Great Britain – geography, weather, climate, population, places of interest

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GB – geography, weather, climate, population, places of interest

a) GB

Geography:

- the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland covers an area of about 244 km2.

- it lies between 50° North and 60° North latitude1 and meridian2 of 0° goes through it

- is about 1000 km from South to North and 500 from West to East

- the largest isles are Great Britain and Ireland

- the other islands: Isle of Wight – off3 the southern coast

Isle of Scilly – off the south-west

Anglesey – off North Wales

Isle of Man – in the Irish see

The Hebrides – near western Scotland

Orkney and Shetland – far north

Channel Islands – near French coast

- the highest mountains: Ben Nevis – in Scotland

Snowdon – North Wales

- Great Britain can be divided into lowland4 area and highland5 area

- lowland includes midland, southern and eastern England

- highland includes Scotland, most of Wales (upland Pennines), and Lake District

- the longest rivers: - Severn – England

- Themes – England

- Clyde – Scotland

- the known lakes: - Loch Lomond and Loch Ness in Scotland

- Lake Windermere

Weather and climate:

- Britain has a temperate6 and equable7 climate

- the prevailing8 winds are south-westerly and the weather is influenced by Atlatic

- in the winter there is cold, dry continental type of weather

- the average difference between temperatures in winter and summer is biggest in inland

- the summer lasts from June to September and the temperature is hovering9 around 20 degrees

- at any time the weather in cloudy and rainy

- The lowest temperatures in winter aren’t lower than –7°C

- the average rain-fall10 is about 900 mm

Vegetation:

- the woodlands occupy about 8 % of the surface

- most of the Britain is agricultural11 land – 1/3 is arable12 and the rest pasture and meadows

13- the elaborate land drainage14 system have been developed to cultivate the fenland15

Population:

- population of 58 million people

- various origins, separate traditions between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

- they have different religion, legal system, education and language

- the composition of the people: 80 % English

10 % Scottish

2 % Welsh

3 % Irish

2 % Ulster

3 % other

Places of interests:

Cliffs16 of Dover - white chalk17 which can be seen when coming to England

- there is also Dover Castle near

Stratford-upon-Avon - the second most visited city in England

- it was founded18 by Richard I and it is known as a birthplace of William Shakespeare

- the grave of Shakespeare is in Holy Trinity Church

- there also Royal Shakespeare theatre there

Kenilworth - it was Norman castle which became a royal residence

- now it is the most extensive19 castle ruins in England

- Walter Scott wrote here one his novel

Warwick - it was founded in 10th century and extended in 14th century

- now it’s a museum

Oxford - seat of the oldest English university – 34 colleges now

- there is a lot of academic buildings

Cambridge - from roman times

- the second oldest English university

Canterbury - seat of a archbishop