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
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