GREAT BRITAIN.
The official name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is divided into four parts: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland. The British Isles are group of islands lying off the north -west coast of the continent of Europe. England, Wales and Scotland are in Great Britain, Northern Ireland is situated in the north-easten part of Ireland. There are no high mountains, no very long rivers,no great forest in U.K. The climate of the British Isles is not very cold in winter and never hot in summer. The population of the U.K. is almost fifty six million. Britain is an industrial country. A lot of things such as clothes, food, planes, cars and many others are made in U.K. In the U.K. there are a lot of cattle-farms. The U.K. is a parlamentary manarchy. Great Britain is a capitalist country.
YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS OF BRITAIN.
There were numerous different youth organizations in Britain. Some were large, and some small, some nation-wide and some local. Probably the largest were the Boy Scouts and Girls Guides Associations and the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association), and the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) or simply "y" for short. The Boy Scouts and the Girls Guides were for scool-age teen-agers and the YMCA and the YWCA were for scool-leavers, college students and young people who had already started working Boy Scouts and Girls Guides had to do one good deed every day, to develop themselves mentally and physically. In summer they went camping in tents with everything done by young people themselves. At the YMCA and the YWCA more attention was paid for sport and different social events, such as outing in the country, dances, debates, amateur activities, etc.
These organizations were founded in the nineteenth century. Officialy they were non-political, but in reality they aimed not to let young people think about social and political problems in their country, to bring them up in the spirit of nationalizm. Boy Scouts and Girs Guides, for example, promised to be true to the king (queen) and had to salute the British flag at their meetings.
LONDON.
London is the capital of Great Britain, its political, economic and cultural centre. It is situated on the both banks of the Thames. London is one of the largest cities in the world. It's population is more than 9 million people. London was founded more then twenty centuries ago.
The East End includes the poorer districts, the industrial center, the port, the London docks. The streets here are narrow and dirty, the houses are poor. Working class families live here. London is famous for its wonderful places of interest such as the British Museum, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and many others.
Sightseenings of London.
The Tower of London is the most famous of all the historical buildings in London. It stands today almost unchanged since first it was built in the 11th centure. In the past the Tower of London served both as a palace and as a state prison, but it is only a museum today.
St Paul's Cathedral is the greatest work of England's greatest architector Christopher Wren. The cathedral was begun in 1675. It was opened in 1697 but was finished only in 1710, when Wren was almost eighy years old. There are memorials to many famous men of England in the Cathedral.
Trafalgar Square is in the centre of the West End of London. On the north side is the National Gallery; in the north-east corner is the National Portrait Gallery, and in the centre is Nelson's Column with the figure of the great seamen.
Trafalgar Square is the place where mass meetings and demonstrations for peace and for working people's rights take place.
"Big Ben" is the name of the great bell which strikes the hour. It is in the clock Tower of the Houses of Parlament.
Westminster Abbey is the historic building in London to which every visitor sooner or later goes. The Abbey was founded in the 11th centure. Many of Great Britain's famous men are buried in Westminster Abbey.
Piccadilli Circus is a square in the central part of London. London's best-known theatres and cinemas and most famous restaurants are on Piccadilly Circus. In the square you can see people of many nationalities and hear a lot of different languages.
Hyde Park is the largest park in the West End of London. In the 19th century it became a popular place for public meetings.
The British Museum is one of the largest museums in the world. It consists of the National Library and Museum of History, Archaelogy, Art and Ethnography.