Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kosovo
Åland Islands
Albania
Andorra
Austria
Azores
Balearic Islands
Belarus
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czechia
Faroe Islands
Denmark
Finland
France
Gibraltar
Hungary
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Jersey
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
North Macedonia
Malta
Isle of Man
Monaco
Montenegro
Norway
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Serbia
Shetland Islands
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Svalbard
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
Germany
Moldova
Transnistria
National BorderHow to Distinguish
- The domain is .gb or .uk
- Cars drive on the left
- Bollards are distinctive with thick black-and-white stripes
- License plates are white in front and yellow at the rear
- Lots of brick houses points to England, while lots of whitish walls suggests Ireland(References Digest: World Map Beginners Course + Q&A Corner)
- Hedgerows (hedges planted with shrubs and grasses) line roadsides and surround houses
- Chevrons use a white arrow on a black background
Signs you can find
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Bollards are distinctive, with thick black-and-white stripes. Cars drive on the left, and license plates are white in front and yellow at the rear.
Yellow license plates are also common in places connected to the UK, such as the British overseas territories of Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, former British Hong Kong (Hong Kong), former colony Kenya, and former British Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
By Maxwell Hamilton, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link, image edited
Public Domain
Lots of brick houses points to England, while lots of whitish walls suggests Ireland. Below, Ireland is on the left, and the UK is on the right(References Digest: World Map Beginners Course + Q&A Corner).
Hedgerows, hedges planted with shrubs and grasses, line roadsides and surround houses(References Cambridge Green Technology - Hedgerow). Some date from before the 19th century, and some are not well maintained(References Importance of hedgerows).
In this pair, the left is Ireland and the right is the UK. Chevrons use a white arrow on a black background. Among the cold countries around the North Sea, no country besides the UK uses black-and-white chevrons. Ireland uses yellow arrows(References Map of European Road Curve Chevron Signs).
The UK and Ireland have lots of cat’s eyes on their roads(by plonk it ). They were invented in the UK in 1934 and are used in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, and elsewhere, but are rarely used in other European countries(References Cat’s eye (road)).
Alexandra Palace Theatre is on the north side of London
UK-related goods
Narrow down state/region
- Cropland spreads across the southeast
- The leading digit of a road number can tell you the region(References Expressway Numbering Study Committee (JP))
- Area codes reveal the region too, but the pattern is quite complex and hard to memorize
Cropland spreads across the southeast(References Land cover 2006 and changes country analysis - United Kingdom@European Environment Agency).
020 is London. The image is very fine-grained, so check the original for detail.
By Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa) - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link
Never actually used this myself (source).
- The UK is made up of four countries
- White-and-red bollards are common in mainland Scotland
- Passing places are common across all of Scotland, including the Shetland Islands
Easy to spot because the spelling is unpronounceable to English speakers(References Welsh language).
White-and-red bollards seem common in Scotland, though probably not everywhere — they don’t seem to appear on remote islands like the Shetland Islands.
Narrow down city/town
- The Isle of Wight lies off the south coast
A roughly diamond-shaped tourist island, with a cycling route around its perimeter(References Round the Island route).
Description of representative companies
| Company name | Code | Description | Financials | Dividend history |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linde | The world's largest manufacturer of industrial gases, holding roughly a 40% global market share. | |||
| BP (British Petroleum) | A major oil and natural gas company. Its gas stations aren't seen in Japan, but are common overseas. Its market cap ranks around 120th among all companies worldwide, which is quite large. | |||
| Unilever | Formed from the merger of Dutch margarine maker Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Brothers. Holds a high market share across many consumer-goods categories, including food, skin care, and detergents. | |||
| Rio Tinto | The world's second-largest metals and mining company after Australia's BHP. Its operations are concentrated in Australia and Canada. Iron ore accounts for about a third of sales and copper about a quarter. |