how far is it around the coast of britain
Coastline of the United Kingdom The mapping authority for the United Kingdom, the Ordnance Survey, records the coastline of the main island, Great Britain, as 11,072.76 miles rounding to 11,073 miles (17,820 km).[1] The British Cartographic Society points out that "The true answer is: it depends!". If the larger islands are added, the coastline as measured by the standard method at Mean High Water Mark rises to about 19,491 miles (31,368 km).[2] According to the CIA Factbook, the length of the UK coastline is around 12,429 km or 7,723 miles, although no details are provided about how this figure was calculated.[3] On the basis of EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive boundaries,[4] the UK coastline can be divided into the eastern, Greater North Sea section, which using 1km2 box counts and including islands is 4,994 km, and a western Celtic Seas coastline, which using the same measurement approach and including Northern Ireland is 14,201 km.
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) and colloquially Great Britain (GB) or simply Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying 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 many smaller islands.[11] Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland.[note 9] Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants.[12] Together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union (EU).[note 10][13]