United Kingdom: Geography#

LocationWestern Europe, islands - including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland - between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea; northwest of France
Geographic Coordinates54 00 N, 2 00 W 54.0,-2.0
Area total: 243,610 sq km
land: 241,930 sq km
water: 1,680 sq km
note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
We are unable to verify those figures from Factbook, since the 6 main sources we used for checking give different figures as follows:
Factbook: 243610
DBpedia: 243610
Geoname: 244820
Infoplease: 244820
Britannica: 243073
Wolfram: 243610

Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office@global-geography.org
Land boundariestotal: 360 km
border countries: Ireland 360 km
Coastline12,429 km
Elevation Extremeslowest point: The Fens -4 m
highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m
Highest MountainsDue to difference in mountain rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists :
According to Wolfram: Ben Nevis 1343 m; Ben Macdui 1309 m; Braeriach 1295 m; Cairn Gorm 1234 m; Mount Knockness 1219 m
According to Geonames: Ben Nevis 1344 m; Ben Macdui 1309 m; Braeriach 1296 m; Cairn Toul 1291 m; Sgor an Lochain Uaine 1258 m

Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office@global-geography.org
Important Mountains
Terrainmostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
Natural Hazardswinter windstorms; floods
Natural Resourcecoal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land
Land Usearable land: 24.88%
permanent crops: 0.18%
other: 74.93% (2011)
Climatetemperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
Irrigated Land2,280 sq km (2005)
Renewable Water Resources147 cu km (2011)
Environment_CurrentIssuescontinues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move toward a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government reduced the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and recycled or composted at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015
Environment - international agreementsparty to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Large CitiesDue to difference in city rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists :
According to Wolfram: London; Birmingham; Leeds; Glasgow; Sheffield
According to Geonames: City of London; London; Birmingham; Glasgow; Liverpool

Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office@global-geography.org
Important Cities
Geography-notelies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
Important Rivers