Despite its 1_____ small size, the United Kingdom is one of the most culturally 2______ countries on Earth, populated by four main native nationalities, plus later arrivals from all over the world. The United Kingdom consists of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), plus Northern Ireland. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (principally Jersey and Guernsey) are also parts of the British Isles, but somewhat confusingly not officially part of the UK.

The UK is also a geologically diverse country, with such landscapes as the rolling moors of Yorkshire, the lakes and mountains of the Lake District and Scotland, and the 3______ forests of Nottinghamshire or the 4_____ beaches of Wales. All this, 5_____ genteel villages with chocolate-box cottages or vibrant cities at the forefront of modernity, means the UK has something to 6_____ everyone.

London is the natural 7_______ point for visitors and is a great introduction to this varied country, with famous sights such as the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye and 8______ exhibitions in the National Gallery, Natural History Museum and Tower of London. 9_____ away from the capital are the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, with their elegant architecture, and Windsor, home to the Queen's famous castle residence.

The British 10______ is at its best in the south coast resorts of Brighton and Bournemouth or the harbour villages in Cornwall, Dorset and Devon. For more 11_____, wilder, windswept beaches, head to the Pembrokeshire coast of Wales or the Scottish islands of Skye, Shetland and Orkney.Walkers have no end of 12______ with hundreds of miles of hiking trails in the hilly Peak District, the mountainous Lake District, Wales and Scotland or along the coastal paths of southern England. For more gentle pursuits, pretty villages of the Cotswolds and Suffolk offer endless photo opportunities of thatched cottages or leaning timber-framed houses.

(adapted from www.iexplore.com)