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        UNITED KINGDOM
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Situated in northwest Europe,
the United Kingdom comprises
the island of Great Britain
and the northeast of Ireland,
plus many smaller islands,
especially off the west coast
of Scotland. The south and
east are low-lying and
fertile, while the rest is
hilly, with large areas of
rugged mountains in northern
Scotland. The climate is cool
temperate, with mild
conditions and an even annual
rainfall. Mixed farming is
highly mechanized. Fishing is
important off the east coast.
It is primarily an industrial
country, although the recent
recession has led to the
decline of some of the older
industries, such as coal,
textiles and heavy
engineering.

Area (Sq. Km): 244,044

Population: 57,293,000

Capital: London

Language:
English
Welsh

Religion:
Church of England
Roman Catholic

Government Type:
Constitutional monarchy

Currency: Pound sterling

Because of the physical
geography of the country,
there is quite a difference on
ease of travel depending on
which direction you are going.
East to west travel cannot
obviously be as extensive as
north to south!

The United Kingdom supports an
extensive and highly developed
road and rail system (though
some might argue that!) and
travel is normally swift and
trouble free. The extensive
motorway system spans most of
the country with roads such as
the six-lane M1 connecting
Leeds to London and bringing
the connection time between
south and north down
dramatically.

The rail system is good though
occasionally can be
frustrating with train delays
in some regions (the Southern
region is notorious for this).
The domestic air system is
equally very well developed
and is supported by a number
of domestic airlines as well
as British Airways the
international carrier of the
UK.

Domestic airlines include:
British Midland
Air UK
Logan Air
Manx Air
British European Airways
Ryan Air
and others.

The U.K. is connected to the
mainland of Europe by a busy
ferry network and the Channel
tunnel. This new structure is
essentially a rail link with
France and the rest of Europe.

Major existing Ferry companies
are Sealink and P&O and the
major port to port routes are
Dover to Calais and Hull to
Rotterdam.

Over the last three decades,
with the unfortunate decline
in manufacturing and capital
industry in the U.K., the rise
of service industries has been
the major trend in the
economy, and of these the
Travel and Tourism industry is
a major player. Major theme
parks now dot the country
though not on the scale of
Euro Disney in France.

Sites to visit:
London - many, many sites of
interest in the nation's
capital include: Tower of
London, Westminster, the
parks, theatreland, West End,
the Thames Embankment, British
Museum, Buckingham Palace and
many more....

Outside of London:
Stonehenge, Windsor Castle,
Edinburgh Castle, Blackpool,
Humber Bridge, the Lake
District, the Scottish
Highlands, Snowdonia national
park etc....

Britain is becoming more and
more attuned to coping with a
sophisticated incoming tourist
market and most towns and
cities have very well run
tourist information centres.
These are especially useful
for locating short term and
short notice cheap
accommodation and are highly
recommended to anyone touring
the UK.

Major Airports:
London Heathrow
London Gatwick
London Stansted
Birmingham
Manchester
Glasgow
Belfast

Major Ports:
Southampton
Dover
Liverpool
Bristol
Glasgow
Tyneside