The British Isles

The British Isles

consist of two main
islands: Great Britain
and Ireland. These and
over five hundred small
islands are known as
the United Kingdom of
Great Britain.
Great Britain is the largest island in Europe. It comprises England,
Scotland and Wales, historical regions of Great Britain. The southern
part of the isle of Ireland is the Irish Republic.
England is situated in the southern and central part of Great
Britain, and Wales is in the west.
In England and Wales all the high land is in the west and north-
west. The south – eastern plain reaches the west coast only at one or
two places – at the Bristol Channel and by the mouths of the rivers
Dee and Mersey.
Scotland is in the north of
the island.
There are wild desolate
mountains in the northern
Highlands of Scotland - the
home of the deer and the eagle.
There are flat tulip fields round
the Fens.
The highest mountain in Great
Britain is Ben Nevis in Scotland.
The longest river is the Severn. It
is in the southwest of England
The capital of Great Britain –
London stands on the river
Thames which is not so long as
the Severn.
Great Britain is one of the leading countries in the world. It
has highly developed motor-car, ship building, textile
chemical and electronics industries which are centered in
such cities as Glasgow Manchester Liverpool and
Newcastle
Population
The population of Britain is over 58 million:
5 million live in Scotland, about 3 million - in Wales, 49 – live
in England, 1 and a half million – in the Northern Ireland, 7
million live in London.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland is a Parliamentary Monarchy or Constitutional
Monarchy. The present Sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II.
She was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1953.
The Queens head is on banknotes stamps and coins.
 She is the longest reigning monarch ever in Britain.
Her favourite dogs are corgis.
She’s the only person in the UK allowed to drive without a
licence.
The Queen has two birthdays.
The Queen has sent around 50,000 Christmas cards.
She owns an elephant, two giant turtles, a jaguar and a pair
of sloths.
 Holidays in Great Britain

The first of the January is New Year's Day.

The seventeeth of May is St. Patrick's Day.
In September British people celebrate Harvest Day.
The thirty first of September is Halloween.
The eleventh of November is Remembering Day.
The twenty fifth of December is Christmas Day.
British traditional food
 Cheese Rolling (Cheese rolling is an
unusual British tradition that involves a
ball of Double Gloucester cheese and a
crowd that is willing to chase it for fun.
 Afternoon Tea is probably one of the
quintessentially British things to partake,
afternoon tea has become a socially-
acceptable and rather a delightful excuse
to meet people for ‘some grub’ from 2
until 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
 British Food Fish and chips is a very
common takeaway food in the UK. As
the name implies, it consists of fish that
is fried in batter and accompanied by
potato chips.
 Full English Breakfast consists of
sausages, eggs, beans, toast, hash
browns, tomatoes, black pudding
 What is the weather in Great Britain
today?
The common ideas people have about the weather in Britain are: "It
rains all the time, it's very damp"; "There's a terrible fog in London,
just like in Sherlok Holmes'...", "The sun never shines in July or
August
Sometimes English people have weather from
each season all in one day. Because English
weather changes so often, there is always
something to talk about.
The great poet Lord
Byron once said, ‘‘I like
the weather, when it is not
raining. That is, I like two
months of every year.’’