Great Britain - Všichni Všem

 GREAT BRITAIN

1)  Geography

2)  Landscape

3)  Population

4)  Government

5)  Economy

6)  Places of interest

7)  Would you like to visit Great Britain and why?

Geography

Britain lies off the north-west coast of Europe across the English Channel, the Strait of Dover and the North Sea. It consists of two large islands (it is Great Britain and Ireland) and other 5 000 islands, for example the Orleney, Channel Islands and Shetland Islands.

Landscape

Landscape is divided into highlands and lowlands. Highlands are especially in Scotland, Wales, nothern and western England, the Scottish Highlands with Ben Nevis (1 343 m high) are the highest mountains in Britain. Lowlands are in the south and east of England. There is mainly a plain with fields and meadows. There are a lot of rivers. They aren’t long, but deep and are important for the ports, for example Thames in London or Clyde in Glasgow. There are lakes in the Lake District in the north of England and in the Highlands of Scotland. The most famous scottish lakes are Loch Ness and Loch Lomond.

Climate

Climate is temperate and humid. The average temperature is about    4 degrees in winter and 16 degrees in summer. Summers aren’t hot and it rains a lot.

Population

There live about 60 000 000 people. Density is 232 people for per square kilometer (sq km).

Ethnic groups: English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh and especially in big cities Chinese, Vietnamese, Pakistans and so on.

Languages spoken in Britain variaties of English (Scottish English, Irish English, …) Welsh language in Wales (it isn’t English) and Gaelic language in Scotland.

British manners: There are very polite, the often say: „I’m sorry.“, „Excuse me.“ and „Thank you.“. The don’t shake hands and don’t kiss hello as people on the continent. They like spending their leisure time with their families. They often have pets, especially cats.

Houses:

Most people in Britain live in houses, execpt in big cities where more people live in flats. A lot of people own their own homes. If you want to buy or sell a house, you got to an estate agent. People usually borrow money from the building society in order to pay for their house – this money is called a mortgage. If you rent your house or flat, you pay money (= the rent) to a landlord or landlady (you are the tenant). You can also rent a council house or flat very cheaply from the local council.