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Great BritainGreat Britain

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Introduction• the official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland

• it's located on 2 main islands situated northwest of Europe

• Scotland

• Northern Ireland

• Wales

• England

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Geography• it's separated from the continent by the North Sea

and by the the English Channel

• the countryside is low in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in the western and northern regions (Wales, Scotland)

• it is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands

(e.g. the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Orkney Islands, the Shetlands, the Hebrides)

• it is the third most populated island on Earth with the population of over 60 million people

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Scottish Highlands

• it's a mountainous region in Scotland

• the area is not very much populated

• many mountain ranges dominate the region

• there is the highest mountain of the UK, Ben Nevis

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Loch Ness• is a large, deep,

freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands

• best known for the legendary Loch Ness Monster, also known as "Nessie“

• it's the second largest Scottish loch by surface area at 56.4 km2 after Loch Lomond

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The river Thames• is the second longest river in the UK

• it flows through central

London and several other

towns and cities, including

Oxford, Reading and Windsor

• several watersports are done on the Thames such as rowing, sailing, skiffing, canoeing

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Climate• it´s mild thanks to the Gulf Stream which

brings warmer water to the western coast• typical spring and autumn weather is very

changeable, often foggy with a lot of rain• overall temperatures are favourable during

the whole year and it´s rather warm• in winter it often snows especially in the

northern areas but temperatures rarely fall below -10 degrees °C

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History• first inhabited by people who came from the European

mainland

• Iron Age inhabitants are known as the Britons, a Celtic tribe speaking a Celtic language

• the Romans conquered most of the island and this became the Ancient Roman province of Britannia from 43 to 410 AD

• since the 2nd half of the 5th century Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes ruled England

• in 1066 in the Battle of Hastings, England was conquered by the Normans (French) led by William the Conqueror who became the new English king

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• in 1485-1603 the House of Tudor on the throne, the Renaissance era (king Henry VIII, queen Elizabeth I)

• 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland

• the late 18th and early 19th century – the Industrial Revolution, England changed from an agricultural country to an industrial superpower

• during 1837-1901 under the rule of Victoria I England owned 1/3 of the world thanks to numerous colonies

• Britain took part in both world wars

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Political system• it's a constitutional monarchy

• the head of state is the Monarch Queen Elizabeth II

• it's governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London and national administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh

• the Parliament has got two sections– Upper House - House of Lords   – Lower House - House of Commons

• the head of the Government is the Prime Minister

• the UK has fourteen overseas territories

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Economy• it´s a developed country, with the world's sixth

largest economy

• it´s able to supply enough food for the whole country, the main export products are grain crops, potatoes and sugar beet, animals raised: cattle, sheep, poultry

• the Industrial Revolution started in the UK with concentration on heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining, steel production, textiles, and motor industry

• the service sector is dominated by financial services, especially banking and insurance, and tourism

• the UK has a small coal reserve,

natural gas and oil reserves

The Bank of England

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Transport• across the UK, there is a good road and rail

network

• London Heathrow Airport, located 24 km west of the capital is UK's busiest airport and has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world

• in cities you can travel by bus, trolleybus or the underground

• between towns you can use coaches

• a ferry goes between France and the UK

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Sports• Major sports include rugby, football,

boxing, badminton, cricket, tennis and golf

England's new Wembley Stadium, the most expensive stadium ever built Cardiff's Millennium Stadium,

national stadium of Wales

The Wimbledon Championship, a Grand Slam tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June/July

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, generally regarded as the world's "Home of Golf"

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British food

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Stratford upon Avon

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The English countryside

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The University of Oxford

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Oxford city

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Edinburgh

Source: www.wikipedia.org, www.google.com