Great Britain – geography, weather, climate, population, places of interest

Great Britain – geography, weather, climate, population, places of interest

Geography

– the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland covers an area of about 244 km2.

– it lies between 50° North and 60° North latitude and meridian of 0° goes through it

– is about 1000 km from South to North and 500 from West to East

– the largest isles are Great Britain and Ireland

– the other islands: Isle of Wight – off the southern coast
Isle of Scilly – off the south-west
Anglesey – off North Wales
Isle of Man – in the Irish see
The Hebrides – near western Scotland
Orkney and Shetland – far north
Channel Islands – near French coast

– the highest mountains: Ben Nevis – in Scotland
Snowdon – North Wales

– Great Britain can be divided into lowland area and highland area

– lowland includes midland, southern and eastern England

– highland includes Scotland, most of Wales (upland Pennines), and Lake District

– the longest rivers: – Severn – England

– Themes – England

– Clyde – Scotland

– the known lakes: – Loch Lomond and Loch Ness in Scotland

– Lake Windermere

Weather and climate

– Britain has a temperate and equable climate

– the prevailing winds are south-westerly and the weather is influenced by Atlatic

– in the winter there is cold, dry continental type of weather

– the average difference between temperatures in winter and summer is biggest in inland

– the summer lasts from June to September and the temperature is hovering around 20 degrees

– at any time the weather in cloudy and rainy

– The lowest temperatures in winter aren’t lower than –7°C

– the average rain-fall is about 900 mm

Vegetation

– the woodlands occupy about 8 % of the surface

– most of the Britain is agricultural land – 1/3 is arable and the rest pasture and meadows

– the elaborate land drainage system have been developed to cultivate the fenland

Population

– population of 58 million people

– various origins, separate traditions between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

– they have different religion, legal system, education and language

– the composition of the people: 80 % English
10 % Scottish
2 % Welsh
3 % Irish
2 % Ulster
3 % other

Places of interests

Cliffs of Dover – white chalk which can be seen when coming to England

– there is also Dover Castle near
Stratford-upon-Avon – the second most visited city in England

– it was founded by Richard I and it is known as a birthplace of William Shakespeare

– the grave of Shakespeare is in Holy Trinity Church

– there also Royal Shakespeare theatre there
Kenilworth – it was Norman castle which became a royal residence

– now it is the most extensive castle ruins in England

– Walter Scott wrote here one his novel
Warwick – it was founded in 10th century and extended in 14th century

– now it’s a museum
Oxford – seat of the oldest English university – 34 colleges now

– there is a lot of academic buildings
Cambridge – from roman times

– the second oldest English university
Canterbury – seat of a archbishop

– there is magnificent cathedral from 11th century

– first convent was established here
York – the seat of a archbishop of the Anglican Church

– there is superb Gothic cathedral called York Minster
Winchester – originally the roman town a later the capital of Wessex in Anglo-Saxon times

– there is Winchester Cathedral from the 7th century – rebuilt in 12th century
Hastings – seaside resort on the east coast

– near this place there was a battle field (William against Edward)
Stonehenge – a huge circle of standing stones. It was built probably in 2000 BC near Salisbury.
the purpose of it isn’t known, but it could be an astronomical church or a place for people to say their prays to God
Hadrian’s wall – part of a roman fortification against Celts

– it is 185 long
Edinburg – it is the capital of Scotland – industrial and cultural center

– the oldest building there is the Castle from 12th century which stands on the hill

– Walter Scott was born here
Loch Ness – most famous lake

– 36 km long and 229 deep

– there were some rumors about Loch Ness monster since 15th century