GEOGRAPHY
The British landscape can be divided roughly into two kinds of
terrain - highland and lowland. The highland area comprises the mountainous
regions of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and North Wales. The
English Lake District in the northwest contains lakes and fells. The lowland
area is broken up by sandstone and limestone hills, long valleys and basins
such as the Wash on the east coast. In the southeast, the North and South Downs
culminate in the White Cliffs of Dover. The coastline includes fjord-like inlets
in the northwest of Scotland, spectacular cliffs and wild sandy beaches on
the east coast and, further south, beaches of rock, shale and sand sometimes
backed by dunes, and large areas of fenland in East Anglia.
Official Name: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
Area: 243,000 sq. km. (93,000 sq. mi.); slightly smaller
than Oregon.
Cities: Capital--London (metropolitan pop. about 7.4
million). Other cities--Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield,
Liverpool, Bradford, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Belfast.
Terrain: 30% arable, 50% meadow and pasture, 12% waste
or urban, 7% forested, 1% inland water.
Land use: 25% arable, 46% meadows and pastures, 10%
forests and woodland, 19% other.
Climate: Generally mild and temperate; weather is subject
to frequent changes but to few extremes of temperature.
