United Kingdom

A cast of Trajan's Column (cut in half, upper part seen in foreground) as displayed at the Cast Court in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The acquisition by museums of plaster casts of important monuments and works of art was especially popular in the mid-to-late 19th century, since few people could afford to travel to the Continent to view the originals. The V&A's collection is regarded as one of the finest remaining in the world.

The Houses of Parliament building in Westminster, London, with its famous Clock Tower. The nickname Big Ben is today frequently applied to the tower, the clock, and the bell, but originally it applied solely to the largest bell inside the tower. The clock holds the distinction of being the world's largest four-faced chiming clock.

The shoreline of the 13 km (8 mi) wide island of Tristan da Cunha is marked on most sides by steep cliffs, with lower beach areas on the southern and north-northwestern sides. The island is notable for its bird population and includes important breeding grounds for petrels, albatrosses, penguins, and shearwaters. Tristan da Cunha is a shield volcano, a volcanic structure with a low, broad profile and composed of silica-poor lavas (such as basalt). The upper surface of this low base appears dark green in this astronaut photograph of 6 February 2013. Steeper brown to tan colored slopes mark the central cone of the volcano at the island's center. The summit crater, Queen Mary's Peak, sits at an elevation of 2,060 m (6,760 ft) above sea level. While geologic evidence indicates that eruptions have occurred from the central crater, lavas have also erupted from flank vents along the sides of the volcano and from smaller cinder cones. The last known eruption of Tristan da Cunha took place in 1961-1962 and forced the evacuation of the only settlement on the island, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, on the northern coastline (obscured by clouds in this image). The town is considered to be the most remote permanent settlement on Earth, with its nearest neighbor located 2,173 km (1,347 mi) to the northeast on the island of St. Helena. Image courtesy of NASA.

The Isles of Scilly, an archipelago of approximately 150 islands, are located some 45 km (28 mi) southwest of the westernmost point of England (Land's End). The islands are an erosional remnant of an ancient granite intrusion, and are notable because they have been inhabited for over 4,000 years. Only five of the islands are currently inhabited. Historical and geological evidence indicates that many of the islands were larger and/or connected in the recent past. Even today, it is possible to walk between certain islands during low tides. Image courtesy of NASA.

Close up of the base of the cast of Trajan's Column as displayed at the Cast Court in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Looking up at the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. This Anglican place of worship rests on Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the city. The present building - designed by Sir Christopher Wren - dates to the 17th century and is generally considered to be the fifth St. Paul's erected on the site.