Great Britain
The full name of the country
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom is
situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands,
Great Britain and Ireland, and a great number of small islands. Their total
area is over 314 000 sq. km. The British Isles are separated from the European
continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The western coast of Great
Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. Northern Ireland
occupies one third of the island of Ireland. It borders on the Irish Republic
in the south. The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England
(the southern and middle part of the island), Wales (a mountainous peninsula in
the West) and Scotland (the northern part of the island).
There are no high mountains in
Great Britain. In the north the Cheviots separate England from Scotland, the
Pennines stretch down North England along its middle, the Cambrian mountains
occupy the greater part of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland are the tallest
of the British mountains. There is very little flat country except in the
region known as East Anglia. Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea. The
Thames is. the deepest and the longest of the British rivers. Some of the
British greatest ports are situated in the estuaries of the Thames, Mersey,
Trent, T Clyde and Bristol Avon. Great Britain is not very rich in mineral
resources, it has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil
and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.
The warm currents of the
Atlantic Ocean influence the climate of Great Britain. Winters are not severely
cold and. summers are rarely hot. The population of the United Kingdom is over
58 million people. The main nationalities are: English, Welsh, Scottish and
Irish. In Great Britain there are a lot of immigrants from former British Asian
and African colonies. Great Britain is a highly industrialized country. New
industries have been developed in the last three decades. The main industrial
centres are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and
Bristol. The capital of the country is London. The United Kingdom is a
parliamentary monarchy.
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