Реферат: The United Kingdom of Great Britain

6. The United Kingdom is a highly developed industrial country isn't it? Prove bit.

7.Are there any famous educational establishments in Great Britain?

8.What can you say about the political system of the country

9.What city is the capital of Great Britain?

10. Who is the Prime Minister of Great Britain?

WHO ARE -THE BRITISH?

Are they one people? How did they evolve? How many are there? What are their rights? What jobs do they do? How do they live? What-do they believe? What do they enjoy?

The answers to these questions provide a broad profile of ordinary citizens living in Britain today - their traditions, aspirations, talents, differences and habits. The following text traces the historical assimilation of the people of Britain, and identifies the political, economic, social and cultural influences and pursuits that determine and typify the British way of life.

GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT

Britain lies off the north-west coast of mainland Europe. Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Great Britain comprising England, Scotland and Wales. Although Britain is a unitary state, the constituent countries have separate national identities, variations in culture and tradition, and different physical characteristics.

With an area of some 242,000 sq km (93,000 sq miles), Britain is just under 1,000 km (about 600 miles) from the south coast to the extreme north of Scotland and just under 500 km (300 miles) across in the widest part.

England is predominantly a lowland country, with upland regions in the north (such as the Pennine Chain, the Cumbrian mountains and the Yorkshire moorlands) and the downs in central southern England, which are low chalk hill ranges. Whales is a country of hills and mountains, the highest being Snowdon at 1,085 m (3,560 ft). Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis (1,343 m, 4,406 ft), is in the central highlands of Scotland, which contains large areas of wild, unspoilt landscape. Northern Ireland is at its nearest point only 21 km (13 miles) from Scotland. It has a 488-km (303-mile) border in the south and west with the Irish Republic. At its centre lies Lough Neagh, Britain's largest freshwater lake (396 sq km, 153 sq miles).

Britain has frequent weather changes through the seasonal cycle of winter, spring, summer and autumn, although temperatures rarely exceed 32°C or fall below -10°C. Rainfall is fairly well distributed throughout the year.

People in the four lands of Britain derive from a host of ancestral sources, notably: the prehistoric cultures which produced such impressive monuments as the stone circles of Avebury and Stonehenge; the ancient Celtic peoples who inhabited western and central Europe; the Romans who occupied Britain for over 300 years from the invasion in AD 43; the Angles, Saxons and Jutes - Germanic peoples who began raiding and settling in Britain from the third century; Scots from Ireland, who began to settle in what became known as Scotland in the sixth century (merging with the indigenous Picts to form one kingdom under Kenneth Macalpin in the ninth century); the Vikings from Scandinavia, who pillaged and settled areas of Britain and Ireland from the end of the eighth century; and the Normans from France, who invaded England in 1066.

The last thousand years have witnessed the assimilation of all these strands -and many new ones besides, following on from global exploration, the expansion of trade and international rivalry, and the growth of the Empire.

At the same time political, social, economic and religious trends, pressures and crises have all evolved to create the beliefs, lifestyle and expectations that are prevalent among the people today.

PAST EVENTS - MODERN LEGACIES ROMAN RULE

Roman rule was very influential in Britain's evolution, not least in the founding of towns and cities so many of which are familiar to the people today. For example, London and Lincoln largely preserve their Roman names - Londinium and Lindum Colonia respectively - while others, such as Chester, Gloucester and Colchester, betray their origins by the '-Chester' or '-cester1 ending. This name, derived from the Latin castra, was given to the Roman sites by the Anglo-Saxons.

SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

Christianity - which had been introduced to Britain under the Romans - was reintroduced to pagan England in the sixth and seventh centuries. The Catholic Church sent St Augustine to preach and establish bishoprics in 597. Since that time, Christianity has remained the predominant faith among people in Britain.

REIGN OF ALFRED THE GREAT

From the fifth century onwards a number of small kingdoms emerged in England. These gradually evolved into fewer, larger groupings - particularly Northumbria in the north, Mercia in the midlands and Wessex in the south. During the ninth century Vikings from Scandinavia overran all these kingdoms except Wessrx, where Alfred the Great, who reigned from M71 to 899, successfully resisted the invaders, hi the tenth century the Wessex dynasty came to rule the whole of England. The present Royal Family is partly descended from the royal line of Wessex.

NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND

The last successful foreign invasion of England took place in 1066, when Duke William of Normandy defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. The

Norman Conquest led to closer links with the mainland of Europe. Normans and others from France came to settle, and French became the language of the nobility and the law courts for the next three centuries,

MAGNA CARTA AND THE BEGINNINGS OF PARLIAMENT

hi 1215 King John signed Magna Carta (Great Charier) in the face of demands by barons. It secured feudal rights and established areas over which the King had no jurisdiction, and has been interpreted throughout English history as guaranteeing certain political and civil liberties. The rest of the 13th century saw the development of Parliament as a gathering of feudal barons and representatives of counties and towns summoned by the King. By the end of the century, it had adopted its basic makeup of Lords and Commons, and it had established the right to approve taxation. It also soon acquired the right to approve new laws.

THE ENGLISH REFORMATION

Between 1534 and 1540 King Henry VIII of the Tudor dynasty broke with the Papacy in Rome, heralding the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England. Despite the suppression of the monasteries, the Church remained largely unaffected until the reign of his son Edward VI (1547-53), when Protestantism became the official religion of England.