The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Соединенное королевство Великобритании)

The official country name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is situated on the British Isles, in the Western Europe, between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea; northwest of France. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. The climate is generally mild and temperate. In general, the south is warmer and drier than the north.

The UK includes England (London), Wales (Cardiff), Scotland (Edinburgh) and Northern Ireland (Belfast).

London is the capital of the United Kingdom. Once London was a small Roman town of the north bank of the Thames. Slowly it grew into one of the world's major cities. Now it is economic, political and cultural center of the UK.

The main languages are English, Welsh and Gaelic.

The largest cities are Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast.

The UK is a constitutional monarchy: the head of the state is a king or a queen (now Queen Elizabeth II)

The Parliament consists of:

• the House of Lords (the Upper House)

• the House of Commons (the Lower House)

The United Kingdom does not have a written constitution. The equivalent body of law is based on statute, common law, and "traditional rights."

The UK’s flag is the Union Jack. It is red, white and blue, and made up of three crosses.

Flag description

• blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England);

• the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland);

• the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland).

The coat of arms: There is a shield. The lion and the unicorn hold this shield.

The National anthem is "God Save the Queen"

The national emblem of England is a red rose. The national animal is a lion.

In Scotland the emblem is thistle. The national animal is a unicorn.

In Wales the official emblem is a leak and a daffodil, which is semi official. The national animal is a red dragon.

The emblem of Ireland is a shamrock (a leaf of clover).

The UK is famous for its historical places and sights. The most popular are: The Houses of Parliament with Big Ben, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St’ Paul’s Cathedral, the River Thames, the Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square (Nelson’s Column), the National Gallery, the British Museum, The Victoria & Albert Museum, Piccadilly Circus, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London Eye, Hyde Park and so on.

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The United States of America (Соединенные штаты Америки)

The official name of the country is the United States of America. It is situated in North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean; between Canada and Mexico.

The climate is mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest. To the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south.

History: The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. The discovery of America is connected with the name of Christopher Columbus in 1492. In 1492, Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus, under contract to the Spanish crown, reached several Caribbean islands, making first contact with the indigenous people. So, Columbia, a once popular name for the United States, was derived from Columbus; it appears in the name "District of Columbia".

In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.

The capital of the USA is Washington D. C.

The USA consists of 50 states and one federal district.

The largest cities are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Washington D. C., Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia.

The form of the government: Constitution-based federal republic (strong democratic tradition)

The chief of the state is the president (now Barack H. Obama)

The Congress consists of:

• the Senate (100 seats)

• the House of Representatives (435 seats)

The 4th of July is the national Independence Day (from Great Britain in 1776)

The National anthem is "The Star-Spangled Banner"

The national bird is the bald eagle.

The flag: 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper left corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50 stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies; the blue stands for loyalty, devotion, truth, justice, and friendship; red symbolizes courage, zeal, and fervency, while white denotes purity and rectitude of conduct.

The coat of arms: The supporter of the shield is a bald eagle with its wings outstretched. From the eagle's perspective, it holds a bundle of 13 arrows in its left talon, (referring to the 13 original states), and an olive branch in its right talon, together symbolizing that the United States of America has "a strong desire for peace, but will always be ready for war." (see Olive Branch Petition). Although not specified by law, the olive branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves and 13 olives, again representing the 13 original states. The eagle has its head turned towards the olive branch, said to symbolize a preference for peace. In its beak, the eagle clutches a scroll with the motto E pluribus unum ("Out of Many, One"). Over its head there appears a "glory" with 13 mullets (stars) on a blue field. In the current (and several previous) dies of the great seal, the 13 stars above the eagle are arranged in rows of 1-4-3-4-1, forming a six-pointed star.

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