II. The geographical position of the UK.

Great Britain. The names, the symbols and the geographical position.

1. The names, the symbols and the emblems.
2. The geographical position.

The names, the symbols and the emblems.

The full official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And the country is commonly known as the United Kingdom. And consequently consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Several names have been used to name the country.

The word Britain derives from Britannia, the name given by the Romans to the area inhabited by the Brits.

The British Isles is the geographical name that refers to all the islands: Great Britain, the whole Ireland (both Northern and Southern) and some smaller islands.

Albion is now a poetic name for Britain. The Greeks called the island “Albion” and the Romans said that this meant “White Land” and associated the name of Britain (especially England) with albus (“white”) and identified it with the Dover chalk cliffs.

Collectively the people of Great Britain are called the “British” or “Britons”. Separately they are the English, the Welsh, the Scotch (the Scots or sometimes the North Britons) and the Irish.

The name “John Bull” was given to a figure representing the English people, particularly in newspaper cartoons, etc. he is always drawn as a broadly-built, red faced farmer, sometimes with his bulldog.

The flag of the UK is known as the Union Jack and reflects the history of the State. The tern can be explained as follows: “Union” reflects the union of England and Scotland in 1606, and “Jack” means the flag flown on the Jack staff (a small flag staff) of ships of their nationality. (King James I ordered the British flag to be flown on the main mast of the British ships, except the ships-of-war. Here the flag was flown at the front of the ship, on what was called the bowsprit. The end of the bowsprit was called the Jack Star and that is the origin of the Union Jack. A “Jack” is also an old name for a “sailor”).

The Union Jack is made up of three crosses on a blue ground. The blue colour refers to the seas surrounding Britain. The central red cross is the cross of St. George, the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross (with the arms going into the corners) is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross is the cross of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, but today it refers to Northern Ireland. St. David is the patron saint of Wales, but the symbol of Wales is not reflected in the Union Jack, because when the flag appeared Wales was already firmly united with England. The Welsh flag is a red dragon on a white and green ground.

The national emblem of England is the rose. The national emblem of Scotland is thistle (чертополох), of Ireland - shamrock (трилистник), of Wales – daffodil and leek.

“God save the Queen/King” is the British national anthem.

The term Commonwealth is used to describe the relations between Great Britain and its former colonies that have become politically independent but still have some links with Great Britain.

II. The geographical position of the UK.

The British Isles, which include Great Britain, Northern Ireland and a lot of smaller islands, are situated off the north western coast and once formed a part of the continent. The separation took place thousands years ago, after the last Ice Age, when the ice melted the level of the oceans rose and drowned the low-lying coastland.

From the European continent The British Isles are separated by the English Channel and the North Sea. The English Channel, in its widest part in the west is 220km. wide, and in the narrowest, what is called the Strait of Dover, only 32km. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain from Ireland. In the south–west Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean.

The two largest islands of the British Isles are Great Britain and Ireland. Apart from them the British Isles include several other important islands and groups of islands.

Off the northern coast of Scotland are the Orkney Islands, comprising about 100 islands. Most of the people are engaged in dairy and poultry farming. Bacon, cheese and eggs are exported to central Scotland.

70miles off the Orkneys there are the Shetland Islands. This is a region of poor soil and rough pastures. The population is engaged in herring-fishing.

Off the north-western coast of Great Britain there is a group of islands known as the Hebrides. They are divided into the Inner and Outer Hebrides. The main occupation of people there is farming combined with fishing.

In the middle of the Irish Sea there is the Isle of Man. The island is administered by its own Manx Parliament. Its population of about 50000 is chiefly engaged in farming, fishing and tourist trade. The largest settlement is the holiday resort of Douglas.

Another important island in the Irish Sea is Anglesey.

The Isle of Wight is in the English Channel. It is diamond shaped. With its beaches and pleasant varied countryside, the island forms one of the most important tourist resorts. It’s linked to London by ferry and rail service.

Off the extreme south-western coast is a tiny group of the Isles of Scilly, another resort area.

The Channel Islands lie to the south-west on the French side of the English Channel. They are known to the French as the Isles Normandes. The Channel Islands form an archipelago, separated by shallow waters from Northern France. As a part of the Duchy of Normandy, they have been attached to the English Crown since the Norman Conquest (1066). It’s a holiday as well. The chief islands of the group are Jersey and Guernsey.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29