The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland covers an area of about 243 thousand square kilometres and occupies less than 2 per cent of the world's land area. Britain lies off the north-west coast of Europe across the English Channel, the Strait of Dover and the North Sea. It lies between 50° North and 60° North latitude, and the prime meridian of 0° passes through the old observatory at Greenwich. Britain's neighbours are Ireland to west and France to south-east.
    It is just under 966 km in a straight line from the south coast to the extreme north of mainland Britain and about 483 km across the widest part. No point in the country is more than 121 far from the sea.
    Besides two largest islands - Great Britain (divided into England, Scotland and Wales) and Ireland (the northern part of which belongs to the UK) - we should mention the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England, the Isles of Scilly off the extreme south-west, Anglesey off North Wales, the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. Western Scotland is surrounded by numerous islands - the Hebrides - and not too far north the Orkneys and the Shetlands. We also must not forget the Channel Islands near the French coast which belong to the UK (Jersey and Guernsey).
    The island of Great Britain can be divided roughly into the lowland area and the highland area. Highland area comprises Scotland, most of Wales, the broad central upland of England and the Lake District. The main mountain regions here are the Cornish Heights (south-west England), the Cambrians (Wales), the Cumbrian Mountains (in the Lake District), the Pennines (the Backbone of England) - they run north-south through the central part of northern England. The Cheviot Hills are on the border between England and Scotland. The Highlands of Scotland are the highest mountains in Britain. The highest mountains are Ben Nevis in Scotland (1,342 m) and Snowdon in North Wales (1,085 m).
    British rivers are not very long, but deep. The longest rivers are the Severn (354 km) and the Thames (336 km) in England, while Scotland's chief river is the Clyde. There is also a network of canals in Britain. As for the lakes, there are beautiful lake areas in Cumbria and the Highland of Scotland. The best known are those in the Lake District (e. g. Lake Windermere) and those in Scotland (Loch Lomond and Loch Ness - "loch" means "lake" in Scottish Gaelic). Coast is heavily intended, especially on west.
    Britain has a temperate and mild climate due to the Gulf Stream which comes from the Gulf of Mexico to Western Europe. The prevailing winds are south-westerly, although during the winter months easterly winds may bring a cold, dry continental type of weather. Britain's winters are mild and summers are not very hot, it rains a lot and the grass is greener than in Central Europe. The average temperature ranges from 4°C in winter to 16°C in summer; extremes are quite rare.
    With its mild climate and varies soils, Britain has a diverse pattern of natural vegetation. Woodlands occupy about 8 per cent of surface. The Scottish hills, the Lake District area and many parts on north-east and south-west England are moorland areas (a moor is a peaty, infertile upland area). Most of Britain is agricultural land of which one-third is arable and the rest pasture and meadows. Almost the whole of lowland Britain has been cultivated.