One country and four nations

The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the British Isles – a large group of islands lying off the north-western coast of Europe and separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover in the south and the North Sea in the east. The British Isles consist of two large islands - Great Britain and Ireland - separated by the Irish Sea, and a lot of small islands. The main of which are the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, Anglesea and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Hebrides – a group of islands off the north-western coast of Scotland, and two groups of islands lying to the north of Scotland: the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.

The area of the country is 244,021 square kilometres. 1000 km is from the south to the north and 483 km is across the widest part.

In Scotland there are the North-western Highlands and the Grampians. At the south-western end of the Highlands rises Ben Nevis, 1343, the highest peak of the British Isles. The south of Scotland is occupied by the Southern Uplands. The Cheviots separate Scotland from England. The main mountains of the country are the Pennies in North England that run down the country like a backbone. Nearly the whole of the Wales is occupied by the Cambrians with the peak – Snowdon, 1085. The south-eastern part of England is lowland, interrupted in places by low chalk ridges.

The rivers of the country are short; their direction and character are determinated by the position of the mountains. Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea. Many of the rivers are joined together by canals. The most important rivers are the Thames and the Severn that flows into the Bristol Channel, the Tyne and the Trent, the Mersey, the Clyde. The climate is mild and temperate.

The UK has a constitutional monarchy. This means that the king or queen does not rule the country but appoints the government which the people have chosen in democratic elections. The Head of State is Queen Elizabeth II. He is also the monarch for many countries in the Commonwealth. The Queen has reigned since her father’s death in 1952. Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, her oldest son, is the heir to the throne.

Historically the territory of the United Kingdom is divided into four parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. All these countries are represented in Parliament in London and the abbreviation UK is used on most official documents produced by Parliament. The word “region” is used to any of these four areas of the country. The main regional administrative units are called “counties” in England and Wales, “regions” – in Scotland and “districts” in Northern Ireland. In addition there are “Dependencies of the Crown”: the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands belong to the British Crown, but it’s self-governing with its own parliament and the remnants of the Empire such as Gibraltar and several islands in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The national symbols of the country are the national anthem, flag and the coat of arms. The national anthem is “God save the Queen”. In the reign of a king the word “queen” changes to “king”. It is not known who wrote the text of the anthem, but it may have been established in its present form some time in the 18^th century.

The national flag, the Union Jack, of Great Britain made up of three flags (the crosses of Saint George, Andrew and Patrick) representing England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The Lion and the Unicorn is the coat of arms of the British kings. The lion is a symbol of national strength, British monarchy. It is used to represent Britain. The unicorn is a symbol of purity. The lion and the unicorn carry a shield with three English lions, the Scottish lion and the Irish harp. It is surrounded by the ribbon of the Order of the Garter with the motto (Shame on him who thinks evil of it). The English lion and the unicorn stand on the field with the emblem of England (the rose), of Scotland (the thistle) and of Ireland (the shamrock); below you can see a royal motto “God and my right”.

The currency of the country is pound consisting of 100 pence.

In 2005 the population of the UK was just under 60 million people. The UK population is ethnically diverse and is changing rapidly, especially in large cities such as London, so it is not always to get an exact picture of the ethnic origin of all the population. People of Indian, Pakistani, Black Caribbean, Black African and mixed ethnic descent make up 8,3% of the UK population. There are also a lot of numbers of people resident in the UK who are of Irish, Italian, Greek and Cypriot, Polish, Australian, Canadian and other descent.

Although the UK is historically a Christian society, everyone has the legal right to practice the religion of their choice. In England there is a constitutional link between church and state. The official church is the Church of England which is called the Anglican Church. The Church of England is a Protestant church and has existed since the Reformation in the 1530s. The monarch is the head of the Church of England. The monarch is not allowed to marry anyone who is not a Protestant. The spiritual leader of the Church is the Archbishop of Canterbury. The monarch has the right to select the Archbishop of Canterbury and other senior church officials, but usually the choice is made by the Prime Minister and a committee appointed by the Church. There is no established church in Wales or Northern Ireland. The Church of Scotland is called the Episcopal Church.

Climate

Great Britain enjoys the humid and mild marine West-coast climate with warm winters and cool summers and a lot of rainfalls throughout the year. The wettest parts of Britain are the western Highlands of Scotland, the Lake District and North Wales. All parts of British Isles receive rain at any time of the year. Still autumn and winter are the wettest seasons, except in the Thames district, where most rain falls in the summer half of the year.

As to temperature, Great Britain has warmer winters than any other district in the same latitude. It is due to the number of mild south-west winds. Another factor is the Gulf Stream, which flows from the Gulf of Mexico and brings much warmth from the equatorial regions to the north-western Europe.

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