United Kingdom

Wales is to the west of the island, next to the Irish Sea. Its capital city, Cardiff, is on the south coast of the country. Wales is more mountainous than England, particularly in north and mid Wales.

Scotland is to the north of the country. It consists of two very different regions; the highlands, in the north of Scotland, and the lowlands in the south, on the border with England. As its name suggests, the Highland region is mountainous and sparsely populated. The lowland region is where most of Scotlands population (just over five million people) live. The capital city is Edinburgh but the largest city is Glasgow.

Across the Irish Sea lies the island of Ireland. Only the north east corner (Northern Ireland) is part of the UK. The rest of the island is a separate country, the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland (population 1.8 million) is a hilly country which boasts the largest inland body of water in the UK, Lough Neagh, at 390 square kilometres.