The United Kingdom

The island country is situated on the north-western coast of mainland Europe. Official name of the country is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom consists of four parts – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  The capital city of England is London, the capital city of Scotland is Edinburgh, the capital city of Wales is Cardiff and the capital city of Northern Ireland is Belfast. Britain covers an area of 245 thousand km square. The population is about 60 million inhabitants. It consists of original British as well as many ethnic groups. The largest cities are London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast, Londonderry, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Swansea and Cardiff. The official languages are English, Welsh and Gaelic.
England, occupying most of southern Great Britain, includes the Isles of Silly off the southwest coast and the Isle of Wight off the southern coast. Scotland, occupying northern Great Britain, includes the Orkney and Shetland islands off the northern coast and the Hebrides off the north-western coast. Wales lies west of England and includes the island of Anglesey to the northwest.
Part from the land border with the Irish Republic the United Kingdom is surrounded by sea. Between the United Kingdom and France there is the English Channel. The North Sea lies to the east. The Irish Sea separated Great Britain from Ireland, while south-western England, the north-western coast of Northern Ireland and western Scotland face the Atlantic Ocean.
The largest rivers are the Thames, the Severn and the Trent. Lakes are numerous in the Lake District, the largest is Windermere. Scottish lakes Loch Lomond and Loch Ness are very attractive to tourists.
The country can be divided into two regions – highland and lowland.
The highland zone consists of the following groups of mountains, for example:
o    The Highlands of Scotland with the highest peak Ben Nevis
o    The Cheviot Hills from the border between England and Scotland
o    The Pennines occupy the central part of northern England
o    The Cumbrian Mountains is also known as the Lake District
o    Exmoor in Cornwall is also known as “the English Riviera”  
The lowland zone is generally flat or rolling with limestone or chalk hills. The best known of these hills are the Cotswoods (south-west England).
Climate is modified by the warm Gulf Stream. It isn´t so cold as most places so far north. There are mild summers, cool winters with temperatures close to freezing, except in the colder Scottish highland areas.
Great Britain´s flag is known as the British Union Flag or the Union Jack. It was officially adopted in 1801. The flag is made up of the three crosses. The upright red cross is the St. George´s cross. The white diagonal cross is the cross of St. Andrew and the red diagonal cross is the cross of St. Patrick.
Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. She is formally the head of the executive and judiciary, commander-in-chief of all the armed forces and temporal governor of the Church of England. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The Parliament is legislative brunch. It consists of two houses – the 650 members House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is the lawmaking body. It is presided over by the Speaker. The House of Lords is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, and is made up of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal.
The executive brunch is the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Monarch. It is usually the leader of the political party which obtains a majority of seats in a general election.
In the United Kingdom is very important city. There are grown wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, sugar beet, hay and flaw. There are bred cattles, sheep, pigs, horses and poultry. British manufacturing are food and beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, clothing, motor vehicles. Great Britain has large coal, natural gas and oil reserves. Their currency is the pound. The United Kingdom is connected with the Commonwealth. Major exported goods are machinery, petroleum, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Major imported goods are food (tea, coffee, fruit, vegetables), metals and paper.
Besides London, there are many other fascinating places:
Oxford and Cambridge are the old university towns.
Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of William Shakespeare.
Resorts such as Brighton and Portsmouth have fine sandy beaches.
Canterbury is an ancient city with a majestic cathedral. It is the second largest city in Britain.