Britain or Great Britain

Britain or Great Britain.

The official name of the country, we usually call England and occasionally Great Britain, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The U. K. is situated on the group of islands, lying just off the mainland of northwestern Europe. 

Geographical definition.

Great Britain Great Britain is situated on the British Isles. It consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and is one thirtieth the size of Europe. Great Britain is surrounded by seas on all sides and is separated from the continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. There are many rivers in Britain. They are not long but some of them are deep. The longest river is the Severn. There are many mountains in the north of England and in Scotland but they are not very high. The highest mountain in Great Britain is Ben Nevis. There are many lakes in Scotland. The most beautiful is Loch Lomond. Great Britain has a very good position as it lies on the crossways of the sea routes from Europe to the other parts of the world. There are many countries which are connected with Great Britain by sea.

There are no high mountains in Great Britain. In the north the Cheviots separate England from Scotland, the Pennines stretch down North England along its middle, the Cambrian mountains occupy the greater part of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland are the tallest of the British mountains. There is very little flat country except in the region known as East Anglia. Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea. The Thames is. the deepest and the longest of the British rivers. Some of the British greatest ports are situated in the estuaries of the Thames, Mersey, Trent, T Clyde and Bristol Avon. Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources, it has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.

Geographically, the island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in the western and northern regions. It is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. 
 
 

  Climate in Great Britain. 

  The 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. All these features make the climate more moderate, without striking difference between seasons. It is not very cold in winter and never very hot in summer.

  So, the British ports are ice-free and its rivers are not frozen throughout the year. The weather on the British Isles has a bad reputation. It is very changeable and fickle. The British say that there is a climate in other countries, but we have just weather. If you don't like the weather in England, just wait a few minutes.

  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, that they say «It's raining cats and dogs». 

  Britain is known all over the world for its fogs. Sometimes fogs are so thick that it's impossible to see anything within a few meters. The winter fogs of London are, indeed, awful; they surpass all imagination. In a dense fog all traffic is stopped, no vehicle can move from fear of dreadful accidents. So, we may say that the British climate has three main features: it is mild, humid and very changeable. 

The UK is one of the world's smallest countries. Its population is over 57 million. About 80 % of the population is urban.The main nationalities are: English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish. In Great Britain there are a lot of immigrants from former British Asian and African colonies. 

The flag of the Britain.

  The flag of the Britain, known as the Union Jack, is made up of three crosses. The big red cross is the cross of Saint George, the patron saint of England. The white cross is the cross of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross is the cross of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. 
 
 

Language of the Britain.

The official language of the Britain is English. But in western Scotland some people still speak Gaelic and in northern and central parts of Wales people often speak Welsh.

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. It lives by manufacture and trade. Its agriculture provides only half the food it needs, the other half of its food has to be imported. Britain is one of the most highly industrialised countries in the world: for every person employed in agriculture, eleven are employed in mining, manufacturing and building. The main branches of British economy are engineering, mining, ship-building, motor vehicle manufacturing, textile, chemistry, electronics, fishing and food processing. The industrial centres of Great Britain are London, Manchester, Eirmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and others. As to its political system it is a constitutional monarchy. The power of the Queen (now Elizabeth) is limited by Parliament which includes two Houses the House of Commons and the House of Lords. 

  Religion in Great Britain . 

  British religion used to be closely connected with kings, queens and politics. England was a Roman Catholic country until 1534.

  In 1525 King Henry VIII decided to divorce his queen, Catherine of Aragon, because he fell in love with Anne Boleyn. But when Henry asked the Pope for permission to divorce Catherine, he refused.

  Henry was so angry with the Pope that he ended all contact between England and Rome. He divorced Catherine of Aragon without the Pope's permission and married Anne Boleyn.

  In 1534 Parliament named Henry head of the Church of England. This was the beginning of the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church did not start as a Protestant Church and Henry certainly did not regard himself as a Protestant. However the Protestant movement in Europe was growing very strong at that time. When Henry quarreled with Rome and ordered the Bible to be translated into English, the way was open for Protestantism to spread in England.

  Over the next years many people changed to this new religion. In 1553 Mary, Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon, became Queen of England. The country re-entered the Roman Church, because she was a Roman Catholic.

  Protestants were glad when Mary died, because while she was Queen, many Protestants were burned for their beliefs. After Marry, Elizabeth became head of the Anglican Church and Roman Catholicism was never again the official religion in England.

  The Church of England is still the established church in England nowadays. But in spite of the great variety of forms of worship, only a minority of people regularly go to church in Britain today. Most people see Sunday more as a day for relaxing with the family or for doing jobs around the house and the garden.  
 

      British Traditions and Customs.

  There are many customs and some of them are very old. There is, for example, the Marble Championship, where the British Champion is crowned; he wins a silver cup known among folk dancers as Morris Dancing. Morris Dancing is an event where people, worn in beautiful clothes with ribbons and bells, dance with handkerchiefs or big sticks in their hands, while traditional music- sounds.

  Another example is the Boat Race, which takes place on the river Thames, often on Easter Sunday. A boat with a team from Oxford University and one with a team from Cambridge University hold a race.

  British people think that the Grand National horse race is the most exciting horse race in the world. It takes place near Liverpool every year. Sometimes it happens the same day as the Boat Race takes place, sometimes a week later. Amateur riders as well as professional jockeys can participate. It is a very famous event.

  There are many celebrations in May, especially in the countryside.

  Halloween is a day on which many children dress up in unusual costumes. In fact, this holiday has a Celtic origin. The day was originally called All Halloween's Eve, because it happens on October 31, the eve of all Saint's Day. The name was later shortened to Halloween. The Celts celebrated the coming of New Year on that day.

  Another tradition is the holiday called Bonfire Night.

  In the end of the year, there is the most famous New Year celebration. In London, many people go to Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve. There is singing and dancing at 12 o'clock on December 31st.

  A popular Scottish event is the Edinburgh Festival of music and drama, which takes place every year. A truly Welsh event is the Eisteddfod, a national festival of traditional poetry and music, with a competition for the best new poem in Welsh. 
 

Education in Britain.

  In England and Wales compulsory school begins at the age of five, but before that age children can go to a nursery school, also called play school. School is compulsory till the children are 16 years old.  
 

Traditional British food.

Britain has a reputation for a diet of solid, simple food - food that fits and feeds both the working man, and the nobility. As every worldwide culture has a tradition of reliance upon local food, the same goes for Britain, which as befits an island, has a wealth of fish. Also, due to the country's climate and annual rainfall creating lush pasture and agricultural land, great quality meat and vegetables.