Topic Scotland

In area, Scotland is about 30.000 square miles. Its population is about 5.200.000 people. Scotland was an independent kingdom. In 1707 the Act of Union was passed. This Act incorporated Scotland with England in the United Kingdom, but the Scots kept their own legal system, religion, education and administration, and still keep them now. It is governed from London under a Secretary of State for Scotland who is usually a Scot.

The English language is spoken all over Scotland with a variety of regional accents – Scottish dialects. Among the people of some remote Highlands districts the Gaelic language is still used.

Scotland is a northern land, but it not particularly cold there.

During the nineteenth century much industrial development, based at first on coal mining, took place in the region round Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although Edinburgh is the capital, Glasgow has for a long time been the chief center of commerce and industry.

Scottish towns look very different from English towns. Architectural traditions are quite distinct, and certain styles never appear in England. Two-storey red brick houses of England contrast with grey four-storey apartment houses in Scotland.

The most interesting and beautiful part of Scotland – and of the whole of Britain – is the north and west, of the region commonly called “the highlands and islands”. Great sea-lochs, wild and empty hills, cone-shaped mountains deep valleys attract a lot of tourists. Shooting, fishing and deerstalking are rich men’s sports. Most visitors to modern Scotland come away with an impression that Scotsmen are hospitable, generous and friendly.

Topic Northern Ireland

The majority of the inhabitants of this large and beautiful island are Celtic in origin. After the Reformations in England and Scotland, many English and Scottish Protestants were settled in Ireland by English monarch and became the most powerful element in the country because they owned much of the land. In 1801 the union of Ireland with Great Britain took place, and the new political unit was called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The union was not favourable to the Catholic majority of the inhabitants, who regarded the dominant Protestant minority as foreign invaders and oppressors.

The Protestant and Catholic communities` mutual hostility is a characteristic feature of six counties of Northern Ireland. Serious disorders turned into the real war. In August 1969 British troops were sent to keep order, but terrorist acts continued.

The purpose of the British is to unite the two communities against extremists from both sides. There has been some progress towards this end, but many problems remain unsolved and the danger of a new wave of violence still exists.

Topic Wales

Wales has been united with England for seven hundred years, and through all this time England and Wales have formed one single political and administrative unit.

The territory of Wales is about 8.000 square miles. The population of Wales is about 3 m. people.

Central and North Wales are farming regions, while South Wales is the industrial part of the country. It is rich in coal. Cardiff, the capital of Wales, is also a large port.

Wales is a very popular place for spending holidays. Every year, thousands of people take their holidays at the seaside on the North Wales coast or, if they prefer, enjoy peace in villages far from town life. Some people choose Snowdonia. This is a national park around Snowdon, which is ideal for walking or hiking holidays.

Among the best-known Welsh characteristics are certain romanticism and love of poetry and music. The annual bardic festival known as the National Eisteddfod of Wales has a 1.200-year-old history: choral singing of hymns is a national art. Oratory is another. Singers, dancers, musicians and poets come from all over the world to complete for the awards at the festival. They often wear national costumes. At the festivals Welsh girls wear the nationals dress – a tall black hat, a red skirt and a white apron.

Another source of national pride is Rugby football.

In the whole of Wales, 99 per cent of the people can speak English, and the Welsh language, which is a Celtic one and very different from English, is, in fact, declining.