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          The UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

      The United Kingdom of Great Britain  and  Northern  Ireland  (the  UK)
occupies most of the territory of the British Isles.  It  consists  of  four
main parts which are: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern  Ireland.  Their
capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
      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.
      The UK is an island state: it is composed of some 5,500 islands, large
and small. The two main islands are Great Britain  (in  which  are  England,
Wales and Scotland) to the east and Ireland (in which are  Northern  Ireland
and the independent Irish Republic) to the west. They are separated  by  the
Irish Sea.
         The UK is one  of  the  world's  smaller  countries  (it  is  twice
smaller than  France  or  Spain),  with  an  area  of  some  244,100  square
kilometres. The UK is situated off the west  coast  of  Europe  between  the
Atlantic Ocean on the northwest and  the  North  Sea  on  the  east  and  is
separated from the European continent by the English Channel (or La  Manche)
and the Strait of Dover (or Pas de Calais).
      The population of the United Kingdom is over 57 million people.  There
are fourteen other countries in the world with more people.
      English is not the only language which people use in the  UK.  English
is the official language. But some people speak Gaelic in western  Scotland,
Welsh—in parts of northern and central Wales.
       The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made  up
of three crosses.
      Great Britain is the name of the largest island of the  British  Isles
and it is made up of England,  Scotland  and  Wales,  it  does  not  include
Northern Ireland. In everyday speech Great  Britain  is  used  to  mean  the
United Kingdom. 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.  The
Pennine Chain extends southward from the Cheviot Hills into the Midlands,  a
plains region with low hills and valleys.
      England is separated from Scotland by the Cheviot Hills, running  from
east to west.
      The chief rivers of Great Britain are: the Severn, flowing  along  the
border between England and Wales, tributaries of  which  include  the  Avon,
famed by Shakespeare; the Thames,  which  flows  eastward  to  the  port  of
London and some others. The swiftest flowing river in the British  Isles  is
the Spey. Part of the border between  Scotland  and  England  is  along  the
lower reaches of the Tweed, near which  is  made  the  woollen  fabric  that
bears its name.
      There are many lakes in Great Britain. On the northwest  side  of  the
Pennine system lies the Lake District, containing the beautiful lakes  which
give it its name. This district is widely known  for  its  association  with
the history of English literature and especially with the  name  of  William
Wordsworth (1770—1859), the founder of the Lake School of poets.
      The largest cities of Great Britain are: London, Birmingham,  Glasgow,
Liverpool,  Manchester,  Sheffield,  Bristol,  Leeds,  Edinburgh.  The  most
important ports are: London, Liverpool, Southampton,  Belfast,  Glasgow  and
Cardiff.
      The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. This  means  that  it
has a monarch (a king or a queen) as its Head of State. The  monarch  reigns
with the support of Parliament. The powers of the monarch  are  not  defined
precisely. Everything  today  is  done  in  the  Queen's  name.  It  is  her
government, her armed forces, her law courts and so  on.  She  appoints  all
the Ministers, including the Prime Minister. Everything is done  however  on
the advice of the elected Government, and the monarch takes no part  in  the
decision-making process.
      Once the British Empire included a large number of countries all  over
the world ruled by Britain. The process  of  decolonisation  began  in  1947
with the independence of India, Pakistan and Ceylon. Now, apart from  a  few
small islands, there is no longer an empire. But the British ruling  classes
tried not to lose influence over the former colonies of the British  Empire.
An association of former members of  the  British  Empire  and  Britain  was
founded in 1949. It is called the Commonwealth. It includes  many  countries
such as Burma, the Sudan, Canada, Australia, New  Zealand  and  others.  The
Queen of Great Britain is also the Head of  the  Commonwealth,  and  so  the
Queen of Canada, Australia, New Zealand...
      The Queen is very rich as are other members of the  royal  family.  In
addition, the government pays for her expenses  as  Head  of  State,  for  a
royal yacht, train and aircraft  as  well  as  for  the  upkeep  of  several
palaces. The Queen's image appears on stamps, notes and coins.
  Parliament consists of two chambers known as the House of Commons and the
House of Lords. Parliament and the  monarch  have  different  roles  in  the
government  of  the  country,  and  they  only  meet  together  on  symbolic
occasions such as the  coronation  of  a  new  monarch  or  the  opening  of
Parliament. In reality, the House of Commons is the only one  of  the  three
which has true power. It is here that new bills are introduced and  debated.
If the majority of the members are in favour of a bill it goes to the  House
of Lords to be debated and finally to the monarch to be  signed.  Only  then
it becomes law. Although a bill must be supported by all three  bodies,  the
House of Lords only has limited powers, and the monarch has not  refused  to
sign one since the modern political system began over 200 years ago.
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