by country are: N. Ireland: Lough Neagh ( sq mi, km²)Lough Neagh Scotland: Loch Lomond (27.46 sq mi, km²)Loch Lomond England: Windermere (5.69 sq mi, km²)Windermere Wales: Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) (1.87 sq mi, 4.84 km²)Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) 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 descends to 79 metres (258 feet).Loch MorarLoch NessWastwaterfeet

The ten tallest mountains in the UK are all found in Scotland. The highest peaks in each part of the UK are:mountains Scotland: Ben Nevis (Aonach Mòr, 1,344 metres)Ben NevisAonach Mòr Wales: Snowdon (Snowdonia, 1,085 metres)SnowdonSnowdonia England: Scafell Pike (Cumbrian Mountains, 977 metres)Scafell PikeCumbrian Mountains Northern Ireland: Slieve Donard (Mourne Mountains, 852 metres)Slieve DonardMourne Mountains Mountains and hills

The ranges of mountains and hills in the UK include:hills Scotland: Cairngorms, Cheviot Hills, Scottish Highlands, Southern Uplands, Grampian MountainsCairngormsCheviot HillsScottish HighlandsSouthern Uplands Grampian Mountains Wales: Brecon Beacons, Cambrian Mountains, Snowdonia, Black Mountains, Preseli HillsBrecon BeaconsCambrian MountainsSnowdoniaBlack MountainsPreseli Hills England: Chilterns, Cotswolds, Dartmoor, Lincolnshire Wolds, Exmoor, Lake District, Malvern Hills, Mendip Hills, North Downs, Peak District, Pennines, Salisbury Plain, South Downs, Shropshire Hills, Yorkshire WoldsChilternsCotswoldsDartmoorLincolnshire WoldsExmoor Lake DistrictMalvern HillsMendip HillsNorth DownsPeak District PenninesSalisbury PlainSouth DownsShropshire HillsYorkshire Wolds Northern Ireland: Mourne Mountains, Antrim Plateau, SperrinMourne MountainsAntrim PlateauSperrin 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.the FensEast Angliasea level

Climate - Britain has a temperate and equable climate - the prevailing winds are south-westerly and the weather is influenced by Antlantic - in the winter there is cold, dry continental type of weather - the average difference between temperatures in winter and summer is biggest in inland - the summer lasts from June to September and the temperature is hovering around 20 degrees - at any time the weather in cloudy and rainy - The lowest temperatures in winter aren’t lower than –7°C - the average rain-fall is about 900 mm

Population Population is over 59 million. In Britain, we can find the following ethnic groups: 81.5% English, 9.6% Scottish, 2.4% Irish, 1.9% Welsh and 1.8% Ulster. They are nearly all English- speaking, but still three Celtic languages have survived: Welsh (spoken by the population of the Wales), Gaelic (spoken in Scotland), and Irish (spoken by Irish).UK is one of the most densely populated countries in the world (249 inhabitants per one square km) and about 80 per cent of its inhabitants live in towns. London is the capital city with a population of 7.2 million. There is one town besides London with population over 1 million - Birmingham. Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Belfast, Coventry, and Cardiff follow these two - each has population of more than 300,000. The Church of England and the Church of Scotland are the official national churches in their respective countries but there are some Roman Catholic (7%), Muslims, Hindu and Jewish in the UK.

Industry Scotland Wales Northern Ireland England - Agricultural industry Ports: Cardiff, Swansea and Newport Scottish Glasgow is the largest industrial city and port - engineering, textile, shipbuilding The industrial center is the capital of Northern Ireland - Belfast (shipbuilding and textiles) Port of Londonderry with the textile industry - electronics, automotive and aerospace industry