15. Reading: Great Britain

  

  

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) is the official name of the British Kingdom. It occupies most of the territory of the British Isles and consists of four countries. They are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
The UK is situated off the west coast of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean on the northwest and the North Sea on the east. It is separated from the European continent by the English Channel. The narrowest part of the English Channel is called the Strait of Dover. The total area of Great Britain is over 244,000 square kilometres.

 

The UK is an island state: it is made up of two large islands and several much smaller ones. The two main islands are Great Britain to the east and Ireland to the west. They are separated by the Irish Sea. 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 Pennines, and the Lake District. Mountains are not very high. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis in Scotland (1,343 m). England is separated from Scotland by the Cheviot Hills, running from east to west. There are a lot of rivers in Great Britain, but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one. The chief river in Scotland is the Clyde. Great Britain has many beautiful lakes. The best known of them is long narrow Loch Ness, legendary home of the famous monster. On the northwest side of the Pennine system lies the Lake District, containing beautiful lakes.

 

The largest cities of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast. The population of the United Kingdom is over 57 million people. English is the official language. But some people speak Gaelic in western Scotland, and Welsh in parts of northern and central Wales.

 

The different parts of Britain have their own emblems. The red rose is the national emblem of England. The thistle is the national emblem of Scotland. The daffodils and the leek are the emblems of Wales. And the shamrock is the national emblem of Ireland. The flag of the United Kingdom is known as the Union Jack. It is made up of three crosses: the cross of St. George (the patron saint of England), the cross of St. Andrew (the patron saint of Scotland) and the cross of St. Patrick (the patron saint of Ireland).

 

 

1. It is separated   by the English Channel.

 

2. The best known of them is long narrow Loch Ness,   monster.

 

3. The different parts of Britain have their   .