The UK (short for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is situated on two large islands called the British Isles. The larger island is Great Britain, which consists of three parts: England, Scotland and Wales, and the smaller is Ireland. Southern Ireland, now called Eire or Republic of Ireland, is independent of the UK.
The country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Irish Sea, which is between Great Britain and Ireland.
If you travel to England from Russia, it will take you two days to pass through several countries on the Continent by train, and six more hours to cross the English Channel by boat. You can also fly there, and then the journey will only take you three and a half hours.
There are mountain chains in Scotland, Wales and North-West England, but they are not very high. North-West England is also famous for its beautiful lakes.
The longest river in England is the Severn, and the deepest is the Thames, on which stands the capital of England, London.
The UK is a highly-developed industrial country. She exports machinery, vessels, motors and other goods. One of her main industries is the textile industry and a lot of British textiles are exported. The UK buys more goods than she sells because she has to import food products and raw materials from many countries of the world including Russia.