The
mainland Europe and France are more than 40 km away from the port
of Dover.
The
area of the UK is more than a quarter of a million square
kilometers.
The
British weather is temperate with few extremes in temperature.
Indeed
large parts of the UK are easily inhabitable.
With
58 mln people Britain is one of the most sparsely populated
countries in Europe
The
British are mainly the descendants of the original dark-skinned
peoples living in these islands or of waves of immigrants from
Europe: Danes, Vikings, Normans, French
Protestants,
Jewish
immigrants.
Britain
is a multicultural society built on the tradition of tolerance.
Britain’s
food has a poor reputation.
British families are now
smaller than they used to be 50 years ago.
The
UK has one of the lowest marriage and divorce rates in Europe.
In
Britain there is complete freedom of religious belief and
observance.
In Britain living in a
house gives the freedom of having your own front door and always
a garden.
The idea of Britishness is
rooted in the value system.
To
many non-British people it is ridiculous that Britain still has a
monarchy.
The
present-day Queen's father was King George IV.
In Britain the Queen
doesn't have any formal constitutional roles.
Britain's
development
was
evolutional, not revolutional.
In
Britain the Monarchy is not controlled by Parliament.
Britain never felt the need
for a written constitution.
Britain's
Parliament is one of the youngest representative assemblies in
the world.
The
House of Lords still remains an important arena for debates of
current issues.
The
British Law is based on case law and precedent.
The
Queen's birthday is celebrated in April each year.
In February Scots
everywhere celebrate the birthday of Robert Burns.
The
boat race between Britain's oldest universities (Oxford and
Cambridge) takes place on the river Thames near London.
The
ancient people were subdued nearly 4000 years ago by the Romans.
1066
was the last time Britain was conquered by a foreign invader.
It
was 700 years before English monarchs could persuade the Welsh
into a Political Union.
It
was in the early 18th century that the Scots signed the Act of
Union binding them to England.
In
the beginning of the 19th
century Irish nationalists rebelled. The result was two countries
of Ireland.
Since
1969 Northern Ireland has suffered campaigns of violence.
There
is a soccer team for each of the UK's countries.
The
British Empire was not the largest empire in the history of the
world.
Hong
Kong (the last British colony) was reverted to China in 1987.
The
Commonwealth with the Queen as its Head provides a forum for
international cooperation for a few of Britain's former
dominions.
Lord
Byron is a 19th century English poet.
Britain
was the world's first agricultural country.
Britain
was the first to invent a printer.
In
Britain the National Health Care provides universal free medical
care.
Today
1 in 4 school-leavers goes into higher education.
As
everywhere in the world people in Britain spend most of their
free time watching TV and listening to the radio.
Beer
in British pubs is usually served cold.
Since
the days of the 'Beatles' Britain has led the world in rock
music.
Nearly
1/10th of the British population goes fishing.
The
National Trust is the oldest charity in Britain.
Cricket
was invented in England.
Britain's
economic prosperity is firmly based on private enterprise.
Service
industry supplies 85 % of Britain's income.
Britain
was a founding member of the United Nations
