The Four Nations and Their Borders
The UK's four constituent nations are administered in four different shapes, which is why so many quiz answers about "counties" collapse under scrutiny. England still has ceremonial counties; Scotland was reorganised into council areas in 1996 and its 34 historic counties survive only as geographic and cultural units; Wales has principal areas; and Northern Ireland's six counties were stripped of administrative function in 1973, leaving eleven districts doing the actual work. Only one land border exists between the UK and any other country, and only one of the four nations sits on the far side of a sea from the rest.
Q1.How many countries make up the United Kingdom?Tap to reveal
Answer: Four
Q2.Which constituent nation of the UK shares no land border with any other UK nation?Tap to reveal
Answer: Northern Ireland
Q3.What is the capital of Northern Ireland?Tap to reveal
Answer: Belfast
Q4.The UK has a land border with only one other sovereign state. Which?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Republic of Ireland
Q5.Which two English ceremonial counties border Scotland?Tap to reveal
Answer: Cumbria and Northumberland
Q6.Which is the second largest of the four nations by area?Tap to reveal
Answer: Scotland
Q7.How many council areas is Scotland divided into?Tap to reveal
Answer: 32
Q8.How many principal areas does Wales have?Tap to reveal
Answer: 22
Q9.How many traditional counties does Northern Ireland have?Tap to reveal
Answer: Six
Q10.How many historic counties, or shires, was Scotland divided into?Tap to reveal
Answer: 33
Q11.Which sea separates Great Britain from the island of Ireland?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Irish Sea
Q12.Which strait separates Northern Ireland from south-west Scotland?Tap to reveal
Answer: The North Channel
Q13.Which river drains Lough Neagh northwards to the sea?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Lower Bann
Counties: Historic, Ceremonial and Administrative
Three overlapping county systems run at once in England, and confusing them is the single most common source of wrong answers. The historic counties are the old shires; the 48 ceremonial counties are the areas each Lord-Lieutenant covers; the administrative map is a shifting patchwork of county councils and unitary authorities. Cumbria shows the split cleanly — its county council was abolished in 2023 and replaced by two unitary authorities, yet Cumbria still exists as a ceremonial county. The ceremonial boundaries themselves have not actually changed since 1998.
Q1.How many ceremonial counties does England have?Tap to reveal
Answer: 48
Q2.Which is England's largest ceremonial county by area?Tap to reveal
Answer: North Yorkshire
Q3.Which is the smallest historic county of England?Tap to reveal
Answer: Rutland
Q4.Which is the smallest ceremonial county of England by area?Tap to reveal
Answer: The City of London
Q5.Which county is traditionally called the Garden of England?Tap to reveal
Answer: Kent
Q6.Which four English counties border Wales?Tap to reveal
Answer: Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire
Q7.In 2023 Cumbria County Council was replaced by which two unitary authorities?Tap to reveal
Answer: Cumberland, and Westmorland and Furness
Q8.Which three counties created in 1974 were all abolished in 1996?Tap to reveal
Answer: Avon, Cleveland and Humberside
Q9.In which county does Stonehenge stand?Tap to reveal
Answer: Wiltshire
Q10.The Wash lies between which two counties?Tap to reveal
Answer: Lincolnshire and Norfolk
Q11.Which English county takes its name from the kingdom of the South Saxons?Tap to reveal
Answer: Sussex
Q12.Which is the most populous ceremonial county in England?Tap to reveal
Answer: Greater London
Rivers, Lakes and Lochs
The Severn beats the Thames by five miles, which makes "longest river in the UK" and "longest river entirely in England" two different questions with two different answers — a distinction quiz setters love. Water volume tells another story again: Loch Ness alone holds more water than every lake in England and Wales combined, and the Tay, only the seventh longest river in the country, discharges more than any other. Note also that the largest lake in the UK and the largest lake in Great Britain are not the same body of water.
Q1.Which is the longest river in the United Kingdom?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Severn, at 220 miles
Q2.Which is the longest river flowing entirely within England?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Thames, at 215 miles
Q3.Which is the third longest river in the UK, after the Severn and the Thames?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Trent
Q4.Which is the longest river in Scotland?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Tay
Q5.Which UK river has the greatest mean discharge?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Tay
Q6.Which two of the UK's four longest rivers rise on Plynlimon in mid-Wales?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Severn and the Wye
Q7.Which is the largest lake in the UK by surface area?Tap to reveal
Answer: Lough Neagh, at 390 square kilometres
Q8.Which is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area?Tap to reveal
Answer: Loch Lomond
Q9.Which body of fresh water in the UK holds the greatest volume?Tap to reveal
Answer: Loch Ness
Q10.Which is the deepest freshwater loch in the UK?Tap to reveal
Answer: Loch Morar, at 310 metres
Q11.Which is the largest natural lake in England?Tap to reveal
Answer: Windermere
Q12.Which is the deepest lake in England?Tap to reveal
Answer: Wastwater
Q13.Which is the largest natural lake in Wales?Tap to reveal
Answer: Llyn Tegid, or Bala Lake
Q14.Which is the largest artificial reservoir in the UK by water capacity?Tap to reveal
Answer: Kielder Water, Northumberland
Mountains, Hills and High Places
Nothing outside Scotland reaches 1,100 metres, and the ladder from Ben Nevis down to Slieve Donard drops nearly 500 metres across four nations. Names have moved too: the Snowdonia National Park Authority formally adopted Yr Wyddfa and Eryri in November 2022, and the Brecon Beacons park now goes by Bannau Brycheiniog. Britain's first national park was designated in 1951 after decades of access campaigning, and the largest in the UK is more than twice the size of the largest in England.
Q1.Which is the highest mountain in the United Kingdom?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ben Nevis, at 1,345 metres
Q2.Which is the highest mountain in England?Tap to reveal
Answer: Scafell Pike, at 978 metres
Q3.Which is the highest mountain in Wales?Tap to reveal
Answer: Yr Wyddfa, or Snowdon, at 1,085 metres
Q4.Which is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland?Tap to reveal
Answer: Slieve Donard, at 850 metres
Q5.Slieve Donard is the highest peak of which range?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Mourne Mountains
Q6.Which is the second highest mountain in the British Isles?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ben Macdui, at 1,309 metres
Q7.Ben Macdui is the highest point of which mountain range?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Cairngorms
Q8.Which is the highest peak in South Wales?Tap to reveal
Answer: Pen y Fan, at 886 metres
Q9.Which Lake District fell is climbed by the arête known as Striding Edge?Tap to reveal
Answer: Helvellyn
Q10.Which national park was the UK's first, designated in 1951?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Peak District
Q11.Which is the largest national park in the UK?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Cairngorms
Q12.What is the Welsh name for Snowdonia National Park?Tap to reveal
Answer: Eryri
Q13.Which Staffordshire settlement is the highest village in England, at 463 metres?Tap to reveal
Answer: Flash
Cities, Towns and City Status
City status in the UK is granted by the monarch, not earned by population, which is why St Davids has fewer than 2,000 residents and Reading has none at all. Seventy-six places currently hold the title, and the 2022 Platinum Jubilee round was the largest single expansion in decades. Southend-on-Sea was a separate case, granted in 2022 following the murder of its MP, Sir David Amess. Knowing which river runs through which city is the other reliable pub-quiz staple in this territory.
Q1.How many cities are there in the United Kingdom?Tap to reveal
Answer: 76
Q2.How many of them are in Scotland?Tap to reveal
Answer: Eight
Q3.Which is the smallest city in the UK by population?Tap to reveal
Answer: St Davids, Pembrokeshire
Q4.Which is the smallest city in England by population?Tap to reveal
Answer: The City of London
Q5.Which Welsh town was granted city status in 2022?Tap to reveal
Answer: Wrexham
Q6.Which Essex town became a city in 2022, following the murder of its MP?Tap to reveal
Answer: Southend-on-Sea
Q7.Which Buckinghamshire new town was granted city status in 2022?Tap to reveal
Answer: Milton Keynes
Q8.Which is the most populous city in England after London?Tap to reveal
Answer: Birmingham
Q9.Which Scottish city regained city status in 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee?Tap to reveal
Answer: Perth
Q10.Which is the most northerly city in England?Tap to reveal
Answer: Newcastle upon Tyne
Q11.Which river flows through Glasgow?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Clyde
Q12.Which river flows through Belfast?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Lagan
Q13.Which river flows through Cardiff?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Taff
Q14.Northern Ireland's second city stands on which river?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Foyle
Coastlines, Islands and Extreme Points
John o' Groats and Land's End are the famous end points, and neither is actually an extremity. Dunnet Head sits further north than John o' Groats and Lizard Point further south than Land's End; the traditional route simply links two convenient inhabited places. Go beyond the mainland and the record shifts again, out to Out Stack off Shetland. Inland, the point in Great Britain furthest from tidal water is a farm in south Derbyshire, roughly 70 miles from the nearest coast.
Q1.Which is the most northerly point of mainland Great Britain?Tap to reveal
Answer: Dunnet Head, Caithness
Q2.Which is the most southerly point of mainland Great Britain?Tap to reveal
Answer: Lizard Point, Cornwall
Q3.Which is the most easterly point of mainland Great Britain?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ness Point, Lowestoft
Q4.Which is the most westerly point of mainland Great Britain?Tap to reveal
Answer: Corrachadh Mòr, Ardnamurchan
Q5.Which islet off Shetland is the most northerly point of the UK?Tap to reveal
Answer: Out Stack
Q6.Which Derbyshire village lies nearest the point in Great Britain furthest from the sea?Tap to reveal
Answer: Coton in the Elms
Q7.Which is the lowest point in Great Britain, at about three metres below sea level?Tap to reveal
Answer: Holme Fen, Cambridgeshire
Q8.Which is the largest island in Scotland?Tap to reveal
Answer: Lewis and Harris
Q9.Which strait separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Solent
Q10.Which strait separates Anglesey from the Welsh mainland?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Menai Strait
Q11.Which island group lies off the south-western tip of Cornwall?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Isles of Scilly
Q12.Hadrian's Wall ran between Wallsend and which village on the Solway Firth?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bowness-on-Solway
Q13.How long is the Channel Tunnel?Tap to reveal
Answer: About 31 miles, or 50 kilometres
Q14.Which bridge was the world's longest single-span suspension bridge when it opened in 1981?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Humber Bridge
Frequently Asked Questions
How many counties does the UK have?
There is no single figure, because each nation counts differently. England has 48 ceremonial counties. Wales has 22 principal areas. Scotland has 32 council areas, plus 34 historic counties that no longer have administrative function. Northern Ireland has six traditional counties and eleven districts. Quiz answers should always specify which system is meant.
Is Great Britain the same as the United Kingdom?
No. Great Britain is the island containing England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom adds Northern Ireland and the surrounding islands. The British Isles is a wider geographical term that also takes in the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Are the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands part of the UK?
No. Both are Crown Dependencies — self-governing, with their own legislatures and tax systems, and not part of the United Kingdom. Douglas on the Isle of Man was granted city status in 2022, but that was a grant to a Crown Dependency rather than to a UK city.
Why do answers about British mountain heights sometimes differ?
Older sources quote imperial heights and rounded figures, and a few summits have been resurveyed since. The current Ordnance Survey figures are Ben Nevis 1,345 m, Yr Wyddfa 1,085 m, Scafell Pike 978 m and Slieve Donard 850 m. Names have changed too: the national park authority formally adopted Yr Wyddfa over Snowdon in November 2022.
Which UK geography questions catch people out most often?
Three in particular. The longest river in the UK is the Severn, not the Thames — the Thames is only the longest lying entirely in England. The northernmost point of the mainland is Dunnet Head, not John o' Groats. And the largest lake in the UK is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, while Loch Lomond is only the largest in Great Britain.
