United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland. Geographical Position of the British Isles. Britannic history. Population of Britain today: The social framework. British political institutions. British national economy. Education in Britain.
Л.С. Банникова, доцент, кандидат педагогических наук
С.И. Сокорева, доцент, кандидат педагогических наук
Рекомендовано к изданию научно-методическим советом учреждения образования «Гомельский государственный университет имени Франциска Скорины» «____»_______ 2005 г., протокол № __
Акулич Л.Д.
Курс лекций по страноведению Великобритании для студентов 2-го курса факультета иностранных языков - Гомель; Министерство образования Республики Беларусь; УО "ГГУ им. Ф. Скорины"; авт.-сос. Акулич Л.Д. - 2005.-_____с.
Настоящий курс лекций представляет собой систематическое изложение широкого круга вопросов, входящих в систему социокультурных знаний о современной Великобритании. Составлен в соответствии с учебной программой курса.
Гомельский государственный университет имени Франциска Скорины, 2005
I. BRITAIN: PHYSICAL FEATURES
· Geographical Position of the British Isles. Territory and Structure.
· Surrounding Seas and Coastline.
· Physical Structure and Relief. Highland and Lowland Britain.
· Rivers and Lakes.
· Climate and Weather.
Position, Territory and Structure
The British Isles are situated on the continental shelf off the northwest coast of Europe and comprise a group of islands lying between latitudes 50o and 60°N and longitudes 1o45, and 8° 10" West, the prime meridian of 0 passing through the old observatory of Greenwich (London). The total area of the British Isles is 322,246 square km.
Britain, formally known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutes the greater part of the islands. It comprises the mainland of England, Wales and Scotland (Great Britain) and the northern part of Ireland (Northern Ireland). The southern part of Ireland, the second largest island of the group, is the Irish Republic or Eire. All in all there are over 5,000 islands in the system of the British Isles.
The United Kingdom"s area is some 244,100 square km, of which about; 99 per cent is land and the remainder inland water. This is nearly the same size as the Federal Republic of Germany, New Zealand and half the size of France. From south to north it stretches for over 900 km, and is just under 500 km across in the widest part and 60 km in the narrowest. Due to the numerous bays and inlets no place in Britain is as much as 120 km from the sea coast line. The combined population of the British Isles - 59.5 million people (including that of the Republic of Ireland) makes the islands one of the most densely populated parts of the earth"s surface and the United Kingdom, at least, one of the most densely populated countries.
With nearly 59 million people, Great Britain ranks about fourteenth in the world in terms of population. The high density of population (about 250 per square kilometre) sets a problem of land use and of livelihood. Within the British Isles it implies a pressure on land, a pressure reflected both in competition for space and in intensive agriculture. The problems of supporting such a large population on such a small land area are obvious. In fact, this became possible with the emergence of Britain as the world,s first industrial nation during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was during this period that Britain acquaired vast overseas colonial territories, ruthlessly robbed and exploited them. This enabled her to become the wealthiest nation on earth.
Off the northwestern coast of Great Britain there is a group of islands known as the Hebrides. They are divided into the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the groups of islands, separated from each other by the Sea of the Hebrides and the Little Minch. These groups of islands represent the higher unsubmerged portions of a dissected block broadly similar to the main highland mass.
Life in the Hebrides very much resembles that of the West coast of the mainland. Many of the people are crofters, and farming combined with fishing is the main occupation. The island of Lewis-Harris, the largest and most northerly of the Outer Hebrides, is particularly notable for the traditional domestic Industry of spinning wool from local sheep and the weaving it into tweeds. This Industry is largely concentrated in Storno-way, which is also a minor fishing port. Out of over the total of 500 islands of the Hebrides more than half are inhabitable. Only several families live on some of them.
Separated from the mainland by the stormy seven-mile wide Pentland Firth there are the Orkney Islands, comprising about a hundred islands, though only a third are Inhabited, by about 19,500 people. Most of the people are engaged in dairy- and poultry farming. Bacon, cheese and eggs are exported to Central Scotland.
Situated about 70 miles north of the Orkneys are the Shetland Islands, which provide thin, infertile soils suitable only for roug
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