Introduction

Britain which is formally known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political unity of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The name “Britain” is believed to be the anglicized Greek or Roman form of Celtic origin. It is often used to designate the British Isles as a whole. “Britania” is the ancient name of Britain. Nowadays Great Britain is personified under the name of “Britannia”, as a helmeted woman seated on a globe leaning with one arm on a shield and grasping a spear with her free hand.

The first known settlers of Britain were the Celts who came to the island from northern Europe in the 5 th or 6 th century B.C. In 55 B.C.Julius Caesar invaded the island for a short time but in the 1 st century a long Roman occupation began which lasted till the early 5 th century. After the withdrawal of the Roman army Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxons and Jutes who forced the Celts to retreat westward.

The setting up of the United Kingdom as a state is a result of continuous wars of aggression and a policy of annexion and aggrandizement.

The oldest colony of Britain is Ireland and its conquest started a long time ago. Though Northern Ireland has officially become part of the United Kingdom only in the 20 th century the English started their attempts at conquering it as early as the 12 th century. The Irish stubbornly resisted the English, fiercely defending their territory and fought to protect their independence. Their resistance was broken by the English and they were forced to accept the rule of the English.

In the beginning of the 20 th century the revolutionary struggle of the workers in Europe increased in intensity and the fight for independence in Ireland flared up. As a result of it British imperialism was compelled to agree to the establishment of the Irish Free State and to yield the greater part of Ireland to the Irish. Yet is succeeded in wrestling from Ireland the six counties in the North which are the leading industrial areas of the country. Thus British imperialism took control of nearly a third of the island and expects Ireland to stay divided for many years. Yet the long struggle to recover the north of the island from British rule is going on. In 1922, 26 Irish counties succeeded to withdraw from the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State (latter Eire, since 1949 Republic of Ireland) and since then the name of Northern Ireland (comprising 6 counties) was added to the title of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

In the same way as Ireland both Wales and Scotland failed to capitulate voluntarily to the English rule and had to be attacked in force. They fell under the onslaught of England and were annexed. The union of England with Wales dates from 1301 when Edward I’s son was created Prince of Wales. The name Great Britain started to be used at the beginning of the 17 th century after James VI of Scotland had succeeded to the English throne. In 1707 it was formally adopted after the union of the parliaments of England and Scotland.

In mid-1974 the estimated population of Britain was about 55,970,000. At that time the population density was approximately 594 persons per square mile (229 per sq.km.). Naturally, not all the parts of the United Kingdom are evenly populated. England is the most densely populated part of Britain (922 persons per square mile or 356 persons per sq.km) with Greater London being the most densely populated part of England (11,756 persons per square mile or 4,534 per sq.km.). Throughout Britain urban and suburban population predominates.

Though once Britain used to be one of the most powerful capitalist countries, its importance has shown a marked decline. While in 1971 Britain was the world’s third largest trading nation, in 1976 it ranks only fifth in the world trade.

Other sides of British life are not bright, too. The situation facing British industry is extremely serious. The decline in the British manufacturing industry is gathering pace and can hardly be expected to recover soon. The calls for radical reform have become more and more intense as the country's economic woes have become more and obvious. Inflation has wreaked havoc with the expectations of the people.

British workers are beginning to fully understand that their jobs are at risk and that there is little hope for the unemployment figures to be reduced. They know that reduction of unemployment would require an increase in manufacturing output. But they clearly see that the required increase is not to be expected if the British economy continues to perform as badly as it has done over the past 30 years.

The highest unemployment rates in July 1974 were in Wales, Scotland, the North and North and North-West regions. The unemployment rate in Northern Ireland has remained higher than in other parts of the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom is a monarchy. Officially the supreme legislative authority in the United Kingdom is the Queen and the two Housed of Parliament – the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons.

In the 19 th century Britain had reached its height as a world colonial power. But World Wars I and II have brought to an end the period of Britain’s primacy as such. Great Britain emerged from World War II gravely weakened. Almost all the territories that Great Britain had previously held overseas were lost. The years following World War II saw the virtual end of the British colonial empire. Now the United Kingdom together with most of its former colonies are members of the Commonwealth, the Queen being the head of the Commonwealth.

The British Isles lie off the north-west coast of Europe. Their total area is about 244,100 square km.

The two largest islands are Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain, which forms the greater part of the British Isles, comprises England, Wales and Scotland. Ireland comprises Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. The Isle of Wight is off the southern coast of England and Anglesey is off North Wales. The Orkneys and Shetlands are to the far north of Scotland. The Isle of Man is in the Irish Sea and the Channel Islands are between Great Britain and France. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are not part of England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. They have a certain administrative autonomy.

Great Britain is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the north-west, north and south-west. It is separated from Europe by the North Sea, the Straits of Dover or Pas de Calais, and the English Channel or La Manche, a French name which means “a sleeve”. The North Sea and the English Channel are often called the “Narrow Seas”. They are not deep but frequently are rough and difficult to navigate during storms, which makes crossing from England to France sometimes far from pleasant. There have even been schemes to construct a tunnel under the English Channel connecting England and France, but financial difficulties made Britain abandon this idea.

On the west Great Britain is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea and the North Channel.

The seas around Britain are shallow and provide exceptionally good fishing grounds.

The British Isles appear to stand on a raised part of the sea bed, usually called the continental shelf, which thousands of years ago used to be dry land and which constituted part of mainland Europe. This shelf forms the sea floor around Britain and that is why the seas surrounding the British Isles are shallow (about 300 ft 90 m).

England has a total area of 50,333 square miles (130,362 sq.km). It is divided into counties, of which there are 39 geographical ones and 46 administrative ones. Wales has a total area of 8,017 square miles (20,764 sq.km.) and is divided into 13 counties. Scotland together with its 186 inhabited islands has a total area of 30,414 square miles (78,772 sq.km). It has 33 counties. Northern Ireland consists of 6 counties and has a total area of 5,462 square miles (14,121 sq.km).

The total land area of the United Kingdom is 93,027 square miles (240,940 sq.km).

The Isle of Man has 227 square miles (588 sq.km), and the Channel Islands 75 square miles (194 sq.km).

The northernmost point of the United Kingdom is in latitude 60˚ North and the southernmost part of Britain is in latitude 50˚ North.

The prime meridian of 0˚ passes through the old Observatory of Greenwich (London).

Officially there are eleven regions in the United Kingdom: (1) Greater London and the South-East Region, (2) South-West England, (3) East Anglia, (4) West Midlands, (5) East Midlands, (6) North-West England, (7) Yorkshire and Hampshire, (8) Northern England, (9) Wales, (10) Scotland, (11) Northern Ireland. However, in geographical descriptions, Britain is usually divided into two major regions, Highland Britain and Lowland Britain. The hilly parts are in the north and the west toward the ocean. The agricultural plain of England lies toward the Channel and the Continent of Europe. Highland Britain includes Scotland, the Lake District (in North-West England), the Pennines (the central upland), almost the whole of Wales and the counties of Devon and Cornwell in the south-western part of England. Thus Highland Britain comprises all those mountain parts and uplands of Great Britain which lie above one thousand feet (305 m). The soil in many parts of Highland Britain is thin and poor with large stretches of moorland. It is worth while remembering that there is a great diversity of landforms in each of these two parts.

Lowland Britain is a rich plain with chalk and limestone hills. The world-famous white cliffs of Dover are also formed of chalk. The most fertile soil is found in the low-lying fenland of Lincolnshire. It can be cultivated thanks to the land drainage system.

In Northern Ireland the large central plain with boggy areas is surrounded by mountains and hills.

Despite its comparatively small area, hardly exceeding 750 miles in latitudinal extent and 375 miles in longitudinal extent, Great Britain possesses a wide range of landforms and is famous for the rich variety of its scenery. There are various types of wild vegetation and some forest areas, but most of Britain is farming land divided into fields by hedges or stone walls.

In England and Wales the most common trees are oak, beech, ash and elm. In Scotland, pine and birch.

Lying in middle latitudes Britain has a mild and temperate climate. In the classification of climates Britain falls generally into the cool, temperate, humid type.

The prevalent westerly winds blowing into Britain from the Atlantic are rough and carry the warmth and moisture of lower latitudes into Britain. As the weather changes with the wind, and Britain is visited by winds from different parts of the world ranging from polar to tropical regions it is but natural that the most characteristic feature of Britain’s weather is its variability. Although the weather is as changeable as it could be in such a relatively small region, the extremes are hardly ever severe. The temperature rarely exceeds 90˚ F (32˚C) or falls below zero. Still the wind may bring winter cold in spring or summer days in October.

Britain’s rainfall depends to a great extent on topography and exposure to the Atlantic. In the mountainous areas there is more rain than in the plains of the south and east. The heavy rain that falls in the mountains runs off quickly down steeply grated valleys where it can be stored in reservoirs which provide water for the lowland towns and cities. Droughts occur but rarely and crops are never a complete loss. The occasional little whirlwind (a twister) can uproof houses, heavy snowfalls can immobilize traffic locally, the rare glazed frost and the much commoner icy roads can cause great iconvenience, but fog is the worst weather hazard, causing collisions and death on roads and railways. In such a brief account as this it is not possible to deal with the local peculiarities of climate, for the almost infinite variety of “microclimates” almost defies description.

The driest period is from March to June and the wettest months are from October to January. During a normal summer the temperature is usually 80˚ F (27˚ C). Thus, fields can be worked all the year round.

The fauna of the British Isles is similar to that of Europe though there are fewer species. Some of the mammals such as the wolf, the bear, the boar, and the reindeer have become extinct. Other species of deer are found in wooded areas and in some parks. In addition, there are foxes, badgers and others. On various parts of the coast there are seals.

There are many resident species of birds and others are regular visitors to Britain. Gulls and other sea birds usually nest near the coast. The number of ducks, geese and other water fowl has diminished during recent years owing to the drainage of marshlands.

There are three species of snakes, of which only one is venomous.

The chief rivers of Great Britain are: the Severn, the Thames, the trent, the Aire, the Great Ouse, the Wye, the Tay, the Clyde, the Sprey, the Tweed, the Tyne.

The largest cities of Great Britain are: London (7,880,760), Birmingham (1,101,990), Glasgow (960,527), Liverpool (705,310), Manchester (616,520), Sheffield (534,100), Bristol (518,640), Leeds (507,780), Edinburgh (467,986).

The most important ports are: London, Liverpool, Southampton, Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff. Southampton is Britain’s largest port for ocean going liners. Portsmouth is a naval port with some shipbuilding. Milford Haven (in Wales) is one of British major oil ports.

Exploration for natural gas and oil has been going on in Britain since the early 1960s. Now work on the development and production of natural gas and oil in the North Sea is proceeding rapidly. The first important find of oil in the British section was made in 1970 but the oil was first brought ashore by tanker in June 1975. In the future oil will come ashore by a submarine pipeline 105 mile long (169 km).

Britain’s major industries include iron and steel; engineering, including motor vehicles and aircraft, textiles and chemicals. As a result of this Britain’s main exports are manufactured goods such as machinery, vehicles, aircraft, metal manufactures, electrical apparatus. However, it should be remembered that Britain relies heavily upon imports of metals and ores, textile raw materials and many other products.

Though the leading mineral resource of Britain is coal and coal-mining is one of the most important British industries, the North Sea oil and gas now can also be considered as a major mineral resource, having a fundamental effect on the economy of Great Britain.

Britain is a highly industrialized country and today 28 people work in manufacturing, mining and building for every one engaged in agriculture.

The central uplands of Great Britain between England and Scotland are now widely industrialized but a century and a half ago they had a sparse population and were a broad natural frontier between England and Scotland, dividing the agricultural lowland of England from the smaller lowlands of Scotland. This area has no single name and is known as the Cheviot Hills, the Pennine Moors, the Lake Mountains and the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

It might prove useful to give a more detailed description of British economy and some other aspects of its life. As has already been stated Britain has a well-developed modern machine tool industry. It is situated mainly in the Midlands, South-East, Yorkshire and North and North-West areas.

The textile machinery industry is an important sector of British industry. It produces machines for the manufacture of yarns and fabrics from all types of natural and man-made fibres. It is mainly centred in the North-West, East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humbershire and Northern Ireland.

Electrical techniques are of growing importance. Instrument engineering producing both scientific and industrial instruments as well as industries manufacturing vehicles and aircraft should also be mentioned. Britain’s aerospace industry is well known for producing civil and military aircraft, helicopters, guided weapons, hovercraft and space vehicles.

Production of textiles is spread throughout the country. The British wool textiles is spread throughout the country. The British wool textile industry has been important since medieval time, West Yorkshire being the most important producing area. Of notable importance are man-made fabrics, particularly in Northern Ireland.

The chief agricultural products of Britain are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, sugar-beet, milk, beef, mutton and lamb. A comparatively high level of agricultural productivity enables Britain to provide about half of the food it needs from its own soil, the other half is imported. Britain usually imports meat, butter, wheat, tea, fruit, tobacco and wool.

It might be worth mentioning that in Britain less milk is used for manufactured products than for liquid consumption.

Britain has a long tradition of sheep production and can boast of more than 30 breeds and innumerable crosses.

Pig production is to be found in most parts of Britain but is of particular importance in the east and south of England and in Northern Ireland.

The British poultry industry is growing rapidly and is gradually becoming of greater importance.

The horticultural industry of Britain produces a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and flower crops. Scotland is known for the largest concentration of raspberry plantations in the world. Strawberries are the most widely grown soft fruit in Britain, the main crop areas being in Kent and East Anglia. Black-currants are also widely grown throughout Britain.

Flowers are grown in many parts of Britain but particularly in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and the east of Scotland. In the Isles of Scilly more than 50 per cent of cultivable land is devoted to bulbs which flower there from November to May.

The estimated woodland area in Great Britain is 4.9 million acres (1.98 million hectares). Privately owned woods comprise nearly 60 per cent of the total forest area. The size of woodlands, privately owned, ranges from a few acres to several thousand.

Now a few words about British transport. The passenger and freight traffic of Great Britain is carried mainly by road, the private car having become predominant since World War II. The use of railways has fallen dramatically. Coastal shipping and inland waterways are of importance only in certain areas particularly for carrying bulk goods. It should be noted that road haulage and coastal shipping are largely in the hands of private enterprise.

On January 1, 1973 Britain entered the Common Market. The “Marketeers” had been loud in their claims about the great benefits that entry would bring. The people however, remained sceptical and basically opposed. That was why they were not given the chance to have a referendum vote on this most important issue.

Several years membership has already brought home the falsity of these claims.

Joining the Common Market has meant accepting all the rules, directions and regulations issued by the Brussels Commission. This way already meant that the right of the British Government to determine its own policies on such important matters as tariffs, agriculture, trade, taxes has been superseded by the Common Market regulations.

English is the official language in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Burt in the Highlands of Scotland and in the Uplands of Wales a remnant of Celtic speech still survives. The Scottish form of Gaelic is spoken in parts of Scotland while a few people in Northern Ireland speak the Irish form of Gaelic. Welsh which is a form of British Celtic is the first language in most parts of Wales. The Manx variety of Celtic is still used in the Isle of Man but on rare occasions and only for certain official pronouncements. That is why it cannot be considered any longer as an effectively living language.

The existence of this great variety of language is easy to understand. The people who now inhabit Britain are descended from many various early people such as pre-Celts, Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons and the Nonsemen, including the Danes. Some of them inhabited the Isles many centuries ago, others came there later as invaders from Scandinavia and the continent of Europe. It is certain that Celtic culture survived in Highland Britain for a long time, resisting with success the Roman, Saxon, Csandinavian and Norman invasions.