The United Kingdom is an island country in north-western Europe.
More than 70 countries are
larger in size, and the United Kingdom has only about 1 per cent of the world`s people.
Yet for hundreds of years, the United Kingdom has been one of the world`s most important
countries. The British started the Industrial Revolution. They founded the largest empire in
history. They have produced some of the world`s greatest scientists, explorers, artists, and
political leaders.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland includes two large islands: Great
Britain, which consists of England with the capital London, Scotland with the capital
Edinburgh, Wales with the capital Cardiff, and Northern Ireland with the capital Belfast,
and more than 500 small islands. Most people call the country the United Kingdom, the UK,
Great Britain, or simply Britain.
Being an island nation, the United Kingdom has almost no land borders. It is separated from
Europe by the English Channel, also known as the La Manche, which means "arm" in French;
the Irish Sea separates the UK from Ireland. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the north-west
and in the north, and in the east is separated by the North Sea.
The waters surrounding the United Kingdom are mostly shallow, and this shallowness is in
some way an advantage. On the one hand, it provides exceptionally good fishing grounds, and
on the other hand, helps to keep the shores from extreme cold. The longest river is the Severn in
England, about 200 miles long. Thus, it is located in the middle latitudes, and under the
influence of the warm current of Golf Steam, Great Britain enjoys a temperate, mild and wet
climate.
For the most part, the coastline is deeply broken and covered with Cretaceous cliffs, with the
exception of the south-eastern areas, where the coastline is more regular in outline and has a
smoother shape. This indentation gives a good supply of splendid harbours for ships, provides
a large number of excellent bays and facilitates the export of goods.
The country has many bays favourable for shipping. In their shelter are Britain's main ports
such as London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hull and others. There is hardly a country in the world
where such a variety of scenery can be found in so small a compass. Here you can find flat
plains, gently outlined hills, jagged rocks and wild desolate mountains.
The landscape varies dramatically through the UK. Northern Scotland is a wild, windswept
region, broken by long arms of the sea that reach far inland. Much of Northern Ireland has low
mountains and rolling fields. Wales is known by its rugged mountains and green valleys.
The most mountainous part of Great Britain is Scotland, where is located the highest point of
the UK - Ben Nevis, 4,406 feet high. The Cheviots separated England from Scotland, the
Pennines going down England like a backbone.
In the west are the Cambrian mountains which occupy the greater part of Wales. The position
of the mountains naturally determined the direction and length of the rivers, most of which
flow into the North Sea. Short and shallow, they are of no great value as waterways, and few of
them are navigable except near the mouth for anything but the smaller vessels.
The flora of Great Britain is diverse, and the fauna is the same as in north-western Europe. Of
all the natural resources, the United Kingdom is rich in coal, iron, copper, zinc and granite.
In terms of annual coal production, Great Britain ranks third place in the world.
The population of the United Kingdom is over 57 million people. Foreigners often call British
people "English", but the Scots, the Irish and the Welsh do not consider themselves to be
English. The English are Anglo-Saxon in origin, but the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish are Celts,
descendants of the ancient people, who crossed over from Europe centuries before the Norman
Invasion.
It was this people, whom the Germanic Angles and Saxons conquered in the 5th and 6th
centuries AD. These Germanic conquerors gave England its name — "Angle" land. They were
conquered in their turn by the Norman French, when William the Conqueror of Normandy
landed near Hastings in 1066. It was from the union of Norman conquerors and the
defeated Anglo-Saxons that the English people and the English language were born.
Great Britain is one of the world's major industrialised and trading nations. It enjoys a long
established democratic system of government which has provided political stability. The
United Kingdom is a member of the European Community (EC), the United Nations
Organisation (UNO), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the
Commonwealth.
