The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Political system Position Climate Nature Population Religion Languages Food

Position Great Britain (official title:The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is an island state. It is situated in north-west Europe. Great Britain is composed of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Scotland. Island Man and Norman islands are self-governing British territory. The area of Great Britain is 244. 110 sq km. It means Great Britain is one of the largest states of Western Europe.

Climate In Great Britain is humid climate. Its winters are mild and summers are not very hot, it rains a lot and the grass is greener than in Central Europe. The average temperature ranges from 4°C winter to 16 °C in summer; extremes are quite rare. In summer : In the morning is sunny but in the afternoon it rains. In the evening the weather is fine again. In winter : In the morning it is cold. At night you must heat. They haven’t got a lot of snow. The weather is raw and windy.

Nature The Scottish Highlands with Ben Nevis (1.343 m) are the highest mountains in the British Islands, in Wales the highest mountain is Snowdon (1.085 m). The highest mountain : Ben Nevis (1.343 m) The longest river : Thames (340 km) There are very few forests in Britain. The Scottish hills, the Lake District area and many parts of north – east and south – west England are moorland areas. British rivers are not very long, but deep. Lakes are in the Lake District north – east England and in the Highlands of Scotland. (Loch Ness). Loch Ness is famous for its monster.

Population Great Britain has a population of about 58,970,000. Density of the population is 239 people/sq km. Englishmen (79.8%), Scottish (9%), Irish (4%) and Welshmen (1.2%) live here. Other national minorities are Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and African. The capital is London (6.825.000 people). London is the largest city in Great Britain.

Religion Main religion: Anglican religion (56%), Roman Catholic (13%), Scottish ministers (7%) and Muslims (over 800.000 peoples, 2%).

Languages Official language is English. Everybody speaks English in the United Kingdom, but it is not the same language. English has its own special accents and dialects. Besides English, some nations speak their own language as well. Welsh, Scottish and Irish are of Celtic origin. Some people in Wales speak Welsh; Gaelic is spoken in Scotland – mainly in the West Highlands and Islands; Irish Galic is the first official language in the Repiblic of Ireland.

Political system Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch as a head of State. At the head is the queen Elizabeth II. The Queen is impartial and acts on the advice of her ministers.

Food Typical breakfast is substantial. They eat fried bacon and eggs,or sausages and fried tomatoes,pancake or cake, toast and marmalade, cereal and many cups of tea or coffee. Lunch is usually a quick meal consisting of a warm dish, or sandwiches with cheese, with tuna or with chicken meat. The evening meal, dinner, is the main meal of the day – a hot meal of meat, potatoes ane green vegetables cooked in hot water, pudding and custard, or a dessert followed by a cup of tea or coffee with of without milk and sugar. English tradition is teatime. They eat scones (pastry with raisins, with cream and with strawberry marmalade), bisquits or mini-toasts and many cups of tea or coffee.