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1、Geography of the United KingdomFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchThe United Kingdom occupies a substantial part of the British Isles.The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or UK, is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental E
2、urope. With a total area of approximately 243,610 square kilometres (94,060 sq mi), the UK occupies the major part of the British Isles1 archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and many smaller surrounding islands. The mainland areas
3、 lie between latitudes 49N and 59N (the Shetland Islands reach to nearly 61N), and longitudes 8W to 2E. The Royal Greenwich Observatory, in South East London, is the defining point of the Prime Meridian.The UK lies between the North Atlantic and the North Sea, and comes within 35 km (22 mi) of the n
4、orthwest coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. It shares a 360 km international land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. The Channel Tunnel bored beneath the English Channel, now links the UK with France.The British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are cov
5、ered in their own respective articles, see below.Content是 1 Area 2 Physical geographyo 2.1 Geologyo 2.2 Mountains and hillso 2.3 Rivers and lakeso 2.4 Artificial waterwayso 2.5 Coastline 2.5.1 Inlets 2.5.2 Headlandso 2.6 Islandso 2.7 Climate 3 Human geographyo 3.1 Demographicso 3.2 Political geograp
6、hy 3.2.1 National government 3.2.2 Local governmento 3.3 Economic geography 3.3.1 Primary industry 3.3.2 Manufacturing 3.3.3 Finance and services 3.3.4 Regional disparity 4 Natural resources 5 Environmento 5.1 Current issueso 5.2 International agreements 6 Antipodes 7 Geography of dependencieso 7.1
7、Crown dependencieso 7.2 Overseas territories 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksAreaThe total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 245,000 square kilometres (94,600 sq mi), comprising the island of Great Britain, the northeastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland) and
8、 many smaller islands. England is the largest country of the United Kingdom, at 130,410 square kilometres (50,350 sq mi) accounting for just over half the total area of the UK. Scotland at 78,772 square kilometres (30,410 sq mi),2 is second largest, accounting for about a third of the area of the UK
9、. Wales and Northern Ireland are much smaller, covering 20,758 square kilometres (8,010 sq mi) and 14,160 square kilometres (5,470 sq mi) respectively.The area of the countries of the United Kingdom is set out in the table below. Information about the area of England, the largest country, is also br
10、oken down by region.RankNameArea1England130,427 km South West 3 East of England South East 4 East Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber North West 5 West Midlands 6 North East 7 London 823,837 km19,120 km19,096 km15,627 km15,420 km14,165 km12,998 km8,592 km1,572 km2Scotland 978,772 km3Wales 1020,778 km4
11、Northern Ireland13,843 kmUnited Kingdom243,820 kmOverseas territories1,727,570 kmThe British Antarctic Territory, which covers an area of 1,709,400 km2 is geographically the largest of the British Overseas Territories followed by the Falkland Islands which covers an area of 12,173 km2. The remaining
12、 twelve overseas territories cover an area 5,997 km2.Physical geographyUKs topographyThe physical geography of the UK varies greatly. England consists of mostly lowland terrain, with upland or mountainous terrain only found north-west of the Tees-Exe line. The upland areas include the Lake District,
13、 the Pennines, Exmoor and Dartmoor. The lowland areas are typically traversed by ranges of low hills, frequently composed of chalk. The physical geography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault which traverses the Scottish mainland from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. The faultline s
14、eparates the two distinctively different regions of the Highlands to the north and west, and the lowlands to the south and east. Wales is mostly mountainous, though south Wales is less mountainous than north and mid Wales. The geography of Ireland includes the Mourne Mountains as well as Lough Neagh
15、, at 388 square kilometres (150 sq mi), the largest body of water in the UK and Ireland.11The overall geomorphology of the UK was shaped by the combined forces of tectonics and climate change, in particular glaciation.The exact centre of the island of Great Britain is disputed. Depending upon how it is calculated it can be either Haltwhistle in Northumberland, or Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire.GeologySee also: Geology of Great Britain and Geology of IrelandThe geology of the UK is complex and diverse, a result of it being subject to a variety of plate tectonic pr
