An island country, the United Kingdom is situated off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. It is a country made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The country is also known as Britain or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
London, the capital city, is an iconic center that is also the world’s leading financial, commercial, and cultural hub. Other best destinations to travel to in the United Kingdom are Birmingham, Liverpool, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
The history of the United Kingdom goes way back to the early 10th century when the Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan secured allegiance with neighboring Celtic kingdoms.
To date, the country has made considerable contributions to the world economy ranging from technology and industry to literature, theatre, film, and music. However, the country’s most famous export is its language, English, which is now spoken worldwide as a medium of international communication.
The United Kingdom is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It used to be a part of the European Union, but after 52% of British voters chose that the country must leave the EU, Brexit was proposed.
Thus, after lots of negotiation and domestic political discord, the United Kingdom became the first country to withdraw from the EU.
Geology
The United Kingdom is surrounded by sea besides its land border with the Irish Republic.
It constitutes most of the area of the British Isles.
The United Kingdom has diverse geology and landscapes due to the disposition of the underlying rocks. These rocks are westward extensions of the European structures.
The country is divided into two relief zones: a highland and a lowland zone.
The highland houses the highest summit of the country, Ben Nevis (4,406 feet).
Climate
The country’s climate is derived from its setting within the atmospheric circulation patterns from the location of its landforms with the sea.
The major types of air masses that affect the climate in the United Kingdom are the polar and tropical air masses.
The weather majorly depends on the order of disturbances in the midlatitude westerlies, which bring polar maritime and occasional tropical maritime air.
The best time to visit this country is in the spring season, starting from late March to early June, or in the autumn season which begins in September and ends in November.
These months are when the weather is warm and dry. The environment is beautiful to explore even though it might be a bit crowded in significant tourist spots.
Nature and Wildlife
The United Kingdom’s vegetation consists mainly of deciduous forests, except for regions such as northern Scotland, the highest hills of the north and west, and the seacoast fringes.
Due to urbanization, only scattered woodlands remain, especially in areas such as northeastern Scotland, Kielder, Northumberland, Breckland in Norfolk, Ashtown forest in Sussex, and Gwynedd in Wales.
In terms of wildlife, there are more mammals than amphibians and reptiles. You can find mammals like red deer, roe deer, badgers, foxes, otters, weasels, hedgehogs, rabbits, brown hares, and more in different parts of the country.
Large mammals like boars, reindeer, and wolves are extinct.
Birdlife is diverse in the United Kingdom. It houses 200 bird species, of which one-half are migratory. However, you will mostly see birds like wild pigeons, grouse, blackbirds, chaffinch, and pheasants.
People
The country has housed many immigrants from all over the world. Some came to the country to avoid political/religious persecution, and some came to make a living for themselves and their families.
The United Kingdom has 87.2% of white ethnic groups followed by black, Indian, mixed race, Pakistanis, and others.
