Great Britain

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1. Great Britain

The full name of the country the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and a great number of small islands. Their total area is over 314 000 sq. km.

The British Isles are separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.

Northern Ireland occupies one third of the island of Ireland. It borders on the Irish Republic in the south.

The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England (the southern and middle part of the island), Wales (a mountainous peninsula in the West) and Scotland (the northern part of the island).

There are no high mountains in Great Britain. In the north the Cheviots separate England from Scotland, the Pennines stretch down North England along its middle, the Cambrian mountains occupy the greater part of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland are the tallest of the British mountains. There is very little flat country except in the region known as East Anglia.

Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea. The Thames is the deepest and the longest of the British rivers. Some of the British greatest ports are situated in the estuaries of the Thames, Mersey, Trent, Tyne, Clyde and Bristol Avon.

Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources, it has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.

The warm currents of the Atlantic Ocean influence the climate of Great Britain. Winters are not severely cold and summers are rarely hot.

The population of the United Kingdom is over 58 million people. The main nationalities are: English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish. In Great Britain there are a lot of immigrants from former British Asian and African colonies.

Great Britain is a highly industrialized country. New Industries have been developed in the last three decades. The main industrial centers are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and Bristol.

The capital of the country is London. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy.

2. The Geographical Position of Great Britain

There are two large islands and several smaller ones, which lie in the north-west coast of Europe. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The smaller one is called Ireland. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel. Thee country is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Great Britain is separated from Belgium and Holland by the North Sea, and from Ireland -- by the Irish Sea.

In the British Isles there are two states. One of them governs of the most of the island of Ireland. This state is usually called the Republic of Ireland. The other state has authority over the rest of the territory.

The official name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But it is usually known by a shorter name -- “The United Kingdom”. The total area of Great Britain is 244,000 square km.

They say that the British love of compromise is the result of the country's physical geography. This may or may not be true, but it certainly true that the land and climate in Great Britain have a notable lack of extremes. The mountains in the country are not very high. It doesn't usually get very cold in the winter or very not in the summer. It has no active volcanoes, and an earth tremos which does no more than rattle teacups in a few houses which is reported in the national news media. The insular geographical position of Great Britain promoted the development of shipbuilding, different training contacts with other countries.

3. The Population of the British Isles

The British Isles are the home of four nations -- English, Scottish,Welsh and Irish. Even though foreigners often call all British people “English”, and sometimes have difficulty in appreciating the distinctions, the component nations of the United Kingdom are well aware of their own individual characteristics. The Scots, Welsh and Irish regard themselves as largely Celtic peoples, while the English are mainly Anglo- Saxon in origin.

British society as a whole does not have a uniform culture identity. In 1993 the population of the United Kingdom was about 58 million inhabitants. This figure gives a population density of 600 persons per square mile (284 per square km). England has an average density of 980 persons per squar mile (364 per square km). This average does not reveal the even higher densities in some areas of the country, such as south-east parts. Within Europe only the Netherlands has a higher population that England.

4. The Climate of Great Britain

Great Britain is situated on islands. It is washed by seas from all sides. That's why the climate and the nature of Great Britain is very specific. The popular belief that it rains all the time in Britain is simply not true. In fact, London gets no more rain in a year than most other major European cities. Generally speaking, the further west you go, the more rain you get. The mild winters mean that snow is a regular feature of the higher areas only. The winters are in general a bit colder in the east of the country than they are in the west. While in summer, the south is slightly warmer and sunnier than the north. Besides Britain is famous for its fogs. Sometimes fogs are so thick that it is impossible to see anything within 2 or 3 metres.

Why has Britain's climate got such a bad reputation? Maybe it is for the same reason that British people always seem to be talking about the weather. There is a saying that Britain doesn't have a climate, it only has weather. You can never be sure of a fry day, though it may not rain very much altogether. There can be cool and even cold days in July and some quite warm days in January. The weather changes very often. Mark Twain said about America: “If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes” but it is more likely to have been said about England. The lack of extremes is the reason why on the few occasions when it gets genuinely hot or freezing cold, the country seems to be totally unprepared for it. A bit of snow, a few days of frost and the trains stop working and the roads are blocked. If the thermometer goes above 27°C, people behave as if they were in the Sahara and the temperature makes front-page headlines. These things happen so seldom that it is not worth organizing life to be ready for them. Everyone who comes to Great Britain says that it looks like one great beautiful park. The British people love their country and take care of it.

5. Scotland

Scotland is the north part of Great Britain. Five million people live in Scotland. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. I There are two large cities here: Glasgow and Aberdeen. Scotland is full of mountains and lakes. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis. There are a lot of rivers. The sea nearly cuts the mountains into parts.

The Scottish flag is a white cross on a blue background. The cross is the cross of Saint Andrew. Saint Andrew was a disci ple of Jesus.

A long time ago the Scots built many large churches beside the river. These churches were called Abbeys. The Scots built Melrose Abbey in 1136 but the English destroyed it in 1544. In the days of the Abbeys, the hills and farms were full of sheep and they still are.

Some people go to Scotland by plane. Some people go there by ship. There are trains and buses to Glasgow and Edinburgh , from London every day.

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the third largest in the United Kingdom. Before 1750 Glasgow was a small town. It had a cathedral and a university but it was not a rich town. After 1707 Scottish ships could go to the English j colonies in America. Ships brought tobacco to Glasgow and took back Scottish goods. In 1776, the American colonies became independent and the tobacco trade stopped. Heavy Industry began to develop. It used coal and iron from the Clyde valley. Glasgow became rich but very dirty.

Glasgow is famous for football teams: Rangers and Celtic. Most people in Glasgow are fans of one of teams. When they play against each other, thousands of fans go to watch. Rangers and Celtic have won more football competitions in Scotland than all the other Scottish teams.

Glasgow has a busy cultural life. A lot of musicians, actors and singers come to Glasgow to give concerts. It the evenings the opera house, the cinemas and the concert halls are full. In cafes and pubs small groups sing, act, read poetry.

6. Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster, is still a part of the United Kingdom. It is made up of six countries: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, Tyrone. One third of the population lives in and around the capital, Belfast. Belfast is also the most important port and commercial and industrial centre. Some parts of the territory, those that are not close to the capital, have remained mainly rural.

The Irish population is divided into two groups: the Protestants and the Catholics. The Protestants are of British origin. They are descendants of British settlers who came to Ireland in the XVIth and XVIIth centuries, during and after the Reformation. The Catholics are mostly natives of Ireland.

The Protestants were the majority and dominated the Catholics with strong discrimination. In 1968 the Catholics began the movement for equal civil rights.

The fightings between the two groups of the population continue to this day.

Northern Ireland has a strong cultural tradition: songs, dances, literature and festivals.

It has its own Art Council, and there are orchestras, theatres, ballet and opera companies.

geographical resources kingdom wales

7. Wales

Wales is the country in the west of Great Britain. It is mainly a mountainous land with a chiefly agricultural economy and an industrial and coal-mining area in the south. The landscape is beautiful. Many English people move to Wales when they retire.

Cardiff, a large city in the south, was chosen as the capital of Wales in 1.955, mainly because of its size. Since 1536, Wales has been governed by England and the heir to the throne of England has the title of Prince of Wales, but Welsh people have strong sense of identity. There is a Welsh National party j which wants independence from the United Kingdom and the Welsh language is still used in certain parts of the country.

Welsh is an ancient Celtic language, similar to Breton, spoken in Brittany, France. In the 60's Welsh was given equal status with English as an official language and is used in the law courts. It is taught in school and some TV program are broadcast in Welsh. However, only about 20% of the population speaks Welsh.

8. Ireland

Ireland is an island on the west side of Europe. The capital of Ireland is Dublin. There are about 5 million people in the Republic of Ireland. It is a small country but a lot of people know about it. In many countries there are Irish priests and nuns.

People left Ireland to find work in those countries and they stayed there. All over the world there are people with Irish blood.

The country is in two parts. The larger part, the Republic of Ireland, is in the south. The smaller part of Ireland, Northern Ireland, is part of the United Kingdom and its big city is Belfast. Like a lot of other countries, Ireland had sad and difficult times, but it had good times too. The Irish are kind and polite people, they welcome strangers. The Irish love to ft talk. Ireland is a beautiful country with fine lakes, tall mountains and attractive beaches. It has two great rivers. It is a very green country. It is green partly because it rains too much.

Ireland is a country of good butter, good beer and good horses. People come from all over the world to buy Irish | horses, from Europe, from America, from Arab countries and from the Far East. Ireland also has its manufacturing industry.

9. Dublin

Dublin is a fine city, with beautiful grey stone houses. It is situated on the east coast of Ireland. If you go to Dublin you must visit its parks. They have beautiful gardens with deer, and there are markets there on Sundays.

Dublin has always been a city of music. A lot of rock and pop groups come to Ireland, because the Irish like music very much. The Irish people like an old song about a Dublin girl, Mollie Malone. She sold shellfish in the streets of Dublin, her father and mother did the same thing before her. When she was still young she became ill and died, but her ghost lived after her. The writer of the song doesn't use the word “love”, but he calls her “sweet Mollie Malone”, so probably he loved her.

Because Dublin is near the sea you can sometimes feel the wind on your face in the middle of the city. But if you want to be warm you can drink coffee in one of the many cafes. Dublin has lots of bridges. Many people know about O'Connell Bridge. It's unusual because it is almost square (47 metres wide and 49 metres across). People know about the Dublin Post Office too. In 1916 there was fighting there between Irishmen and British soldiers.

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