Geography United Kingdom
Modestly sized considering its significant global presence, the United Kingdom, technically known as the British Isles, is mainly comprised of the three semi-independent countries of England, Wales and Scotland. The UK is one central island with several small islands off the coast of Scotland, and possesses unusual administrative ties with the Isle of Man, Jersey, Northern Ireland, and many overseas protectorates.
Met by the sea on three sides and adjacent to Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, a good part of England, especially the east, is level and low to the ground. But to the tourist it appears an English country garden with scenic undulations and slumbering valleys and moors. On this small-scale island of abundant inhabitance there is an unpredicted inventory of well-kept countryside with an immense collection of public footpaths. To the north lies a range of limestone hills that are the Pennines, and the northwest is decorated with the picturesque Cumbrian Mountains and Lake District. The centre of the densely populated Midlands gives way to the breathtaking landscape of England’s eldest national park, the Peak District. The southwest-situated West Country is a granite outcrop plateau hosting dairy farming and jagged coastline.
Hailed as the garden of England, Kent lies to the southeast of London and a lengthy ridge scales the distance of southern England through Sussex, with a composition of mild coastline, chalky cliffs particularly at Dover, and pebble-ribbed beaches.
A lovely area comprising Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, as well as the New Forest Britain’s makes up Britain’s southwest extremity. It is an area often generously wooded, untouched and striking, with Cornwall the more craggy and desolate in areas yet still offering dazzling coastal locales. Sitting in England’s southwest is the sparse and sullen but original landscape of Dartmoor.
Furthest north and amounting to about half of Britain’s breadth is Scotland, consisting chiefly of the sensational Highlands that are among Britain’s legendary lures. Scotland’s southern plains produce fruitful agricultural land, and among the world’s most aged mountains are the Grampians that lead up to the Highlands. Making up one lengthy barrier alongside the Highlands from east to west are Loch Ness and a number of other extraordinary lakes. Many roads lead to the Highlands, in which you will find Britain’s highest peak, Ben Nevis, and beyond them exist numerous islands including the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands.
Spring and summer bring a vibrant palette to the countryside, where red deer, foxes, badgers and hedgehogs wander and squirrels have grown to be a menace in some areas. One of Britain’s favourite hobbies is bird watching, which can be enjoyed in the seven percent of the country graced with England’s national parks including Dartmoor, Exmoor, Lake District, Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, New Forest, Norfolk Broads and Northumberland.