The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Geographical position.	The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two big islands: Great Britain and Ireland, and more than 5,000 small islands. The British Isles are separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The Western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. The United Kingdom consists of four parts: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The total area of the UK is about 244,000 sq. km. The capital of the UK is London. London is also the capital of Great Britain and England. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, the capital of Wales is Cardiff and Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland.
The population of the UK is over 60 million people. The main nationalities are the English, the Scottish, the Welsh, and the Irish. They speak the English, the Scottish, the Welsh and the Irish languages. Moreover there are a lot of immigrants in the UK from all over the world. The surface of Great Britain varies greatly: mountainous Highlands, vast Lowlands, forests, grassy meadows. The mountains are not very high. The highest mountain in Scotland is Ben Nevis (1,347 m), the highest mountain in Wales is Snowdon (1,085 m). The CheviotMountains separate England from Scotland. In the center of England there is a chain of hills called the Pennines, which are known as the “backbone of England”. The rivers are not very long. The most important of them are the Severn, the Thames, the Trent, and the Clyde. Most of them flow into the North Sea. They almost never freeze in winter. The Lake District in England, uniting 16 crystal-blue clear lakes and the locks in Scotland famous for its mystery Loch Ness Monster attract tourists from different countries of the world. The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream influence the climate of Great Britain. It is mild, temperate and damp. The winds from the Atlantic Ocean bring rainfall during the whole year. Of course, the climate is not the same in all parts of the country. The weather changes so frequently that it is difficult to forecast. The average summer temperature is about 30 degrees centigrade above zero. The average winter temperature is about 10 degrees centigrade below zero. 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. By the deposits of coal Great Britain takes the 6th place in the world.
	Political system. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy and that means that the head of state is a monarch with limited powers. Since 1952 Queen Elizabeth II has been the Head of State, the Head of the Armed Forces, the Head of the Church of England and the Head of the Commonwealth1. She is also the Head of the executive and judicial powers, an integral part of the legislature. In theory, the monarch has
almost absolute power. She has the power to summon and dissolve the Parliament, to appoint and dismiss ministers and judges, to conclude treaties with foreign states, to declare War and Peace and many others. But in reality the Queen reigns but doesn’t rule. The country is governed in the Queen’s
name by the Government with the Prime Minister as its head. David Cameron is the current British Prime Minister and the leader of the British Labour Party in the House of Commons was appointed in 2010. It’s interesting to know that all Prime Ministers since 1902 have been members of the House of Commons. British Parliament is the supreme legislative body of the country. It consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The UK public elects 650 members of the House of Commons for a term of 5 years. Each member represents a certain area in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland. The House of Lords has no fixed number of members. There are about 1,000 of them, including 2 Archbishops and 24 Bishops of the Church of England, life peers and hereditary peers. Most Cabinet ministers are from the House of Commons, rather than the House of Lords. The House of Lords and the House of Commons assemble in the Palace of Westminster

¹TheCommonwealth of Nations is a non-political organisation of fifty-four independent member states. All but two (Mozambique and Rwanda) of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire. They are united under common goals and values of democracy, human rights, individual liberty, free trade, world peace and others.

Vocabulary

to be separated from –

to separate –

coast –

to be washed by –

area –

surface –

to vary –

mountainous –

vast –

grassy meadows –

hills –

mystery –

temperate –

damp –

frequently –

to forecast –

iron ore –

constitutional monarchy –

limited powers –

the Head of State –

the Head of the Armed Forces –

the Head of the Commonwealth –

to summon the Parliament –

dissolve the Parliament –

to appoint –

to dismiss –

to conclude treaties –

to declare War –

toreign –

togovern –

current –

the supreme legislative body –

chamber –

to elect –

to represent –

to include –

Archbishop –

Bishop –

life peer –

hereditary peer –

to assemble –