The United Kingdom (UK) is made up of four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The full name is “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. England, Wales and Scotland together make up Great Britan (GB/Britain). Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, together make up Ireland.

The captial city of the United Kingdom is London, wich lies in England. England is located in the southern part of Great Britain.

The Tower of London has been the setting for many great events during its 900-year history as a Royal palace and fortress, prision and place for execution, arsenal, mint, menagerie and jewel house. And it’s also the oldest tower.

A fire started in London on the September 1st 1666. The fire soon took hold, and on the 2nd September, 300 houses had collapsed and the strong east wind spread the flames further. Only one fifht of London was left standing after this fire ! Virtually all the civic buildings were destroyed, as well as 13 000 private dwellings, but amazingly only six people had died. This fire was called “The Great Fire”.

 

Westminister Abbey in London is Great Britains traditional coronation church and the last place of rest for the monarchs in the country. It was original a monastery, and has now the satus as a Royal chapel.

 

The Big Ben is one of the best known landmarks in London. It’s a 98 meter tall clocktower wich rise upon the river Themse.

 

Trafalgar Square, set in central London, is a great tourist attraction. Here you can admire the lovely splashing fountains, and feed the pigeons. At the north side of the square you’ll find the National Gallery, and in the stone under the balustrade you can see the Imperial Standars of Length (1 foot, 2 feet, 1 yard etc).

 

The city of London is a “City of Parks”. Every part of London has at least one park, and all of the parks are beautiful, spectacular and truly amazing. Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James Park are three of the most familiar parks in London.

Scotland is located in the northern part of Great Britain. The capital city in Scotland is Edinburgh, but the largest city is Glasgow, with 700 000 inhabitants. In Scotland, most people live in the lowlands, but there is also beautiful highlands, with mountains ( the highest in Great Britain, Ben Nevis), lakes (known as Lochs) and rivers. The most famous lake is the Loch Ness. At the west coast, you’ll find a tropical garden. And there are about 700 islands, wich you can visit by feries. The main industries in Scotland are oil industry, fishing, sheep breeding and knitting. And the country also produces some of the worlds finest Whisky.

 

Wales is located on the western side of Great Britain, and the capital city is Gardiff. There is a lot of beautiful scenary, with attractive mountains, hills, valleys and rivers, and the amazing hill country attracts a lot of tourists in the summertime. There are also three National Parks in Wales. The main industry used to be mining, but today engineering and electronics have taken over.

 

The capital city in Northern Ireland is Ulster. There are approximately equal numbers of people follow the Protestants and the Catholic religions. Northern Ireland has suffered from many years of fighting republicants ( who want the north of the island to be united with the south and to leave UK), and unionists (who want to remain part of the UK). This has hurt the ecconomy, and many people are unemployed. Northern Ireland has beautiful mountains, lakes and sandy beaches.

 

Britain is and has always been a mixed race society. Early in the history Britain were invaded by Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Norman armies. Later Africans were brought to Britain by force as slaves or servants. Over the years, thousands of people have arrived Britain as refugees from France, Ireland, Russia and other countries escaping from persecution or famine in their own countries.

 

There are British people, whose parents first came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and other places. Their home are mainly in big English cities.

 

All this tell us that the people of Britain are a mixed race. With different habits, traditions, appearance, and religions. We should all respect eachother, no matter where we’re from, or what we look like.