Official name. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Since 1922, this is the official designation of the British Kingdom, including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and a number of smaller islands.
Britain can be referred to in several different ways: Britain, Great Britain, the British Isles.
Flag. Known as the Union Jack, the flag has the red cross of St. George of England, and the white cross of St. Andrew of Scotland, and the red cross of St. Patrick of Ireland, all on the blue background.
Anthem. God save the Queen / King.
Currency. Pound. The pound consists of 100 pence.
Great Britain is a monarchy, but the power of the King or Queen are limited by Parliament. The present Sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II. She was born in 1926, was married to Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburg, succeeded to the throne in 1952. The Monarchy is hereditary descending to the sons of the Sovereign in order of seniority, or, if there are no sons, to the daughters. Thus, the eldest son of the Queen, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, is the heir to the throne.
According to the law, the Queen is the head of the legislative and executive organs, the head of the judiciary and the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown. All the affairs of the state are conducted in the name of the Monarch. But in practice the Queen always acts on the advice of her Prime Minister and never makes any decision on her own. Thus, the Monarch is the personification of the state.
The British Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the country. It consists of two Houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is elected by universal adult suffrage. There are 650 seats in the House of Commons. General elections are held every 5 years. The second chamber is the House of Lords, non-elected, hereditary. It is composed of landlords and company directors, bishops and peers.
The British system is known as a two-party system, it means that at any particular time one of the two strongest parties (either Conservative or Labour) is in power. The party which at the General Election gets the majority of seats in the House of Commons is called the Government and the other the opposition with its own leader and its own Shadow Cabinet.
Location. The British Isles lie off to the north-west coast of the continent of Europe. They include Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the northern part of the Island of Ireland and some 5.500 smaller islands. The biggest island is Great Britain. It is just under 600 miles in a straight line from the south coast to the extreme north, and rather over 300 miles across in the widest part. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean on the northwest, north and southwest, and is separated from the European continent by the stormy North Sea and the English Channel. The English Channel in its widest part in the west is 220 km. wide, and in the narrowest, what is called the Strait of Dover, only 32 km. The average depth of the Cannel is 60 m, and that of the Strait of Dover 30 m. Here the two opposite coasts of England and France come so near, that on a clear day the cliffs of each side can be quite well seen from the opposite shore.
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The island of Great Britain can be roughly divided into two main regions: Lowland Britain and Highland Britain. In the former lies southern and eastern England, while the latter comprises Scotland, most of the Wales, the broad central upland known as the Pennine Chain and the Lake District. The Pennine Chain extends southward from the Cheviot Hills into the Midlands, a plain region with low rolling hills and valleys. England is separated from Scotland by Cheviot Hills, running from east to west. Scotland has three natural topographic divisions: the Southern Uplands, the Central Lowlands, which contains Ben Nevis, the highest point in the British Isles. Wales is generally mountainous. Northern Ireland contains many plateaus and hills.
There are many rivers in Britain but they are not very long as compared with the greatest rivers of the world. The principal rivers are: the Severn, the Thames and the Trent. The Severn is 210 miles in length, the Thames is a little over 200 miles. The Thames is rather wide and deep. Its current is slow and the river is quite suitable for navigation.
The seas surrounding the British Isles are shallow, usually less than 300 feet deep. The shallowness is in some way an advantage. Shallow water is warmer than deep water and helps to keep the shores from extreme cold. It is the home of plenty of fish, (a) million tons of which are caught every year. Perhaps you have noticed on the map that the coastline is irregular and contains numerous harbours serving as convenient ports among which are London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Postmouth and others. It is also an interesting fact that no part of the country is more than seventy miles from the sea.
Climate and weather
Weather is not the same than climate. The weather at a place is the state of the atmosphere there at a given time or over a short period. The weather of the British Isles is variable. The climate of a place or region, on the other hand, represents the average weather conditions through the year. In every part of the British Isles obvious changes are taking place as winter passes into spring, spring into summer, and through autumn to winter.
As a rule the climate of the country depends on its geographical position. Britain has a generally mild and temperate climate. It is much milder than that of the continental country: it is warmer in winter and colder in summer.
But what influences the climate in Britain most of all, is the Gulf Stream, a warm oceanic current flowing in the northwest of the Island. Due to the Gulf Stream and the form of the surface, the climate is not the same in different parts of the Island. The western part is warmer and is has more rains. The eastern part is cooler and drier due to the nearness to the continent and due to the fact that the western hills and mountains shut out the mild winds flowing from the Atlantic Ocean. It is never too cold or too hot in Britain except in the extreme north in Scotland where it is sometimes freezes and snows and the temperature falls below zero.
In the south of England snow falls only a few times during the winter and never lies long. But it often rains and there are few sunny days in winter. The average temperature is between mines three degrees and minus seven degrees.
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No doubt that the Gulf Stream bringing warm waters to British shores and making the climate mild causes it to be damp too. The weather in Great Britain is very changeable, people often say that Britain has no climate but only weather. Thats why perhaps the English people speak so much about weather and making plans for holidays and trips they usually begin if the weather
There are a lot of rainy and dull days in every season. Spring is normally Britains driest season. Cold weather usually lasts no later than mid-April, and there are frequently some very warm days during the second half of the month. By late spring daytime temperature may even reach 21-24 degrees over a wide area.
June is the brightest month of the year for Britain in general. Rainfalls tends to increase during July and August, partly because Atlantic depressions come nearer to the coast during these months and partly also because air, as it becomes warm warmed, is capable of holding more moisture. Late summer is often warm and this may continue till September.
North and north-west winds often bring heavy falls of snow to north Britain during late October and November, but they are usually short-lived.
In fine, still weather there is occasionally haze in summer and mist and fog in winter.
Though there are a lot of rainy and dull days in every season, English people spend a lot of time out-of-doors and the children like outdoor games and sports. Although British mild winters are not suitable for such kinds of sport as skiing and skating, they are suitable for racing, football, tennis, cricket and golf which are very popular in England.
