A country across the Channel.0:04
The British Isles include two large islands and about 5,000 small islands which are situated off the northwestern coast of Europe.0:08
Great Britain is the name of the largest island.0:18
The smaller island of the two is called Ireland.0:22
The Irish Sea is between them.0:26
Once these territories were a part of the continent.0:28
Then they were separated from the mainland and became islands.0:32
That happened thousands of years ago.0:37
The British Isles are washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the North Sea in the northwest and the English Channel in the south.0:40
The North Sea and the English Channel separate the British Isles from the European continent.0:51
The narrowest part of the English Channel is called the Strait of Dover.0:59
It is only 32 km wide.1:05
On international maps you can see the name La Manche instead of the English Channel and Pas de Calais instead of the Strait of Dover.1:08
But on the English maps there are only English names.1:19
There are two states on the territory of the British the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, also called the UK or the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.1:24
You can be surprised, but in everyday speech people sometimes speak of the UK and don't use its official name.1:38
Instead they call it Great Britain or simply Britain after the largest island, or even England after its most important historic part.1:46
The United Kingdom consists of four parts or four countries.1:58
Three of them, England, Scotland and Wales, are situated on the largest island, Great Britain.2:02
The fourth part of the state, Northern Ireland, lies in the north of Ireland.2:10
Each country has its own emblem, its own symbol.2:15
Thus the red rose is the symbol of England.2:21
The leek and the daffodil are the Welsh symbols.2:24
The national sign of Ireland is the shamrock and the national sign of Scotland is the thistle.2:29
The capitals of these four countries are London, England, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Wales and Belfast.2:37
London is also the capital of the whole kingdom.2:48
It stands on the River Thames that flows into the North Sea.2:52
The other main industrial cities are Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, etc. Some of them are important ports too.2:57
The world famous university cities are Oxford and Cambridge.3:08
The official language of the United Kingdom is English.3:13
But in Wales a lot of people also speak Welsh and Irish is spoken in Northern Ireland.3:16
Nowadays, people of different nationalities live in the United Kingdom.3:24
So in the streets of its cities and towns you can hear different languages of the world.3:29
The flag of the United Kingdom is known as the Union Jack.3:35
It is made up of three flags, the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew and St. Patrick which represent England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.3:38
Клик по слову — перевод и «+ в мои слова» (в любом режиме). Клик по строке или таймкоду — перейти к этому месту записи.