The Land of Great Britain. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) is situated off the north-west coast of Europe. (1) ..... Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. The UK is an island state. The two main islands are Great Britain (where England, Scotland and Wales are situated) and Ireland. (2) ..... The two islands are separated by the Irish Sea. The UK is separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover. The UK is also washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and the North Sea in the east. The area of the UK is 244,100 square kilometres. The most important rivers are the Thames, the Severn and the Clyde. (3)) ..... There are mountains in the UK but they are not very high. The Grampian Mountains are a mountain range of central Scotland. (4) ..... Ben Nevis (1,343.8 m) is the highest peak. The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range in northern England and Scotland. (5) ..... There are the Cambrian Mountains in Wales. More than 57 million people live in Britain. Many of them live in big industrial cities like London. Manchester and Liverpool, for example, are big industrial cities in the centre of England. But foreigners are often surprised by the fact that much of land in Britain is open country. (6) ..... The flag of the United Kingdom is known as the Union Jack. It is made up of three crosses: the cross of St. George (the patron saint of England), the cross of St. Andrew (the patron saint of Scotland) and the cross of St. Patrick (the patron saint of Ireland).