Great Britain

Geographical position

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland occupies territory of the British Isles which are situated to the north-west of Europe. They consist of two main islands: Great Britain and Ireland. England is in the south of the island of Great Britain, Scotland is in the north and Wales is in the west. Northern Ireland is situated in the north-eastern part of Ireland. Its western cost is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. In the east the island of Great Britain is washed by the North Sea. UK is separated from the continent by the English Channel. The total area of this country is 244,000 square km.

Relief

The landscape of Britain is mostly rugged hills and low mountains. The lowest point is Fenland - 4 m. There are a lot of mountains in Great Britain, but they are not high. The highest mountain - Ben Nevis - is in Scotland.

There are no big rivers in Great Britain. The biggest are Severn and Thames. The Severn is the longest river in England. It is 350 kilometers long. It flows south - west into the Irish Sea.

The flora of the British Isles is much varied and the fauna is similar to that of the north-west of Europe. Its natural resources are coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron one, salt, clay, gypsum, lead.

Climate

The climate of Britain is usually described as cool, temperate and humid. There are not extreme contrasts in temperature in Britain because of the current of warm water flowing from the Gulf of Mexico is called the Gulf Stream.

Average British temperatures don't rise above 32°C in summer and don't fall below -10°C in winter.

The prevailing winds from the ocean bring rainfall throughout the year. The total national rainfall average is over 1100 mm annually.

Considerable area of land is covered by meadows. The grass remains green all the year round. Thanks to climate conditions, Britain in truth looks like one great well-ordered park its old trees, green meadows and hedges.

History

Britain has been many centuries in the making. The Romans conquered most part of Britain, but were unable to subdue the fiercely independent tribes in the West and in the North. Further waves of invaders followed: Angels, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings and Normans. All these contributed to the mixture we call English. For many centuries this country was known simply as England. It had a strong army and navy. It waged numerous colonial wars. England, once the “work shop of the world”, was the first to become a highly industrial country.

National emblems

British people devote great attention to their traditions and customs. National emblems are kind of these traditions. So inhabitants of Great Britain esteem and respect their national emblems.

The flag of the UK is officially called the Union flag, because it embodies the emblems of three countries united one monarch. In the Royal Arms three lions symbolize England, a lion rampant - Scotland, and a harp - Ireland. The lion has been used as a symbol of national strength and of the British monarchy for many centuries.

Political system

The UK is a parliamentary monarchy.

The country has three branches of power:

1. Parliament, which makes laws is legislative.

2. Government, which puts the laws into effect is an executive branch.

3. Law courts, which interpret the laws is a judical branch.

Parliament consists of two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The members of the House of Lords are life peers get into the House of Lords by birth. The head of the House of Lords is called the Lord Chancellor. During hid preside over the House he sits on the Woolsack.

Members of the House of Commons are elected by the voters of 650 districts. They are known as MPs or Members of Parliament.

There are two main political parties in the UK: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.

The leader of the political party, which wins the elections becomes the Prime Minister and forms the Cabinet. He is the head of the Government.

As the Great Britain is the parliamentary monarchy, the head of the state is a queen or a king. Now the British Queen is Elizabeth the second. She has been the queen for more than fifty years. British used to say: “Our Queen rains, but not rules.

Population

The British Isles are the home of many nations - English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and others. 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 very 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 universal form cultural identity. In 1993 the population of the UK was about 58 million inhabitants. This figure gives a population density of 284 persons per square km. About 78 % of population live in cities and towns.

The main cities

Very often Great Britain is called the “country of cities”. The main cities of Great Britain are Birmingham, Edinburg, Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Manchester and sure the capital of Britain is London.

Birmingham

Birmingham is the largest city of central part of the country. There are a lot of plants here, which produce iron and steel. Now Birmingham is one of the most developed industrial centers of the country. It has a great variety of industries. The city has some places of interest and an excellent cultural scene.

Manchester

Manchester is one more big city of Britain. Its mills and factories produce electronic machinery, plastic materials, different foods, clothes, soap and perfumes. The city is an important cultural centre. It is also noted for its excellent libraries, museums and art galleries.

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales.

Edinburg

Edinburg, the capital city of Scotland, is associated with science, law and administration. It is internationally famous too as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and is popularly known as “the Athens of the North”.

Places of interest in Great Britain

Britain is rich in its historic places which link the present with the past.

Stratford-on-Avon lies not far from London. Shakespeare was born here in 1564, and here he died in 1616.

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument, presumably built by Druids, members of an order of priests and ancient Britain.

Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 37 km southwest of Inverness. Its surface is 15.8 meters above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the legendary Loch Ness Monster, also known as "Nessie".

Brighton is a resort in East Sussex on the south coast of England and, with its neighbors Hove and Ports lade, forms the City of Brighton and Hove.

London

But the main British sight is London. I think, the city may be called “the museum under open air".

London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and cultural centre. It is one of the largest cities in the world. Its population is more than 9 million people. London is situated on the river Thames. The city is very old and beautiful. It was founded more than two thousand years ago.

Traditionally London is divided into several parts: the City, the West End, the East End and Westminster. The City is the oldest part of London, its financial and business centre. The heart of the City is the Stock Exchange.

Westminster is the most important part of the capital. It is the administrative centre. The Houses of Parliament is the seat of British Government. It is a very beautiful building with two towers and a very big clock called Big Ben. Big Ben is really the bell which strikes every quarter of an hour. Opposite the Houses of Parliament is Westminster Abbey. It is the centre of English church built over 900 years ago, which was founded by the King Henry the eighth. The tombs of many great statesmen, scientists and writers are there.

The richest part of London is called West End. Here we find most of expensive big shops, hotels, museums, art galleries, theatres and concert halls. Piccadilly Circus is the heart of London's West End. There are wide streets with beautiful houses and many parks, gardens and squares in the West End.

To the east of Westminster is the East End, an industrial district of the capital. There are no parks or gardens in the East End and you can't see many fine houses there. Most of the plants, factories and docks are situated there.

London has many places of interest.

One of them is Buckingham Palace. It's the residence of the Queen. When her majesty is in the city, she lives there. It is a fine palace with parks and garden.

The English are proud of Trafalgar Square, which was named in memory of the victory over the French fleet in 1805. There is a monument to Admiral Nelson in it.

Also the Tower of London is an important historical sight. It comprises not one, but 20 towers. The Tower is famous as the home of the Crown Jewels. For its two thousand years history it has been a fortress, a palace, a prison. Nowadays it is a world famous museum.

The Tower Bridge is not far from the Tower. It is a very famous place of interest. It connects the banks of the Thames River.

One more interesting sight is St. Paul Cathedral, masterpiece of 17^th century architect, Sur Christopher Wren.

The London Eye is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over three million people yearly.

The British museum is a very interest place in London. It was founded in 1753. The library of this museum has a lot of books.

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by his playing company.

Art in Britain

Shakespeare is one of the best known English playwrights. He draws ideas for his tragedies and comedies from the history of England and ancient Rome. Many experts consider Shakespeare the greatest writer and great playwright in English. William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays which may be divided into: comedies (such as «A Midsummer Night's Dream»), tragedies (such as «Hamlet», «Othello», «Romeo and Juliet», «King Lear») and historical plays (such as «Julius Caesar», «Antony and Cleopatra»).

British nation gave the world a lot of talented people. Many famous writers and poets were born and lived in Great Britain. Among of them are Robert Burns, George Byron, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and many others.

But my favorite English writer is Arthur Conan Doyle. He was born in Scotland, of Irish parents. He was a doctor. Conan Doyle's medical knowledge was a great help to him in his novels. The writer first created his famous character, Sherlock Holmes, in 1885. Six years later Sherlock Holmes was a name that everybody knew. When Conan Doyle began to get tired of writing detective stories, he decided to «kill» Holmes. He wrote a story in which Holmes meets his great enemy, Professor Moriarty. Holmes and Moriarty fight, and fall over a cliff and both killed. The public didn't like it. And Conan Doyle had to write another story in which Holmes comes back. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the greatest writer. He will be in people hearts forever.

I think British literature is one of the best in the world. But Great Britain is known not only for its literary attainment. Many famous painters were British. The most famous of them is Joseph Mallord William Turner. He was a great romantic landscape painter. Turner was interested mainly in light and colour effects. One of his famous paintings is even called «Light and Colour». William Turner is considered to be one of the world greatest painters.

Britain is also the homeland of many music styles. “The Beatles”, legendary group of four guys, started their career there. Their songs have been popular since the sixties and are be loved nowdays.

In Britain arts are developed very wide. But not only art play big role in countries' culture. Science is important for the UK too.

Education

Besides, British education is considered the best in the world. Education within the maintained schools system usually comprises two stages: primary and secondary education. Primary schools are subdivided into infant schools (ages 5 - 7), and junior schools (ages 7 - 11). Infant schools are informal and children are encouraged to read, write and make use of numbers and develop the creative abilities. Primary children do all their work with the same class teacher except for PT and music.

The education in UK is of two kinds: state, which is free and private which is very expensive. The most famous colleges and universities are Eton, Oxford and Cambridge.

British traditions and customs.

British nation is considered to the most conservative in Europe. It is not a secret that every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Great Britain people attach greater importance to traditions and customs than in other European countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. The best examples are their queen, money system, their weights and measures.

British people think that the Grand National horse race is the most exciting horse race in the world. It takes place near Liverpool every year. There are many celebrations in Great Britain. The most interesting of them are Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas, New Year celebration, the Mother's days.

Saying about English traditions we can't avoid the topic of English meals. The English proverb says: every praises his own broth. One can't say English cookery is bad, but there I not a lot of variety in it comparison with European cuisine. The British are very particular about their meals. The usual meals in UK are breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. A having tea is very popular in Great Britain

Sport in the UK

British people are very fond of sports. Sport is a part of their normal life. The two most popular games are football and cricket. Football is the most popular sport in the UK. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Football Leagues and national teams. Cricket is considered to be the English National game. Lawn tennis was first played in Britain in the late 19^th century. The most famous British championship is Wimbledon. Those are the most popular kinds of sports such as rugby, swimming, golf, horse-racing and the traditional fox-hunting.

This is all that I would like to tell you about the UK.