Geography of UK

The United Kingdom, with its area 245,000 square kilometers approximately, is made up of Great Britain (England and Scotland, and the principality of Wales), Northern Ireland and many other small islands comprised of the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, and the Scilly, Orkney, Shetland, and Hebridean archipelagos.

The official title of the UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is an island nation situated in the Western Europe off the coast of France. The mainland areas lie between latitudes 49°N and 59°N and longitudes 8°W to 2°E. England is the largest country of the United Kingdom with 130,410 square kilometers.

The landscape of UK is varied in nature. It has mountains such as Grampian of Scotland and the low lands below or at the sea level found in England. The mountainous parts of the UK are mostly found in Scotland and Wales. We can also see a hill range running down the centre of Northern England. The major part of the UK is spotted with gently rolling hills coupled with isolated areas of high ground such as Dartmoor in the South-West of England or the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland.

Lough Neagh, the largest lake of UK is located in Northern Ireland covering an area of 396 sq.km. Other major lakes include Windermere in the English Lake District and Loch Lomond in Scotland. Another lake in Scotland is Loch Ness, famous for sighting of a mythical monster called 'Nessie'.

Important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Thames, Humber, Tees, and Tyne while in the west, there are the Severn and Wye, which fall into the Bristol Channel. They are navigable as rivers of Mersey and Ribble. As it is small island, most of the rivers of the UK are not very long. The Severn is the longest river with the length of just 338 km. originating from Wales and entering the Atlantic Ocean near Bristol in England.

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