EXPLORE THE UNITED KINGDOM 12 KEY FACTS by Patricia Hutchison 12 Story Library
1 The United Kingdom Is Four Countries 6,000 Approximate number of islands in the British Isles The UK is made up of England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland London is the capital of England and the UK The landscape of the UK was created by glaciers The Republic of Ireland is also there This country is not part of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom belongs to a group of islands called the British The United Kingdom is made up of England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland England is the largest at 50,301 square miles 130,279 sq km It has the most people Its capital city London is the capital of the United Kingdom All citizens are British citizens England Scotland and Wales are on an island called Great Britain Northern Ireland is on another island to the west The White Cliffs of Dover located on the southeast side of England are made of chalk a soft white finely-grained limestone 4
The Urquhart Castle ruins provide a unique view of Loch Ness Isles The two large islands are surrounded by thousands of smaller islands The North Sea is to the east The Atlantic Ocean is to the north and northwest The English Channel on the south separates Great Britain from continental Europe Glaciers carved the landscape of the United Kingdom Steep cliffs rise above the water Rugged hills and mountains cover northern and western Great Britain The southwest has more gently rolling hills and fields Northern Ireland is mostly hilly The last ice age ended more than 10,000 years ago Thick sheets of ice melted leaving behind hundreds A MONSTER IN THE LOCH In 1933 visitors to Loch Ness in Scotland saw something scary A creature that looked like a dragon or serpent entered the loch Newspapers called it the Loch Ness Monster Over the years thousands more sightings have been reported People have given the monster a nickname Nessie There is no scientific proof that Nessie exists But people still look for her in Loch Ness of lakes and rivers Lochs formed in Scotland These bodies of water look like lakes But they’re connected to oceans or seas 5
