The UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland occupies the territory of the British Isles. It consists of 4 main countries which are England, Scotland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Cardiff and Belfast.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the official name of the state which is sometimes referred to as Great Britain or Britain (after it major island), England (after its major historic part or the British Isles.
The UK is an Island state it is composed of some 5.500 islands, large and small. The two main islands are: Great Britain to the east and Ireland to the west. They are separated by the Irish Sea.
The area of the UK is 244,100 square kms. It is situated off to the northwest coast of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean on the north and the North Sea on the east and is separated from the European continent by the English Channel (or La Manche) and the Straits of Dover (or Pas de Calais).
The population of the UK is over 57 mln people. The UK is inhabited by the English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish who constitute the British nation. English is not the only language. Scottish, Welsh and Irish are also used.
The flag of the UK is known as the Union Jack. It has its history. It all began in 1603 when Scotland was joined to England and Wales. The flag is made up of 3 crosses. The upright cross is the Cross of St.George the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross is the cross of St.Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross is the cross is the cross of St.Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. All of them are on the blue background.
The national anthem is “God Save the Queen”. The national currency is pound.
Geographically the island of Great Britain is subdivided into 2 main regions: Lowland Britain and Highland Britain. Lowland Britain comprises southern and eastern England. Highland Britain consists of Scotland, most of Wales, the Pennines (or the Pennine Chain) and the Lake District.
The highest mountain top is Ben Nevis in Scotland. The chief rivers of Great Britain are: the Severn, separating England and Wales, the Thames (the longest and the deepest one). The swiftest flowing river is the Spray. Also the Tweed is famous (the woolen fabric is made here).
There are many lakes in Great Britain. The Lake District is the most beautiful.
The largest are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff.
The capitals are: London in England, Edinburgh in Scotland, Cardiff in Wales and Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Every country has its own national emblem. The red rose is the national emblem of England the thistle is the national emblem of Scotland the daffodils and the leek are the emblems of Wales and the shamrock (a kind of clover) is the emblem of Ireland.
THE PRIDE OF THE NATION.
(Famous People of Russia).
Much was done by people to reach the present state of human development. It is necessary to say that great contribution to the development of the world science and culture, literature, music and painting was made by the Russian people. The names of Russian scientists and writers, poets, composers and painters are world-famous-Pushkin, Lermontov, Chehov, Levitan. This chain can be endless. It is almost impossible to name a branch of science in the development of which the Russian scientists haven’t played the greatest role. Lomonosov, the founder of the Moscow University was an outstanding innovator both in the humanities and sciences. Mendeleev’s greatest discovery was the Periodic System of Elements. Popov invented radio. Sechenov and Pavlov were the world’s greatest physiologists. Russia is rightly called the mother of aviation and cosmounatics. Names of Tsiolkovsky, Korolov and Gagarin are symbols of new space era.
People in many countries admire paintings, portraits and landscapes Surikov, Levitan, Repin works of our Russian writes and poets are translated into many languages.
I want to tell about one of the greatest Russians. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, an outstanding Russian composer, was born in Votkinsk in 1840. He was fond of music since his early childhood. His mother sang him beautiful songs and taught him to play the piano. He graduated from the Petersburg Conservatoire only in 1866 because of his poor living conditions. He was the best pupil of Anton Rubinstein. Wen the Moscow Conservatoire was founded Pyotr Ilyich became a professor there.
He created wonderful music: 10 operas, 3 ballets, 6 symphonies, 7 large symphonic poems and many other musical pieces.
“Eugene Onegin”, a new type of opera, was a great success all over the world “His Swan Lake”, “The Nutckracker”, “The Sleeping Beauty are musical masterpieces. In his music he used folk melodies for the musical descriptions of Russian nature and life. His compositions are full of realist.