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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom or Great Britain is a country in northwestern Europe. More precisely it is called „United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland“. The Country consist of four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England, Wales and Scotland are located on the island of Great Britain. Northern Irland is a small part of the opposite island of ireland.
There are also some smaller islands nearby that belong to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom also owns colonies in other parts of the world. They are now called overseas territories.
Around the year 1900 the British Empire was the largest and most powerful country in the world. In the 1960s many colonies were lost. But many people in the world are still learning the English language. Many other people have also adopted some of the British culture.
What does the country look like?
The United Kingdom gets its weather from the Atlantic Ocean. That's why the wind blows very strongly there, there is a lot of rain and fog. But it doesn't get particularly cold there. Temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius are rare, but it is usually humid and foggy in the winter months. In March it can be pleasantly warm like in spring.
Scotland in the north has mountains, just like Wales. England, on the other hand, only knows ranges of hills. The highest mountain in the United Kingdom is in Scotland: Ben Navis is 1,345 meters high.
The United Kingdom is a heavily urbanized country, especially in the England part of the country. This means that there are many large cities there and only little unspoiled nature. Only about a tenth of the country's area is forest. One of the reasons for this is that the United Kingdom was industrialized early on.
Because the United Kingdom is made up of several islands, it has a long coastline. In the east of the country is the North Sea, in the west the Atlantic and the Irish Sea. A famous seaside holiday region is Cornwall in the south. To the west off the coast of Scotland are the Hebrides, a group of islands. To the north of Scotland are the Shetland Islands and Orkney. Both areas used to belong to Denmark for a long time.
