Page 40 - Exercise 1A

Page 40 - Exercise 1A

BRITAIN

There are several names for Britain: Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, the UK. The official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

A lot of people call the country ‘England’, but this is not correct. England is only one part of the UK. However, it is the largest part. There are four ‘countries’ in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

London is the capital of the UK, as well as of England, but all the other countries have their own smaller capital cities, too.

SCOTLAND: Until 1603, Scotland and England were separate countries and there were often wars between them. In that year, however, the English queen, Elizabeth I, died. She had no children, so her cousin, James, the king of Scotland, became king of England, too. That’s why it’s called the United Kingdom.

WALES: The English king, Edward I, conquered Wales in the 13th century. Since then, the eldest son of the monarch is always the Prince of Wales. Many people in Wales, especially in the north, speak Welsh as their first language. All children must learn Welsh at school and all signs must be in Welsh and English.

IRELAND: Elizabeth I’s armies conquered Ireland in the 16th century, but there were always problems in Ireland. In the 19th century, thousands of people emigrated to the USA. Finally, in the 1920s, the south became an independent country (the Republic o f Ireland), but Northern Ireland is still part o f the UK.

This is the British flag. People often call it the Union Jack. It’s really three flags in one.