England is the southern and the largest component of the United Kingdom. Its poetic name is “Albion”, th Romans associated it with the term “albus” (white) and identified it with the Dover chalk cliffs. England has a total area of 50,383 square miles and is divided into 46 counties. The population of England’ 46 million people.
England is washed by the North Sea in the east, the Irish Sea in the west, the English Channel and the Stra’ of Dover in the south. England is bounded by Wales on the west and Scotland in the north.
One of the most beautiful places of England is the Lake District, situated in the north – west side of th Pennine system. Lake District has 6 large lakes. People come to the lakes for rock-climbing, swimming, yachting, water skiing. The most famous seaside resorts are Brighton, Hastings and Margate. These cities are considered to be the most magical corners of the country.
English people say, “There
is no climate in England, there’s only weather”. They also say that they have 3 variants of weather: when it rains in the morning; when it rains in the afternoon or when it rains all day long. Sometimes it rains so heavily that they say “It’s raining cats and dogs”. In general the climate of the country is temperate and moist. The average temperature in winter is -5°C, in summer is +25°C. It often rains in England in all seasons.
The geology and topography of England produce contrasts in landscape. Now the country is becoming increasingly popular as a tourist area. Its cultural heritage is rich and varied with many historical buildings, cathedrals, castles.
Stonehenge, an outstanding monument is also in England. How it was built and why is not known. Perhaps it was built as some kind of religious centre, or may be the position of stones will tell us about the secret of old astronomers. Stonehenge is now visited by so many tourists that it has had to be fenced off for its own protection.
The flora of England is rather poor. Heather and oak, lime, beech, fir-tree, ash,
chestnut, pine, elm are most numerous in England. Now country has 10 national parks.
As for the fauna of England it is in general similar to that in Europe. There are foxes, hares, squirrels in rural areas. Otters and seals nest near the coast. England has nearly 430 kinds of birds, including many songbirds. There is one kind peculiar to England-the red grouse. River and lake fish include flat fish, salmon, trout, herring. The capital of England London (7 mln) is situated on the river Thames. It is the chief port of the country and an important manufacturing centre, at the same time it is a great cultural centre of the country, a university city.
The main seaports of the country are London, Bristol, Dover, Liverpool and others. The most famous and oldest universities of England are in Cambridge and Oxford.
England is a highly industrialized country. It has few mineral resources of which the most important are coal and oil. The other minerals are copper, lead, zinc, iron ores. The basic industries of England are ferrous metallurgy, shipbuilding, ship-repairing, automobile and aircraft industries, mechanical engineering, electronics and electrical engineering, coal-mining, pharmaceutics. Production of textiles is spread throughout the country, the British wool textile industry has been important since old times. England is also known for hosiery and lace-making.
Though England is a highly industrialized country, agriculture plays an important role in the development of the country. England grows fruit: apples, cherries, raspberries, strawberries, black currants; grain crops: wheat, barley, oats; vegetables : potatoes, turnips, tomatoes, sugar-beet; flowers, especially tulips, and mushrooms.
The country has a long tradition of sheep production; pig breeding is carried out in the main part of England. It is the famous producer of poultry, dairy products. Fishing has always been an important industry, especially in the east.
Englishmen are naturally polite, they don’t like to display their emotions in tragic, difficult situations, they don’t like any boasting. Typical English features are independence, self-confidence, self-discipline, a strong belief in private property and love for comfort. Every Englishman is a countryman at heart. The Englishmen like animals very much, especially dogs.
They are fond of theatre. Now it is a tradition to hold in June the annual Dickens’s Festival in Rochester. More than a thousand people from all the country dressed up in Victorian costumes line up for a procession through the town. In the theatre you can see the scenes from Dickens’s novels.
The names of English writers such as Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Herbert George Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle are well known and loved by the readers all over the world.
The national emblem of the country is the rose. The saint patron of the country is St. George and the 23-rd of April is the national English holiday. St. George’s flag has a red cross with extended horizontals on a white field.