Great Britain - geography

GREAT BRITAIN - GEOGRAPHY

Britain lies in the north-west coast of Europe across the English Channel and the North Sea. It consist of two large island – Great Britain and Ireland, and about 5 000 smaller ones.

Great Britain can be divided roughly (zhruba) into the lowland and the highland area. The Scottish Highlands are the highest mountains in the British Isles. The highest peak Ben Newis is located there. Other large and well worth visiting mountains are The Pennines, Cambrian mountain and Southern uplands.

Talking about the British rivers, which aren’t very long, but really deep I couldn’t forget not to mention the Thames and the Severn river. Some very important ports are situated on them: London of the Thames, Liverpool on the Mersey and Glasgow on the Clyde. Britain is famous for large network of canals. These canals were absolutely important for inland freight traffie in the 19th century.

Lakes are to be found in the Lake district which is very important and favourite tourist destination. Apart from it they are also found in north-east England in the Scottish Highlands. Without any doubt the most well-known lake in Britain is Loch Ness. Great Britain is washed and bordered by the Atlantic ocean in the west, by the North sea in the east and by the English channel in the south. As it is said: Nowhere in Britain is far from the sea. Coasts have sandy beaches, wild rocky shores and steep cliffs.

The country has moderate climate. Winters are mild and summers are not very hot, it rains a lot and it is truly said that the grass is greener than in Central Europe. The weather is influenced by the Gulf Stream a lot. However on the Scottish mountains snow might be sometimes found in the spring as well.

Important cities industrial and financial centres: London, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Dover.

GREAT BRITAIN – HISTORY

Thousands of years ago, Great Britain was joined to Europe and was covered with ice. About 15,000 years ago, the weather became warmer. The ice melted and the sea level rose. Great Britain became an island about 8000 years ago.

CELTIC

• Celtic people called Britons settles in Britain. They were warriors and farmers who were skilled metal workers. They built villages and hill forts, and used iron weapons and tools. Celts called Gaels lived in Ireland.

THE ROMANS

• The Romans came to Britain 2000 years ago. They changed our country. The Roman Empire made its mark on Britain, and even today, the ruins of Roman buildings, forts, roads, and baths can be found all over Britain.

• Britain (not Scotland) was part of the Roman Empire for almost 400 years! The Roamns divided England into four areas centred by the following towns London, Cirencester, York and Lincoln.

• By the time the Roman armies left around 410 AD, they had established medical practice, a language of administration and law and had created great public buildings and roads.

• Many English words are derived from the latin language of the Romans.

• The Roman army left Britain about AD 410. When they had gone there was no strong army to defend Britain, and tribes called the Angle, Saxon, and Jute (the Anglo-Saxons) invaded. They left their homelands in Germany, Denmark and Holland

• Missionaries from Roman spread Christianity across southern Britain.