UK cities: which country are they in?: what children learn
In Key Stage 2, children name and locate cities of the United Kingdom and learn which of the four countries each one is in. This game names a city and asks for its country, or names a country and asks which of four cities is in it. Every city in the game is on the official UK list of places with city status, so there are no arguments about whether a place really is a city.
Knowing a few cities in each country helps children build a mental map of the UK. Glasgow and Aberdeen are in Scotland, Swansea and Wrexham in Wales, Armagh and Newry in Northern Ireland, and Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol in England. Some cities are very small: St Davids in Wales has city status because of its cathedral, even though it is the size of a village.
This topic covers a Key Stage 2 statutory requirement in the National Curriculum in England (Locational knowledge): pupils should be taught to “name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time”. The programme of study sets this for the whole of Key Stage 2, so schools choose when to teach it; we have placed this game in Year 3 (ages 7–8).
There is no direct equivalent in the US Common Core State Standards.
How to play
Answer 10 questions before the clock runs out. Tap an answer, or press 1 to 4. Each game has 10 multiple-choice questions and a 150-second timer. A wrong answer shows the correct one before moving on. You earn up to three stars depending on your score.
Step by step
- Start with the capitals. London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Then add one more city for each country.
- Find them on a map. Use an atlas or map app to place each city. Notice which are on the coast and which are inland.
- Use direction words. Aberdeen is in the north-east of Scotland; Swansea is west of Cardiff.
- Group by country. Make four lists and add to them each time you hear a city name.
- Link to features. Many cities grew beside rivers or the sea: Glasgow on the Clyde, Bristol near the Severn estuary, Belfast at the head of Belfast Lough.
Worked examples
Example 1: Which country of the UK is Swansea in?
Working: Swansea is on the south coast, west of Cardiff.
Answer: Wales.
Example 2: Which of these cities is in Northern Ireland: Inverness, Armagh, Exeter or Wrexham?
Working: Inverness is in Scotland, Exeter in England and Wrexham in Wales.
Answer: Armagh.
Example 3: Which country of the UK is Stirling in?
Working: Stirling is between Glasgow and Edinburgh, famous for its castle.
Answer: Scotland.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
- Thinking every big town is a city. City status is granted by the monarch. Some big towns (like Reading) are not cities, and some small places (like St Davids) are.
- Putting Northern Ireland’s cities in the Republic of Ireland. Check the border on a map: Belfast, Armagh, Lisburn and Newry are all in Northern Ireland, part of the UK.
- Guessing from the sound of the name. Use a map. Practise with the four lists until the answers come from memory.
Activities to try at home
- Look at where friends and family live and find their nearest city on a map.
- Collect city names from football teams and weather forecasts and sort them into the four countries.
- Plan an imaginary trip that visits one city in each country.
- Print the worksheet and mark each city on a blank UK map.
Ideas for the classroom
- Give groups city cards to place on a large UK outline map.
- Use digital maps to measure the distance between capital cities.
- Compare the physical features near two cities, such as hills, coasts and rivers.
- Play the game as a starter, then ask pupils to describe a city’s location with compass points.
Free printable game and worksheet
The free printable starts with a game sheet, such as a colour-by-answer picture, an answer maze or a secret-code joke, followed by a worksheet. Both use the same checked questions as the online game, and the answers are on the last page. Print it, or save it as a PDF from your browser’s print menu.
Open the free printable game and worksheet
Frequently asked questions
Why is Bangor not in the game?
There are two cities called Bangor, one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland, so a question about Bangor would have two right answers.
How does a place become a city?
In the UK, city status is an honour granted by the monarch, often in a competition. It does not depend only on size.
Where does the list come from?
The UK government publishes the official list of cities on GOV.UK. The game only uses places on that list.