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This collection of pictures from the United Kingdom is the result of trips to different parts of the country (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) over many years.
England was the first country I visited outside my home turf of Scandinavia. It was also my first time abroad without my parents. My many visits to the islands have ranged in time from a few days to several weeks, and from big cities to the countryside.
This has given me a good perspective of what the United Kingdom is about, not only pictures. However, not all visits to the UK have resulted in pictures on this website, or written articles.
Explore all United Kingdom entries on this link. You will find this picture gallery page, videos, articles from World Heritage Sites and regular travelogues.
Afterwards, find all photo galleries on Sandalsand.
Fast facts
Read about the UK on Wikipedia. Here is an excerpt:
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain. It is a sovereign country in north-western Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and also many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,500 km2, with an estimated population in 2020 of over 67 million.
The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. The capital and largest city is London. London is also a global city and financial centre with a metropolitan area population of 14 million. Other major cities include Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds. The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Other than England, the constituent countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers.
The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. There are also 14 British Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world’s landmass and a third of the world’s population, and was the largest empire in history. There is British influence in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.
Ranking the UK
The United Kingdom has the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the tenth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating, ranking 13th in the world. The UK became the world’s first industrialised country. It was also the world’s foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Today the UK remains one of the world’s great powers. It has considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, technological and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear state and ranks fourth globally in military expenditure. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
