About the kingdom of great britain for children in russian. England - interesting information about the country. Rivers and lakes of Great Britain

Capital —
Square— 133,396 sq. km.
Population- 53 million people
Language- English
Form of government- dualistic monarchy
Date of foundation- 928
Largest cities— , Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester
Currency- GBP
Timezone— Greenwich mean time
Telephone code — +44

It is the largest and most populous country in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Its inhabitants make up more than 83% of the total population of the United Kingdom, while mainland England occupies two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. England is washed by the waters of the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Celtic Sea, Bristol Bay and the English Channel.

England - video

It became a unified state in 927 and takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled there during the 5th and 6th centuries. The capital of England is the largest city in the country and the largest city in Great Britain.

England is one of the world's most influential and far-reaching centers of cultural development. It is the origin of the English language and the Church of England and English law, which forms the basis of the legal systems of many countries; in addition, London was the capital of the British Empire, and England was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. England was the first country in the world to become industrialized. England is the home of the Royal Society, which laid the foundations of modern experimental science. Also, this country was the world's first modern Parliamentary democracy and, therefore, many Constitutional, state and legal innovations that originated in England were widely accepted by other states.

Sights of England

One of the main attractions of England is Tower of London. The attraction is a fortress located on the northern bank of the Thames; it is also the historical center of London. In addition, the Tower of London is one of the oldest buildings in the country. Throughout its long history (it was built in 1078!) the Tower was both a fortress and a palace, it housed a repository for royal jewelry, a mint, and even a zoo and a prison! But, undoubtedly, in any historical period the Tower of London was a place of huge concentration of tourists.

Buckingham Palace is the official residence of British monarchs, where Queen Elizabeth II currently resides. In addition, it is also the main palace of the country. The history of Buckingham Palace begins in 1703, when it began to be built as Buckingham House for the Duke of Buckingham. In 1762, after the acquisition of the palace by King George III, architects worked hard on it and added three more similar ones to the main building. In 1837, when Queen Victoria ascended the throne, the palace was officially declared the main residence of British monarchs. Since then, monarchs have lived here, and the daily changing of the guard ceremony (which takes place at 11:30) attracts a huge number of tourists.

Famous silhouette Tower Bridge visible from afar. This monument to Victorian engineering is about a hundred years old. Its mechanisms are open for inspection by visitors, and you can take the elevator to the very top.

Theater Royal on Drury Lane, is one of the oldest theaters in London. It was opened in 1663. The king himself was present at the opening of the theater, which is why it was called Royal. Today most people call it Drury Lane, after the name of the street on which the theater stands.

The majestic York Minster - York Minster- the largest monument of Gothic architecture in Europe. The cathedral took a long time to build - from the 13th to the 15th centuries. Therefore, signs of various styles are visible in its appearance, which, however, does not in any way affect its overall harmony.

One more landmark of England is Yorkshire Dales National Park, located in Northern England. Its wild, in some ways, even harsh romance of the hilly terrain, its fortresses and abandoned monasteries, seem to be created for numerous long walks. These places are famous thanks to a film filmed in the Yorkshire Dales.

1. The British are famous throughout the world for their politeness and are scrupulous in observing all the rules of etiquette. If you want to look well-mannered in the eyes of the British, you should definitely use the words “please” and “sorry” as soon as possible.

2. When visiting English bars and pubs, you need to know that it is customary to pay for the order immediately. As soon as you take a drink (or anything else), you must immediately pay for it. If you want more, pay again.

3. It is worth considering that in England It is customary to leave a tip (in hotels, restaurants, cafes, taxis, etc.). Often, the tip is 10% of the bill.

4. If you are a big fan of shopping, then it will be useful for you to know that in June and the end of December (after Christmas) the most significant sales take place in England.

5. The mains voltage in England is 240W, so be very careful with your electrical appliances.

6. When you are in England, do not forget that in this country you drive on the left.

Great Britain is a country about which you can write and dream endlessly. “Foggy Albion” washed by the Atlantic, the stronghold of the once most powerful and powerful empire, which to this day sets the tone in many ways. Great Britain today is a dizzying combination of the ancient walls of the Tower, the late medieval architecture of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the achievements of modern architecture - the Millennium Dome exhibition center and the colossal Ferris wheel - and British rock, and the country’s flag itself has become almost the flag of the generation that grew up in countless indie rock and Britpop bands.

Great Britain or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the largest country in Europe (77th place in the world, 243,809 sq. km.), located on islands in the Northern Hemisphere and washed by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the North Sea on the other. Great Britain is the heir to the largest state in human history - the British Empire - and one of the world's nuclear powers. The capital of the state, London, is the financial capital of all of Europe, even though Great Britain is not a member of the European Union. Accordingly, the UK has its own currency - the pound sterling

Literally all eras of the history of this island state are shrouded in an aura of mystery and romanticism. The British Isles were inhabited about 30,000 years ago. In 43. AD. The Roman Empire began the conquest of this distant state and extended its power far in time - for as many as 4 centuries. In the 10th century, disparate tribes in the south of the island united into the Kingdom of England, and in the north into the Kingdom of Scotland. During the times described in the legends of King Arthur and Beowulf, the Normans invaded the kingdom, exporting a bit of feudalism to the country. The Middle Ages became a time of exorbitant growth in the ambitions of rulers, which resulted in constant campaigns for new territories - confrontation with Scotland and France; the war with the latter, by the way, became one of the longest in the history of mankind, for which it was called the Hundred Years. In the late Middle Ages, England confidently explored new continents, the ships of its fleet plied almost all the seas and oceans, discovering hitherto unexplored corners and planting a blue flag with a red cross in a white border on them. At the peak of its power, at the beginning of the 20th century, the British Empire occupied almost half the world, but, despite the victory over Hitler in World War II, which Great Britain won as part of the Allied forces, there was no chance left to save the empire - here and there they raised heads of the leaders of the independence movements. Great Britain decided to leave its colonies without bloodshed. The scope of decolonization can be assessed by the following figures: before 1949, the number of subjects of the empire outside the metropolis was 700 million people, after 1949 - 5 million.

Great Britain is located on 2 large islands and a large number of smaller islands and archipelagos located across the English Channel from continental Europe. Most of the country lies in lowlands and only in the northwestern part are there mountains. England is the largest part of Great Britain, occupying more than half of the total territory. Here the terrain is dominated by lowlands and gentle hills, as in Ireland, but Scotland is a land of high mountains, like Wales. The climate of Great Britain owes its bad character entirely to the ocean - precipitation is frequent and heavy throughout the year. The average annual temperature fluctuation ranges from -11 to +35 degrees Celsius. Winters here are mild thanks to the Gulf Stream.

Today, Great Britain is one of the main economies of Europe and, without exaggeration, its financial center. In 2010, the UK ranked 6th in terms of GDP ($2.247 trillion), second only to Germany. 73% of this amount was produced by the service sector, primarily financial services. London, with the largest GDP of any city in Europe, is on par with New York and Tokyo. Great Britain, as the country in which the industrial revolution took place, previously led in heavy industry: steelmaking, shipbuilding and other industries, but as time passed, the surrounding countries did not stand still. Today, the basis for the well-being of the real sector of the country's economy is the automotive, aviation and pharmaceutical industries. With all this, in 2007-2008, about 22% of the country's population lived below the poverty line, which is the highest relative indicator for EU countries.

The population of the country as of 2011 is 62.6 million people (22nd place) and the UK ranks 3rd in the EU for this indicator. The British are the absolute ethnic majority, but people from former colonies are also widely represented - Indians, Pakistanis, black people from the Caribbean islands and Africa. Everyone speaks English, but Welsh (Wales), Irish (Ireland), Gaelic (Scotland) and Cornish (Cornwall) are also used in various parts of the country, and sometimes they may refuse to answer you in English purely on principle.

The system of government in Great Britain is very interesting - the monarchy has been preserved here, and in parallel with it, parliamentary democracy operates, where the government is headed by the prime minister, who governs the country, and the monarch performs representative functions, communicates with the people and serves as one of the symbols of the state and his traditions.

You will rarely meet a person on earth who has not heard anything about England. Every self-respecting tourist should visit this state to fall in love with its rich history and become imbued with its traditions. Today you have the opportunity to learn about rare facts in England.

1. In Britain, pigs are not castrated, so it is better not to buy pork or order it in restaurants, but if the smell and taste of boar urine in meat is normal to you, then you can. The British really love bacon for breakfast, and in the morning a specific stench emanates from the food. I once tried to talk to supermarket managers, I thought maybe there was some kind of identification system on the packages, but they didn’t even understand what I was talking about and why they castrate pigs. But there is a lot of halal meat, I am surprised that none of the green and other eco-animal lovers almost protests against it, because the slaughter of animals according to Muslim traditions is very cruel.

2. England almost doesn’t have its own national cuisine, or rather, it kind of exists, but it’s quite primitive and, frankly, tasteless. Probably the worst in Europe. I’ll write more about English cuisine

3. England has the highest obesity rate in Europe

4. The British really drink a lot of tea, a cup of tea is such a ritual in the culture of communication, and a panacea for all ills. It’s a paradox, but good loose tea is rare in large supermarkets; you have to order it in special stores. Everyone drinks the packaged one.

5. School uniform is mandatory for all schoolchildren. In most state schools it is the same, but private schools adhere to different

6. Public school is actually a private school, and free is a state school. Students refers to all students, both schoolchildren and university students. The word pupil in the meaning of “schoolboy” is practically not used. The word school can also mean university, such as law school or medical school

7. Parents may be subject to criminal liability for schoolchildren's absenteeism.

8. Children go to school from the age of five and compulsory education lasts until the age of 16. To enter university, you still need to study for an additional year or two

9. Corporal punishment in state schools was abolished only in 1987. In private schools - in 1999. In Scotland and Ireland even later.

10. A private elite school is actually a boarding school. A very tough establishment.

11. There is no more rainfall in London than in Moscow, or even less. And fogs are rare here. However, rain can come suddenly, but usually does not last long. Rain for the whole day is quite rare. If the weather forecast predicts rain, then it will always fall from one to two in the afternoon or from 5 to 7 in the evening, exactly at the time when it is lunch break, or when you have to go home from work. The law of meanness works constantly

12. In England it rarely snows in winter. If one centimeter of snow falls, then this is a whole event. Cities are at a standstill, transport is not working, planes are not flying, everyone is running to build shabby snowmen and ride down the slides on inflatable mattresses. Utilities almost don’t keep snow removal equipment, apparently it’s cheaper to suffer multimillion-dollar losses every year than to maintain the equipment....what will they do if the Germans attack

13. The British are seasoned from childhood. It is not customary to wrap children up from head to toe, and it is generally not customary to dress according to the season. The climate is quite mild, but because of the humidity, zero temperatures in winter seem like everything is minus 10 in Russia. In winter, you can see people wearing only T-shirts or ballet shoes on bare feet. Everyone saves on heating, so whether you like it or not, they will be hardened like steel from childhood.

14. The British love animals very much. You will not see stray cats and dogs on the streets. This issue was resolved a long time ago.

15. The Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty was created in England back in 1824 and has royal status. What is characteristic is that the society for the protection of children was founded only 60 years later and has national status, which is no longer so prestigious.

16. But at the same time, traditional fox hunting still takes place in England. The British love their traditions more than animals.

17. Although you may encounter stray animals, especially at night, they will be unfortunate foxes. Even in central London you can see them very often. They flash their green eyes and dash into the bushes. Sometimes they jump right out from under the wheels of a bicycle late on a dark evening; from such suddenness, it doesn’t take long to catch on. They live in parks, of which there are a huge number throughout London. They often get into houses and can be quite dangerous. At night, foxes make very specific screams, as if they are cutting a baby.

18. Household pests include bedbugs and mice. There are no cockroaches, and there are no mosquitoes either. You can also easily run into a false black widow. This is such a spider that can be dangerous and poisonous if it bites.

19. There are huge numbers of squirrels in the parks; they are all almost tame. The squirrels are all gray and quite plump, I would even say muscular. Once upon a time there were red squirrels, but gray squirrels killed them; now red squirrels are protected by the state. There are swans and many different interesting birds. By the way, all Thames swans are legally the property of the Queen.

20. In parks you can often see benches with nameplates installed in memory of a deceased relative or friend. Sometimes captions are an example of purely English irony, as is the case in the photo. “In memory of the husband whom I dreamed of, but he was never found.”

25. Britain has a huge number of regional accents, dialects and dialects. Accents may differ within the boundaries of one city, and even more so within a county. English in former colonies is sometimes very different from British English, and not just in pronunciation.

26. The British feel a little guilty that almost everyone knows English, and the British themselves are not strong in foreign languages. Therefore, they will always praise a foreigner's English. Many Russian speakers immediately begin to show off, as if the English themselves noticed that I speak almost without an accent. This has little to do with reality. This is simply a polite compliment to a foreigner's ability to string words together into sentences. In fact, I have almost never met Russian speakers who moved as adults and have excellent pronunciation... although no, Berezovsky’s first wife has excellent pronunciation

27. The Scots, Welsh and Irish are very proud of their roots and nationality. Don’t even think about calling an Irishman or a Scotsman an Englishman or even a Briton - they will be terribly offended.

28. In Britain there is no concept of provincialism in the Russian sense of the word. It's not considered cool here to be a native Londoner or a native Edinburgher. Historically, all the nobility lived on estates. In the big cities lived those who had to work; the need to work was always despised by the English nobility. But if you grew up in your own house with a lot of land, then yes, this is class. Certain regions are considered provincial here, for example, the north of England; historically, the Irish are considered rednecks, because the British essentially committed a mass genocide of the Irish, so the elite created a certain snobbish attitude towards them, which is still alive. New Zealanders who have arrived in large numbers are considered provincials

29. Britain has no constitution

30. Big Ben is actually the name of a bell, not a clock.

31. There is no concept of a courtyard here, because in urban development there is no city courtyard in the Russian sense; urban planning is planned differently. There is the concept of estate or neighbourhood, i.e. area.

32. In English cities, everything is very compact, the streets and sidewalks are narrow, the houses and apartments are quite small. For example, there are standard houses with 4 rooms of only 56 square meters. I call these apartments and houses mittens.

33. All land is private. There is no concept of “giving up on barbecue in nature,” because all of nature is divided into private areas, except for protected areas and parks. There are designated camping areas that you have to pay for, and areas for barbecues and picnics.

34. There is no registration in Britain, but without a bank account and card you can do almost nothing here, much less live legally. Residence is determined by bills, which are paid through a bank account. All bills are proof that you have lived here and may be needed for various bureaucratic needs. Therefore, a resident of Britain keeps a lot of waste paper at home from paper utility bills, payslips and the like; I already have two hefty folders.

35. If Moscow never sleeps, then London sleeps and how, I would say, just sleeps. Pubs are open until 11, on weekends until a maximum of 2. There are no traces of 24-hour restaurants, just as there are no 24-hour coffee shops. There are only fast food eateries that are open at night on weekends, the so-called take-away, where people flock to refuel after energy-consuming club parties. There are just mountains of garbage in city centers on weekends.

36. By the way, chips in English are French fries, not chips, but crisps are just chips in bags

37. In broad daylight, in various places in London, you can see people smoking weed, and if you don’t see it, you can acutely feel it. Few people care or care about this. In fact, there are a huge number of quiet weed addicts here.

38. Some people believe that the British are entirely music lovers and certainly don’t listen to any cheap pop music. The percentage of music lovers here is the same as in Russia, and there are a lot of pop lovers here

39. The working class in Russia loves to vacation in Turkey and Egypt, and the working class in England really loves Spain and Eastern Europe. The British "Tagil" has a better holiday there than ours in Egypt.

40. The British constantly say sorry, sorry, thank you, please, even if they are not to blame. An Englishman will apologize if you accidentally step on his foot. Don't delude yourself and think that this is sincere. In fact, an Englishman will say sorry to the table if he accidentally touches it; these words are more of an interjection than a sincere apology.

Conditionally British history is divided into 2 stages: before 1707 and after. Stage 1 is characterized by the fact that all 4 kingdoms had their own line of history. From 43 AD and for 4 centuries, these lands were ruled by the Romans. In the 11th century, the lands passed to the Normans, and at that time feudalism appeared here. At the beginning of the 17th century they were already united by one monarch, James I.

And in 1707, a treaty was signed, as a result of which the Kingdom of Great Britain emerged, uniting England and Scotland. This period marks the height of the kingdom's power. It becomes a strong maritime power, culture, art and science develop. In 1800, Ireland joined the United Kingdom. Certainly story this country is more like a fairy tale and we will return to this topic more than once...

The capital of Great Britain

London is a unique city. He not only the capital of Great Britain, but also the Kingdom of England, and it is also the largest English city, where all the most important economic, political and historical objects are concentrated. By the way, it has been serving as the capital for more than 200 years, dating back to the times of Roman Britain.

UK population

Every 10 years the UK conducts a census. The last one was 4 years ago. Based on it, UK population has more than 63 million people. The most densely populated part of the territory is in England. More than 80% of the UK population prefers to live in cities.

The ethnic composition here is very diverse, which is not typical for European countries. The largest ethnic group is the English, followed by the Scots and Welsh, with a slightly smaller number of Welsh. Relationships among ethnic groups throughout history are quite complex. This is due not only to different customs, but also UK geography is different throughout its entire length.

State of Great Britain

Unitary state of Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. This means that the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II. All branches of government are in her hands, and she is also the supreme commander in chief. She can dissolve parliament and appoint ministers. The UK government has legislative power and consists of 2 chambers: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

UK politics

Active external UK politics lies in its cooperation with other countries and in its participation in international programs. Great Britain is a member of NATO, OSCE, Council of Europe and the European Union.

UK language

English is official UK language. Due to the numerous colonies that this state maintained around the world, this language gained enormous popularity. Each kingdom has its own dialects. At school, every student is required to learn an additional second language, usually either German or French.

Great Britain (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - the island on which England, Scotland and Wales are located, forms, together with many small islands, an irregularly shaped archipelago with a very diverse landscape and nature. The capital of Great Britain is London, language is English, religion is Anglicanism, Methodism, Baptist, Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, population is 81% English, 10% Scots, 2% Irish, 2% Welsh, currency is English pound sterling.

England is the largest of the three parts that make up Great Britain. It borders Scotland in the north and Wales in the west, and is only 29 km from England through the narrowest part of the English Channel.

London
There are about 80 theaters and more than 30 museums in London, including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Natural History, the History of London, the History of the Imperial Wars, children's toys, Madame Tussauds wax figures, the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery, the Sherlock Holmes Museum and others . The undoubted attraction of the city is the oldest metro in Europe, which began operating in 1863.

Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge has become as symbolic of London as the Eiffel Tower is of Paris, and the Statue of Liberty is of New York. It amazes the viewer with the majesty and severity of its forms.

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum was founded by nee Marie Grosholz, who was a famous wax master in Paris. Having married the engineer François Tussaud, she came to London at the beginning of the 19th century, and by the time of her death in 1850. her works were already known. In 1884, her grandson, Joseph Randal Tussaud, placed the figures in a museum near Baker Street, where they remain today. In the museum you can see not only famous, but also notorious personalities, members of the royal family, pop music stars, and in the Room of Horrors - executioners dealing with their victims.

Big Ben- the world famous clock that determines the onset of the New Year according to Greenwich Mean Time. Construction of the clock began in 1837 (when the English Parliament was being rebuilt) and was completed in 1859. The opening was timed to coincide with Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. Since then, the clock has become one of the main symbols of England and London.

Buckingham Palace, is a symbol of the monarchy. This is the residence of Queen Elizabeth II, now open to the general public.

Stonehenge
The legendary Stonehenge (dating from approximately 3100 - 1800 BC) is the most famous prehistoric site in Europe. There have been disputes about the purpose of Stonehenge for many centuries, among the versions there was the assumption that it was a temple of the ancient Celts, and an astronomical observatory, and that the creators of this megalithic ring of vertical stone slabs were aliens, but its mystery has never been solved .

Stratford upon Avon
Stratford upon Avon is the city where the greatest playwright, William Shakespeare, grew up and lived. There is the Shakespeare House Museum and the Royal Shakespeare Theater.

Scotland
In Scotland, tourists are interested in the Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh, the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow, the Snowdonia National Natural Museum with Bryn Bras Castle, where there is a park with waterfalls, and the Loch Ness Monster Museum. The Vale of Neath, near the Brecon Beacons National Park, is known as the Land of Waterfalls.

Wales
In Wales, it is worth seeing Harlech Castle, rising on a cliff in the center of Wales, Conwy Castle, Bowmaris Castle on the island of Anglesey and the impressive Caernarfon Castle, Castell Coch Castle with a working drawbridge, and a 12th-century cathedral. in the town of St. David's, where the relics of St. David, the patron saint of Wales, are kept.

Edinburgh
Edinburgh is famous for the castle of the same name, St. Margaret's Church (11th century), Castle Rock Castle, and the royal residence in Scotland (Holyrod Palace). The Church of St. Gilles (15th century), the building of the Scottish Parliament (1639), and the house of the Protestant reformer of the 16th century are very picturesque. John Nonce. Also of interest are the National Gallery of Scotland and the Portrait Gallery, the Royal Museum, and the museums of modern history and the history of Scotland.