The British Isles is the name for a collection of about 4000 islands, including Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain or GB is the name for the largest of the islands in the British Isles. It includes England, Scotland and Wales. It does not include Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. You see the abbreviation GB on driving licenses of people who live in England, Scotland and Wales.
The United Kingdom or UK is a political term which includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The abbreviation UK is used on official documents produced by Parliament.
Everybody from the UK is British, but be careful: only people from England are English. People from Wales think of themselves as Welsh, from Scotland as Scottish, from Northern Ireland as British or Irish.
Britain is split up into counties. The word county describes an area with its own local government. County councils rule such things as education and housing. They look after roads, libraries and swimming pools.
Many counties like Yorkshire or Lancashire contain the word “shire”, which is the old word for county. In writing they usually abbreviate the names of counties with the word shire, so Lancashire becomes Lancs, Yorkshire becomes Yorks, but Essex stays Essex and Kent stays Kent.
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North, South, East and West
Britain is only a small country, but every part of it is different. Scotland is a land of mountains, lakes and romantic castles. The winters are cold here, but the summers are often warm and sunny. Most farmers keep sheep here. Deer live in the hills, and the rivers are full of salmon. Glasgow and Edinburgh are large, modern cities.
In the warm, wet climate of Northern Ireland, the grass grows brilliant green, and much of the land is farming country. Belfast is a large industrial city and a big important port.
Wales is a country of high mountains and pretty valleys. But Wales has plenty of industry, too, with many factories and coal mines. The people of Wales are very musical. Every year they have a festival of Welsh music and poetry.
The centre of England (the Midlands) is also an important industrial area. But everywhere, even in the heart of a modern city there are buildings from older Britain – cathedrals, castles and houses built hundreds of years ago.
The west of England is rich farming country. It produces milk, cream, butter, cheese. In the villages people grow fruit, vegetables and flowers.
The southeast of England, too, has many towns and cities, including London. But near London, there are quiet villages and peaceful farms.
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Scotland
Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom. Its area is about 79,000 square kilometers, the population is over five million people. People who live in Scotland are Scots, or the Scottish or Scotsmen. A lot of Scottish family names begin with “Mac” or “Mc” like MacDonald or MacMillan or McHale. About one third of the population live in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. Scottish people speak English and Scottish Gaelic.
Scotland is a very mountainous country: three fourths of the area is occupied by mountains, where few people live. Scotland is famous for the beautiful lakes with mountains around them. Scottish lakes, called lochs, are long and narrow. The most famous of the lochs is Loch Ness, because of the mystery of its monster. “Nessie” became a great tourist attraction, bringing a lot of money to the region.
The Scotsman’s traditional clothes are a kilt and tartan. Nowadays most Scottish people wear the same clothes as the English. They put on their traditional clothes only holidays and wear them with pleasure.
Scotland is the birthplace of many famous men of literature: Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson; famous men of science: James Clerk Maxwell and Alexander Fleming.
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England
Of the four parts which make up Great Britain, England is the largest, the most industrial and most densely populated part of the United Kingdom. Over 51 million people live in England.
The greatest concentrations of population are in London, Birmingham and north-west industrial cities.
It is interesting to note that the sea has always been important in the history of England. It was a good protection against the attacks of outside peoples. Fishing has always been an important industry, especially in the east. The sea also has a great effect on England’s climate.
England is a lowland country. Numerous rivers are of great importance for communication and especially for carrying goods.
Lake District in Northern England with its lakes, mountains and valleys is a favourite holiday resort.
The wool industry is centred in Leeds and Bradford, the cotton industry in Manchester, the iron ore goes to the steel, machinery and shipbuilding industries of Newcastle. The industries of Midlands produce metal goods, from motor cars and railway engines to pins and buttons.
The south of England is often called ‘the Garden of England’. In this part some of the oldest British settlements and traces of ancient monuments such as Stonehenge are found.
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Wales
The Welsh call their country Camry. The population of Wales is almost 3 mln people; about 75% of the people live in towns and urban districts. The living standards of people in Wales are lower than in England, the unemployment rate is higher.
Wales is a highland country. North Wales is a country of mountains and deep valleys, South Wales is a land of high hills and wide valleys. The pride of Wales is Snowdonia, the region of high mountains.
Mineral resources include coal, some gold, silver, and copper. South Wales is more developed. Nowadays, coal-mining, steel production, electronics, electrical engineering and chemicals can be found here.
The capital of Wales is Cardiff, the largest city, situated near the mouth of the Taff River. It’s an important industrial city and port, and administrative and educational centre.
The love of song and poetry of the Welsh people is known all over the world.
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Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is the smallest component of the United Kingdom. It occupies northeast of the island of Ireland, only one sixth of its territory. Its capital is Belfast. If you ask an Irishman far from home what he misses most about Ireland, he will probably say “the greenness”. Irish poets call their country “the Emerald Islands”. Is the grass really greener in Ireland? The fact is that the winds usually flow from the Atlantic Ocean and make the air and soil warm and damp. Grass grows well in such climate and it makes the island so beautiful.
The population of Northern Ireland is about 1.5mln people; 53% of them live in urban areas. The whole economy of Northern Ireland is closely integrated with the economy of Great Britain. It has three basic industries: agriculture, textiles and shipbuilding. The largest industry agriculture is conducted for the most part on small family farms.
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