liskapouste
chtela bych dat vsem moznost dozvedet se neco novyho...zajimavyho...05.Duben 2008
geography and sightseeing of Great Britain
I have done for you text about geography and sightseeing of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland. I will talk about british mountains and lowlands,lakes, islands, industry and agriculture, woods and forests.and after that about sights in London and in others places of Britain.
Britain lies off the north-west coast of mainland Europe.it is situated on the British islands. The largest of them is Great Britain where England, Wales and Scotland are situated and Ireland which comprises Nothern Ireland and Irish republic. there are too some other islands such the Isle Wight, the Isle of Scilly, the Isle of Man and groups of islands called the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and the Channel islands.its total area is 242.000 squere km which is three times bigger than Czech republic.. with 60 mil people Britain is a relatively densely populated country.. there are four main nationalities living in Britain: the English the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish. Besides the imigrants and refugees for centuries have been coming here.they have been coming from the colonies of England or from countries where are wars.
Most people speak English, a Germanic language of old Angles and Saxons with some latin vocabulary which was transformed under the influence of Norman French. some people speak old Celtic languages:Welsh, Scots, Gaelic and Irish. In Wales 20-30% of the population is bilingual and Welsh is equal with English at courts and in education. In western Scotland and on Islands Gaelic is spoken by less 100.000 people.
According to the relief GB can be divided into two main regions: lowland bBritain and highland Britain. Highland Britain comprises all mountinous parts of Great Britain and uplands lying above 300metres. the highest mountains are in the highlands of Scotland which occupy north of the country. The highest peak is Ben Nevis in the Grampians. Lowland Britain is a rich plain more rolling than flat with limestone and chalk hills. British rivers are not very long but there are quite deep owing to frequent rains. the longest English rivers are the Severn which flows from Wales to the Bristol channel and the Thames.many rivers are used for transportation and numerous cannals built in the 19th century complete the system.there are two areas with numerous lakes.in the Lake District the largest lake is windermere while in Scotland the biggest lake is situated. It is Loch Lomond.but the most famous is Loch Ness because the lochness monster should live in there.
In the past a greater part of the lowland Britain was covered in the oak forests but later most of the area was cultivated. In the last decade though some new woods were created instead of fields and pastures.many parts of the highland Britain are treeless because of poor soils and rough climate. Large moors are covered with grass and bushes especially heather. The typical picture of english countryside is completed by numerous hedges and isolated trees.
The climate is mild and temperate. It is characteristic features are mild winters and not very hot summers, no extremes in temperature abundant rain all year round and frequent changes of the wheather. London fog used to be renowned but since 1950's fogs have become less frequent thanks to the use of smokeless fuel.
Britain has got big deposites of high quality coal.Nevertheless most mines are closed now. Since 1970s the country benefits from gas and oil found in the North sea and is self sufficient in energy. About 20% of electricity is supplied by nuclear power stations. Other mineral resources are far less important and lot of raw materials must be imported.
Britain became the first industrial country in the 18th and 19th centuries when its wealth was based on the production of iron and steel, heavy machinery and textilies and coalmining shipbuilding and trade. Manufacturing and high technology industries still play an important role but service industries have become much more important and financial and other business services has growing signatificance.
British agriculture employes about 2% of the workforce.it has concentrated on livestock production, especially diary farming. Because of many surpluses producers of cereals are offered, a subsidy if they take 15% of their areble land out of productions.
And now sth about sightseeing like I promised.
London is a wonderful place to be. It has great museums with priceless exhibit sold markets, clean green parks and the best shops and night clubs in Europe. There is sth for everyone. Most of the famous sights are in central London. The City is the podest part of London and now i t is the home to the financial district. In the West End is lot of theatres and parks for example Hyde park, Regent's park or Richmond park.and there is the most famous square of London too. Trafalgar square. It is the largest square in London and it's centre of demonstrations and busy traffic. The Nelson's column in the middle commemorates the naval victory of Admiral Lord Nelson over the French and Spanish fleet at Spanish Cape Trafalgar in 1805. at the top of this column is 5 meters tall statue of Admiral Nelson. At the square is lot of pidgeons all the time.
The capital's top tourist attraction is the Tower of London. William the Conqueror began to build the masive fortress to impress and dominance the people of London. The Tower served till the 16th century as a royal home, a prison an execution site, a royal mint and a observatory. Now it is the museum where tourists go to see an arsenal of weapons, the Crown Jewels in the Jewel House, the prison where many famous prisoners were kept.The Tower is guarded by the Yeomen Warders or Beefaeters who still wear the uniforms of Tudors times. Six ravens are kept in the Tower to protect whole kingdom. The legend says that the kingdom will cease to exist when the ravens leave the tower.
Next to the Tower is Tower bridge, the most famous and distinctive bridge of London which is raised in the middle to allow ships to pass up the river.
The largest and the best known church of the City is St. Paul's Cathedral. Sir Christofer Wren's masterpiece was completed 35 years after the Great Fire in 1666 and it stands at the same place where the old Cathedral standed before Great Fire.St. Paul is built in Baroque style, the main nave is 170 metres long. It is the largest cathedral in the the worl after St. Peter's in Rome. Not far from the St. Paul's cathedral there is the Monument commemorate the place in Pudding Lane, where the Great Fire of London started.
The City of Westminster is home of Royal Palaces, Abbey and Government offices which represent the familiar face of London.
The Houses of Parliament are the political centre of the United Kingdom. They were rebuild in neo-gothic style in 19th century on the site of the Old Palace of Westminster which was destroyed by fire.Great Britain with its House of Commons and House of Lords is the oldest democracy in the world.97,5 metres above the Parliament rises the clock called Big Ben, one of the best known of London's lendmarks. Big Ben is not really the name of the clock, but the name of the bell, named after sir Benjamin Hall. The strike of Big Ben is known world-wide because it is used by the BBC as a time signal.
The history of Westminster Abbey goes back to the 11th century althrough many parts were added later. You can see the coronation chair made in 1300 and containing the historic stone of scone a symbol of Scotish royalty which was carried from Westminster by Edward I.. Many British queens and kings are buried in the Abbey. In the Poet's Corner are the tombstones and monuments to some famous poets such John Milton, Walter Scott, Lord Byron, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth and so on but only few of them are really buried there such Geoffrey Chaucer.
London's home of the kings and queens of Great Britain is Buckingham Palace. The first monarchy who lived in there was Queen Victoria since 1837. Outside Buckingham Palace the Changing of the Guard takes place to the accompaniment of the Guard's bands.. The royal family occupies the north wings of the palace and the royal standard is flown when the queen is in residence.
In London there is lot of museums of course.the famous National Gallery forms one side of Trafalgar square. The gallery was opened in 1824 but its building was completed in 1838. it exhibits paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Tizian, Tintoretto, Rubens, Rembrandt, van Gogh, Monet , Manet, Degas, Cézanne, El Greco, Renoir, Goya and so on.. next to it there is National Portrait Gallery which houses portraits and photographs of famous people.The largest museum in London is British Museum which was founded in 1753. it contains outstanding displays of antiquities from Egypt, East Asia, China, Greece and Rome. There is exhibited Magna Charta, which limited the king's power in 1215, Gutenberg Bible, Egyptian mummies and authors original manuscripts.
But there are not many sightseeing only in London. You can find lot of interesting places out of the London. Still further on to the west on a chalk hill above the Thames rises Windsor Castle, the largest inhabited castle in the worl. William the Conqueror built the original castle in the 11th century to protect his newly acquired kingdom. But nothing of this castle was left because it was made of wood. The succesive kings built the castle of stone and during the centuries they turned it into a more comfortable residence. Not far from Windsor there is an Eton college, probably the most prestigious English Public School.
8 miles from Salisbury on Salisbury plain rises Stonehenge, a megalitic monument dating from about 2,800 B.C. the ruins consist of two stone circles and two horseshoes.the purpose of these is unknown but may have been ritual. Stonehenge is only one of a numerous prehistoric monuments on Salisbury plain
Birmingham is one of the oldest and biggest cities in Great Britain. In the 13th century it became a market town and in the 16th century a well known metallurgy centre, Birmingham is not just an industrial landscape though it is also a nice city with a lot of things to see..There are museums and galleries, there and also a few old churches such as St. Martin's church and St. Philip's cathedral from the 18th century. In the old part of town there is the town hall. Apart from historical spots there are also places where you can enjoy with the whole family like Drayton Manor Family Theme park which offers more than 250 acres of fun including splash canyon and pirate adventures.
Cornwall.. everyone coming here can feel the special atmosphere created by its beatiful landscape and the remains of cornwall's rich historical past. The most famous one is a legend of king Arthur and the Knights of the round table.according to the legend Arthur, the son of king Uther Pendragon, was kidnapped by the wizard Merlin. Merlin asked sir Ector who was a good knight to bring up the boy. some years later Merlin invited all knights to London and showed them an Exculiber in a stone, where was a transcription: the one who will draw the sword from the anvil will become the king. Many knights tried to draw the sword but only Arthur done it, althrough he was only boy yet. Then he became the most famous king of history.
When we think about Scotland what comes to our minds is the beatiful landscape of hills and moors surrounded by the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is the interesting place where men wear tartan skirts and play the bagpipes. Scotland is also known for its Scotch Whisky Johnnie Walker and delicious salmon
Aberdeen is a city in the Grampion region of nothern Scotland.until the 14th century it was the seat of the Scottish kings. It is often called the granite city as most of the buildings in the area are built of granite the nearby quarry works.Aberdeen is a great city for art and history lovers because it is a city of old beatiful houses and museums.one of the interesting and important building is St. Machar's cathedral,which is granite structure from 15th century.there are lot of museums and galleries such Aberdeen Maritime Museum where you can find displays of shipwrecks, shipbuilding, fishing, rescues and oil rigs. The Art Gallery on the other hand has a collection of 18th to 20th century art.and you can see jewellery, ceramics, tapestries and glass too.
In Ireland there is a town where were Titanic built. It called Belfast.it is a centre of shipbuilding and a large port is in there.and there is of course lot of irish pubs, which are a must while visiting the city. There are even special pub walking tours for those who want to have a beer in the best pubs in belfast.
So Great Britain is very interesting place where you can find prehisrorical monuments but all the time there is mainly very rich and modern country.
liskapouste | 00:23
