Unit 1: Geography of the UK

Getting to know Britain

What first comes to your mind when you hear the word
Britain or England?
The followings are some thoughts from people around
the world:

Tea and the Queen David Beckham

English people are

Beer, honesty,
no good at
Bulldog-type, Royal
learning foreign
family
languages
Getting to know Britain
1. Write the words that Britain makes you
think of in a list.
2. Compare your list with that of your
partner and discuss the items in your lists.
Match the terms with their correct definitions.

1. The British Isles a. England, Scotland and Wales

2. Great Britain b. A group of islands including Great

Britain and Ireland.

3. The United c. England, Scotland, Wales,

Kingdom Northern Ireland and a number of
small islands.

4. Ireland d. Northern Ireland and the Irish

Republic
Key: 1-b; 2-a; 3-c; 4-d
I- What is the United
Kingdom?
- The United Kingdom consists of a
group of islands off the northwest
coast of Europe.
- The name “the United Kingdom
(UK)” refers to the union of four
nations: Scotland, England, Wales
and Northern Ireland.
- Its official name is The United
Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, and its shorter
name is ‘the United Kingdom’.
- In everyday speech it is shortened
to ‘the UK’ and in internet and
email addresses it is ‘.uk’.
- Laying off the north-west coast
of Europe, there are two large
islands and several much
smaller ones. They are known
as ‘The British Isles”.
- The largest island is called
Great Britain which consists of
three parts: Scotland, England
and Wales.
- Britain consists of England and
Wales.
- England is not the same as UK
or Great Britain.
- Southern Ireland is an
independent republic.
 The four nations
- England is only one of the four nations’ in this part of
the world. The others are Scotland, Wales, and
Ireland.
- In 1800, the Irish parliament was joined with the
parliament for England, Scotland, and Wales in
Westminster, so that the whole area became a single
state - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Culture and lifestyle varied enormously across the four
nations: The dominant culture of people in Ireland,
Wales and Highland Scotland was Celtic; that of
people in England and Lowland Scotland was
Germanic. But language was developed into modern
English.
The four nations
- The nations also tended to have different
economic, social, and legal systems, and
they were independent of each other.
- Although there is only one government
for the whole of Britain, many aspects of
government are organized separately (and
sometimes differently) in the four parts of
the United Kingdom.
London is the capital and largest city of England
and the United Kingdom
Decide whether these statements are true (T)
or false (F)
• 1. “England” can refer to “Great Britain” but it should never be
used to mean the United Kingdom. T/F
• 2. Britain is a short form of the full name of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. T/F
• 3. It is proper to use the Great Britain to mean the United
Kingdom. T/F
• 4. The official name of the UK is the “United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland”. T/F
• 5. People from Scotland are Britons. T/F
 Climate
• British Isles which are
surrounded by the ocean have
an insular climate.
• There are 3 things that chiefly
determine the climate of the
United Kingdom: the position of
the islands in the temperate
belt; the fact that the
prevailing winds blow from the
West and South-west and the
warm current – the Gulf
Stream that flows from the
Gulf of Mexico along the
western shores of England.
• The weather on British Isles has a bad
reputation because it is very
changeable.
• It rains very often in all seasons in Great
Britain.
• Autumn and winter are the wettest. The
sky is usually grey and cold winds blow.
• On the average, Britain has more than
200 rainy days a year. The English say
that they have 3 variants of weather:
when it rains in the morning, when it
rains in the afternoon, and when it rains
all day long. Sometimes it rains so
heavily, they say “It’s raining cats and
dogs”.
=> The British climate has three features:
it is mild, humid and very changeable.
 Rivers in the UK
The three longest rivers in the UK are: River Trent
is one of
the major
rivers in
England.
It’s 297 Km
long.

The Thames
River is a major
Severn is river flowing
the longest through
river in London. It’s
Great 346 km long.
Britain. It’s
354 km long.
 River Severn and the Severn Bore
What is the Severn Bore?
The Severn bore is a huge
wave which is caused by
water from the sea being
pushed into a smaller river

How many bores take place

on the Severn each year?
There are about 260 bores on
the Severn each year
It’s the largest bore in EUROPE
Some people even surf the
bore!
Mountains in the UK
Highest Mountain in the UK
• Ben Nevis, Scotland
• 1343 metres

•The mountain is high and steep

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