United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Symbols of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United Kingdom

The national tree: The oak

Motto: Dieu et mon droit (French) "God and my right"

Anthem: "God Save the King" Note: "King" is replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is female.

Country	Saint Patron	National Flower	National Animal
England	St. George	Tudor Rose	Lion
Scotland	St. Andrew	Thistle	Unicorn
Wales	St. David	Leek Daffodil	Red Dragon
Northern Ireland There is no official National flag of Northern Ireland. The Cross of St Patrick is a red saltire (X-shaped cross) on a white field. It is used to represent Ireland on the Union Flag.	St. Patrick	Shamrock Flax	None

The Royal Family

Queen Elizabeth	Prince Charles	Prince William

• It is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe.

• London is the capital of the UK.

• The Parliament consists of House of Commons and House of Lords.

• Monarch: Elizabeth II.

• The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands.

• The UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.

• Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh are the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively.

• The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories: Anguilla; Bermuda; the British Antarctic Territory; the British Indian Ocean Territory; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; the Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; the Turks and Caicos Islands; the Pitcairn Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus.

• The name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was introduced in 1927.

• The country is separated from France by the English Channel.

• The UK's three major political parties are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats.

• Buckingham Palace, in London, is the official residence and office of the British monarch.Education is now compulsory from ages five to sixteen.

• The Prime Minister's official residence is 10 Downing Street.

• Heathrow is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom.

• Jerome Klapka Jerome was English writer and humorist. He is best known for his humorous and comic masterpiece "Three Men in a Boat".

• Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English author, journalist and poet who wrote the famous fiction The Jungle Book.

• William Shakespeare is regarded as the greatest writer and poet ever known in the English language who authored world's greatest poems, drama and sonnets.

• Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish doctor, author and poet, and is most notably remembered for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes.

• Alexander Graham Bell was a scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who invented the first practical telephone.

• Alan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems.

• Joanne Rowling, better known as J. K. Rowling, is a British novelist, best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series.

• The London Eye is the world's largest observation wheel.

• The British Museum is one of the oldest museums in the world.

• The famous bell Big Ben named after Sir Benjamin Hall, Chief Commissioner of Works when the bell was hung in 1858.

• The National Gallery has a rich collection of over 2000 western paintings. All hang in chronological order.

• Covent Garden is one of the top shopping and entertainment areas in London. It is also the home for the Royal Opera House and the London Transport Museum.

• Madame Tussauds London is a major tourist attraction located in Central London, housed in the former London Planetarium. It is famous for recreating famous people in wax.

• The statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson, who was buried at St Paul's Cathedral, stands high above the traffic at Trafalgar square.

• St. Paul's Cathedral is the masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren.

• The Underground system in London is also colloquially called the Tube.

• Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and a leader in learning, teaching and research.

• Ben Nevis, at a height of 1344 meters is the highest point in Great Britain.

• Great Britain was known as the land of Albinos and hence its name was Albion. Britannia, the word used by the Romans for the British Isles, gave rise to the name Britain.

• The longest river is The Severn, measuring 322 km long.

• The official name for the British flag is Union Jack.

• The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June.

• The Queen never gives interviews, but every year she makes a speech which is broadcast on television on Christmas Day, continuing a tradition started by her grandfather King George V in 1932.

• The plant (flower) – symbol of peace in Great Britain is poppy.

Vocabulary:

Aboriginal – коренной житель

Colloquially – в разговорной речи

Comprise – состоять из

Contiguous – сопредельный

Daffodil – желтый нарцисс

Elect – избирать

Explorer – исследователь

Flax – лен

Headquarters – штаб-квартира

Inuit – эскимос

Iroquoian – ирокезский

Leek – лук-порей

Maple – клен

Oak – дуб

Pejorative – уничижительный, бранный

Poppy – мак

Respectively – соответственно

Shamrock – трилистник

Stock Exchange – фондовая биржа

Thistle – чертополох

Unicorn – единорог

Wax – воск