Great Britain

1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Соединенное Ко­ролевство Великобритании и Северной Ирландии (the UK). В рус­ском языке, как правило, используется название "Великобритания".

2. Great Britain — Великобритания, название крупнейшего острова в группе Бри­танских островов (the British Isles [ailz]). На острове расположены Англия (England), Шотландия (Scotland) и Уэльс (Wales).

3. Northern Ireland (Ulster) — Северная Ирландия (Ольстер), с 1921 года — составная часть Соединенного Королевства, расположенная на о-ве Ирландия.

4. the Republic of Ireland (Eire) — Ирландская Республика (Эйре).

5. the Thames [temz] — Темза, самая глубокая река Великобритании

6. the English Channel — пролив Ла-Манш

7. the Strait of Dover — пролив Па-де-Кале, Дуврский пролив

8. the Gulf Stream — Гольфстрим, теплое океаническое течение, идущее от Мекси­канского залива мимо Ньюфаундленда к берегам Европы.

9. the Pennines — Пеннинские горы, горная цепь на севере Англии.

10. the Highlands — Горный край, гористая местность на севере Шотландии.

11. the European Union — Европейский Союз, политическая и экономическая орга­низация, созданная для интеграции европейских государств.

12. the British Parliament (or Parliament — note the absence of an article) — Британский парламент, состоит из Палаты общин (the House of Commons) и Палаты лордов (the House of Lords).

13. the Labour party — партия лейбористов; the Conservative party — партия консерваторов; the Liberal Democrats — партия либерал-демократов

14. Welsh — валлийский язык (один из кельтских языков); Gaelic — гальский язык, язык потомков шотландских и ирландских кельтов

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland lies off the north-west coast of mainland Europe. It includes the island of Great Britain (comprising England, Scotland and Wales), Northern Ireland (Ulster) and a number of smaller islands. On land the UК borders on the Republic of Ireland (Eire). Its closest continental neighbours are France and Belgium. London, the capital of the country, stands on the river Thames. The Greenwich meridian (the prime meridian) runs through South-East London. Lon­don is close to the same line of latitude as Berlin and Warsaw. Great Britain is the largest island in Europe and the eighth largest in the world.

Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the English Chan­nel. In its narrowest part, the Strait of Dover, the Channel is only 21 miles wide. Al­though the British Isles are as close to the North Pole as eastern Siberia, Britain has a milder climate. It is influenced by the Gulf Stream, which warms up the winds blowing above the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. While the British climate is very changeable, it is rarely colder in winter than 10 degrees below zero or hotter in summer than 32 degrees above zero. Rainfall is fairly well distributed throughout the year. The wettest parts are the mountainous areas of the west and the north. There are mountain chains in the north of England (the Pennines), in Scotland (the Highlands) and in Wales, but they are not very high. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis, in Scotland (4,406 ft). In the south and south-west of England there are plains.

Although Britain's land area is quite small (242,000 square kilometers), the country has a large population of about 60 million. Most people in Britain live in towns or cities, although the greater part of the projected population increase in the near future is ex­pected to be in rural areas. From the air Britain still looks like an agricultural country. Urban areas cover about 13 per cent of the land, and about 10 per cent is forest or moun­tains. The rest of the country is under cultivation. Farmers have been engaged in farming and cattle breeding for centuries. Britain has one of the most efficient agricultural indus­tries in Europe and is a major exporter of agricultural produce and food products, agro-chemicals and machinery. Only about 2 per cent of the workforce is employed in agriculture, a smaller proportion than in any other industrialized country.

Britain became the world's first industrialized country in the mid-19^lh century. The manufacturing sector still plays an important role and Britain excels in high-technology industries like pharmaceuticals, electronics (including computers), aerospace and off­shore equipment. However, today the service sector (finance, tourism and business ser­vices — the fastest growing industries) contributes about 66 per cent of gross domestic product and employs 75 per cent of the British workforce. Britain now is the world's larg­est producer of crude oil, which is the nation's main source of power.

Britain has only 1 per cent of the world's population but is the fifth largest trading nation. As a member of the European Union, it is part of the world's biggest established trading group. It exports oil and manufactured goods such as machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, aerospace equipment and chemicals. Just over half of Britain's exports are to other countries in the European Union. Britain's export earnings from services such as banking, insurance and tourism exceed those from exports of goods.

Great Britain is a parliamentary (constitutional) monarchy. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is Head of State, with a largely ceremonial role. She reigns but does not rule. Executive power belongs to the Government headed by the Prime Minister. Legislative power belongs to Parliament, which consists of the monarch, the House of Commons (the lower chamber) and the House of Lords (the upper chamber). The Commons are about 659 elected Members (MPs), each representing a local area. General elections are held at least every five years. The largest political parties are the Labour party, the Con­servative party and the Liberal Democrats.

The official language is English, but many people are bilingual. Around 20 per cent of the people in Wales speak Welsh and children learn it in Welsh schools. About 70,000 people in Scotland speak Gaelic. For centuries people from overseas have settled in Brit­ain. They have brought with them their languages, cultures and religions. The most widely spoken minority languages today are from the Asian sub-continent, but other lan­guages include Italian, Spanish, Greek, Turkish and Chinese. Ethnic minority communi­ties make up about 5.5 per cent of the total population.