GENERAL INFORMATION

The official name of the UK is

Northern

the

"United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Ireland".

The name refers to the union of what were once four separate nations: England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
England, Scotland and Wales together are Great Britain.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland together are the "United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland" (UK) and its capital is London, which is among the
worlds leading commercial, financial, and cultural centers. Other major cities include
Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester in England, Belfast and Londonderry in
Northern Ireland, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and Swansea and Cardiff in
Wales.
Official

languages: English; both English and Scots Gaelic in Scotland; both

English and Welsh in Wales.

HISTORY OF THE MAKING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

The history of the United Kingdom as a unified sovereign state began in 1707 with
the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a united kingdom
called Great Britain. On this new state the historian Simon Schama said "What began
as a hostile merger would end in
concern

in

a full partnership in the most powerful going

the world... it was one of the most astonishing transformations in

European history." A further Act of Union in 1800 added the Kingdom of Ireland to
create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The early years of the unified kingdom of Great Britain were marked by Jacobite
risings which ended with defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. Later, in
1763, victory in the Seven Years War led to the dominance of the British Empire,
which was to be the foremost global power for over a century and grew to become
the largest empire in history. As a result, the culture of the United Kingdom, and its
industrial, political, constitutional, educational and linguistic legacy, is widespread.
In 1922, following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Ireland effectively seceded from the United
Kingdom to become the Irish Free State; a day later, Northern Ireland seceded from the
Free State and became part of the United Kingdom. As a result, in 1927 the United
Kingdom changed its formal title to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, usually shortened to the "United Kingdom", the "UK" or "Britain". Former parts
of the British Empire became independent dominions.

In the Second World War, in which the Soviet Union, Nationalist China and the US
joined Britain as allied powers, Britain

and its Empire fought a successful war

against Germany, Italy and Japan. The cost was high and Britain no longer had the
wealth or the inclination to maintain an empire, so it granted independence to most of the
Empire. The new states typically joined the Common wealth of Nations. The United
Kingdom has sought to be a leading member of the United Nations, the European Union
and NATO. Since the 1990s,

however, large-scale devolution movements in Northern

Ireland,

Scotland and Wales have

brought

into question the degree of unity of this

constantly evolving political union.

Birth of the Union

The Kingdom of Great Britain came into being on 1 May 1707, as a result of the political
union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland. The
terms of the union had been negotiated the previous year, and laid out in the Treaty of Union.
The parliaments of Scotland and of England then each ratified the treaty via respective Acts
of Union. Ally separate states, England and Scotland had shared a monarch since 1603 when
on the death of the childless Elizabeth I, James VI of Scotland became, additionally, James I
of England, in an event known as the Union of the Crowns. Slightly more than one-hundred
years later, the Treaty of Union enabled the two kingdoms to be combined into a single
kingdom, merging the two parliaments into a single Britain. Queen, who was reigning at the
time of the union, had favored deeper political integration between the two kingdoms and
became the first monarch of Great Britain. The union was valuable to England's security
because Scotland relinquished first, the right to choose a different monarch on Anne's death
and second, the right to independently ally with a European power, which could then use
Scotland as a base for the invasion of England.

Although now a single kingdom, certain aspects of the former independent kingdoms
remained separate, as agreed in the terms in the Treaty of Union. Scottish and English

law remained separate, as did the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Anglican Church
of England. England and Scotland also continued to each have its own system of education.
The creation of Great Britain happened during the War of the Spanish Succession, in which
just before his death in 1702 William III had reactivated the Grand Alliance against France.
His successor, Anne, continued the war. The Duke of Marlborough won a series of brilliant
victories over the French, England's first major battlefield successes on the Continent since
the Hundred Years War. France was nearly brought to its knees by 1709, when King Louis
XIV made a desperate appeal to the French people. Afterwards, his general Marshal
Villars managed to turn the tide in favour of France. A more peace-minded government came
to power in Great Britain, and the treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt in 17131714 ended the war.

Union with Ireland

On 1 January 1801, the Great Britain and Ireland joined to form the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland.

Events that culminated in the union with Ireland had spanned several centuries. Invasions
from England by the ruling Normans from 1170 led to centuries of strife in Ireland and
successive Kings of England sought both to conquer and pillage Ireland, imposing their rule
by force throughout the entire island. In the early 17th century, large-scale settlement by
Protestant settlers from both Scotland and England began, especially in the province of Ulster,
seeing the displacement of many of the native Roman Catholic Irish inhabitants of this part of

Ireland. Since the time of the first Norman invaders from England, Ireland has been subject to
control and regulation, firstly by England then latterly by Great Britain.

After the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Irish Roman Catholics were banned from voting or
attending the Irish Parliament. The new English Protestant ruling class was known as
the Protestant Ascendancy. Towards the end of the 18th century the entirely Protestant Irish
Parliament attained a greater degree of independence from the British Parliament than it had
previously held. Under the Penal Laws no Irish Catholic could sit in the Parliament of Ireland,
even though some 90% of Ireland's population was native Irish Catholic when the first of
these bans was introduced in 1691. This ban was followed by others in 1703 and 1709 as part
of a comprehensive system disadvantaging the Catholic community, and to lesser extent
Protestant dissenters. In 1798, many members of this dissenter tradition made common cause
with Catholics in a rebellion inspired and led by the Society of United Irishmen. It was staged
with the aim of creating a fully independent Ireland as a state with a republican constitution.
Despite assistance from France the Irish Rebellion of 1798 was put down by British forces.

Possibly influenced by the War of American Independence (17751783), a united force of

Irish volunteers used their influence to campaign for greater independence for the Irish
Parliament. This was granted in 1782, giving free trade and legislative independence to
Ireland. However, the French revolution had encouraged the increasing calls for
moderate constitutional reform. The Society of United Irishmen, made up of Presbyterians
from Belfast and both Anglicans and Catholics in Dublin, campaigned for an end to British
domination. Their leader Theobald Wolfe Tone (176398) worked with the Catholic
Convention of 1792 which demanded an end to the penal laws. Failing to win the support of

the British government, he travelled to Paris, encouraging a number of French naval forces to
land in Ireland to help with the planned insurrections. These were slaughtered by government
forces, but these rebellions convinced the British under Prime Minister William Pitt that the
only solution was to end Irish independence once and for all.

Irish independence and partition

In 1912, the House of Lords managed to delay a Home Rule bill passed by the House of
Commons. It was enacted as the Government of Ireland Act 1914. During these two years the
threat of religious civil war hung over Ireland with the creation of the Unionist Ulster
Volunteers opposed

to

the

Act

and

their

nationalist

counterparts,

the Irish

Volunteers supporting the Act. The outbreak of World War I in 1914 put the crisis on political
hold. A disorganized Easter Rising in 1916 was brutally suppressed by the British, which had
the effect of galvanizing Catholic demands for independence. Prime Minister David Lloyd
George failed to introduce Home Rule in 1918 and in the December 1918 General
Election Sinn Fin won a majority of Irish seats. Its MPs refused to take their seats at
Westminster, instead choosing to sit in the First Dil parliament in Dublin. A declaration of
independence was ratified by Dil ireann, the self-declared Republic's parliament in January
1919. An Anglo-Irish War was fought between Crown forces and the Irish Republican
Army between January 1919 and June 1921. The war ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of
December 1921 that established the Irish Free State. Six northern, predominantly Protestant
counties became Northern Ireland and have remained part of Britain ever since, despite
demands of the Catholic minority to unite with the Republic of Ireland. Britain officially

adopted the name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" by the Royal and
Parliamentary Titles Act 1927.

THE UNION JACK

The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. The flag also
has an official or semi-official status in some other Commonwealth realms; for example, it is
known by law in Canada as the "Royal Union Flag".[4]Further, it is used as an official flag in
some of the smaller British overseas territories. The Union Jack also appears in the
canton (upper left-hand quarter) of the flags of several nations and territories that are former
British possessions ordominions.

The claim that the term Union Jack properly refers only to naval usage has been disputed,
following historical investigations by the Flag Institute in 2013.

The origins of the earlier flag of Great Britain date back to 1606. James VI of Scotland had
inherited the English and Irish thrones in 1603 as James I, thereby uniting the
crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland in a personal union, although the three kingdoms
remained separate states. On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between
England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of
England (a red cross on a white background, known as St George's Cross), and the flag of
Scotland (a white saltire on a blue background, known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross),

would be joined together, forming the flag of England and Scotland for maritime purposes.
King James also began to refer to a "Kingdom of Great Britain", although the union remained
a personal one.

The present design of the Union Flag dates from a Royal proclamation following
the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. The flag combines aspects of three older
national flags: the red cross of St George of the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St
Andrew for Scotland (which two were united in the first Union Flag), and the red saltire of St
Patrick to represent Ireland.

Notably, the home country of Wales is not represented separately in the Union Jack, being
only indirectly represented through the flag of England representing the former Kingdom of
England (which included Wales).

STATUS

The Union Jack is used as a jack by commissioned warships and submarines of the Royal
Navy, and by commissioned army and Royal Air Force vessels. When at anchor or alongside,
it is flown from the jack staff at the bow of the ship. When a ship is underway, the Union Jack
is only flown from the jack staff when the ship is dressed for a special occasion, such as the
Queen's official birthday.

The Union Jack is worn at the masthead of a ship to indicate the presence of the Sovereign
or an Admiral of the Fleet.[56] It is also worn at the masthead of Her Majesty's Canadian
ships within Canadian territorial waters on certain days of the year, such as the Queen's
official birthday and Commonwealth Day.[57] The Union Flag may also be flown from the
yardarm to indicate that a court-martial is in progress, though these are now normally held at
shore establishments.

No law has been passed making the Union Jack the national flag of the United Kingdom: it
has become one through precedent. Its first recorded recognition as a national flag came in
1908, when it was stated in Parliament that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the
National flag". A more categorical statement was made by Home Secretary Sir John Gilmour,
in 1933 when he stated that "the Union Flag is the national flag and may properly be flown by
any British subject on land. But it is still officially a flag of the monarch, rather than the
Union.

Civilian use is permitted on land, but non-naval/military use at sea is prohibited.

Unauthorized use of the flag in the 17th century to avoid paying harbor duties a privilege
restricted to naval ships caused James's successor, Charles I, to order that use of the flag on
naval vessels be restricted to His Majesty's ships "upon pain of our high displeasure. It
remains a criminal offence under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 to display the Union Flag
(other than the "pilot jack" see below) from a British ship. Naval ships will fly the white
ensign, merchant and private boats can fly the red ensign, and others with special permission
such as naval yacht clubs can fly the blue ensign. All of the colored ensigns contain the union
flag as part of the design.

The Court of the Lord Lyon, which has legal jurisdiction in heraldic matters in Scotland,
confirms that the Union Jack "is the correct flag for all citizens and corporate bodies of the
United Kingdom to fly to demonstrate their loyalty and their nationality.

The predecessor of the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, came into use in what is now
Canada at the time of the Scottish settlement of Nova Scotia in 1621. At the close of the Great
Canadian Flag Debate of 1964, which resulted in the adoption of the Maple Leaf Flag as
Canada's national flag in 1965, the Parliament of Canada voted to make the Union Flag the
symbol of Canada's membership of the Commonwealth and its allegiance to the crown. The
move was a concession given to conservatives who preferred to keep the old flag, with its
Union Flag in the canton. The Royal Union Flag (as it is now known in Canada) is flown
alongside the Maple-Leaf Flag on Commonwealth Day and other royal occasions and
anniversaries. The

Union

Flag

was

also

the

official

flag

of

the Dominion

of

Newfoundland (19311949) and continued after Newfoundland became a Canadian province

(now Newfoundland and Labrador) until 1980.

ECONOMY

The United Kingdom has the fifth-largest national economy (and second largest in Europe)
measured by nominal GDP and ninth largest in the world (and third largest in Europe)
measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). The UK economy comprises (in descending
order of size) the economies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2013 the

UK was the fourth-largest exporter in the world and the fourth largest importer, and had the
second largest stock of inward foreign direct investment and the second-largest stock
of outward foreign

direct

investment. The

UK

is

one

of

the

world's

most globalized economies.

Over the past five years, economic freedom in the U.K. has advanced by 1.3 points. Led by
a sizeable improvement stemming from corporate tax rate cuts in recent years, score
improvements have occurred in four of the 10 economic freedoms, including fiscal freedom
and property rights.

Historically a champion of economic freedom in Europe, the United Kingdom has

developed its economy based on a strong rule of law, an open trading environment, and one of
the worlds most advanced financial sectors. A relatively liberal labor market by European
standards complements one of the worlds most efficient business environments. Large
government spending, which still takes up nearly half of the domestic economy, has
consumed resources that could have enabled additional private-sector growth.

The service sector dominates the UK economy, contributing around 78% of GDP;
the financial services industry is particularly important and London is the world's largest
financial Centre (tied with New York) The British aerospace industry is the second- or thirdlargest national aerospace industry depending on the method of measurement.
The pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in the economy and the UK has the thirdhighest share of global pharmaceutical R&D. The automotive industry is also a major

employer and exporter. The British economy is boosted by North Sea oil and gas production;
its reserves were valued at an estimated 250 billion in 2007.There are significant regional
variations in prosperity, with the South East of England and southern Scotland the richest
areas per capita. London has the largest city GDP in Europe.

In the 18th century the UK was the first country to industrialize during the 19th century
had a dominant role in the global economy. From the late 19th century the Second Industrial
Revolution in the United States and Germany presented an increasing economic challenge,
and the costs of fighting World War I and World War II further weakened the UK's relative
position. However it still maintains a significant role in the world economy, particularly
in financial services and the knowledge economy.

More recently, the UK entered a recession during the financial crisis of 200708, its first
for nearly two decades, and initially experienced a deeper downturn than all of the G7 except
Japan. However, since 2013 the UK has been in a nascent economic recovery and is firmly in
expansion territory. Since 2010, The Government has been pursuing an austerity program
aimed at cutting the budget deficit. In the financial year 20092010 this was 11% of GDP, it is
now 5%.

Government involvement in the British economy is primarily exercised by HM Treasury,

headed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills. Since 1979 management of the UK economy has followed a broadly laissez-faire
approach. The Bank

of

England is

the

UK's central

bank and

its Monetary

Policy

Committee is responsible for setting interest rates. The currency of the UK is the pound
sterling, which is also the world's third-largest reserve currency after the US dollar and the
euro, and also the fourth-most-valued currency in the world, behind the Kuwaiti
Dinar, Bahraini Dinar, and Omani Rial, and the most valued currency outside the Middle East.
The UK is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the European Union, the G7, the G8,
the G20, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development,

the World

Bank,

the World

Trade

Organization, Asian

Infrastructure

Investment Bank and the United Nations.

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Her Majesty's Government (HMG), commonly referred to as the British Government, is

the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining ministers. The
Prime Minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making
committee, known as the Cabinet. The Government Ministers all sit in Parliament, and
are accountable to it. The Government is dependent on Parliament to make primary
legislation, and since the Fixed-terms Parliaments Act 2011, general elections are held every
five years to elect a new House of Commons, unless there is a successful vote of no
confidence in the Government in the House of Commons, in which case an election may be
held in short order. After an election, the monarch selects as Prime Minister the leader of the
party most likely to command a majority of MPs in the House of Commons.

Under the uncodified British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch,
although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the Prime Minister and the
Cabinet. The Cabinet members advise the monarch as members of the Privy Council. They
also exercise power directly as leaders of the Government Departments.

The current Prime Minister is David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, which was
elected to government in the General Election of 7 May 2015.

GOVERNMENT IN PARLIAMENT
A key principle of the British Constitution is that the Government is responsible to
Parliament. This is called responsible government.
The UK is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the King or
Queen who is the Head of State at any given time) in practice does not make any political
decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament. This
constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the
power of the monarch, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215.

Parliament is split into two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The
House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the
upper house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws, the House of Commons can
usually vote to overrule its amendments. Although the House of Lords can introduce bills,

most important laws are introduced in the House of Commons - and most of those are
introduced by the government, which schedules the vast majority of parliamentary time in the
Commons. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, because they must
pass through a number of readings before becoming law. Prior to introducing a bill, the
government may run a public consultation to solicit feedback from the public and businesses,
and often may have already introduced and discussed the policy in the Queen's Speech, or in
an election manifesto or party platform.

Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit; they make
statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior
ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords. There
have been some recent exceptions to this: for example, cabinet ministers Lord
Mandelson (First Secretary of State) and Lord Adonis (Secretary of State for Transport) sat in
the Lords and were responsible to that House during the government of Gordon Brown.

Since the start of Edward VII's reign, the Prime Minister has always been an elected
member of Parliament (MP) and therefore accountable to the House of Commons. The Lords
have very limited powers in relation to money bills and, for this reason; it would likely be
politically unacceptable for the budget speech to be given in the Lords, with MPs unable to
directly question the Chancellor. The last Chancellor of the Exchequer to be a member of the
House of Lords was Lord Denman (who served as interim Chancellor of the Exchequer for
one month in 1834).

Under the British system the Government is required by convention and for practical
reasons to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the
House of Commons for the maintenance of supply (by voting through the government's
budgets) and in order to pass primary legislation. By convention if a government loses the
confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held. The
support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without
delay, is not vital. A government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the
Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus
the responsible House.

The Prime Minister is held to account during Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQs)
which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject.
There are also departmental questions when ministers answer questions relating to their
specific departmental brief. Unlike PMQs both the cabinet ministers for the department and
junior ministers within the department may answer on behalf of the government, depending
on the topic of the question.
During debates on government legislation ministers, usually with departmental responsibility
for the bill, will lead the debate for the government and respond to points made by MPs or
Lords.
Committees of both the House of Commons and House of Lords hold the government to
account scrutinize its work and examine in detail proposals for legislation. Ministers appear
before committees to give evidence and answer questions.

Government ministers are also required by convention and the Ministerial Code, when
Parliament is sitting, to make major statements regarding government policy or issues of
national importance to Parliament. This allows MPs or Lords to question the government on
the statement. When the government instead chooses to make announcements first outside
Parliament, it is often the subject of significant criticism from MPs and the Speaker of the
House of Commons.

GOVERNMENT AND THE CROWN

The British Monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of state and the sovereign,
but not the head of government.

The Queen takes little direct part in governing the country, and remains neutral in political
affairs. However, the legal authority of the state that is vested in the Sovereign and known
as the Crown remains the source of the executive power exercised by the Government.

In addition to explicit statutory authority, in many areas the Crown also possesses a body
of powers known as the Royal Prerogative, which can be used for many purposes, from the
issue or withdrawal of passports to declaration of war. By long-standing custom, most of these
powers are delegated from the Sovereign to various ministers or other officers of the Crown,
who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament.

The head of the Government, the Prime Minister, also has weekly meetings with the
monarch, when she "has a right and a duty to express her views on Government matters....
These meetings, as with all communications between The Queen and her Government, remain
strictly confidential. Having expressed her views, The Queen abides by the advice of her
ministers.

MOST IMPORTANT TURISTIC PLACES

CAMBRIDGE

The city of Cambridge (/kembrd/kaym-brij) is a university city and the county

town of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia, on the River Cam, about 50 miles
(80 km) north of London. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, its population was
123,867 (including 24,488 students).This makes Cambridge the second largest city in
Cambridgeshire after Peterborough, and the 54th largest in the United Kingdom. There is
archaeological evidence of settlement in the area during the Bronze Age and Roman times;
under Viking rule Cambridge became an important trading Centre. The first town charters
were granted in the 12th century, although city status was not conferred until 1951.

Cambridge is most widely known as the home of the University of Cambridge, founded in
1209 and consistently ranked one of the top five universities in the world. The university
includes the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, King's College Chapel, and the Cambridge

University Library. The Cambridge skyline is dominated by the last two buildings, along with
the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church on Hills Rd, the chimney
of Addenbrooke's Hospital in the far south of the city and St John's College Chapel tower.

Today, Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen a
play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the city. Its economic strengths lie in
industries such as software and bioscience, many start-up companies having been spun out of
the university. Over 40% of the workforce has a higher education qualification, more than
twice the national average. Cambridge is also home to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus,
one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world, soon to be home to AstraZeneca,
a hotel and relocated Papworth Hospital.

LONDON

London is the capital city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River
Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its
founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium.[5]London's ancient core, the City of
London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km2) medieval boundaries and in 2011 had a
resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th
century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The
bulk of this conurbation forms the Greater London administrative area (coterminous with the
London region), governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education,
entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and
development, tourism, and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is one of the world's
leading financial centres and has the fifth-or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the
world depending on measurement. London is a world cultural capital. It is the world's mostvisited city as measured by international arrivals and has the world's largest city airport
system measured by passenger traffic. Londons 43 universities form the largest concentration
of higher education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to host the
modern Summer Olympic Games three times.

London has a diverse range of peoples and cultures, and more than 300 languages are
spoken within Greater London. The region had an official population of 8,416,535 in
2013, the largest of any municipality in the European Union, and accounting for 12.5 percent
of the UK population. Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris,
with 9,787,426 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. The city's metropolitan area is one
of the most populous in Europe with 13,614,409 inhabitants, while the Greater London
Authority puts the population of London metropolitan region at 21 million. London was
the world's most populous city from around 1831 to 1925.

London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site
comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the
historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatory, Greenwich marks
the Prime Meridian, 0 longitude, and GMT).Other famous landmarks include Buckingham
Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar

Square, and The Shard. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting
events and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate
Modern, British Library and 40 West End theatres. The London Underground is the oldest
underground railway network in the world.

London Eye
The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London.
Also known as the Millennium Wheel, its official name was originally published as
the British Airways London Eye, then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, then the EDF
Energy London Eye. Since mid-January 2015, it has been known in branding as the CocaCola London Eye, following an agreement signed in September 2014.

The entire structure is 135 meters (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 meters
(394 ft). When erected in 1999 it was the worlds tallest Ferris wheel. Its height was surpassed
by the 160 m (520 ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006, the 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer in 2008,
and the 167.6 m (550 ft) High Roller (Las Vegas) in 2014. Supported by an A-frame on one
side only, unlike the taller Nanchang and Singapore wheels, the Eye is described by its
operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel"

Palace of Westminter
The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House
of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as

the Houses of Parliament after its occupants, the Palace lies on the Middlesex bank of
the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London. Its name, which derives from
the neighboring Westminster Abbey, may refer to either of two structures: the Old Palace, a
medieval building complex that was destroyed by fire in 1834, and its replacement, the New
Palace that stands today. For ceremonial purposes, the palace retains its original style and
status as a royal residence and is the property of the Crown.

The first royal palace was built on the site in the eleventh century, and Westminster was the
primary residence of the Kings of England until a fire destroyed much of the complex in
1512. After that, it served as the home of the Parliament of England, which had been meeting
there since the thirteenth century, and also as the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in
and around Westminster Hall. In 1834, an even greater fire ravaged the heavily rebuilt Houses
of Parliament, and the only medieval structures of significance to survive were Westminster
Hall, the Cloisters of St Stephen's, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and the Jewel Tower.

The subsequent competition for the reconstruction of the Palace was won by the
architect Charles Barry, whose design was for new buildings in the Gothic Revival style,
specifically inspired by the English Perpendicular Gothic style of the 14th-16th centuries. The
remains of the Old Palace (with the exception of the detached Jewel Tower) were incorporated
into its much larger replacement, which contains over 1,100 rooms organized symmetrically
around two series of courtyards. Part of the New Palace's area of 3.24 hectares (8 acres) was
reclaimed from the Thames, which is the setting of its principal 266-metre (873 ft) faade,
called the River Front. Barry was assisted by Augustus W. N. Pugin, a leading authority on
Gothic architecture and style, who provided designs for the decorations and furnishings of the

Palace. Construction started in 1840 and lasted for thirty years, suffering great delays and cost
overruns, as well as the death of both leading architects; works for the interior decoration
continued intermittently well into the twentieth century. Major conservation work has been
carried out since, to reverse the effects of London's air pollution, and extensive repairs took
place after the Second World War, including the reconstruction of the Commons Chamber
following its bombing in 1941.

The Palace is one of the centres of political life in the United Kingdom; "Westminster" has
become a metonym for the UK Parliament, and the Westminster system of government has
taken its name after it. The Elizabeth Tower, in particular, which is often referred to by the
name of its main bell, "Big Ben", is an iconic landmark of London and the United Kingdom in
general, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city and an emblem of parliamentary
democracy. The Palace of Westminster has been a Grade I listed building since 1970 and part
of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the London residence and principal workplace of the monarchy of
the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of
state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focus for the British people at times of
national rejoicing.

Originally known as Buckingham House, the building which forms the core of today's
palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site which had

been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was subsequently acquired by King George
III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and was known as "The Queen's
House". During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and
Edward Blore, who formed three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace
finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen
Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, including the East front, which contains the well-known balcony on which the royal
family traditionally congregates to greet crowds outside. However, the palace chapel was
destroyed by a German bomb during World War II; the Queen's Gallery was built on the site
and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection.
The state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year
for most of August and September, as part of the Palace's Summer Opening.

STONEHENGE
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in Wiltshire, England, about 2 miles (3 km)
west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the
world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in
the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England,
including several hundred burial mounds.
Archaeologists believe it was built anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Radiocarbon
dating in 2008 suggested that the first stones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, whilst
another theory suggests that bluestones may have been raised at the site as early as 3000 BC.

The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the
monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to
the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge. It is a
national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the
Crown and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by
the National Trust.

Archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2008 indicates that
Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. The dating
of cremated remains found on the site indicate that deposits contain human bone from as early
as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug. Such deposits continued at Stonehenge
for at least another 500 years.

UNITED KINGDOM SPEECH

MELANYE SUREZ BELTRN

SUSAN QUIROGA SIERRA
GENESIS MITE ALVARADO
MA. GABRIELA MORA URQUIZO
NICOLE MONTANEGRO HURTADO
LAURA LPEZ MIRANDA
PAMELA ROMERO FLORES
MA. FERNANDA RIVERA RAMOS
JOCELYNE LOZANO MACAS
SHIARA NARANJO NOBOA

TEACHER
MR. HENRY LOGOO

UNIDAD EDUCATIVA DE LA PROVIDENCIA

GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR

JUNE, 2015