Part One British Geography

Teaching requirements

To master the following contents:1. the names of the country 2. the location of Britain 3. the geographical features of UK4. the other territories of Britain. 5. the Counties of Great Britain. 6.Commonwealth of Nations 7.supplementary readings.

I. The names of the country:1.Britain2.the British Isles (geographical names: two la

rge islands and hundreds of small ones. The two large islands are Great Britain and Ireland.)

3.Great Britain: the larger of these two islands. It forms the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

4. England5.the United Kingdom or UK

II. The Location of Britain • in north-west Europe ,only 35 km from France

and is now linked by a tunnel under the English Channel. Map1: The Map of the World

Map 2 The Map of Europe

Map 3: The Map of UK

III. The Geographical features of UK

• 1. The south of Britain : mostly low-lying land, with hills and agricultural land;

• Wales and Scotland : mostly covered in moorland and mountains.

Map 4 Scotlandnumerous islands, and three (3) distinct regions. The Northern Highlands (nearly two-thirds of the land) : the Grampian Mountains and many smaller ranges. Ben Nevis, the highest point 4,406 ft. (1,343m). The Central Lowlands (about 60 miles wide) Most of Scotland's population. the Clyde, Tay and Forth rivers. The Southern Uplands. The Cheviot Hills the Tweed.

2. England(see 5: England)

3. Wales (see The Map of Wales) hilly, mountainous country

numerous bays, sandy beaches, peninsulas and cliffs

hilly, mountainous country,

4. Northern Ireland ( see map 7)a series of rolling, green hills, with a jagged, indented coastline.

Laugh Neagh, the largest lake in the United Kingdom

•

IV.The other territories of Britain(see Maps 8-15) Map 9: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Map 10:Falkland Islands

Map 11:Montserrat

Map12:Burmuda

Anguilla

Map 14: Map of Virgin Islands

Map 15: Map of the Cayman Island

V. The Counties of Great Britains of Great Britain)

VI. Flag of Commonwealth of Nations

• Commonwealth• the British Commonwealth , a voluntary

association,without any charter. • entirely independent(about 50) ‘full members of

the Commonwealth’ • about 20 territories which are dependencies of

the UK or other full members and are regarded as ‘Commonwealth countries’.

• a meeting of heads of government every two years.

Commonwealth Realm

• 16 sovereign states of the Commonwealth that recognize Queen Elizabeth II as their Queen and head of state in Australia she is known as "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia" or simply, the Queen of Australia.

II Climate :In general terms, weather in the United Kingdom is moderated by the prevailing southwest winds off the North Atlantic. Overall, winters are mild and summers cool, with numerous overcast days. Rain is evenly divided throughout the year.

III. Quick Facts about Britain

• Geographic coordinates: 54 00 N, 2 00 W 

• Land area: 243,000 sq km (93,000 sq miles). 

• Coastline: 12,429 km 

• Length:Just under 1,000 km (600 miles) from North to South 

• Width: About 480 Km from east to west 

• Land use:arable land:25% permanent crops:0% permanent pastures:46% forests and woodland:10% other:19% (1993 est.)

•  Natural resources:coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land 

• Capital City: London, Edinburgh, Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. Cardiff Main Cities:London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh,

•  Main Religion: Christianity

• Number of countries in Europe:48

• Highest mountain: Ben Nevis , 1,343m (4,406 ft) above sea level.

•  Lowest Point: the Fenlands, 4 m below sea level. 

• Longest river:The Severn, 322 km long, London's population: 6,770,400

• Population of UK:about 59,647,790 (July 2001 est.)

• England's climate:Mild, normally not going much below zero above 25 degrees Celcius.

• Most of the time it is between 10 and 20 degrees Celcius.

• Currency: pound sterling