Great Britain

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Great Britain

1. Describe the geographical position of the British Isles offering an explanation for its advantages and disadvantages. Define (определите) the term “continental shelf’, its importance for the economy.

British Isles - archipelago contains 5k islands in the N-W of Europe.

Great Britain - the largest island of British Isles.

England - a part of the UK (largest, richest and most populated).

The British Isles can be divided into 2 ways:

1) Politically

The British Isles are divided into 2 independent states: The UK and the Republic of Ireland

The UK traditionally consists of 4 countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Capitals: England - London, Scotland - Edinburgh, Wales - Cardiff, Northern Ireland - Belfast.

Territory: 244k sq km.

Population: 66.65 mln people

83% - England

9% - Scotland

5% - Wales

3% - Northern Ireland

The UK is washed by North Sea, the England channel in the south, the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean in the west.

2) Geographically

Besides the two largest islands, a number of other groups of islands should be mentioned.

The Hebrides - fishing (herring); there are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

The Orkney’s - oil transportation;

The Shetland Islands - Scottish ponies;

The Isle of Man – famous for its own parliament called Tynwald + has its own money-man’s pounds;

Channel Islands - closer to France, bilingual (French and English).

Two largest Islands of Channel Islands are Jersey and Guernsey.

Advantages:

1. the British Isles are located on the continental shelf - a tone of shallow(неглубокий) water which surrounds the continent and separates it from the deep water of the ocean.
2. Historically such a location gave a good possibility for fishing and building ports but the real advantage became clear in 1970 when huge resources of oil and gas were found in the self which made Britain almost self-sufficient in these resources.
3. Climate of GB also the advantage, despite the location of the country. It’s warm and mild. Winters never too cold, summers never too hot. The main factor that determines the climate is the golf steam, which passes nearby.

Disadvantages

1. The south and South-East of Britain are located below sea level and that’s why are regularly flooded.
2. The problem of overpopulation especially in England (in areas as the cities of London, Birmingham, Manchester and others)

1. Give an account of the physical geography of the British Isles describing the varied relief features. Examine the main rivers and lakes of Great Britain, the climate and weather. Account for the chief mineral resources of Great Britain.

England

3 main mountain ranges:

1. the pennines mountains
2. the cheviot hills
3. the cumbrian mountains

The highest peak in England is Scafell Pike (978).

Wales

In wales 80% of the territory is covered with mountains - the Cambrian Mountains.

The highest peak - Snowdon (1085)

Around this peak - famous national park “snowdonia” which attracts millions of people every year.

Scotland

Scotland can be divided into 3 geographical parts - the Northern Highlands, the Central Lowlands, the Southern Uplands.

The main mountain ranges - North-West Highlands, the Grampian Mountains.

The highest point in Scotland (also the highest in the United Kingdom) is Ben Nevis (1344)

Ireland:

The 3 main mountain ranges:

1. the Antrim Mountains
2. the Sperrin Mountains
3. the Mourne Mountains

The highest peak - Slieve Donard (850m)

Rivers:

All the rivers can be divided into 2 groups:

1. The rivers that flow to the North Sea: Trent, Thames, Ouse, Tyne, Spey, the Forth, the Dee, the Don.
2. The rivers that flow to the Irish sea and Atlantic Ocean - the Severn, the Avon, the Mersey, the Clyde

The longest river of Great Britain is Severn, which starts in Wales and flows into the Bristol Channel (350 km)

The longest river of the British Isles is located in Ireland - Shannon.

Lakes:

Biggest:

1. GB - Loch Lomond (Scotland)
2. British Isles - Lough Neagh (Northern Ireland)

Longest:

1. GB - Loch Ness (famous for its monster Nessie)

Very important group of lakes is situated in N-W of England - the famous Lake district. Besides, its being the famous tourist’s attraction. It's also known for the history of literature, because a number of outstanding poets lived in this region and created the famous lakeist school in poetry (Wordsworth, etc.)

Mineral resources:

From the 13st to the 20th century coal has been the main source of energy in Britain until the 1970 it was substituted by oil and gas.

The main deposits of coal are found in Yorkshire and Lang shire, south of wales, also central Scotland and the midlands.

The main deposits of oil and gas are found off-shore in the North Sea, in the continental shelf.

The main deposits of iron ore are located in the same regions where coal is found. Britain is not rich in precious metals, but it has a lot such materials as: different types of sand, clay, gravel, granits (all them are used in building industry). In Britain there are also many deposes of different types of salts, which are used in chemical industry.