1. Describe the geographical position of the British Isles, offering an explanation for its advantages and disadvantages. Define the term “continental shelf”, its importance for the economy.

The British isles (322 246 sq km) are located in the North-West of Europe. Geographically they are divided into 5 000 islands. The largest of them is called Great Britain, the second largest is Ireland. These two main islands are surrounded by the number of islands. The most important: the Hebrides, the Orkney islands, the Sheftland island. In the Irish Sea there is famous Isle of Man. Historically, it has its own parlament, currency, administration. The Isle of Wight (уайч) lies in the English Channel, the isle is a famous tourist sea resort. The Channel Islands, they are closer to France, they are known to the French as the Isles Normandes, they are closer to France, 2 languages are spoken there.

Politically, the British Isles are divided into 2 independent states: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Horthern Island and the Irish Republic. England – London, Scotland – Edinburg, Wales – Сardiff, Horthern Ireland – Belfast.

The territory of the UK is washed by: the Irish sea, the North sea, the English Channel and Atlantic ocean.

The territory of the UK is 244 100 sq km.

The popullation of the UK is 61 million people. 63% live in England, 8% in Scotland, more than 3% - in Nortern Ireland.

The UK is situated on the continental shelf, which is a zone of shallow (мелководные) water, which surrounds Britain and seperated from the deep waters of the Atlantic ocean. It’s very important for the economy because of exploitation of oil & natural gas from the continental shelf under the North Sea.

Advantages:

1)Favorable conditions for the development of shipping, trade, economy as a whole.

2)For centuries the British felt safe and secure protected by the Channel and no foreign army has ever invaded the country since the Norman conquest in the 11^th century.

3)The UK coastline is much indented (внутри). Due to this indentity a large number of ports were been in the UK.

4)Due to the Golfstreem the climate is mild. The winters are never too cold and the summer is never too hot.

Disadvantages:

1)Southern and Southern-Eastern parts of Europe are located below sea level and are regularly flattered.

2)The problem of overpopulation, especially in England. The BrI in general, but esp England as part of the UK, form one of the most densely (густо) peopled areas in the world. With the present population of the UK of some 60 million, many problems emerge with land use, road construction and city sprawl (разрастание).

2.Give an account of physical geography of the British Isles describing the varied relief features. Examine the main rivers and lakes of Great Britain. Outline the climate and weather of the British Isles. Account for the chief mineral resources of Great Britain.

Though England cannot be considered a very hilly (холмистый) country still it is far from being flat.

In England we’ve got 3 mountain ranges: the Pennine range, Cheviot[ˈtʃɛvɪət] Hills (a natural boderland between England and Scotland), the Cambrian mountains.

The highest pike of England is Scafell [skɔːˈfɛl] in the Cumbrian mountains, 978 m.

The main mountains in Scotland are located in the north and north-west there are two mountain ranges: Crampian mountains and the Highlands and Islands.

All rivers of the UK:

-Those to flow to the North Sea (The Thames (332) and the Trent (274), the Ouse [uːz], Humber, Tees and Tyne [taɪn] in England; the Tweed, Forth, Dee and Spey in Scotland flow into the North Sea.

-Those to flow to the Irish sea (the Mersey [ˈməːzi] and Eden of England, the Clyde on which Glasgow stands).

The Severn is the longest river in the UK (350 km) follows from central Wales and flows into the Bristol Channel.

The longest river in the BI is the river Shannon ['ʃænən] (384 km) flowing from north to south in the Republic of Ireland.

The largest lake in GB and the biggest inland in Scotland is Loch [lɔk] Lomond [ˈləʊmənd], the largest lake of the whole BI is Lough [lɔh] Neagh [neɪ] (381 sq km) in Northern Ireland. Lake District (north-west of England) is famous for its beatiful landscape and that a member of places there are connected with oustanding English poets such as William Wordsworth (the largest lake here is Windermere [ˈwɪndəmɪə]).

Mineral resources: the main deposits of oil and natural gas are from the continental shelf under the North Sea. The main deposits of coal and iron ore (o, руда) are located in Yourkshire and Langshire, the central Scotland and South Wales.

Britain isn’t rich in precious mettals, but has a great variety of non-metallic minerals such as granites ['grænɪt] in Devon and Cornwall; clay, chalk (чок, мел) , sand and gravel ['græv(ə)l] important for the building industry; different kinds of salt; kaolin (кейлин, белая огнеупорная глина), a fine white china-clay used in cotton, paper and pottery manufacture.

The weather of the British Isles is greatly variable. Britain’s climate is dominated by the influence of the sea. Marine influences warm the land in winter and cool it in summer. The average annual rainfall in Britain about 1.100 mm. The eastern lownlands are much drier and usually receive little precipitation.

Because of the Gulf Stream and predomonantly maritime air masses that reach the British Isles from the west, the range in t is never very great. The annual mean t in England and Wales is about +10C, in Scotland and Northern Ireland about +9C. The mean winter t in the north is +3C, the mean summer temper­ature is +12C.The corresponding figures for the south are +5 'C in winter and +16C in summer.

Mineral Resources

The UK used to be a country of considerable amount of mineral resources (coal, iron ore, copper, lead, tin, etc.) but in the course of the last hundred years most of the deposits have been worked out. At the present moment the UK imports lots of raw materials (iron, zinc, nickel, chrome, copper), forest and half of its food.

Major Resources:

1. Coal (not as important now as it was before, it is replaced by oil and uranium) – was used as a fuel. Deposits: Yorkshire, Lancashire, Newcastle, Central Scotland (Glasgow) and Southern Wales (the Cambrian Mountains).

2. Oil and Gas – usually occur together; are used as fuel and in chemical industry. Oil and natural gas have been discovered in the 1950s on the Shelf in the North Sea. Since then many platforms have been built in the North Sea to take oil and natural gas ashore through the submarine pipelines.

3. Iron Ore – usually found in the areas of major coal basins.

4. Non-metallic Minerals:

• Common Rocks/Granite – used in house-building and road-making; deposits – Devon, Cornwall;

• Clay – used for the production of bricks;

• Chalk – used in cement industry; deposits – the Thames, the Humber;

• Salt – used for the production of chemicals, textile, in soap-making;

Sand and Gravel – found in the north of England and in Central Scotland.