The official name of Great Britain is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The British Isles lie to the north-west of Europe and consist of two main islands (Great Britain and Ireland), and over five hundred small Islands. The total area is some 94250 square miles.
Great Britain and Ireland are separated by the Irish Sea. The north-west and west of Great Britain is surrounded by the Atlantic ocean. In the East the country is washed by the North Sea, in the south it is separated from France by the English Channel. Once the British Isles were part of the mainland of Europe the nearest point is across the Strait of Dover, where the chalk cliffs of Britain are only twenty two miles from those of France. There are four parts in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. London is the capital of England and the UK. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, the capitals of Wales and Northern Ireland are Cardiff and Belfast.
Britain is comparatively small, but there is hardly a country in the world where such a variety of scenery can be found in so small a compass. The island of Great Britain is quite distinctly divided into two parts: mountainous (north and west) and lowlands (south and east). England is separated from Scotland by the Cheviot Hills.
The seas round the British Isles are shallow. The North Sea is nowhere more than 600 feet deep. The shallowness is in some ways an advantage. Shallow water is warmer than deep water and helps to keep the shores from extreme cold. The position of the mountains naturally determined the direction and length of the rivers, and the longest rivers, except Severn and Clyde, flow into the North Sea. The rivers of Britain are of no great value as water-ways- the longest, the Thames, is a little over 200 miles and few of them are navigable. Many of the English and Scottish rivers are joined by canals, so that its possible to travel by water from one end of Great Britain to the other. There are no great forests in Great Britain today. Historically, the most famous forest is Sherwood Forest. It is to the north of London. The lake District in the Northern England with its lakes, mountains and valleys is a favorite holiday resort.
