Where is the UK in the world?
Geography · Key Stage 1 · The School
Zooming out from home
Start with your street. Zoom out to your town. Zoom out to the UK. Zoom out to the whole world. Each zoom shows less detail but more of the world at once. The UK is tiny on the last, biggest view.
Top half of the world
The world has a top half and a bottom half. The line between them is called the EQUATOR. The UK sits in the top half, quite near the top. Countries in the top half are called the NORTHERN hemisphere.
A small country in a big continent
The UK is in Europe. Europe is one of seven continents. The UK is a small part of Europe. Europe itself is a small part of the whole world. Small parts of small parts, all the way out. Try saying that out loud.
Finding the UK on four different maps
Look at a map of your town. Find your school. Look at a map of the UK. Find your town, a tiny dot now. Look at a map of Europe. Find the UK, an even smaller shape. Look at a map of the whole world. Find the UK again. It is barely visible, a speck near the top. Same real place, every single time — just a smaller and smaller dot as the map zooms out.
Why the whole world matters
Knowing where the UK sits helps you understand the rest of the world too. Places near the equator are usually hotter. Places near the poles are usually colder. The UK sits somewhere in between, which is one reason our weather is fairly mild.