Unit I. Introduction to the uk question time

'When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles - but never England.' (‘How to be an Alien' by George Mikes)

This quotation from George Mikes’ book means that many foreigners say 'England' and 'English' when they mean 'Britain', or the 'UK', and 'British'. So what is the difference between the names 'Great Britain' and 'the United Kingdom' - and what about 'the British Isles'? You will be ready to answer this question after studying Part I.

Text 1 time for reading

Read the text about the United Kingdom and its geography. What is the climate of the British Isles influenced by?

The united kingdom

T he United Kingdom is an abbreviation of “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. It is often further abbreviated to “UK”, and is the political name of the country which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (also known as Ulster).

The British Isles lie off the north-west coast of continental Europe between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. The UK is separated from the continent by the English Channel. The Channel Tunnel bored beneath the English Channel, now links the UK with France.

Great Britain is the largest island consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales. Some small islands off the coast of Great Britain are part of the UK, whereas others are not even part of the Commonwealth although they have very close political, economic, and cultural relations with Britain, and recognize the Queen as Head of State (e.g. the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man). The number of islands and islets of the British Archipelago amounts to 750.

The UK has a total area of approximately 245,000 sq km, of which nearly 99% is land and the remainder inland water. From north to south it is about 1,000 kilometres long. Interesting fact: no one in the UK lives more than 120 km (75 miles) from the sea.

The UK is a part of Europe and a member of the European Union (EU). The capital of the UK is London.

Geography of the uk

Seas surrounding the UK: The UK is made up of several islands. The only land border connecting the UK to another country is between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The UK coastline is 4057 km long.

The UK is bordered by four seas: to the south by the English Channel, which separates it from continental Europe; to the east by the North Sea; to the west by the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Land: The UK landscape is very varied. In Britain the highest mountainous regions are found in the north and west (the Scottish Highlands and the Welsh mountains). The highest mountains are Ben Nevis in Scotland (1343 m) and Snowdon in Wales (1085 m). A ridge of hills, the Pennine, runs down the centre of northern England. The part of Britain which lies to south-east of a line drawn from Devon to Durham is mainly a plain broken by low hills. Highland Britain has poor soils and is sparsely populated, whereas Lowland Britain has fertile soils and is densely populated.

Rivers and Lakes: Being a relatively small island, the UK's rivers are not very long. The Severn, its longest river, is just 338 km in length. Other major rivers include the Thames (346 km), the Trent and Mersey rivers. Scotland's largest river is the Clyde (169 km).

The largest lake in the UK is Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland (396 sq km). Other major lakes include Windermere in the English Lake District and Loch Lomond in Scotland. Another of Scotland's lakes, Loch Ness is famous for sightings of 'Nessie', a mythical monster!

Climate: The UK's climate varies greatly according to season and location, but on the whole can be described as mild with few extremes.

The UK is warmed by the North Atlantic Drift. The climate is generally temperate and frequently wet. The temperature seldom reaches extremes of heat or cold. An average temperature in winter is 5°C and in summer 15°C.

Britain is famous for its unpredictable and changeable weather. Contrary to popular legend, fog is not a common occurrence. The old London 'smog', a combination of fog and smoke from chimneys, is now a thing of the past, as a result of the Clean Air Act (1968) which banned the burning of untreated coal in city areas.

Britain lies in the Greenwich Mean Time zone. Greenwich, in south-east London, is the place, at longitude 0°0', from which all other time zones are calculated. Zones west of Greenwich have earlier, zones to the east have later times.