The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The United Kingdom is comprised of : England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales

Why the Different Names?

Facts Population: 60,068,000 Capital: London; 7,615,000 Area: 242,910 square kilometers (93,788 square miles) Language: English, Welsh, Scottish form of Gaelic

The British Political System Britain is a constitutional monarchy The monarch is the Head of State The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth the Second But the Monarch has no real powers - the role of the monarch is primarily ceremonial

Government The official name of the British government is Her Majesty’s Government The Head of Government is the Prime Minister While the Prime Minister is NOT the Head of State he has many of the powers that a Head of State would have, i.e. declaring war The present Prime Minister is Gordon Brown

While the Prime Minister is NOT the Head of State he has many of the powers that a Head of State would have, i.e. declaring war The term of the Prime Minister is 5 years maximum. He can call for an election anytime during his term. The same person can be re-elected as Prime Minister as often as he wins the election.

Branches of government There are 3 main branches of government: 1) The Legislature, i.e. the Houses of Parliament 2) The Executive, i.e. the Prime Minister and his Cabinet of Ministers 3) The Judiciary, i.e. the courts

Legislature Branch Is bicameral - two chambers which can both be found in the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament): 1) The House of Commons 2) the House of Lords

House of Commons The House of Commons is made up of 646 Members of Parliaments (MPs) Each MP represents an individual constituency, i.e. each represents a different area of Britain The primary function of the House of Commons is debate and pass laws

House of Lords There 746 lords There are three types of lords: 1) Lords Temporal - these are Lords who have been appointed by the government and Hereditary Lords 2) Law Lords - these are lords who are lawyers and judges 3) Lords Spiritual - these are senior members of the Church of England

The Culture of England

CurrencyBritish Sports Color Red British Music British PubsFavorite Foods British Houses Holidays

Currency British Pound Sterling

The Color Red

British Pubs Great Food Place to visit with friends Watch Sports

British Housing

Popular Sports

British Music

Traditional British Foods Yorkshire Pudding Fish and Chips Bangers and Mash Cornish Pasty Sausage Roll

British Holidays: May Day Although summer does not officially begin until June, May Day marks its beginning. May Day celebrations have been carried out in England for over 2000 years. The Romans celebrated the festival of Flora, the goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer.