The United Kingdom of G.B. and Northern Irelands is situated on the British Isles/ The British Isles consists of two large islands, G.B. and Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. Their total area is over 244,000 square kilometers.
The UK is made up of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. GB consists of England, Scotland and Wales and doesn't include Northern Ireland. The capital of the UK is London.
The British Isles are separated from European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The western coast of GB is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.
The surface of the British Isles varies very much. The north of Scotland is mountainous and is called the Highlands, while the south, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called the Lowlands.
There are a lot of rivers in GB, but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest and the most important one.
The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters if Gulf Stream influence the climate of the British Isles. The weather in GB is very changeable. A fine morning can change into a wet afternoon and evening and the wrong side out. The English people say: "Other countries have a climate; in England we have weather." The English also say that they have three variants of weather: when it rains in the morning, when it rains in the afternoon or twhen it rains all day long.
The weather is the favorite conversational topic in GB. After they greet each other they start talking the weather.
The best time of the year in GB is spring (of course, it rains in spring too). The two worst months in Britain are January and February. They are cold, damp and unpleasant. The best place in the world then is at home by the big fire. Summer months are rather cold and there can be a lot of rainy days. So most people who look forward to summer holidays, plan to go abroad for the summer.
The most unpleasant aspect of English weather is fog and smog. This is extremely bad in big cities especially in London. The fog spreads everywhere so cars move along slowly and people can't see each other. They try not to be run over by a car but still accidents are frequent in the fog.
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The United Kingdom is situated in the north-west coast of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean on the north-west and the North Sea on the east. The U. K. includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I Great Britain, the largest island in Europe, contains England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom has an area of 244,000 square kilometres (94,249 square miles). The capital of the country is London. English is the official language. The population of the U. K. is nearly 60 million people. The population lives mostly in towns and cities and their suburbs. Four out of every five people live in towns. Over 46 million people live in England. Over 3 million — in Wales. A little over 5 million — in Scotland. About 1.5 million — in Northern Ireland. London's population is over 7 million people. The British nation consists of the English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish. There are many people of all colours and races in the United Kingdom. The climate of Great Britain is mild. It is not too hot in summer or too cold in winter. It often rains in England. Rain falls in summer and in winter, in autumn and in spring. Snow falls only in the north and west of the country. The surface of England and Ireland is flat, but Scotland and Wales are mountainous. Many parts of the country have beautiful villages. There are many rivers in Great Britain. The main river is the Thames. Many ships and barges go up and down the river. The longest river is Severn. It is 350 kilometres long. There are many universities, colleges libraries, museums and theatres in the country. The most famous universities are Cambridge University, Oxford University, Glasgow University. The U. K. is a parliamentary monarchy. The British Parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The United Kingdom has some mineral resources. Coal and oil are the most important of them. The United Kingdom i one of the world's most industrialize» countries. The main industrial centres are Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester. The largest cities of the country are London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin. Agriculture makes an important sector in economy of the country. The British people grow wheat, fruit, vegetables oats.
