Key Stage 1 geography · Locational knowledge

KS1 geography: UK countries and capital cities

The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Key Stage 1, children learn to name them, find them on a map, atlas or globe, name each capital city and say something about what makes each country distinctive. It is a child’s first detailed look at the place they live, and it underpins the work on counties, cities and regions in Key Stage 2.

UK countries and capitals, explained

The four countries and their capital cities are England (London), Scotland (Edinburgh), Wales (Cardiff) and Northern Ireland (Belfast). Children learn these as pairs, and teachers often use a large floor map, a jigsaw or a song so that the country and its capital are said together. Finding them on a map comes first, naming them second, and only then do children begin to describe what each place is like.

A simple picture of the shape helps. England, Scotland and Wales sit on the same large island, called Great Britain. England is in the south, Scotland is in the north, and Wales is a smaller country on the western side. Northern Ireland is on a different island, to the west across a stretch of sea. It shares that island with the Republic of Ireland, which is a separate country and not part of the United Kingdom. Children are not expected to learn every border, but they should be able to say roughly where each country is, using words such as north, south and west.

“Identify characteristics” means that children notice things that make each country recognisable. Schools choose what to focus on, and typical choices include flags, an emblem or national plant (for example a rose, a thistle, a daffodil or a shamrock), a famous landmark, a traditional food, and the languages that are spoken, such as Welsh in Wales. This should stay light and positive. The aim is to build a feeling for what is the same and different across the four countries, not to rank them.

Maps, atlases and globes are used throughout. A common first task is to find the United Kingdom on a globe, then move to a map of the British Isles to find the four countries, and then to a map of the United Kingdom that marks the four capital cities with a dot or a star. Children may also colour the countries in different colours or stick on flags, building on the idea that a map is a drawing of a place seen from above.

Words your child will hear

Country: A place with its own borders and capital city. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries.
Capital city: The most important city of a country, where its government usually meets.
United Kingdom: The four countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together.
Great Britain: The large island that holds England, Scotland and Wales.
Border: The line on a map where one country stops and another begins.
Flag: A piece of cloth or a picture with a design that stands for a country. The flag of the whole UK is the Union Flag.
Landmark: A well-known building or place that helps people recognise where they are.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 1 says:

Pupils should be taught to name, locate and identify characteristics of the 4 countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom and its surrounding seas
Pupils should be taught to use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans studied at this key stage
Pupils should develop knowledge about the world, the United Kingdom and their locality.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: placing the four capitals on a map

Look at a blank map of the United Kingdom. Where would you put London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast?

Start with the big island of Great Britain. England is the largest country and takes up the south and middle. Put a dot in the south-east for London.
Go north. Scotland is the country at the top of Great Britain. Edinburgh is towards the south-east of Scotland, close to the east coast. Put a dot there and write Edinburgh.
Go west. Wales is the country on the western side of Great Britain, next to England. Cardiff is on its south coast. Put a dot there for Cardiff.
Now find the second island. Northern Ireland is across the sea to the west of Great Britain. Belfast is on its east coast, so put a dot near the edge facing Great Britain.
Label each country with its name and its capital, and say a sentence out loud, such as “Cardiff is the capital city of Wales.”

London is the capital of England, Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, Cardiff is the capital of Wales and Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland.

Common mistakes and how to help

Using “England”, “Britain” and “the UK” as if they mean the same thing

Adults do this all the time, so children copy it. England is the biggest country and London is in it, which makes it easy to forget the other three.

What helps: Say each word precisely, and correct yourself gently when you slip. “England is one country. The UK is all four countries together.”

Thinking Ireland is part of the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland share an island and sound alike. Children hear both “Ireland” and “Northern Ireland” on the news.

What helps: Show them the island of Ireland on the map and point out that only the northern part is in the UK. The Republic of Ireland is a separate country with its own capital, Dublin.

Placing the capital city in the wrong country

London is by far the best known, so children often give it as the answer for every country, or think Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are just big towns. London is the capital of England and also of the United Kingdom as a whole, which adds to the mix-up.

What helps: Practise the pairs as a quick game. Say the country and let your child give the capital, then swap. Mix up the order often so the pairs are not learned as a fixed list.

Not knowing which way is which on the map

Children can name Scotland, but not say that it is to the north of England. North, south, east and west are still new ideas at this age.

What helps: Use a compass or a map on the floor and walk around it. Ask “Which country is to the west of England?” and “Which capital is furthest north?”

How to help at home

Find the four capitals on a map. Look at a map of the UK together and put a sticker on each capital city. Ask your child to point to one and tell you which country it belongs to.
Spot the four countries around you. Flags, foods, place names and sports teams show up everywhere. When you see one, ask “Which country does that come from?” and find it on the map.
Visit, or talk about visiting. If you have been to another country in the UK, look at photographs and talk about what was the same as home and what was different. If you have not, borrow a picture book from the library about one of the four.
Draw your own flags. Look at the flags of England, Scotland and Wales and the Union Flag of the whole UK, and have your child draw them with felt tips, saying the country each time. Northern Ireland has no official flag of its own today, so the Union Flag is used there. Spot the crosses of England and Scotland inside the Union Flag.
Trace a journey. Choose two capital cities and trace the route between them with a finger. Say the direction as you go: “From Cardiff to Edinburgh we travel north.”

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: Countries of Europe and Russia
Key Stage 2: North America: countries and features
Key Stage 2: South America: countries and features
Key Stage 2: Counties and cities of the UK
Key Stage 2: UK regions, mountains and rivers
Key Stage 2: UK land use and change
Key Stage 2: Latitude, longitude and hemispheres
Key Stage 2: Tropics and polar circles
Key Stage 2: Prime Meridian and time zones