- •1. Early Britain. Ancient population.
- •2. The Roman invasion.
- •4. The raids of the Danes and their role in the unification of the country.
- •5. The Norman invasion. The main principles of feudalism.
- •6. Early British education. The first universities. A medieval town.
- •7. England in the 14-15th centuries (the 100 Years’ War, the Peasants’ Revolt, the War of the Roses).
- •8. The policy of the new monarchs: Henry VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I.
- •9. Gaining power and expansion during the Tudor period.
- •10. British government and society in the 16th century.
- •11. British economy and the problems of the poor in the 16th century.
- •12. The Crown and Parliament during the Stuart period.
- •13. Republican and restoration Britain.
- •14. The 17th century British society.
- •15. Changes in political life in Britain in the 18th century.
- •16. Life of the British in town and in the country in the 18th century.
- •17. Industrial revolution in Britain and the war with Napoleon.
- •18. Reforms in Britain in the first half of the 19th century.
- •19. Britain’s international and home policy in the first half of the 19th century.
- •20. The years of self-confidence in Britain: industrial power, towns and the rise of the middle class.
- •22. Social and economic changes in Britain between 1876 and 1914.
- •21. The years of self-confidence: population, politics, the British Empire and life in Ireland.
- •23. Britain the World War I.
- •24. The after-effects of World War I for Britain.
- •25. Great Britain in World War II.
- •26. Britain after World War II. The Suez Canal conflict.
- •27. Attitude to the British towards the monarchy in the 20th century and Thatcher’s government.
- •32. Seas and coastline of the uk. Climate.
- •33. Britain in 1957-1979. Harold Macmillan.
- •Harold Wilson and Edward Heath
- •34. Tony Blair. Brown as Prime Minister.
- •Foreign policy. Brown remains committed to the Iraq War, but said in a speech in May 2007 that he would "learn the lessons" from the mistakes made in Iraq.
- •36. Legislative branch of government. Constitution. Passing a bill. Function of the monarch in the Parliament.
- •39. Migration in the uk.
- •37. Elections and parties. Local government. European Union.
- •38. Population of the uk. Population density and distribution.
- •40. Ethnic and geographic identity. Being British. Family and class.
- •41. The place of Britain in the world economy. Chief industries.
- •42. Agriculture. Transport and communication. Overseas trade.
- •43.Compulsory schooling. Educational reforms. Exams.
- •44. Post 16 education. Higher education.
- •45.British culture. Arts.
- •46. British culture. Science and technology. Religion. Religious, political, social and everyday contacts.
- •47. British culture. Sport. Food. National costume. Naming conventions.
- •48.British press.
- •Magazines
- •49. British radio and television. Television
- •50. Places to see in London.
38. Population of the uk. Population density and distribution.
As regards the proportion of urban population Britain probably holds the first place in the world. Over 90 % of its population live in towns. In Britain there are 91 towns with the population of over 100 thousand people. About one third of the country's population is concentrated in the town districts, which comprise numerous merged towns and are called conurbations. They are: Greater London, Central Clydeside, Merseyside, South-East Lancashire, Tyneside, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire.
In general about half the population lives in a belt across England with South Lancashire and west Yorkshire at one end, and the London area at the other, having the industrialized Midlands at its centre.
Other areas with large population are: the central lowlands of Scotland; north-east England from north of the river Tyne down to the river Tees; south-west Wales; the Bristol area; and the English Channel coast from Poole, in Dorset, eastwards. Rural settlements of GB differ from the traditional villages situated in other countries. They are located not far from towns and resemble their suburbs. The 1980s witnessed a steady growth of mass unemployment and deterioration of the living standards of the people. The number of poor people in the country reached about 12 mln.
The most notable trend in the employment pattern during the last years has been the growth of people employed in services. This is a typical feature which is observed in all developed countries.
40. Ethnic and geographic identity. Being British. Family and class.
National ('ethnic') loyalties can be strong among the people in Britain whose ancestors were not English. (Scottish, Welsh or Irish).
In Scotland several important aspects of public life are organized and differently from the rest of Britain - education, law and religion. The Scottish way of speaking English is very distinctive. A modern form of the dialect known as Scots has many features which are different from other forms of English and can’t usually be understood by people who aren’t Scottish.
The people of Wales don’t differ much in everyday life. Many people in Wales even don’t consider themselves to be especially Welsh at all. There is one important symbol of Welsh identity - the Welsh language. Everybody in Wales can speak English, but it isn’t everybody's first language. For about 20% of the population, the mother-tongue is Welsh. All children in Wales learn it at school there are many local newspapers in Welsh, there is a Welsh television channel and nearly all public notices and signs are written in both Welsh and English.
Most English people usually make no distinction in their minds between 'English' and 'British'. For example, at international football or rugby matches, when the players stand to attention to hear their national anthems, the Scottish, Irish and Welsh have their own songs, while the English one is just 'God Save the Queen' — the same as the British national anthem.
People of Northern Ireland can be divided into 2 groups: Protestants who came from England and Scotland who want to remain in the UK and the native Irish Catholics who want to become a pert of the Irish republic. These groups live separately in different housing estates, listen to different radio and TV programmes, go to different doctors, read different newspapers and so on.
Nearly everybody has a spoken accent that identifies them as coming from a particular large city or region. In some cases there is quite a strong sense of identification. Liverpudlians (from Liverpool), Mancunians (from Manchester), Geordies (from the Newcastle area) and Cockneys (from London) are often proud to be known by these names. Many English people see themselves as either 'northerners' or 'southerners'.
Being British.
British people, although many of them feel proud to be British, aren’t normally actively patriotic. They often feel uncomfortable if, in conversation with somebody from another country, that person refers to 'you' where 'you' means Britain or the British government. They are individualistic and do not like to feel that they are personally representing their country.
The British keep distinctive ways of doing things, such as driving on the left and using different systems of measurement.
Most British people know remarkably little about Europe and who lives there. They continue to be very bad about learning other peoples' languages. Fluency in any European language other than English is generally regarded as exotic.
Family.
In comparison with most other places in the world, family is less important in Britain, especially in England. Families are rather nuclear than extended, except among some racial minorities. It’s unusual for adults of different generations within the family to live together. The average number of people living in each household in Britain is lower than in most other European countries. The proportion of elderly people living alone is similarly high
Significant family events such as weddings, births and funerals aren’t automatically accompanied by large gatherings of people. In fact, family gatherings of any kind beyond the household unit are rare. For most people, they are confined to the Christmas period.
Class.
Historians say that the class system has survived in Britain because of its flexibility.
People in modern Britain are very conscious of class differences. They regard it as difficult to become friends with somebody from a different class. Although most people say they do not approve of class divisions, different classes have different sets of attitudes and daily habits: they eat different food at different times of day, they like to talk about different topics using different styles and accents of English, they enjoy different pastimes and sports, they have different values about what things in life are most important and different ideas about the correct way to behave, they go to different kinds of school.
In general, the different classes mix more readily and easily with each other than they used to. There has been a great increase in the number of people from working-class origins who are house owners and who do traditionally middle-class jobs.