2015-10-13
803
§ 1 This country occupies the British Isles in the Atlantic Ocean, this is the largest archipelago of Europe. It is named Great Britain after the name of the largest archipelago island. Sometimes that country is also called England after the name of its main historical part. Officially Great Britain is named The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Kingdom structure includes four historical areas: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is possible to say that they are four independent countries with particular culture and traditions. Although the official language of Great Britain is the English language, other national languages such as Scottish, Irish and Welsh are spoken in every historical region.
§ 2 Before Great Britain had numerous colonies India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, some countries of Africa and the Near East belonged to England. Nowadays almost all the colonies won their independence, and Gibraltar is the last British colony presently.
The UK is a constitutional monarchy. It means that the state is headed with the constitutional monarchy led by the queen and the legislative body is the Parliament consisting of two chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The government is headed by a prime-minister. Nowadays the Labor Party is the ruling one.
§ 3 Great Britain, in spite of the fact that it takes rather a small territory, is one of the most advanced countries of the world, it is one of the first industrial countries. It is not surprising, the matter is that Englishmen were the first to build large factories and to make machine tools. For example, the inventors of a steam locomotive and a steam machine were born in England, they were D. Stevenson and D. Watt. Great Britain is one of the largest suppliers of industrial production at the world market, also it is a big capital exporter. Mechanical engineering, production of industrial equipment, agriculture, chemical and petrochemical production are the most advanced branches of the national economy. The cattle breeding prevails in the agricultural field. Barley, wheat, sugar-beet, potatoes are generally cultivated. Vegetable-growing and fruit-growing are advanced too.
§ 4 England is the largest and the most densely populated part of Great Britain. The greater part of the population of the country lives there. Main factories and plants work round the clock in old English cities such as, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool. Automobiles, planes, ships are produced there. Fishery, an important industry, is rather developed due to the geographical position of England. There are many rivers in England, the most important is certainly, the Thames. In the south of England several ancient settlements and remains of ancient monuments were discovered. Stonehenge is one of those monuments, it consists of huge stones, which were used for astronomical observations and determination of a season.
§ 5 Scotland is a land of mountains, lakes, beautiful valleys. It is the northern part of Great Britain and the most sparsely populated. Most people associate Scotland with such national things, as a kilt, men's skirt, bagpipe, a national instrument of this region. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, it is associated with names of Byron, Conan Doyle, Stevenson and others. This city is also famous for its International musical and theatrical festival, which is carried out here annually since 1947. But Scotland is also a country of factories and ports as well. Computers, several plastic items, precision instruments and other things are manufactured there. The Scottish city Aberdeen is the "petroleum capital" of the country.
Northern Ireland is a land of fields, pastures and gardens, it is the smallest part of Great Britain, which has been a British colony for 7 centuries. Only in 1949 Ireland was proclaimed an independent state. Three economic directions are widely represented in Northern Ireland: agriculture, textile industry and shipbuilding.
§ 6 Wales is the most mountainous part of Great Britain. Coal is extracted here, there are chemical and oil refining enterprises, factories of steel production, plants of metallurgy. Vegetables, potatoes are cultivated in village areas of Wales, sheep-breeding is advanced there too. In coastal areas local inhabitants fish. Nevertheless, the living standard is the lowest in this part of Great Britain, the rate of unemployment is the highest. Cardiff is the largest city of Wales, it is the capital of that country. It is an important industrial centre and a large port. The inhabitants of Wales, especially in the country, take a great interest in folklore music, singing. The Welsh literature is one of the most ancient in Europe.
