UNITED KINGDOM for the beginners Today I’ll present you United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was founded on January 1st 1801.

CONTENT Basic facts Geography History UK today Economy Culture Sports and Laisure Food

BASIC FACTS Area: 243 610 km2 Population:63 181 775 Capital: London Official language: English Political structure: Unitary parlamentary constitutional monarchy Currency: pound sterling Religion: mainly Christian – 70+% Religion – practiced by the Church of England. In Scotland the official Church is the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. These are Protestant Churches. There are also many Roman Catholics. Also, There are large Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities.

GEOGRAPHY- overview UK is an island nation in Western Europe on the: island of Great Britain part of the island of Ireland Several small islands Varied climate with frequent cloud and rain Natural resources - coal, petroleum, natural gas… Nowhere in Britain is more than 74½ miles from the sea.

GEOGRAPHY - regions The UK is made up of four different regions that are not independent nations These regions are: England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland The United Kingdom refers to the countries under the British Crown, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Great Britain, on the other hand, is just the island containing Scotland, Wales, and England.  Great Britain, on the other hand, is just the island containing Scotland, Wales, and England. The British Isles refers to all of these lands, plus other small islands like the Shetlands to the North and the Channel Islands.

HISTORY – timeline Prehistoric Britain BC Roman Britain 43 AD Anglo Saxon Britain 450 Viking Britain 793 Medieval Britain 1066 Tudor Britain 1455 Stuart Britain 1603 Georgian Britain 1714 Victorian Britain 1837 Modern Britain 1902+

HISTORY – British Empire At its height – the largest empire in history Product of the age of discovery (from15th cntr) By 1921 the Empire held: approximately one-quarter of the world's population about a quarter of Earth's total land area By 1990 most of the territories became independent; many joined the Commonwealth Commonwealth is a free association of independent states.

HISTORY – The Empire’s Legacy Legal and governmental systems Economic practice  Military and educational systems Sports (such as cricket, rugby and football) Traffic practices (driving on the left) Global spread of the English language

ENGLISH LANGUAGE Part of Germanic family of languages The principal language spoken in Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Uganda and Botswana… The world’s leading international language Varieties – BrE, AmE and others The main second language in India, South Africa and many parts of Africa and Asia. But - more and more - it is also the language of international commerce, of business, of diplomacy and of tourism. About 320 million people speak English as their first language - about the same number as Spanish, but less than Mandarin Chinese or Hindi.       The total number of English speakers in the world is estimated to be about 460 million - second only to Mandarin Chinese.  Other varieties of English language - Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English As strange as it may sound, French was the official language of England from 1066 to 1362. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.

LITERATURE Some of the world’s most famous authors have lived and worked in UK: Jonathan Swift, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wild, William Shakespeare, sisters Bronte, Jane Austin, Agatha Christie, J. R. R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling… Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels), Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist), Sir Arthur Canon Doyle (Sherlock Holms stories), Oscar Wild (Dorian Gray), William Shakespeare, Emily Bronte (Wuthering Heights), Rudyard Kipling (If), Agatha Christie, Jane Austin (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility) British prime minister during World War II, Sir Winston Churchill received Nobel prize in literature

UK TODAY UK today is a combination of tradition and modern, huge changes happened due to lot of immigrants who moved in. About 25% of the inhabitants of London were born outside of England! More than 250 languages are spoken in London

UK TODAY - Politics Royal family, headed by Queen Elizabeth II Key political parties: Labor Party Conservative Party Parliament: the House of Lords (inherited seats, part of the nobility) the House of Commons (elected democratically) the Prime Minister - leader of the party that is in the majority The Queen and the Royal family undertake official, ceremonial, diplomatic, and representational duties The House of Lords consists of men who have inherited seats, part of the nobility.  Their powers have diminished over the last century or two Current Prime Minister / David Cameron (Conservative Party). He lives in Downing Street 10

UK TODAY - Economy Sixth largest national economy in the world London is the world's largest financial centre* Labor force: Agriculture 1.4% Industry 18.2% Services 80.4% Key industries: banking and finance steel transport equipment oil and gas tourism Once UK was the largest economy in the world (time of British empire). Using its dominant merchant navy, protected by the royal navy, it developed a global merchantile system that transported people, resources and capital, generating vast profits . UK was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Together with New York. Business part of London is called the City (banks, London exchange…) Services = particularly banking, insurance, and business services

UK TODAY - Culture London - one of the world’s cultural centers Museums with world’s heritage Cradle of television and rock’n’roll Vibrant cultural and sub-cultural life Covent Garden (West End) part of London with a lot of theatres including Royal Opera House, famous for its musicals – Mamma Mia, Phantom from the Opera, The Lion King, The Miserables... The treasures contained in the British Museum span two million years of world civilization. The oldest continously working film studio in the world is Ealing Studio in West London, established in 1902. Other famous musicians/bands include: The Smiths, New order, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, The Cure, Black Sabbath, The Who, The Clash, Radiohead, Coldplay, Muse, Pink Floyd…(the list goes on and on!)

UK TODAY - Education State schools or private/public schools Primary school from 5 – 11 Secondary school from 11 – 17,18 Higher education - 3 years, BS Postgraduate – MA, PhD Some of oldest and most famous schools and universities in the world State schools free and compulsory for all children ages 5 – 16. Private/Public Schools - parents pay for their children's' education. Most schools require children to wear uniforms

UK TODAY - Sports and Laisure Sports began in Britain –cricket, football, lawn tennis, golf, rugby National sport – cricket Most popular – football Traditional - horse racing, polo, Oxford Cambridge rowing race Summer Olympic games host – London 1908, 1948, 2012 London hosting the 2012 Olympics is the first time a city has ever hosted the Olympics three times.

UK TODAY – Food and Drink Traditional British food is fish and chips, roast beef, sandwich and so on. Also, English breakfast is famous all around the world. Yet, the most popular dish in UK nowadays is Indian curry. But, first fish and chips restaurant was opened in England only in 1860, by Jewish immigrant. As for drinks – first of all traditional English tea, but also not less famous Scotch wisky and Irish and English beer. The English are tea addicts: an Englishman drinks more tea than any person of any other nation (over twenty times more than Americans!).