1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

2.  Great Britain is situated in the British Isles consisting of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and 5,000 small islands, e.g. the Isle of Man or Channel Islands, Shetlands, Orkneys  GB consists of three parts: England, Wales and Scotland.  UK comprises four parts E, S, W and Northern Ireland.  Southern Ireland is an independent republic.

3.  Its neighbours are Southern Ireland and France.  The UK is surrouned by the seas and ocean like the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Irish Sea – separates Britain from Ireland, Celtic Sea and English Channel – separates Britain from Europe.

4.  You can fly – in London there are 3 main airports where you can land – Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted  Take a coach - there are coach routes to Britain from many European destinations. Although it may take much longer, coach is a great cheap alternative to flying  Take an undersea train - in May 1994, the Channel Tunnel was opened between England and France.

5.  You can travel by ferry to many destinations all around the British coast, including routes to the Scottish Islands and the Channel Islands.  Ferry travel to the UK from Europe is a popular, good value way to get to Britain with a car or caravan.

6.  Britain is an island country and the surrounding sea gives England a varied and humid climate.  It is described as mild with few extremes. You never know what the weather will be like from one day to the other – it is a very changable w. It can be sunny one day and rainy the next. So it is difficult to predict the weather.  In general there are warm summers and cool winters. British summers are cooler than those on the continent, but the winters are milder.  July and August are normally the warmest months in England.  Around the coasts, February is normally the coldest month, but inland there is little to choose between January and February as the coldest month.

7.  British rivers aren't very long, but deep. The longest river is the Severn and the largest river is the Thames flowing through London.  Northern Ireland is also home to the UK's largest lake, Lough Neagh, Other major lakes include Windermere in the English Lake District (is a mountainous region in North West England) and Loch Lomond in Scotland  Another of Scotland's lakes, Loch Ness is famous for sightings of 'Nessie', a mythical monster!

8.  The UK landscape is very varied, ranging from the Grampian Mountains of Scotland to the lowlands of England which are at or below sea level in some places.  Scotland and Wales are the most mountainous parts of the UK.  The highest mountain in the Scottish Highlands is Ben Nevis (1343 m). In Wales the highest mountain is Snowdon (1085 m).

9.  Many coastal areas are low- lying, especially in the east and south of England. These include the wetlands – moors of the Somerset Levels, that regularly flood during heavy rain.

10.  The populations in Britain is over 60 million inhabitants. Britain is divided into counties. England comprises 46 counties. England is the most densely populated part of the UK.  In Britain, we can find the following ethnic groups: English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh. The majority of people speak English. Other languages are Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic.  There are also lots of other nationalities – Bangladeshes, Pakistanies, Indians ( people who came from former British colonies), Chinese or people from Eastern Europe. Britain is a multicultural country.