Great Britain
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland lies off the north-west coast of Europe
across the English Channel between the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two large islands
(Great Britain and Ireland) and about 5 000 smaller ones (for example: the Hebrides, the Shetlands
and the Channel Islands). To the UK from Europe you can get by a plane, by ferry or by Eurotunnel. In
London, the most famous means of transportation are black cabs and red double-decker buses.
Britain is divided into four parts: England the captain city is London, Wales the captain city is Cardiff,
Scotland the captain city is Edinburgh and Northern Ireland the captain city is Belfast.
England is mostly rolling land. The main mountain regions here are the Cornish Heights in southwest, the Cambrians in Wales, the Pennines and the Cumbrian Mountains. The highest mountain is
Ben Nevis 1 342 m and it is in the Highlands of Scotland.
The longest rivers are the Severn and the Thames. The Thames flows through the capital London into
the North Sea. It is about 60 km long. The Severn flows into the Bristol Channel.
The population is about 60 million. We can find the following ethnic groups: English, Scottish, Irish,
Welsh, Ulster, Indian, Pakistan and others. The main language is English but we can find minority
languages - Welsh, Scottish and Irish Gaelic.
Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy with the Queen as the head of state. Her powers are
limited by constitution. The present Queen is Elizabeth II.
Besides London there are others big cities in England: Oxford and Cambridge are old University
towns. Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Then there is Winchester cathedral town, Birmingham - which is at the geographical heart of England and second largest town
in Britain, Manchester and Liverpool, which are known because of football.
Wales is sometimes called the land of castles. The best known are Conwy and Harlech.
Scotland is the land of many special traditions which cannot be found elsewhere - playing the pipes,
woollen knitwear, wearing kilts made of tartan, producing Scotch whisky and lot of others.
The biggest city is Glasgow. It is an economic and cultural centre in Scotland. The capital city is
Edinburgh. The North of the Scotland is a large lake and mountains area. There is a world known Loch
Ness Lake.
The most interesting city is London. The first metro in the world already in 1863 there was going
there. We can find Buckingham Palace, residence of the British monarch and is the largest royal
office in the world, The Tower of London, which is 1,078 meters high and are stored crown jewels,
Palace of Westminster is the seat of parliament and the lower chamber, the Big Ben tower, there sits
British Parliament. In connection with the sixtieth anniversary of the reign of Elizabeth II the tower
was officially renamed at the Elizabeth Tower. London Eye, 135 meters high, which is the largest
Ferris wheel in Europe. In London, we find the Monument to the Great Fire of London, which is 61 m
high tower. The top of the Monument is reached by a narrow winding staircase of 311 steps.
There is also the most famous British Tower Bridge, which spans the River Thames. To support the
stability of the bridge on the river bottom were laid two massive pillars. Each contained more than
70,000 tons of concrete. The skeleton of the tower and the bridge itself was built from more than
11,000 tons of steel. In London, we can also find the famous Globe Theatre, associated with William
Shakespeare. One of the largest parks in London is Hyde Park, where everyone can express their
opinion in Speakers corn, if it does not reflect badly about the Queen.
In London and across the UK we can find many other interesting places (for example Stonehenge, St.
James’s park, Piccadilly circus and other ones) that worth seeing.