Phisical geography of the United Kingdom

List of questions:

1. Geographical position territory

2. The seas

3. The relief: the Highlands and the Lowlands

4. Rivers, Lakes

5. The mineral resources

6. The climate

Literature:

1. Нестеров Н.М. Страноведение: Великобритания. Ростов-на-Дону, «Феникс», 2006.

2. Михайлов Н.Н. Лингвострановедение Англии. М., «Академия», 2003.

3. Артемова А.Ф. Великобритания. Книга для чтения по страноведению. М, «АСТ: Восток-Запад», 2006.

4. Томахин Г.Д. По странам изучаемого языка. М., «Просвещение», 1998.

5. M. Vaughan-Rees In Britain. Lnd., 1999.

 

1. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION TERRITORY

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK for short) is situated on a group of islands lying off the north – west coast of Europe. The total area of the country is 94217 sq. miles (244021 sq. km.) of which nearly 99% is land and remainder inland water. The UK is a small country. It is twice smaller than France and Spain. The UK’s territory is 2% of the inhabited territory of the world, claiming the 75^th place among other countries.

The prime meridian of 0° (or the zero longitude line) passes through the old Observatory of Greenwich in London. The time in every country in the world is calculated from this line.

Of all the islands comprising the territory of the UK, Great Britain is the largest, being the biggest island in Europe and the 7^th largest in the world. It is 300 miles (483 km) across its widest, 60 km. at its narrowest and 600 miles (966 km) long at its longest.

The second largest island is Ireland, which lies to the west of Great Britain and separated from it by the North Channel and the Irish Sea. The total area of 6 counties, making Northern Ireland, covers 5452 sq. miles (14120 sq. km). among the smaller coastal islands forming administrative counties of the UK are the Isle of White, situated off the southern coast of England, the Isles of Scilly – off the extreme south-west and Anglesey – of north of Wales.

Western Scotland is fringed by numerous islands – the Hebrides. To the north and far north of Scotland are the important groups of the Orkneys and the Shetlands. All these islands have administrative ties with the mainland. But two islands the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea and the Channel Islands in the English Channel, lying south of England and forming archipelago, have a large measure of administrative autonomy and strictly are not part of the UK but are dependencies of the Crown.

a. THE SEAS

Great Britain is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the north, north-west and south-west. From the Europe continent it is separated by the North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the English Channel. The North Sea and the English Channel are often called the Narrow Seas. On the west Great Britain is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea, the North Channel and St. George Channel. The most important sea routes pass through the English Channel and the North Sea linking Europe with America.

Great Britain is very irregular shaped, being deeply indented by numerous gulfs of the sea. Owing to the numerous bays and inlets no point in Great Britain is as much as 75 miles (121 km) from the sea.

The seas surrounding the British Isles are rather shallow – less than 91 m. because the islands lie on the continental shelf. It can be proved by the fact that to the north-west along the edge the sea floor plunges abruptly from 183 m to 914 m. the shallow waters are important because they provide excellent fishing grounds as well as breeding grounds for fish.

The original connection of the British Isles with the continent can be further proved by the fact that the chalk ridge which ends in the cliffs of Dover reappears on the coast of France opposite, and the position and quality of the coal layers beneath the chalk in Kent have very much in common with those in France.

Still further proof of the continental origin of the British Isles is the remains of elephants and extinct species of other animals and plants found in Britain. They help to establish the dates when the British Isles became separated from the continent. The remains of elephants prove that the English Channel was formed after these animals had reached the continent. Obviously, in the Ice Age the first human inhabitants of Britain were able to migrate from the continent on foot long before man learned boat making.

THE ENGLISH CHANNEL

The English Channel which separates Great Britain from France stretches 350 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. It is 120 miles and its widest point and only 21 miles (36 km) at its narrowest. One can see the white cliffs of Dover from the French coast on a clear day. This may explain the origin of the Old Romantic name given to Britain – Albion.

The British Channel is one of the busiest and most dangerous shipping routes in the world. Half of all the world’s ship collisions take place between the Western end of the Channel and the Baltic. There is a strong tide running up the Channel from the south, and other coming down from the north. These two tidal movements meet near the mouth of the Thames, creating very strong currents.

Also there is a huge mountain called the Goodwin Sands in the Channel. It is 30 km long and 13 km wide. The mountain of sand constantly moves and sucks ships into it. For centuries the Channel has been Britain’s defence against invaders. And it has also been the way to the Continent, a highway crowded with ships.

Several armies of swimmers have crossed the Channel by balloon, canoe, rowing boat, parachute water-skis and swimming. It presents a challenge even to the strongest swimmers as the tides and currents make it difficult for a swimmer to stay on course and swim in a straight line. The maneuvers to avoid the currents more than double the distance. The first person to swim the Channel in 1875 was captain Matthew Webb. He landed in France 21 hours and 45 minutes after entering the water at Dover. Since then 4000 people have tried to cross the Channel, but less 400 have succeeded. The water in the Channel is usually cold, there is oil on the surface and there are a lot of jelly fish under the water. The Channel swimmers cover their bodies with grease to protect their bodies. The swimmer loses 7 kg of his weight during the swimming. But swimming enthusiasts are not stopped by the difficulties. Their purpose is not only to cross the Channel, but to set a new record. An Englishman called Michael Read swam the Channel 31 times. The fastest time was 7 hours 40 minutes. The youngest person to swim was 11-year-old boy. It took him 12 hours to swim across in September 1998.

THE CHANNEL TUNNEL

The idea of a tunnel under the sea between Britain and France has been put forward a number of times over the last 200 years. Even Napoleon had a plan to dig a tunnel and conquer England. On several occasions constructions were actually started.

One of the first people who tried to dig a tunnel under the Channel was a French mining engineer, Albert Mathieu by name. His tunnel collapsed. In 1881 colonel Beamont and captain English from Britain also tried to dig a tunnel. Their tunnel went 6 km out into the Channel. Queen Victoria stopped them saying it was dangerous to have a link with France. It was a very good tunnel and it still survives.

The latest abandoned project was that of 1975. In 1987 a new Anglo-French group called Eurotunnel was chosen to construct a system which was to link the road and rail works of Britain and France. The Channel, as it is commonly known, was opened on May 6, 1994. It took 10 years to build it. There are two rail tunnels and a service and security tunnel, each nearly 50 km long. Lorry and car drivers take their vehicles onto special trains and stay inside their Lorries and cars for 20 minutes journey through the tunnel. Foot passengers sit in a normal train compartment. Direct trains already run from London to Paris and Brussels. Trains, which carry motor vehicles as well as passengers can travel through the tunnel at speed as high as 160 km per hour (100 m\h). There is also a possibility that separates road tunnel for cars and lorries will be built in the future. The tunnel is the largest undersea tunnel in the world.

2. RELIEF