Questions

Capital - Belfast

Population of 1,685,000

Area of 14,139 sq. km

Northern Ireland

The island of Ireland

NORTHERN IRELAND

Capital - Cardiff

Snowdon

Its area is 20,779 sq. km

It is bordered by England to the east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west and north

Is situated on a peninsula of Great Britain

Wales \ Cymru

Capital - Edinburgh

Lochs Lomond, Ness, Leven, Awe and the Holly Loch

Over 400 freshwater and sea lochs

Major rivers including the Forth, Tay, Dee, Don, Tweed, Spey, Ness, Clyde

Contains a lot of water

Temperate oceanic climate

Scotland

The Grampian Mountains

Highlands, the Central Lowlands and the hilly Southern Uplands

Mainland area plus several island groups including

In Gaelic, Alba

Scotland

Mild, damp climate throughout the year

Scafell Pike

One major range of hills the Pennines

Gently rolling hills

Physical Geography

Slang terms “Sassenachs” (Scots Gaelic

Alternative names

ENGLAND

Britons

Britannia

One of the largest celtic tribes Brigantes

Unclear

A political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales, and the three nations which together make up all the main island’s territory

A group of islands comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom

Great Britain and The United Kingdom

The Channel Islands

Lundy

Lindisfarne

The Isle of Scilly

The Isle of Arran and Bute

Rockall

The Isle of Wight

The Isle of Man

The most important islands

The British Isles is a traditional geographical term used to identify the group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and the many smaller adjacent islands.

The British Isles

• An archipelago of more than 6,000 islands off the west coast of Europe (totalling 315,134 kmІ of land)

• Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales)

• The island of Ireland (Eire and Northern Ireland)

• The Northern Isles (Orkney, Shetland and Fair Isle)

• The Hebrides (the Inner Hebrides, Outer Hebrides, Small Isles)

• Anglesey (Ynys Mon)

• A synonym for the country properly known as the “United Kingdom” (wrong!)

The origin of the name “Britain”

• The slang “Blighty” from the Hindustani “bila yati” meaning “foreign”

• “Albion” an ancient name (the white cliffs of Dover)

• “Limeys” (used by Americans)

• “Les Rosbifs” (used by the French)

• England covers 130,395 sq. km, with London on latitude 51°30ґ(Kyiv is on 50°25ґ)

• Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides (the Inner and the Outer Hebrides)

• Much of Wales is mountainous (North Wales and Mid Wales)

• The Republic of Ireland or Eire and Northern Ireland (autonomous region of the United Kingdom)

1). How many parts does the UK consist of?

2). How many parts does Great Britain consist of?

3). What is the capital of the UK?

4). What is the capital of Wales?

5). What is the capital of Scotland?

6). What is the capital if Northern Ireland?

7) What is the origin of the name “Britain”?

8). What alternative names to England do you know?

Lecture 2.

Forming the Nation.

Population (Demographic background).

Ancestors.

Languages and nationalities.

POPULATION (DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND) ANCESTORS

The people who now live in Britain are descended from various peoples who inhabited the British Isles many centuries ago. From the earliest times known a long succession of invaders and colonizers moved to the British Isles as they lay within the easy reach of the continent. The first settlers on the British Isles were Iberians who came from the Iberian peninsular (the area of Spain and Portugal) between 3000 B.C. and 2000 B.C. The Iberians stayed comparatively long before they were attacked, slain or driven westwards by the numerous Celtic tribes (Picts, Scots and Britons), which came from central Europe and the Rhine valley in the period between the 6^th and 3^d centuries BC. They were pagan with priests known as Druids.

In the middle of the 1^st century A.D. Britain was successfully invaded by the Romans who stayed on the island for four centuries, living in military camps, building towns, roads, walls and bridges, so that to defend their gains (seized territories) from other invaders. After the Roman legions left Britain at the beginning of the 5^th century to defend their own Empire from the barbarians, the British Isles were almost immediately attacked by numerous invaders from all sides. Germanic tribes — the Jutes, the Saxon and the Angles attacked Britain from the south and

east, Danes and Norsemen from Scandinavia in the north-east. Again the native population was driven to the west (Wales) and north (Scotland). These tribes gave the name to the country, and their language formed the basis of the old English language.

The last in the long successions of successful invaders on the British Isles were the Normans, the Norsemen who had assimilated in France. In 1066, led by Duke of Normandy (who went into history as William the Conqueror), they crossed the channel and conquered England, subduing the Anglo-Saxons. For almost two centuries there were two languages, two nations and two cultures in the country. Norman-French was the language of the ruling class, the official language of the country, while Anglo-Saxon (old English) was spoken by the majority of the oppressed native population. The victorious Normans gradually broke their ties with France and by the 13^th century had mingled in blood and language with Anglo-Saxons and united into one nation, speaking one language, born as a result of the marriage of the two nations and the two languages. The new English (Middle English) greatly enriched and changed under the influence of Norman-French, had become the language of educated classes and the official language of the state by the end of the 13^th century. The 14^th century poet Jeoffrey Chaucer wrote in that language.

So the British people are descendants of many peoples what is reflected in the nationalities, national character and languages of the peoples, inhabiting the British Isles today. They are the English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish who constitute the British nation.

The mixture of peoples in Britain must not be overlooked. It is inaccurate to refer to the British as English. This mistake is made all over the world — when talking about the English most people really mean British. Such reference may hurt the Welsh, the Scots or the Irish. Thus everybody from the UK is British, but only people from England are English.

Population.

The people who now live in Britain are descended from various peoples who inhabited the British Isles mane centuries ago

A long succession of invaders and colonizers moved to the British Isles as they lay within the easy reach of the continent

The first settlers were Iberians who came from the Iberian peninsular (the areas of Spain and Portugal) between 3000 B.C. and 2000 B.C.

The Iberians stayed comparatively long before they were attacked, slain and driven westwards by the numerous Celtic tribes (Picts, Scots and Britons), which came from central Europe and the Rhine valley in the period between the 6-th and 3-d centuries B.C.

They were pagan with priests known as Druids.

In the middle of the 1-st century A.D. Britain was successfully invaded by the Romans who stayed on the island for 4 centuries.

They lived in military camps, built towns, roads, walls and bridges, to defend their gains (seized territories) from other invaders.

After the Roman legions left Britain at the beginning of the 5-th century to defend their own Empire from the barbarians, the British Isles were almost immediately attacked by numerous invaders from all sides.

Germanic tribes – the Jutes, the Saxon and the Angles attacked Britain from the south and east.

Danes and Norsemen attacked from Scandinavia in the north-east.

The native population was driven to the west (Wales) and north (Scotland).

These tribes gave the name to the country, and their language formed the basis of the old English language.

The last in the long successions of successful invaders on the British Isles were the Normans, the Norsemen who had assimilated in France.

In 1066, led by Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror, they crossed the channel and conquered England subduing the Anglo-Saxons.

For almost 2 centuries there were 2 languages, 2 nations and 2 cultures in the country.

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