Land and People

Chapter I

• Where is the U.K?

Different Names for Britain and its Parts

• Official name• The United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland• (simply, Britain, the Untied Kingdom, or UK) • Geographical names• The British Isles are made up of two large

islands and hundreds of small ones. • The two large islands : Great Britain and

Ireland.

• Great Britain is the larger of these two islands, on which lie the three main divisions of the United Kingdom: England, Scotland and Wales.

• Ireland is the smaller of these two islands. It is divided into two political units: Northern Ireland, which is the fourth division of the United Kingdom; and the Republic of Ireland (Eire), which is an independent country on the southern part of Ireland.

• What does it look like?

The British Empire

• The British Empire is the name in use when Britain ruled an empire with one fourth of the world’s people and area as a result of imperialist expansion. It was replaced by the British Commonwealth in 1931 when the former British colonies became independence one after another.

The Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations is a free association of independent countries that were once colonies of Britain. Member nations are joined together economically and have certain trading arrangements. At present there are 50 member countries within the Commonwealth.

Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations

What are the geographical features of Britain?

• General features

– Tilting: Rising in North-West ①causes highlands there; ②Sinking in South-East causes lowlands.

– Ice Age: responsible for Britain’s spectacular mountain scenery.

• England • (more than 130,000 square kilometers

which takes up nearly 60% of the whole island)

– Pennines, principal mountain chain.

– Scafell (978 m), the highest peak of England.

– Capital: London.

England is the largest, most populous and generally speaking the richest section. So people tend to use ‘England’ and ‘English’ when they mean ‘Britain’ and ‘British’. But it is not acceptable to the Scots and the Welsh, because they have a culture and a language of their own and they do not regard themselves as English.

London

Scafeell

• Scotland (78,760 square kilometers)

– Three zones:

• Highlands in the north: plateau;

• Central Lowlands: most important area in Scotland which contain most of the industry and population;

• Southern Uplands: moorland.

– Ben Nevis (1,343 m), the highest mountain in Britain.

– Capital: Edinburgh

Ben Nevis

• Wales

• (20,761 square kilometers which takes up less than 9% of the whole island)

– Most of Wales is Mountainous;

– 12% of the land is arable;

– Snowdonia (1,085 m), highest mountain in Wales;

– Capital: Cardiff.

Snowdonia

Cardiff

• Northern Ireland • (14,147 square kilometers which takes up

1/5 of Ireland)

– It has a rocky and wild northern coastline;

– Capital: Belfast.

Rivers and Lakes

• Importance of Rivers:

• Great ports (through river) to sea;

• Rivers to both European Continent and fishing grounds;

• Rivers (carry raw materials) to inland. 　　

The Major Rivers of the UK

• Rivers on the east coast — the Tweed, the Tyne, the Tees, and the Thames rivers all face North Sea ports on the European continent. They are also close to rich fishing grounds.

• Rivers on the west coast — the Clyde, the Mersey, and the Severn rivers carry raw materials to busy manufacturing cities inland.

• Ports: London, Liverpool, Glasgow

• Three major rivers　　 The Severn River (338 km) is the longest river in Britain, rising in central Wales, flowing through West Central England, and out to the Bristol Channel.　　 The Thames River (336 km) is the second largest and most important river in Britain, rising in southwest England, flowing through the Midlands of England, and out into the North Sea.　　 The Clyde River (171 km) is the most important in Scotland, rising in Dumfries, passing through Glasgow, and entering the Firth of Clyde.

The Lough Neagh

• There are many lakes in Britain, especially in northern Scotland.

• 　 The Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is the largest lake in Britain, which covers area of 396 square km.

• 　 The Lake District (in northwest England, and North Wales) is one of the popular tourist attractions in Britain, well known for its wild and beautiful scenery and 15 lakes. It is also the home of the Lake poets –William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey of the 19th century.

The Lake District

Climate• A maritime type of climate

• A maritime type of climate:

• Rainy/ changeable/ unpredictable/ favorable

• Winter: mild

• Summer: cool

• Rainfall: steady, reliable

• Temperature: a small range

Factors which influence the climate in Britain

• The surrounding waters tend to balance the seasonal differences by heating up the land in winter and cooling it off in summer.

• The prevailing southwest winds (the Westerly ） blow over the country all the year round bringing warm and wet air in winter and keeping the temperatures moderate.

• The North Atlantic Drift, which is a warm current, passes the western coast of the British Isles and warms them.

RainfallWhich part has the most rainfall and which part is the driest?

• General: Britain has a steady reliable rainfall throughout the whole year. The average annual rainfall in Britain is over 1,000 mm.

• Character:

• ① Water surplus in north and west;

• ② Water deficit in south and east.

• Reservoirs have to be built in highland areas such as Central Wales, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands.

Natural calamities

• Drought?

• Flooding?

• Fog, smog, frost and severe gales

• In 1952, the four-day London smog Since then most cities in Britain have

introduced “clear air zones” whereby factories and households are only allowed to burn smokeless fuel.

Distribution and composition of Britain's population

• People (Britain has a population of 57,411,000 in 1990)

• General features:– Densely populated with an average of 237 people

per square kilometer;– Unevenly distributed: 90% in urban, 10% in rural;– Great concentration: most in England (most in

London and south-eastern England);– Composition: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%,

Welsh 1.9%, Irish 2.4%, Northern Irish 1.8%, Immigrants 2.8%.

English– Origin: Anglo-Saxons.

– Language: Southern: BBC (except ①Cockney); Northern: broader.②

Cockney: A Cockney is a Londoner who is born within the sound of Bow Bells – the bells of the church of St Mary-Le-Bow Bells in east London.

It was from the union of Norman conquerors and the defeated Anglo-Saxons that the English people and the English language were born.

Welsh– Origin: Celts.– Language:

• Welsh, an ancient Celtic language: 1% people only speak Welsh, it was given equality with English for all official use in Wales in 1965, names beginning with “Ll”;

• English.– Character: emotional, cheerful.– Culture: Eisteddfodau ( 威尔斯诗人音乐家大

会 ) / National Eisteddfod, with an purpose to keep the welsh language and culture alive.

National Eisteddfod

Scots– Origin: Celts.– Language:

• Gaelic, old Celtic language of the Scots: it is still heard in the Highlands and the Western Isles and their names beginning with M’, Mac, Mc, which means “son of” in Gaelic;

• English;– Character: said to be serious, cautious, ①

thrifty; in fact they are hospitable, generous, ②friendly.

Irish– Origin: Scots and English Protestants.– Language:

• Irish or Erse, a form of Gaelic: official first language of the Republic of Ireland;

• English: the second.– Character: charm, vivacity, beauty girls.– Problem: there has been bitter fighting between

the Protestants who are dominant group, and the Roman Catholics, who are seeking more social, political and economic opportunities.

Your work!

Ancestor Speech Name Character

The English

The Welsh

The Scots

The

Irish

Immigrants

– Origin: West Indies, India and Pakistan.

– Discrimination: Usually the colored immigrants have to take the lowest paid jobs, and when there is unemployment they are usually the first to be sacked.

Questions to think about

• What is the full name of the United Kingdom?• What are the four political divisions of the

United Kingdom?• What are the two large islands that make up

the British Isles?• What is the principal mountain chain of

England?• What type of climate does Britain have?• What is the difference between the ancestors

of the English and Scots,Welsh and Irish?

Have you mastered these points?

• The two large islands that make up the British Isles are ____.

• 　 A. Scotland and Ireland• 　 B. Britain and Scotland• 　 C. Great Britain and Northern Ireland• 　 D. Great Britain and Ireland• The English Channel separates the island

of Great Britain from ____.• A. Denmark 　　 B. Belgium 　• C. France 　　　 D. the Netherlands

• The British Empire was replaced by the British Commonwealth or the Commonwealth of Nations in ____.

• 　 A. 1921 　　　　　 B. 1931 • C. 1945 　　 　　　 D. 1950• In 1991, there were_________ member countries

within the Commonwealth.• A. 25 B. 48 C. 50 D. 52• The Commonwealth of Nations is an association

of independent countries ____.• 　 A. that were once colonies of Britain• 　 B. that have a large number of British

immigrants• 　 C. that have close relations with Britain• 　 D. that have fought on the side of Britain in the

two world wars

• Britain’s longest rivers are ____.• A. the Severn and the Clyde 　　　• B. the Thames and the Clyde• C. the Clyde and the Humber 　• D. the Severn and the Thames• The largest lake in the British Isles is

____.• A. Loch Lomond 　 　 B. Loch

Neagh 　• C. Windermere 　　 　　 D.

Ullswater

• The English people and the English language were born from the union of ____.

• 　 A. the Angles and the Saxons• 　 B. Germanic conquerors and the

Norman French• 　 C. Danes or Vikings and the

Norman French• 　 D. Norman conquerors and the

defeated Anglo-Saxons

• Generally speaking the English southerners speak the type of English closer to ____.

• A. the Cockney 　　 B. the Queen’s English

• C. the Gaelic 　　 D. the BBC English