Great Britain, formally known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, has an area of some 244,027 square kilometres and is divided into 49 administrative counties. It consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Ranking about seventy-fifth in size among the countries of the world it has less than 2 per cent of the world's land area. Great Britain, the largest island in the north-west of Europe, is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea, and from the Continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover.
The surface of England and Ireland is rather flat while the highland area comprises Scotland and most of Wales. The highest mountain in the United Kingdom is Ben Nevis in Scotland (1343 m.). The rivers are not very long but they are deep. The chief rivers are the Severn (220 miles) and the Thames (215 miles). The Thames flows through London, and makes it a large sea port, though London is 84 kms away from the sea.