The usual name - Great Britain - does not quite correspond to the real name of an interesting country. In fact, this constitutional monarchy has a long prim name - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Acquaintance with the country
The unusual location of the state in the British Isles and the separation from the European mainland by the North Sea, the powerful English Channel and the Pas de Calais created sufficient isolation and united England, Scotland and Wales with Northern Ireland. The abbreviated name of the country - Great Britain - contains all the united territories, simplifying the cumbersome phrase "United Kingdom". The area of Great Britain is 243,610 square km, its population is 63.396 thousand people. The country is ruled by Queen Elizabeth II.
History of the formation of the state
The formation of the monarchy lasted for many years. During the Middle Ages, the present area of Great Britain was occupied by several small states. The eleventh century and the conquest of the Normans united them into a single feudal state, located on the territory of modern England. Growing new territories, the kingdom of England invades Wales, and since the sixteenth century it has been part of the country. The seventeenth century brought significant changes - the state began to be ruled by the Scottish royal dynasties, in the eighteenth century this led to the unification of these countries under a single name - Great Britain. The beginning of the nineteenth century was marked by the accession to the state of the island of Ireland, which subsequently split into Northern Ireland, which remained part of the Kingdom and a separate independent country, Ireland. The composition and area of Great Britain remain so today.
Political influence
It should be noted that since the seventeenth century, British influence has become very significant in the world and the colonies, contributing to the spread of the English language and the introduction of forms of government. The economic breakthrough and high growth in machine-made production in the progressive nineteenth century made Britain the largest global supplier of manufactured goods. Currently, there has been some weakening of the country's position, associated with the collapse of the colonial British Empire and the entry into the arena of other developed countries - the United States, Japan, Germany. The huge political influence of this state cannot be denied, despite the small area it occupies. Great Britain, and more precisely, its government, has a clear, well-thought-out conduct of business, preserving its reputation as a wise modern politician.
Landscape variety
A feature of the country's relief is the division of the landscape into two categories: High Britain is located in the north and west, represented by dissected mountainous hills, interspersed by small lowlands. Low Britain - with a predominance of plains, having several mountainous regions - occupies the southeastern part. Great Britain is characterized by the absence of a clear border between these areas, and the traveler’s imagination is struck by the noticeably changing several types of terrain over several hours of travel.
Rainy and foggy High Britain, justifying its north-western location, consists of six regions rising above sea level, interspersed by three lowlands. It smoothly passes into the vast area of Low Britain, which is represented by the Lancashire-Cheshire Plain, the Midlands and the York Valley. A common feature of these areas are fertile soils. UK Square km contains all kinds of landscapes and mountainous and lowland zones.
Climate
The country's rather mild climate is explained by its close proximity to the North Atlantic Current. The prevalence of westerly winds ensures the arrival of comfortable cool, and in winter warm air from the Atlantic in the summer. The average air temperature in summer is +29 º, in winter -7 º. Rare cases of extreme rises in summer temperatures to 38 ° C and frosts in winter to -18 ° C have been noted.
Snowfalls and frosts occur here, especially in mountainous areas, but in the plains and lowlands, subzero temperatures last only 30–40 days a year, snow lies no more than 10–15 days, and in cities 5 days a year. The average July temperature in the capital is 17 ° C, on the Scilly Islands - 16 ° C, in Holyhead - 15 ° C, and the northern coast of Scotland is not happy with the hot weather - less than 13 ° C. In the British Isles, as a rule, there are no droughts. A sufficient amount of rain falls for agricultural work.
The area of Great Britain for 2014 is almost 244 thousand square meters. km Located on the British Isles, Misty Albion, as this constitutional monarchy is often called , is an extraordinary and mysterious country where everything is interesting: state structure, climate, architecture, traditions and people.