Official Name

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the official name of the state which is sometimes referred to as Great Britain or Britain (after its major isle), England (after its major historic part) or the British Isles. It is composed of more than 5,500 islands. The two main islands are Great Britain and Ireland. Geographically, the island of Great Britain is subdivided into two main regions – Lowland Britain and Highland Britain. Lowland Britain comprises southern and eastern England. Highland Britain consists of Scotland, most of Wales, the Pennies, and the Lake District.

The United Kingdom is one of the world’s smallest countries. The landscape varies from the north to the south. The highest mountains are found in Scotland (Ben Nevis, 1,343 m) and Wales (Snowdon, 1,085 m). There are no long rivers (the longest are the Severn and the Thames). But the country has many beautiful lakes especially in the Lake District and Scotland.

The weather in the country is so changeable that the English people say that they have no climate but only weather. The climate is described as cool, temperate and humid.

English is not the only language which people use in the United Kingdom. Some people speak Gaelic in Scotland, Welsh – in parts of Wales.

The most important of all British symbols is the National flag.

The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack (which derives from the use of the Union Flag on the jack-staff of naval vessels), is made up of three crosses. The upright red cross is the cross of St. George, the patron saint of England. The white diagonal cross is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross is the cross of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag because when the version of the flag appeared, Wales was already united with England. The national flag of Wales, called the Welsh dragon, is a red dragon on the field of white and green and is widely used throughout the Principality.

The British National anthem originated in a patriotic song ”God Save the Queen”. There is no authorized version, the words are as follows:

God save our gracious Queen! Long live our noble Queen!

God save the Queen! Send her victorious, Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us, God save the Queen!

It’s interesting to know:

• Over 20,000 British people are fishermen.

• No town in Britain is more than 80 miles from the sea.

• Great Britain gets all the oil it needs from the North Sea.

• Britain is mainly a Christian country – one British in ten is a member of the Roman Catholic Church and there are 1.7 million members of the Anglican Church.

• If one asks an Irishman away from home what he misses most about Ireland, he will probably tell you „the greenness”; so they call Ireland „the Emerald Isle”.

Post-reading Activities

1. Test yourself. Match the words with their definitions.

1. a coast a) a very good and holy person

2. saint b) a national song of a country

3. an island c) a particular part of a country, town

4. an anthem d) to become one, join; to work together

5. an area, region e) mountainous part of a country

6. to vary f) division of Britain, which has its own local government

7. to unite g) to become different, to change

8. a highland h) a piece of land with water all around it

9. to surround i) the area where the land meets sea

10. a county j) to be or go all around something

11. a climate k) typical weather conditions