G2-1 country and people

Hello, everyone! My name is Zhang Dan. It is my honor to stand here and share my topic “The country and people” with you. Firstly, I will introduce you our teammates .They are Xv Jing, You Lili, and Li Kexin. We will the divide the topic into four parts .And now let us begin the first part --The components of the UK. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country situated in the British Isles, which lie off the northwest coast of the European continent . Politically, it is a union made up of four constituent countries: England, Scotland , Wales, and Northern Ireland.

1. England is the largest, most populous, and wealthiest division of the United Kingdom. It makes up 130,281 square kilometers(53.7%) of the country’s total area. In mid-2006,50,762,900 or 83.8% of the total population of the UK lived in England, making this region, particularly the capital London, the most densely populated part of the country. London is the seat of government, center of business, and the heart of arts and culture.

Here are some famous buildings in London .The London Eye at a height of 135 meters, is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3 million people a year.

London Bridge is a bridge between the City of London and Southwark in London, over the River Thames. Situated between

Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London. It was the only bridge over the Thames downstream from Kingston until Westminster Bridge opened in 1750.

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. Some believe this extension to be incorrect, but its usage is now entirely commonplace. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. It celebrated its 155th anniversary .

2. Scotland is the second largest of the four nations both in area and population. It has an area of 77,925 square kilometers (32.1%) and a population of 5,116,900 (8.4%) as reported in mid-2006.But its population density is the lowest in the country(only about 65 persons per square kilometer).Before Scotland formally joined the Union with England in 1707,it had been a unified state independent of the UK for a long time.

It is the most important part i want to discuss with you. In recent times the Scotland wanted to be independent and voted but failed finally .but i still want to find out what is the relationship between England and Scotland .Why did Scotland want to be independent after so many years? And after surfing the internet ,i found out these three

reasons . The first one is history and national conflict. Scotland was invaded by the British in the early times and they do not think they are British . They still want to be the kingdom of their own. The second reason is the economy .the Scotland has more oil recourse in the northern ocean and in the recent years Scotland has higher tax than the England .maybe the would have better gain in their own country when they are independent. And the third one is the independent forces. Alex Salmond is tend to lead the people to gain their independence.

Wales is the smallest among the three nations on the island on the island of Great Britain, with an area of 20,732 square kilometers(8.5%).It has a population of 2,965,900 (4.9%) as reported in mid-2006,with a population density of 142 persons per square kilometer. Cardiff, he capital, is located in southern Wales, serving as an important seaport and industrial center.

Northern Ireland, often referred to as the province of Ulster, is part of the Island of Ireland located in its northeast corner. It is the smallest both in area and population among the four nations of the UK. It had a population of 1,741,600 (2.9%) in mid-2006.

In addition to the four constituent parts, the UK also has a number of small islands in the British Isles, including the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides archipelago, the Orkney Islands, and the

Shetland Islands.

By 张丹

I will show you three parts, topography ,rivers and lakes and climate.

The first is topography. Britain is traditionally divided into two natural regions—a Highland zone and a Lowland zone. They are divided by an imaginary line, which runs through England from southwest to northeast.

The highland zone is a region of high hills and mountains. And they are frequently broken by valleys and plains. The Scottish Highlands situates farther north .It can be subdivided into three main areas: the Grampians, the Central Lowlands and the Southern Uplands. The Grampians are the chief range in the Highlands. The highest point here as well in Britain is Ben Nevis. The Central Lowlands are a broad valley. This valley contains most of Scotland’s cultivated farmland and major industries and mines, particularly coalfields. The Southern Uplands are an area of rounded hills and broad valleys. Much of the area consists of moorlands used for grazing sheep.

Starting at the Cheviot Hills on England’s border with Scotland and ending in the Midlands of central England lies the Pennine Chain, known as the “back bone of England”.Many of England’s major industrial areas such as coalfields are based on the flanks of the

Pennines. Most of Wales is occupied by the Welsh Massif, an upland mass containing the Cambrian Mountains and descending eastwards into England. Not far across from the southern Scottish coast, Northern Ireland consists of hilly highlands similar to those of Scotland.

The lowland zone consists mostly of rolling plains broken up by chains of low hills. Most of the largest towns and cities sit in the lowland zone, such as London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and so on.

There are many rivers and lakes in the UK, but they are not very large. The Severn is the longest river flowing through the Midlands of England. The second but the most important river is the Thames, which flows through Oxford and London. Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the UK, is found in Northern Ireland. Lake District locates in the Cumbrian Mountains of northwest England, comprises 15 major beautiful lakes and has become a popular tourist destination.

Overall, the UK has a temperate maritime climate, that is, one with a moderate temperature and abundant rainfall, but it is extremely changeable throughout the year. The west of the country tend to have wetter and milder weather than the east. Rain is fairly well distributed throughout the year, with February to March being the driest period and October to January, the wettest. July and August are normally the warmest months in England and December to February are

traditionally the severest months. It often rains suddenly, so people in Britain always go out with an umbrella. And the conversations between strangers usually start from talking about the weather, like “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?”That is to say, when communicating with British people, talking about the weather will show your friendship.

By:尤莉莉

It’s my honor to introduce something about ethnic and demographic compositions of Britain. The British are often regarded as a “mixed” people, meaning that they are from different ethnic groups which is caused by invasion and immigration.

So what are the major settlements. The earliest people known in Britain were Nomads from mainland Europe in the Old Stone Age.

Between 600BC and 43AD, there was a movement of Celtic tribes also from Europe, bringing in an Iron Age civilization.

In 55BC Romans invaded England and Wales which became part of Roman Empire for nearly 400 years.

Between the 5th and 7th centuries, Germanic peoples from Europe—the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes—invaded Britain.

During the 8th and 9th centuries, a large number of Scandinavians raided and settled in Britain, but were eventually integrated by the

Anglo-Saxon culture.

In 1066, French Normans conquered England, adding another ethnic component.

It was the last major group to add their stock to the British population, and this mixture was increased by later immigration.

There are three stages of immigration: overseas, home and modern immigration.

So what caused the overseas immigration to Britain? I think there are several factors: religious, political persecution, trade, business and employment.

Following the Jewish moneylenders that entered England with the Normans, Lombard bankers came from Italy. Around 1330, Dutch and Flemish weavers arrived, helping build the textile trade in England. In the following centuries , other newcomers continued to arrive from overseas, including Gypsies, enslaved blacks and a future wave of Jews. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the country received a large number of refugees from Europe, such as Dutch protestants and French Huguenots.

During the 19th century, large migratory movements took place at Home, from countryside to urban, from Wales, Scotland and Ireland to England.

In the 20th centuries the Jews came to escape the persecution during the great depression and World war, refugees flooded to Britain.

From late 1940s, people from non-white new commonwealth nations of India, Pakistan and the West Indies were invited to Britain to help reconstruct the war-stricken country as manual workers.

After searching on the Internet, I made a form of percentage of total UK population.

Demographic composition:

The population of the United Kingdom has been increasing since at least 1086 AD.

In mid-2005 the UK was home to 60.2 million people.

The population took on the characteristics of a modern, developed and prosperous state. The UK had a smaller percentage of younger people and a higher percentage of older people.

According to the 2005 estimate, the UK had a population of 60,209,500, ranking 18th in the world. England possessed 50,093,800 people, with a population density of 383 persons per square kilometer.

It has another characteristic: the UK is overwhelmingly urban, with 89.7 percent living in urban areas and 10.6 percent living in rural areas, which is caused by industrial revolution.

2012级俄英双语班徐晶

History of the English Language

A short history of the origins and development of English

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of thr ee Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. The se tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes。At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But mos t of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - m ainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came fr om Englaland and their language was called Englisc - from which the w ords England and English are derived.

Old English (450-1100 AD)

Old English was spoken until around 1100.

Middle English (1100-1500)

In 1066 ，William the Conqueror（入侵者）, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded and con quered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought wit h them a kind of French

In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. Modern English (1500-1800)

Modern English developed from the Middle English dialect The development of printing helped establish standards of spelling and grammar, but there remained a lot of variation. Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Languages(1755) was the first authoritative

treatment of English. It defined about 40000 words and gave examples of their use.

Social class system in Britain

What is Class?

Sociologists define social class as the grouping of people by occupations. Doctors and lawyers and university teachers are given more status than unskilled laborers. The different positions represent different levels of power, influence and money.

The British society is often considered to be divided into three main groups of classes:

?the Upper Class,

?the Middle Class, and the

?Lower or Working Class

The British identity

1.National identity is not something governments can invent. It is

more a feeling than an opinion and not a policy statement. Like all identities it is not unduly hampered by being difficult to put into words.

The United Kingdom is made up of:

England - The capital is London.

Scotland - The capital is Edinburgh.

Wales - The capital is Cardiff.

Northern Ireland - The capital is Belfast.

England, Scotland and Wales together form Great Britain.

Great Britain and Northern Ireland together form the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (UK)

Nearly 84% of the population of the UK lives in England, mainly in the major cities and metropolitan areas.