Why Does England Use a South Africa Plug?

Adapter Plugs United Kingdom

If you are traveling to the United Kingdom, you will need adapter plugs to charge your cell phone, iPad and power your laptop computer. England uses two types of plugs. One plug is called the United Kindgom plug (GUD) and has three rectangle pins. The other plug used in England is the South Africa plug (GUE) that has three large round pins.

So why does England use a South Africa plug? It is common for countries to have more than one type of outlet. Most areas in England will use the GUD plug, however in some older parts of England you might see an outlet for the GUE plug. The reason that South Africa and England share a plug type is because the British Empire controlled South Africa for quite some time. 

Most likely when you are in England you will encounter the GUD plug, but it is prudent to take along the GUE plug just in case.

Countries that use the GUE type plug include:

• Azores
• Botswana
• England
• India
• Ireland
• Lesotho
• Mozambique
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• South Africa
• Swaziland
• United Kingdom
• Wales
• Zambia

Still Not Sure? Read our Adapter Guide >> http://www.goinginstyle.net/not-sure-read-our-adapter-guide/

You can purchase travel adapters for England and South Africa locally at our flagship travel store at Stanford Shopping Mall in Palo Alto, California. We carry adapter plugs England, UK, Ireland, South Africa and traveling world wide at Going In Style Travel Accessories ,609 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304 - Visit the Stanford Travel Store website www.stanfordtravelstore.com for directions to Going In Style.