Describing Location in Geography

An important skill of a geographer is to be able to describe the location of a place. A useful technique to help you with this is CLOCC:

• Continent
• Lines of latitude and longitude
• Oceans and seas
• Countries
• Compass

CLOCC

Below is an example of a description of the location of the UK.

The United Kingdom is an island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom comprises the whole of the island of Great Britain—which contains England, Wales, and Scotland—as well as the northern portion of the island of Ireland.

The mainland areas lie between latitudes 49°N and 59°N and longitudes 8°W to 2°E. The UK lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, and comes within 35 km (22 miles) of the northwest coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel.