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
Zones.sk – Zóny pre každého študenta
https://www.zones.sk/studentske-prace/anglictina/1258-great-britain-geography-weather-climate-population-places-of-interest/