3. • The British Isles lie off the north-
west coast of continental Europe
• The UK is made up of “Great Britain,
Northern Ireland”
• Great Britain consists of “England,
Wales, and Scotland”
4.
5. • The United Kingdom is a constitutional
monarchy
• English country adopted a parliamentary system
of government in which the powers of
government are the prime minister and
ministers
• While power as head of state in the hands of the
Queen
6. • The total area of the UK is 241,752 square
kilometers.
• The area of England is 130,423 sq km
• Scotland 78,080 sq km
• Wales 20,766 sq km
• Northern Ireland 13,483 sq km
• The UK coastline is 4057 km long.
7. • Northern Ireland is also home to the UK's largest
lake, Lough Neagh, which covers an area of
396sq.km (153 sq miles).
11. • England's best known river is, of course, the
Thames which flows through London. It is also
the longest, at 346km, in England
• The River Severn is the longest in total, but its
source is in the mountains of Wales, and the
parts which run through England are shorter
than the Thames
12. The Longest Rivers in the UK
2 River Country Length (miles) (km)
1 River Severn Wales and 220 354
England
2 River Thames England 215 346
3 River Trent England 185 297
4 River Great England 143 230
Ouse, East
Anglia
5 River Wye Wales and 135 215
England
6 River Ure / England 129 208
River Ouse,
13. • temperatures not much lower than 0ºC in winter
and not much higher than 32ºC in summer
• July and August are normally the warmest
month in England.
• Around the coasts, February is normally the
coldest month, but inland there is little to
choose between January and February as the
coldest month.
14. • 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
• 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.
15. • Historically, much of the United Kingdom
was forested
• Since prehistoric times, man has
deforested much of the United Kingdom
• 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
