United Kingdom Facts
The United Kingdom includes four countries. First let’s start with explaining the distinctions between United Kingdom, Great Britain and Britain.
- UK: United Kingdom is an European country that includes four separate countries on the British isles: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- Great Britain is the name for three nations on the main isle: England, Scotland and Wales.
- Britain is used only for including the mainland countries England and Wales.
UK Geography
- The United Kingdom is a country in northwestern Europe.
- The UK consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- The UK is located mainly on two large islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
- No location in the UK is further away from the sea than 125 km/ 77 miles!.
- The only land border to a non-UK country is in Northern Ireland the border with Ireland.
- The United Kingdom is slightly smaller than the state of Oregon/USA and slightly bigger than Ghana.
- The UK lies on the prime meridian which marks the Greenwich meridian timezone (GMT).
- The landscape is dominated by rolling plains and rugged hillsides.
- The UK has 13 British overseas territories, among them are Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, Gibraltar on the Iberian Peninsula and Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.
- The United Kingdom was part of the European Union from 1973 and left the EU on 31 January 2020. A transition period until 31 December 2020 is currently taking place until new arrangements between the EU and the UK are in place. Read more about the European Union here.
