The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ( the uk )

British Parliament

• Parliament consists of the Houses of Lords ( 1200
• Lords; Lord Chancellor presides) and the House
• Of Commons ( 650 MP; Speaker presides). There
• Are 2 main parties: Conservative ( Tory) and
• Liberal ( Whigs). The party which wins the most
• Seats forms the Government and its leader becomes
• a Prime Minister. The functions of Commons are
• Legislation and security of government activities.
• The government party sits on the Speaker’s right
• And the members of Opposition –on the left. Now
• The government party is Liberal, the Prime Minister
• Is Anthony Blar.

• England

• It is the largest and the most industrial and densely populated part (46 mln. people).
• Its capital is London (7 mln people), other big cities are Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, Liverpool and others.
• The longest river is the Severn (388 km)
• The most important is the Thames(354 km).
• The main industries are iron and steel,
• motor cars and railway engines, wool and cotton, heavy machinery and shipbuilding.

• Scotland

• It takes one third of the territory of the British Isles, its population is only 5mln. people. Its capital is Edinburgh. But the biggest city is Glasgow.
• The highest point is in Scotland, it is Ben Nevis (1343 m). There are also many lakes, the best-known is Loch Ness where a large monster lives.
• Until 1707 Scotland was an independent state and was forcefully joined into the UK.
• The important industries are oil, iron, steel

Wales

• The capital is Cardiff. The population is 3 mln. people and 75% of them live in towns. The second biggest city is Swansea. The Welsh call their country Cymry.
• Wales is a highland country, the highest mountain of the UK is Snowdon.
• It has coal, gold, silver, lead and copper.
• The most important industries are metal, steel, electronics, electric engineering and chemicals.