CASE STUDY OF UNITED KINGDOM

INTRODUCTION Full name: United Kingdom of Great 

Britain and Northern Ireland

Population: 62.4 million (UN, 2011)

Capital: London

Area: 242,514 sq. km Major language: English 

Major religion: Christianity

Life expectancy: 78  years  (men),  82 years (women) (UN)

Head of state: Queen  Elizabeth  II (1952)

  Prime minister: David  Cameron (2010)

 Monetary unit: Pound sterling (£)

 The United Kingdom  is made up of  England, Wales,  Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 Much of the north and west of the U.K. is covered in high ground, knife-edged mountain ridges separated by deep valleys.

  Great  Britain's  rugged mountains,  like  the  Scottish  Highlands,  offer  habitat that  is  relatively  untouched  by  humans.  The  country's  7,700  miles  (12,429 kilometers)  of  shoreline,  ranging  from  tall  cliffs  to  beaches  to marshes,  also provide homes for wildlife such as seabirds and seals.

 Major Rivers: Thames, Severn, Tyne

GENERAL GEOGRAPHY

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Stonehenge is possibly one of the UK's most famous and mysterious landmarks.

Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks.

It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial graves.

The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 .  It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument.

 

STONEHENGE

York Minster is a cathedral in York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe.

The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York.

The formal title of York Minster is "The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York".

The title "minster" is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title.

MINISTER WEST FRONT

INTERIOR OF YORK MINISTER

YORK MINISTER

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London,  is  a historic castle on  the  north  bank  of the River Thames in central  London, England. 

  It was founded towards the end of 1066  as  part  of  the Norman Conquest of England.

  The White  Tower,  which  gives  the entire  castle  its  name,  was  built by William the Conqueror in 1078. A grand  palace  early  in  its  history,  it served as a royal residence.

 The Tower has served variously as, a treasury,    the  home  of  the Royal Mint,  a  public  records  office,  and the  home  of  the Crown  Jewels  of the United Kingdom.

It  is  cared  for  by  the charity Historic  Royal Palaces and  is  protected  as a World Heritage Site.

Tower of London

  Big  Ben is  the  nickname  for  the great bell of  the clock at  the  north  end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and often extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower

The name Big Ben actually refers not to the clock tower itself, but to the 13 ton bell housed within  the  tower and  takes its  name  from  the  man  who  first ordered the bell, Sir Benjamin Hall.

It  is  the 3th largest free-standing  clock tower in the world.

The  tower  is  now  officially  called the Elizabeth  Tower,  after  being renamed  in  2012  (from  "Clock  Tower") to  celebrate  the Diamond  Jubilee  of Elizabeth II.

The tower was completed  in 1858 and had  its  150th  anniversary  on  31  May 2009.

BIG BEN

Windsor  Castle  is  often  called  the  largest  and  oldest  inhabited  castle  in  the  world.  A Royal home and fortress for over 900 years, the Castle remains a working palace today.

 It is one of the official residences of Queen Elizabeth II who spends many weekends of the year at the castle, using it for both state and private entertaining. 

 Members of  the British Royal  family have been  inspired  to paint, draw and sculpt  for generations. This exhibition shows examples of their handiwork from the last 350 years, including  architectural  drawings,  atmospheric  landscapes  and  portraits  of  family members.

Windsor Castle

 Durham Cathedral,  in  the city of Durham  in northeast England  is  the greatest Norman (roman architecture) building in England and perhaps even in Europe. 

  The  foundation  stone  of  Durham  Cathedral  was  laid  on  August  12, 1093.

  The cathedral has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In  a  nationwide  BBC  poll  held  in  2001  Durham  Cathedral  was  voted England’s best-loved building.

Durham Cathedral

London Eye

The London Eye (originally called the millennium wheel) is an instantly recognizable landmark sitting on the South Bank of the River Thames.

It is also currently the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe standing a proud 135 meters in height.

Officially opened on New Year's Eve 1999, it became operational in March of 2000 and has  since gone on  to become  the United Kingdom's most popular tourist attraction.

  It was built  to  celebrate  the  start of  the new millennium, with the wheel representative of the turning of time. 

  It  takes  about  30  minutes  for  the  London  Eye  to  travel  a  full revolution, and on a clear day  from  its pinnacle  it  yields a view ranging 25 miles in all directions.

 It has 32 pods, each capable of carrying approximately 25 people at a time. That's a capacity of 800 people at any time. As of June 2008 a cool 30 million people had experienced the London Eye.