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2009
Great Britain
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern. Ireland is situated on the British Isles. They lie to the north west of Europe. The total area of Great Britain is over 244.000 square kilometers. It is population is about 55 million. The country is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Irish Sea. The British Isles are separated from the continent by the narrow strait of which is called the English Channel.
The United Kingdom consist of four parts. England, the central part, occupies the most of the island of Great Britain. To the west lies Wales and to the north the third part of the country, Scotland, is situated. The fourth part is called the Northern Ireland and is located on the second island. Each part has it 
s capital. The capital of England is London, Wales has Cardiff, Scotland has Edinburgh and the main city of the Northern Ireland is Belfast.
Great Britain is a country of forest and plains. There are no high the mountains in this country. Scotland is the most mountainous region with the highest peak Ben Nevis. The rivers of Great Britain are not long. The longest rivers are the Thames and the Severn. The capital of the United Kingdom, London, stands on the bank of the Thames. As the country is surrounded by many seas there are some great parts at the seaside: London, Glasgow, Plymouth and others. Wales is a country of lakes. It has the most famous lake in the world Loch Ness. Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. The power of the Queen is limited by the Parliament, which consists of the two Houses the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Prime Minister is usually the head of the party in power. There are the following parties there: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Party. Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. It exports machinery, vessels, motors and other goods. There are a lot of factories and mines there. The textile industry is also highly developed and a lot of British textiles are exported. At the same time Great Britain imports some food products and raw materials from many countries of the world. Great Britain is a beautiful country and good peoples.
The climate and the Nature of Great Britain
Great Britain is situated on islands. It is washed by seas from all sides. That s why the climate and the nature of Great Britain is very specific. It is not very cold in winter and very never hot in summer. There is no ice on the lakes and rivers in winter. It rains very often in all seasons. The weather changes very often. Mark Twain said about America: If you don t like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes but it is more likely to have been said about England. Besides, Britain is famous for it s fogs. Sometimes fogs are so thick that it is impossible to see anything within 2 or 3 meters. The most picturesque part of the country is Highlands in the North of Scotland. This is a region of mountains and rivers, small towns and villages. The highest mountain in Wakes is Snowdon. Every one who comes to England says that it looks like one great beautiful park.
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The Englishmen love their country and take care of it. They are very fond of hedges. They prefer hedges to ordinary fences. The hedges are very beautiful in different seasons.
London
London is the capital of Great Britain. It s political, economic and cultural center. It is one of the largest cities in the world. It s population is more than 11 million people.
London is situated on the river Thames. The Thames is rather a deep river, so all kinds of ships can come into London port. Here you can see ships of different nations. The city is very old and beautiful. It was founded more than two thousand years ago. Traditionally London is divided into several parts: the city, the West End and the East End. The city is the oldest part of London, it s financial and business center. The West End is the part where rich people live. It is the most beautiful part of London. The best hotels, restaurants, shops, clubs, parks and houses are situated there. The East End is an industrial district of London. There are many factories and the port of London is there. London has many places of interest. One of them is the Houses of Parliament, the seat of the British Government. There one can see a famous clock Tower Big Ben, the symbol of London. Big Ben is really the bell which strikes every quarter of an hour.
Besides Big Ben there are four little bells which strike before Big Ben. There are many other places of interest in London: the High gate Cemetery where many famous people were buried, Buckingham palace the residence of the Queen, Trafalgar Square with a tall Nelson Column in it, Saint Paul s Cathedral, and of course, the British Museum. Not far from the Houses of Parliament there is Westminster Abbey. It is a fine old building founded in 1409. Many great Englishmen such as Darwin and Dickens are buried there.
English traditions
Every country and every nation has it s own traditions and customs. You cannot speak about England without speaking about it s traditions and customs. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. The English are stay at home people. There is no place like home, they say. When they don t work they like to spend their days off at home with their families. Englishmen are very fond of fire place, that s why many of them prefer the open fire to central heating. They like to live in small houses with a small garden. People all over the world know the saying. The Englishman s home is his castle. They say that English people keep to their traditions even in meals. Porridge is the dish Englishmen are very fond of. Many of them eat porridge with milk and sugar for breakfast. As for the Scotch, for example, they never put sugar in their porridge, they always put salt in it. By the way, breakfast time in England is between 7 and 9. Then, between 12 and 2 there comes lunch time. In some English houses lunch is the biggest meat of the day they have meat or fish, vegetables, fruit or pudding. In the afternoon, at tea time the English like to have a cup of tea with milk. Some Englishmen have their dinner late in the evening. For dinner they have soup, fish or meat, vegetables, pudding or fruit. For supper they usually have a glass of milk and a cake or a cup of tea and sandwich. The English are tea drinkers. They have it many times a day. Some Englishmen have tea for breakfast, tea in lunch time, tea after dinner, tea at tea time and tea with supper. For high tea they may have cold meat, bread and butter, cakes, and, of courses, a lot of tea. The Englishmen always drink tea out of caps, never out of glasses.
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