Great Britain - Geography, Political system, Places

GREAT BRITAIN

The United Kingdom  of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the official name of the country lying at the top-left edge of Europe and separated from the continent by the North Sea and the English Channel.  It is made of four countries  : England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
 
Area: 243 305 sq km, country occupies British Isles
The population - 60 million people. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Neighbours of GB – France and Ireland
Languages – Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and English
Minorities –  The biggest ethnic groups in the UK are:
The Indians, the Pakistanis, the black Caribbean’s  and Africans.
The largest cities : London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool ,Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and Edinburgh.

Cotação libra esterlina (GBP) - Grã-Bretanha

GEOGRAPHY

There are about 5000 islands – Orkney Islands, Channel Islands or Shetland Islands Mountains -  Southern Uplands, Pennines,Cambrian mountains, Grampian Mountains, North-West Highlands
 
The most important rivers are Thames and Severn. The longest river in the UK is the Severn, its length is 338 km. It rises in Wales. The Thames, which flows through London, is the second Longest, its length is 336km.
Loch Ness in Scotland is the largest lake by volume. In May 1994, the Channel Tunnel was opened between England and France. Now it is possible to travel through the Channel by train.

The country has a mild and rainy climate, due to the warm Gulf Stream. The prevailing winds are south – westerly. The coldest months are January and February. The average temperatures are about 16 degrees.During summer the temperature occasionally rises above 27 degrees in the south, winter temperatures below -7 degrees are rare.

POLITICAL SYSTEM
 The country ´s political system is is a constitutional monarchy, which means it has a parliament and a monarch. At the moment the monarch is  Qeen Elizabeth II. Shehas only representative function.  British prime minister has a real political power.Parliament consists of 2 houses – the House of Lords and the House of Commons. There are 635 seats here. Elections take place after 5 years.  The British currency is pound.

INTERESTING PLACES
Stonehenge - misterious stone formation –can be found near Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones
Oxford and Cambridge-  one of the oldest universities in the world
Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow are famous becouse of football
Stratford – upon-Avon – birth place of William Shakespeare, there is Shakespeare centre with a library and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre