Тема 9. Great britain

Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom (UK for short), England, the British Isles –

these different names are sometimes used to mean the same thing, and they are frequently

used wrongly. Strictly speaking, England, Great Britain and the British Isles ought to be

used as geographical names, since England is only a part of Great Britain. Great Britain

does not include Northern Ireland, but the British Isles include Great Britain and the

whole of Ireland, that is both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Eire.

They sometimes say that it is as difficult to find a typical Englishman, as it is to find a

typical Briton. What is the mixture that we call British?

Foreigners usually call the British people «English», but the Scots, the Irish and the

Welsh do not consider themselves to be English. The English are Anglo-Saxon in origin,

but the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish are not. They are Celts; descendants of the ancient

people who crossed over from Europe to the British Isles centuries before the Roman

invasion. It was these people whom the Germanic Angles and Saxons conquered in the

5th and 6th centuries A.D.

These Germanic conquerors gave England its name – «Angle» land. They were

conquered in turn by the Norman French, when William of Normandy landed near

Hastings in 1066. It was from the union of the Norman conquerors and the defeated

Anglo-Saxons that the English people and the English language were born. The Danes,

the Vikings, who invaded Britain in the 8th century also made influence on the people

and the language.

As the English are such a mixed people, local customs and accents in England vary a

great deal. The closer one gets to London, the less one notices such differences, for

London is a melting pot. It smoothes out strong accents and provincial customs.

Foreigners have been settling in Britain since the beginning of the century. Black and

Asian people are now a familiar sight in every city. Great Britain has a multi-racial

society. But racial as well as class distinctions are still important in the society.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of four formerly

independent countries. They are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The

capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, the capital of Wales is Cardiff, the capital of Northern

Ireland is Belfast and the capital of England is London. The country is surrounded by seas

on all sides and is separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of

Dover. The British Isles consist of more than 5,000 small islands. The biggest of them is

Great Britain. The geographical position favoured the development of the United

Kingdom as a great sea country. It's famous for great geographical discoveries and

glorious victories of the British fleet.

The country occupies an area of over 242,000 sq miles. It is a densely populated

country. The population is about 57 million people. About 80 per cent of the population

live in town.

The scenery and the landscape of Great Britain are very diverse. There you can find

flat valleys and high land, forests and lake areas. The highest mountain peaks are Ben

Nevis in Scotland and Snowdon in Wales. The rivers in Great Britain are not long. The

Thames is the most important waterway in the country, though the longest river is the

Severn. The Mersy is another long river which played an important role in British trade

and commerce.

As for the climate of Great Britain it is moderate and mild due to the influence of the

warm waters of the Gulf Stream. The summers are usually cooler than on the continent.

There is a lot of rain in autumn and winter. The weather in Britain is very changeable and

the English even say they have no climate but only weather which through centuries has

become a favourite topic of conversation with the British.

The United Kingdom is a highly developed industrial state. Historically British

industry started chiefly as heavy and textile industry. There are hardly any coalmines in

Britain today, but textile industry is still prospering. The United Kingdom produces and

exports iron and steel products, machinery and electronics. The biggest industrial centres

are London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester.

The British say that they grow most of the food they consume, but of course some of

the food like coffee, tea, fruit and wine is imported. The chief agricultural crops are

wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and fodder grasses.

The United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy and the Queen is the head of the

state. But in practice it is ruled by the government formed by the Parliament or, to be

more exact, by the political party, which is in power at this or that stage. The Parliament

consists of two Chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Labour

party is in power at present and its leader Tony Blair heads the government.

The UK is a prosperous state with high living standards. But of course each country

has its own problems and the UK is not an exception. The country is burdened with the

long-lasting conflict in Northern Ireland, which occasionally manifests itself in violence

and disorder.

Great Britain is a country of strong attraction for tourists. The charm of it lies in its

variety of scenery: the finest combination of sea, high land and valleys, lakes and rivers

fields and meadows. They say, «England is green throughout». Englishmen like their

parks and gardens. The art of gardening has a very old tradition in England. Their parks

are pieces of the country left in the middle of town while the English country looks park

like.

Great Britain is the country with a long and exciting history and a rich cultural

heritage. People from different corners of our planet go there to see Stonehenge, a relic of

art ancient civilization, Loch Ness and its legendary monster, the Royal residence and

numerous castles. The cities and towns of Great Britain – London, Glasgow, Edinburgh

Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon and many others – present a lot of interest to

foreigners.