r01 Geography, climate and political division of the UK
| Autor: David Vyhlídal | Škola: G Opatov |
| Strany: 2 A4 | Obrázky: ne |
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| Textový náhled: GEOGRAPHY: Britain lies off the northwest coast of the Europe across the English Channel, the Strait of Dover and the North Sea between 50o North and 60o North latitude, and the prime meridian of 0o passes through the old observatory at Greenwich. It consists of two large islands (Great Britain and Ireland) and about 5000 smaller ones (e.g. the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England, the Isles of Scilly off the extreme south-west, the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, Anglesey off North Wales, western Scotland is surrounded by numerous islands the Hebrides and to the far north the Orkneys and Shetlands. We also must not forget the Channel Islands near the French Coast. Its neighbours are Ireland to the west and France to the southeast. It covers the area of about two and a half thousand square kilometres. Britain consists of four geographic and historical parts (countries): England (London capital), Scotland (Edinburgh), Wales (Cardiff) and North Ireland (Belfast). London, the capital is the centre of government for the whole of Britain but local authorities are also partly responsible for education, health care, roads, the police and some other things. RELIEF: The surface of British Isles can be divided into two main regions, Highland and Lowland Britain. England is mostly rolling land, rising to the Uplands of southern Scotland. The main mountain regions here are the Cornish Heights (south-west England), the Cumbrian Mountains (in the Lake District), the Pennines (form the Backbone of England). The western part of Britain is Wales. Wales is mountainous region. There are the Cambrian Mountains with the high peak Snowdon - 1085 m, around it is Snowdonia park, where are beautiful valleys, streams and waterfalls. The rest of countryside is lowland. The Cheviot Hills are on the border between England and Scotland. Well known from this region is the Hadrian's Wall built by Romans in the second century. The highest mountains are in Scotland. There are Caledonian mountains, Grampians (the highest peak of these mountains is Ben Nevis - 1343 m) RIVERS AND LAKES: Rivers in Britain are quite short but the longest of them are the Severn (354 km) and the Thames (336 km) in England, while Scotland's chief river is the Clyde. Rivers are very important as sources of energy (Tweed). As for the lakes, the best known are those in the Lake District (where the most famous are Windermere and Derwentwater) and those in Scotland (in Scotland they are called lochs - Loch Lomond and Loch Ness which became famous because of the "Loch Ness monster"). Lakes are not important for freight transport but they are a big tourist attraction. Britain also has a dense network of canals, which are important for freight transport – Manchester Ship canal. CLIMATE: British Isles have milder climate due to the Gulf Stream, which comes from the Gulf of Mexico to Western Europe. That is why winter temperatures are higher and summer temperatures are lower. During a normal summer the temperature occasionally rises above 27oC (81oF), winter temperatures below -7oC(20oF) are rare. The British Isles as a whole (including the Irish Republic) have an annual average rainfall of over 1016 mm and rain is fairly common throughout the year. Geography, climate and political division of the UK | |