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Great Britain
The land and the people
of Great Britain
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. Thus, Great Britain is often the same as Britain and refers only to Scotland, England and Wales. The United Kingdom, or the UK, includes Northern Ireland. It consists of 4 countries which are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
You can see them on the map. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
The UK is an island state. The two main islands are Great Britain (where England, Scotland and Wales are situated) and Ireland. Northern Ireland and the independent Irish Republic are there. The two islands are separated by the Irish Sea.
The UK is separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Straits of Dover. Once the British Isles used to be a part of the continent of Europe. The nearest point to Europe is the Straits of Dover. The UK is also washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north and the North Sea in the east.
Everyone who was born in Britain is British. People from England are English. People from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland are not English. They are Scottish or Scots, Welsh and Irish. People from Scotland and Wales don’t like it when they are called English but they are British.
More than 67 million people live in Britain. Many of them live in big industrial cities like London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Birmingham are also big industrial cities. But foreigners are often surprised by the fact that much of the land in Britain is open countryside. There are many lonely hills, quiet rivers, deep lakes and farmlands especially in the south of the country.
Everyone in Britain speaks English but in some parts of Scotland and Wales people speak different languages as well.
The Welsh are especially proud of their language. They like to speak Welsh, to sing songs in Welsh and when you travel you can see road signs in Welsh all over Wales.
Everyone in the UK speaks English but they all speak it differently. A Scottish person has to listen carefully if he wants to understand a Londoner or a Welsh person.
As you know, the flag of the United Kingdom is known as the Union Flag or the Union Jack. It is made up of three crosses: the cross of St. George (the patron saint of England), the cross of St. Andrew (the patron saint of Scotland) and the cross of St. Patrick (the patron saint of Ireland).
The Queen and the Parliament
It's rather difficult to understand the British way of ruling the country. In Britain the Queen is the Head of State but in fact she doesn't rule the country as she has no power. The Queen Elizabeth II is the symbol of the country, its history and its traditions. She is very rich. She travels about the United Kingdom, meets different people and visits schools, hospitals and other special places.
So do all the members of the Royal Family: the Queen's son Prince Charles, his elder son Prince William with his wife Kate and younger son Harry with his wife Megan.
At the beginning of the 20th century many countries all over the world were ruled by Britain. Among them were the British colonies and they were all part of the British Empire. India, Pakistan and Ceylon, for example, were also part of the Empire. Now these countries are independent states. But in 1949 Britain and the former colonies founded the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth includes many countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many others. The Queen of Great Britain is also the Head of the Commonwealth and the Queen of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
