United Kingdom - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of United Kingdom. Lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and linked by tunnel under the English Channel (the Channel Tunnel or Chunnel); because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters. Mother's mean age at first birth is 29 years (2018 est.) (Note: data represents England and Wales only), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 10 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Geographical data of United Kingdom
Location Western Europe, islands - including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland - between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea; northwest of France
Geographic coordinates 54 00 N, 2 00 W
Map references Europe
Tarrain mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
Natural Resources coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land
Natural Hazards winter windstorms; floods
Irrigated Land 718 sq km (2018)
Major rivers (by length in km)
Major aquifers
Land Boundaries 499 km
Border Countries Ireland 499 km
Coastline 12,429 km
Climate temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
Area
Total Area
Land Area 241,930 sq km
Water Area 1,680 sq km
comparative Area twice the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Oregon
Maritime Claims
Territorial sea 12 nm
Continental shelf as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries
Exclusive fishing zone 200 nm
Elevations
Highest point Ben Nevis 1,345 m
Lowest point The Fens -4 m
Mean elevation 162 m
Land Use
Agricultural land 71% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: arable land arable land: 25.1% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent crops permanent crops: 0.2% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land: permanent pasture permanent pasture: 45.7% (2018 est.)
Forest 11.9% (2018 est.)
Other 17.1% (2018 est.)
Population Distribution

The core of the population lies in and around London, with significant clusters found in central Britain around Manchester and Liverpool, in the Scottish lowlands between Edinburgh and Glasgow, southern Wales in and around Cardiff, and far eastern Northern Ireland centered on Belfast

People and Society

In United Kingdom, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: White 87.2%, Black/African/Caribbean/black British 3%, Asian/Asian British: Indian 2.3%, Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 1.9%, mixed 2%, other 3.7% (2011 est.)

Population
Pop growth rate 0.45% (2024 est.)
Birth rate 10.8 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Death rate 9.2 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Health expenditure 12% of GDP (2020)
Physicians Density
Hospital bed Density 2.5 beds/1,000 population (2019)
Total fertility rate 1.63 children born/woman (2024 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 0.8 (2024 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate 76.1% (2010/12)
Est married women (ages 15-49) 50.7% (2023 est.)
Literacy
Education expenditures 5.5% of GDP (2020 est.)
Net Migration rate 2.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)
Nationality British | Briton(s), British (collective plural)
Languages English
Religions Christian (includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.5%, Muslim 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, other 2%, unspecified 7.2%, none 25.7% (2011 est.)
Age Structure
0-14 years 16.7% (male 5,872,937/female 5,592,665)
15-64 years 63.9% (male 22,062,643/female 21,702,401)
65 years and over 19.3% (2024 est.) (male 6,069,865/female 7,158,544)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 57.7
Youth dependency ratio 27.8
Elderly dependency ratio 29.8
Potential support ratio 3.4 (2021 est.)
Median Age
Total 40.8 years (2024 est.)
Male 40.1 years
Female 41.5 years
Urbanization
Urban population 84.6% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 0.8% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 9.648 million LONDON (capital), 2.791 million Manchester, 2.665 million Birmingham, 1.929 million West Yorkshire, 1.698 million Glasgow, 952,000 Southampton/Portsmouth (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.85 male(s)/female
Total population 0.99 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 3.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)
Male 4.2 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 3.3 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 82.2 years (2024 est.)
Male 80.1 years
Female 84.4 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 100% of population
Improved: rural rural: 100% of population
Improved: total total: 100% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 0% of population
Unimproved: total total: 0% of population (2020 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 99.8% of population
Improved: rural rural: 99.8% of population
Improved: total total: 99.8% of population
Unimproved: urban urban: 0.2% of population
Unimproved: rural rural: 0.2% of population
Unimproved: total total: 0.2% of population (2020 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 9.8 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 3.53 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 3.3 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 2.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 0.61 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 15.4% (2020 est.)
Male 17.3% (2020 est.)
Female 13.5% (2020 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 18 0.1% (2020 est.)
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about United Kingdom

Want to know more about United Kingdom? Check all different factbooks for United Kingdom below.

United Kingdom is found in Northern Europe