|
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1. The
geographical position of the country
The United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK)
is the official name of the state
which is situated on the British Isles. It consists of four parts which are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland. The UK is an island state. The two main islands
are Great Britain and Ireland which are separated by the Irish Sea. The UK
is separated from the continent by the
English Channel and the Strait of Dover and is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and the North Sea
in the East.
2. The capital
and the main cities
London
is
the capital of England and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland. Edinburg
is the capital of Scotland,
Cardiff
is the capital of Wales
and Belfast
is the capital of Northern
Ireland. The most important industrial
cities are Manchester,
Sheffield and Glasgow. Liverpool is the city where the members of the Beatles grew up
and became popular. Many of their songs were influenced by the city.
Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and Cambridge are connected with English culture: Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace
of William Shakespeare and Oxford and
Cambridge are famous for the most
prestigious universities in Great Britain.
3. Population and
languages
The population of the UK is
over 60 million people with over 51 million people living in England.
The population of Scotland
is over 5 million people and over 3 million people live in Wales. As for
Northern Ireland its population is about 1.8
(one and a half) million people.
People who were born in Great Britain don’t like it when
they are called the English. People
born in England
are called the English. People born in Scotland
are called the Scottish, and people born in Wales are called the Welsh. Most
British people (the British) speak English but Welsh people (the Welsh) keep
their native Welsh language. All inhabitants of Scotland speak English but
Scottish accent ['xksqnt] is very strong and Scottish
Gaelic ['geIlIk] is also spoken there. Irish people (the
Irish) speak Irish and English.
|
