1. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or UK, is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. With a total area of approximately 243,610 square kilometers. The U. K. is situated on the group of islands lying just off the mainland of north-western Europe. The British Isles include Great Britain proper, Ireland and a number of smaller islands. Great Britain consists of England, Scotland and Wales. The southern part of Ireland is the Republic of Eire.Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel, the narrower part of which is called the Strait of Dover. The British Isles are surrounded by the shallow waters of the Irish Sea and the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.

2. Britain’s climate is dominated by the influence of the sea. It is much milder than that in any other country in the same latitudes. This is due partly to the presence of the North Atlantic Drift, or the Gulf Stream, and partly to the fact that north-west Europe lies in a predominantly westerly wind-belt. This means that marine influences warm the land in winter and cool in summer. This moderating effect of the sea is in fact, the cause of the relatively small seasonal contrasts experienced in Britain. The moderating effect of the ocean on air temperature is also stronger in winter than in summer. North and north-west winds often bring heavy falls of snow to north Britain. Relief is the most important factor controlling the distribution of temperature and precipitation within Britain. The actual temperatures experienced in the hilly and mountainous parts are considerably lower than those in the lowlands. The most remarkable feature of English weather, the London fog, has as exaggerated reputation. There are wild desolate mountains in the northern Highlands of Scotland - the home of the deer and the eagle.

3. Geographically the island of Great Britain is subdivided into 2 main regions: Lowland Britain and Highland Britain . Lowland Britain comprises southern and eastern England . Highland Britain consists of Scotland , most of Wales , the Pennines (or the Pennine Chain) and the Lake District . The highest mountain top is Ben Nevis in Scotland . The chief rivers of Great Britain are: the Severn , separating England and Wales , the Thames (the longest and the deepest one). The swiftest flowing river is the Spray. Also the Tweed is famous (the woolen fabric is made here). There are many lakes in Great Britain . The Lake District is the most beautiful.

4.The UK has a population of 59,778,002, with an average population density of 245 persons per sq km. the most populated city is London with the population about 7million people. England is the most populated part of the UK. 89,3% living in urban areas and 10.7% in rural areas. English is the official language. There are a lot of local accents because of areas. The Celtic language continues to be spoken in Scotland by some people. There live British (Germanic/Celtic), Scottish (Celtic),Welsh (Celtic), Irish (Celtic) Afro-Caribbean, Eastern European, South Asians, East Asians, South African Europeans, Sub Saharan Africans, and many more.

5. Scotland is situated in the northern part of the island Great Britain.  Scotland is washed by the North Sea in the east and the Atlantic ocean in the west. This country is bounded by England only. Scotland together with 186 inhabited islands has a total area of 30,414 square miles. The population of Scotland is nearly 5,2 million people. The official language of the country is English, the national one is Scottish Gaelic. The inhabitants of Scotland call themselves Scots. The languages of Scotland are the languages spoken or once spoken in Scotland. The numerous languages spoken in Scotland during its recorded linguistic history fall into either the Germanic or Celtic language families.

11. The Roman Conquest and Its Influence on Britain(Period:55bc-450ad)

The Roman Army sailed from Boulogne in France across the English Channel and landed at Richborough in Kent. The British tribes met the Romans in a fiercely fought battle at the river Medway. After much bloodshed the Romans emerged victorious and 4 Legions went on to conquer all of England, much of Wales and parts of Scotland.

Language: they spread Latin.

Influence: They built towns, roads, water supply. The province of Britain became one of the granaries of the Roman Empire. The Celts, who lived in the Roman towns kept to their customs and Roman influence upon them was significant.

12. The Anglo-Saxon Conquest and its Influence on Britain.(5-8 centuries ad)

In 449 Jutes landed in Kent. By the end of the 5^th century the North-East coast and much of the Midlands were occupied by the Angles. The Saxons entered the country by the river Wash and disembarked(высадились) somewhere near modern Cambridge. They moved south-west into the East Midlands and Thames valley.

Language: writing appeared. Runic alphabet. West Saxon dialect prevailed. Latin, Germanic.

Influence: they developed good system of the rule. The Saxons divided the territory of England. They made up the majority of the population in Britain and their customs,religion and language.

13. The Scandinavian Invasion.(8-11 centuries ad)

Danish raids carried out their first raids on Britain. In later years large Danish fleet brought large armies to conquer and settled in the new lands. (They were successful because Britain had neither regular army nor a fleet) Nothumbria and east Anglia suffered from the Danish raids. All England North of the Thames was in their hands.

Language: anglo –saxon chronicle. It is the earliest known history of European people recorded in the language of that people by successive generations of scribes. The books were translated by King Alfred. Many Scandinavian words came into English.

Influence: the development of trade, country, shipbuilding and literature.

14. The Norman Conquest and its Influence on Britain.(1066-1404 ad)

William was a Duke who ruled Normandy, now a region in France. He invaded England after the death of King Edward the Confessor because he believed he had the most right to be King of England. But King Harold II had himself crowned king instead. King Harold, with his Saxon army, and Duke William fought at the battle of Hastings on October 14 1066. King Harold was killed in the battle and his army left. On December 25 1066 William was crowned the new King of England.

Influence: It created one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe. William started building castles and fortresses. Introduction of Norman law and feudalism.

15. The Hundred Years’ War with France.

It is an armed conflict between France and England during the years from 1337 to 1453. The Hundred Years’ War was a series of short conflicts, broken intermittently by a number of truces and peace treaties. It resulted from disputes between the ruling families of the two countries, the French Capetians and the English Plantagenets, over territories in France and the succession to the French throne.

16). WARS OF THE ROSES (1455-1485), a name given to a series of civil wars in England during the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III. They were marked by a fierceness and brutality which are practically unknown in the history of English wars before and since. It was a struggle for the throne of England between the Houses of Lancaster and York (whose heraldic symbols were the "red" and the "white" rose, respectively). The last ruler, King Richard II died without an heir. The final victory went to a relatively remote Lancastrian claimant, Henry Tudor, who defeated the last Yorkist king Richard III and married Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth of York to unite the two houses. The House of Tudor subsequently ruled England and Wales for 117 years.

17). THE PERIOD OF RENAISSANCE (1485-1660), a period that became the turning point for artistic, social, scientific, and political thought. The Renaissance in England can be categorized in three sections: the growth of the Renaissance under early Tudor monarchs (1485-1558), climax of the Renaissance under Elizabeth I (1558-1603), and weakening of Renaissance by Stuart monarchs (1603-1649). During this period Europe arose from the economic depression of the Middle Ages and experienced a time of great financial growth. Under the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547), the population of England increased, feudalism was "dead", and a countrywide movement of the people to large cities and towns. The expansion of knowledge was facilitated by the invention of the printing press and better methods of manufacturing paper. Among the most earliest events taking place in England was the introduction of humanism into Oxford universities during the 1490s and 1500s.  Private schools were built to teach the "New Learning".

18). THE BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION and CIVIL WARS of the 17^th century (1642-1651). The Civil War is one of the earliest and most decisive episodes in the epoch of bourgeois revolutions that gave rise to modern capitalist society. The bourgeois revolution in England developed under the guise ([gaiz] под видом..) of a religious reformation. A struggle for the right to pray according to one’s own prayer book was identified with the struggle against the king, the aristocracy, the princes of the church, and Rome. The Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians (Roundheads) and Royalists(Cavaliers). The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son, Charles II, and replacement of English monarchy with, first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–53), and then with a Protectorate (1653–59), under Oliver Cromwell's personal rule.

19). The Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1850), where changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times. Great Britain provided the legal and cultural foundations that enabled entrepreneurs to start the industrial revolution. Starting in the later part of the 18th century, there began a transition in parts of Great Britain's previously manual labour and draft-animal–based economy towards machine-based manufacturing. It started with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal.  With the transition away from an agricultural-based economy and towards machine-based manufacturing came a great influx of population from the countryside and into the towns and cities, which swelled in population.

The development of all-metal machine tools in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries.

The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation.