This virtual journey has been transferred to the Cool Planet website from On the Line. Much of the information here relates to the time when the millennium dawned.
The text below has been taken from the virtual journey through the United Kingdom and is in a form that can be printed out. Please note that this file does not contain photographs. Individual, printable pages with photos are contained in the main virtual journey.
sport
arts and crafts
music and dance
daily life
food
speaking out
united kingdom quiz
Guide book to the United Kingdom
history
geography
facts + figures
environment
society
education
Probably the most popular sport in the UK is football (also called soccer), although rugby dominates in Wales and Northern Ireland. The football team, Manchester United, is known all over the world as are many UK footballers, including Ian Wright, Andy Cole, David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Alan Shearer. The climax of the football season is the English FA Cup, which is played at Wembley in London, and the Scottish FA Cup, held at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Rugby is said to have been invented in the 19th Century when a pupil at Rugby public school picked up the football and ran with it instead of kicking it. Rugby Union is played in Scotland, Wales and the south of England, and Rugby League is played in northern England.
One of the most famous sporting events is the Wimbledon Tennis Championship. Spectators eat strawberries and cream while watching singles and doubles matches at the All England Club in south-west London.
Scotland is the home of golf and some of the world’s most celebrated golf courses, such as Muirfield, Troon, and the ‘Royal and Ancient Golf Club’ at St Andrews. Famous fairways in Northern Ireland include the Royal Portrush and Royal County Down.
Other popular sports include cricket, fishing, horse-racing, athletics and golf. Darts is played in pubs (public houses or inns), which are the focus of social life in villages and towns. Darts is played by both men and women. The game is played by throwing short metal arrows (or darts) at a circular board divided into different sections, each of which scores varying amounts of points.
cricket
Cricket is often thought of as typically British, and it is played in villages and towns all over the country in the summer. It is played by two teams of eleven. A formal game can last anything from an afternoon to five days. Traditionally players wear long white trousers and a white shirt and jumper.
The order in which the teams bat is determined by the toss of a coin. The captain of the side which wins the toss may elect to bat or field first. The main purpose of the game is for a bowler to throw a hard leather-covered ball at three wooden stumps in an effort to dislodge two pieces of wood (bails) balanced on top. The batsman stands in front of the stumps and tries to hit the ball as far as possible with a paddle-shaped willow bat. If the ball knocks the bails off the stumps, the batsman is ‘out’ and cannot play for the rest of the game. Teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team's innings.
The UK is famous for its painting, literature, theatre, and architecture.
John Constable (1776-1837) is ranked with Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) as one of the greatest British landscape artists. Constable painted traditional rural scenes in oils. Part of the Suffolk countryside alongside the River Stour is known as Constable country because it is so closely associated with his paintings.
One of the UK’s most well-known contemporary artists is Chris Ofili, who is notorious for putting lumps of elephant dung in his paintings. His paintings use colour, resin, and glitter, as well as icons of modern policitical and musical black celebrities. The origin of his method derives from the ancient cave paintings of the Matopos Hills in Zimbabwe, which Ofili discovered while studying there. In one of Chris' paintings, "Two Doo Voodoo", you can see the heads of Nelson Mandela, Snoop Doggy Dog, Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur blooming out of the flowers of a plant motif. Chris won the 1998 Turner Prize.
The Eisteddfodau are traditional Welsh festivals, which originally featured a contest involving poetry and music, but are now a general celebration of Welsh arts and culture. Welsh lovespoons are carved from wood and have intricate handles. In the 17th century they were carved by village men to give to the women they had fallen in love with.
Born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564, William Shakespeare is arguably the most well-known writer in the English language. The Royal Shakespeare Company is based in Stratford upon Avon, and tours the country staging plays by Shakespeare and other writers. The Reduced Shakespeare Company is a group of actors who perform all 37 plays in 97 minutes.
Television soap operas are very popular in the UK. Two well-known soaps include EastEnders, which is filmed in the East End of London, and Coronation Street, which is set in a street in Manchester. The radio is also popular, and the longest running show, called Desert Island Discs, features a celebrity who chooses their favourite music and talks about what they would do if they were stranded on a deserted island.
constable
John Constable was born in 1776 at East Bergholt in Suffolk and was the son of a miller. As a young man he worked for his father in the family business but he devoted much of his life to painting the local landscape where he grew up. Constable painted traditional rural scenes in oils, and part of the Suffolk countryside alongside the River Stour is known as "Constable Country" because it is so closely associated with his paintings.
Constable married Maria Bicknell in 1816, despite opposition from her family, and the couple had seven children. They moved to London but Maria became ill and she eventually died of tuberculosis in 1828. Constable himself died in London in 1837, and was buried in the churchyard of St John's, Hampstead.
Constable exhibited regularly at the leading UK art galleries, including the British Institution, the Liverpool Academy, and the Birmingham Society of Arts. He was made an associate of the Royal Academy of Art in 1819, and a Royal Academician in 1829. Constable worked in the open-air, drawing and sketching in oils, but his finished pictures were produced in the studio. For his most ambitious works - 'six footers' as he called them - he followed the unusual technical procedure of making a full-size oil sketch. In the 20th century there has been a tendency to praise these even more highly than the finished works because of their freedom and freshness of brushwork. Painted in 1820-1, The Hay-Wain is perhaps Constable’s most famous painting. The full-size sketch for The Hay-Wain is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which has the finest collection of Constable's work. He is considered to be one of the greatest British landscape artists.
People listen to a wide variety of music in the UK, including classical, pop, jazz, traditional folk, and opera as well as Latin, African, and Asian. There are also a number of dance companies - ranging from ballet to modern.
Every generation has a favourite popular music group: in the 1960s it was probably "The Beatles", a group of young men from Liverpool who became internationally famous for songs which include Yellow Submarine. Recently, an all-girl band called "The Spice Girls" has achieved similar international fame with hits like Spice Up Your Life. Classical music is also popular, and Sir Michael Tippett and Peter Maxwell Davies are influential modern composers.
There are a number of traditional folk songs, including Auld Lang Syne, which is sung on New Year’s Eve. The song was written by Scotsman Robert Burns whose birthday (25 January) is celebrated as "Burns Night" by Scots all around the world.
Scotland's national instrument is the bagpipe, or in Gaelic piob-mhor (the great pipe). It originally came from the Middle East and is mentioned in the Bible. There are a more than 30 different kinds of bagpipes, but the most commonly known version in the UK is the Scottish Highland Bagpipe. When they arrived in Scotland, bagpipes quickly became a part of Scottish life. Today pipers still play at social occasions, including weddings, and modern rockbands such as "Runrig" use bagpipes in their music.
michael tippett
Sir Michael Tippett is one of the most influential 20th century composers in the UK. He was born in London in 1905 and studied music at the Royal College of Music before beginning his career as a composer. He was knighted in 1966.
Tippett’s work includes opera, choral, orchestral, chamber and piano music, jazz, spirituals, and imaginative new sounds like the wind machine that ends his "Fourth Symphony".
In 1943 Tippett was imprisoned as a conscientious objector in Wormwood Scrubs in London. While he was there he took over the prison orchestra. Tippett’s work has always been topical and his music addresses social issues. His most famous work "A Child of our Time" was written during the Second World War and grew out of his outrage of the plight of Jewish refugees. Tippett composed a love scene between two men for his third opera "The Knot Garden". His fourth opera, "The Ice Break", featured a race riot and a psychedelic sequence. Tippett also worked to bring music to disadvantaged and unemployed people.
In 1983 Queen Elizabeth II made Tippett a member of the Order of Merit, a very exclusive order of 24 of the country’s most honoured citizens. He died aged 93 at his home in London in January 1998.
"My name is Gwen and I am ten years old. My name is Welsh because my father comes from Wales, but I have always lived in Oxford in England.
"On school-days my dad wakes me up at 7.30am, or earlier if I need to have a shower. Then I have breakfast, which I get myself. I have cereal and toast, or sometimes I make pancakes. I don’t have to wear a school uniform so I wear sports clothes. We are not allowed to wear make-up or nail varnish at school. My friends Joanna and Charlotte come to collect me at about 8.30am and we walk to school together. School starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.30pm.
"My favourite subject at school is ADT (Art, Design and Technology) and I also like Geography. Last term, in Geography we learned about Ghana - we looked at books and drew pictures. I think farmers in Ghana work very hard. The children go to school at different times to me because it is too hot to work in the middle of the day. I like my PE (Physical Education) session - we play netball and basketball and sometimes we go cross-country running. I don’t like maths very much because the teacher is very strict.
"I take a packed lunch to school and have healthy things like sandwiches, fruit and maybe a bag of crisps. Sometimes my friends and I swap our food. In my last school we weren’t allowed to share our lunch, but we used to swap things under our desks.
"I like my mum and dad - they’re cool. My mum is very hard-working and is often tired, and so is my dad. When my dad comes home from work he makes us our supper. Me and my sister Meg get on quite well and we go shopping together sometimes. She’s three years older than me and she’s in another school, in year nine. My favourite food is chips, which I always eat when I go shopping. I also like pizza which we have nearly every night. I like Indian and Chinese food, but I don’t like rice. I have to wash my own dishes when I have eaten, and sometimes I help my mum do the gardening. I also have to tidy my bedroom.
"My best friends are Naomi and Eleanor. Joanna and Amanda are other good friends of mine. I hang out with some of the boys at school, but I don’t have a boyfriend. I used to have a boyfriend but he never spoke to me so I dumped him.
"I like window shopping and buying clothes. I go to town shopping with my friends and we always try on the worst outfit! Eleanor lives in the house next-door-but-one to us, and I get on really well with her family. Sometimes I go there for supper when my dad takes my sister swimming. After supper we sit in Eleanor’s bedroom and put on make-up. I also like pop music - singers like "Emilia", and bands like "Honey" and "The Cartoons".
"I want to go to Law School and then be a solicitor when I am older. I like to have my say and I’d like to be in a law court. Or maybe I’ll be a barrister because they make lots of money. I don’t want to get married or have children. I’d like to get a flat with a friend, either here or in London. But it’s difficult to get a flat in London because they’re expensive.
"After supper I do homework and I try to finish it on the night I get it so that I don’t have to do homework at weekends. Then I watch TV, invite my friends over, or go swimming. I swim for the City of Oxford Swimming Club, and go four times a week and enter lots of competitions. I like entering competitions because they are fun and I learn from my mistakes. I want to swim the English Channel when I am older, but I don’t know if I will or not.
"I like animals. I used to have a hamster called Marley, but it was very old and had to be put down by the vet. I had a cat called Penguin but it had heart failure and had to be put down last week. I would like to have a brown-coloured labrador dog, but I’d have to look after it all the time. I also want to have some tropical fish but they are very expensive.
"I also play the piano and I have lessons at home. My sister plays the piano as well - she’s really good. I go to bed at about 10pm, or maybe 9.30pm if I am tired."
food
The traditional meal is known as ‘meat, potatoes and two veg’ (vegetables), but
these days people in the UK are just as likely to eat Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, or
junk food (including hamburgers and döner kebabs). In fact, the nation’s current
favourite is Indian food, which has been adapted for British tastebuds and is served in
thousands of Indian restaurants all over the country. There is also a growing number of
vegetarians - people who do not eat meat, poultry or fish on either health or moral
grounds.
Fish and chips is another well-known meal - it is usually bought from special shops where the cooked food is wrapped so that customers can carry it home to eat with salt and vinegar or, in Scotland, with lemon juice. There are lots of traditional regional specialities, including haggis - the Scottish national dish which is made of sheep’s stomach stuffed with oatmeal and spices. Haggis is eaten with 'neeps and tatties' (root vegetables and potatoes).
Other regional dishes include Yorkshire pudding (made with flour and water) and roast beef, toad in the hole (sausages in mashed potato), and a meat or vegetable soup called cawl, which is eaten in Wales. The Cornish pasty comes from Cornwall, in the south-west of England. In times of poverty, the pasty might just have been filled with potatoes or turnips, rather than meat. Pasties were traditionally a favourite lunch for miners, school-children and fishermen. Sometimes the owner’s initials were marked in the crust, which was used as a handle (useful when there is nowhere to wash your hands) and thrown away once the rest of the pasty had been eaten.
The traditional English drink is tea, which is leaves boiled in water and mixed with milk. The pub (public house or inn) is a traditional place for people to socialise and drink alcohol, usually beer. When people drink together they often raise or clink their glasses and say "Cheers" or wish each other good health and the best of luck.
Ireland's most well-known drink is Guinness. This is a dark, heavy beer with a good half-inch creamy head. Its particular taste and texture depends on how it's stored and poured.
tea
"Shall I put the kettle on?" or "Would you like a nice cup of tea?" are questions you might be asked if you visit someone’s home in the UK. The traditional English drink is tea - it is drunk throughout the day and is often made during social occasions. Coffee has become popular in recent years, but many people continue to drink tea.
In the UK there are as many different ways of making and drinking tea as there are flavours. People drink Indian teas, Chinese teas, herbal teas, and fruit teas. English tea is specially adapted for UK tastebuds.
To make a cup of English tea the first step is to boil some water - usually in an electric kettle. Traditionally the drink is then made by pouring the boiling water into a teapot and adding tea leaves. The leaves are left to infuse, or brew, and when it is ready the liquid is poured into teacups through a strainer and drunk with milk. Nowadays, many people use teabags, which are perforated pockets of paper with leaves inside. There is some controversy over the use of milk in tea - some people say that milk should be put in the cup or mug before the tea, and others are equally insistent that it should be put in afterwards.
christmas cake
This recipe uses Fair Trade ingredients and can be found in the Fairworld Cookbook, published by Oxfam and Cassell, priced Ł7.99. Fair Trade means that the people who actually grow and produce our food get a fair return for their work.
Christmas Cake is traditionally served on Christmas Day. It is often made weeks in advance of being eaten, so that the cake matures and has a richer taste.
Ingredients (serves 6-10 people)
225g (8oz) Fair Trade organic sultanas
175g (6oz) currants
100g (4oz) glacé cherries, rinsed and dried
125-250g (2-4 fluid oz) brandy
225g (8oz) butter, diced
225g (8oz) Fair Trade golden caster sugar
4 eggs
225g (8oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
50g (2oz) Fair Trade almonds or pecans, roughly chopped
For the icing:
450g (1Ib) icing sugar
1 egg white
juice of 1 lemon
Method
Soak the fruit overnight in half the brandy. Preheat the oven to 110 degrees C (225 degrees F, gas mark 1/4), and grease a 20 cm cake tin. Cream the butter and the sugar together for about five minutes until light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition. Sift all the dry ingredients together. Fold into the batter, sugar and egg mixture by hand. Lastly, fold in the fruit, with any juices, and the nuts.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for about 2.5 to 3 hours, or perhaps a little longer. If the top starts to brown you can simply cover it with greaseproof paper or foil. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and the sides of the cake are pulling away from the sides of the tin. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for ten minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Using a skewer, or a cocktail stick, poke holes all over the top of the cake and pour over the rest of the brandy. The cake will absorb all of it. The cake is best eaten if made a week in advance and stored in a plastic container. The flavours will blend and develop during that time.
To make the icing, mix all the ingredients together until smooth and shiny. If you prefer to have a layer of marzipan on the cake, roll it out and shape it over the cake, then ice with the icing and decorate as desired.
lost bread
This recipe uses Fair Trade ingredients and can be found in the Fairworld Cookbook, published by Oxfam and Cassell, priced Ł7.99. Fair Trade means that the people who actually grow and produce our food get a fair return for their work.
Lost bread is an ancient English sweet-bread which was originally called payn pur-dew - taken, very loosely, from the French. It is also known as eggy bread, and it can be eaten at breakfast or as a snack.
Ingredients (serves 2)
75g (3oz) butter
2 egg yolks
50ml (2 fluid oz) milk
2 teaspoons Fair Trade ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
Fair Trade ground black pepper
4 slices of bread
a knob of butter for frying
1 tablespoon Fair Trade golden caster sugar
Method
Heat the butter in a pan until it separates into a liquid and sediment. Drain off the melted butter into a bowl, discarding the sediment. Whisk the egg yolks into the butter, then stir in the milk, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Dip the bread into the egg mixture and let any excess egg drip off the bread before frying. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and keep it hot. Fry the bread for three minutes on each side until crisp and golden. Remove the bread from the pan, sprinkle with sugar and eat while still hot.
Young people from the United Kingdom reveal their hopes and dreams for the future.
"Our dream for the new millennuim is to stop people dropping litter on the ground, to make our world a better and cleaner place." Jack, Harry, Rebecca and Heather, Icknield Walk First School, Royson, UK
"Our dream is to do
more for animals and to become vets. We would like to end cruelty to animals and
children."
B&L, Queen Mary's High School, Walsall, UK
"Our dream for the
millemium is for world peace. We both want to meet Brad Pitt and get good jobs when we are
older. (And to have less Homework and School exams)."
Francesca Bennett and Shelli Kenton, aged 14, Queen Marys High School, United
Kingdom
"Our dream for the
new millenium is that people will stop destroying the world around us.We wish that people
would stop conflict and war, and make the world a better place for the next
generation."
Becky & Louise, Queen Mary's High School, United Kingdom
"Our dream for the new Millennium is
that animals and plants in the Rainforests won't get destroyed and that they will be
around for our grandchildren and their grandchildren's children to see and Enjoy with
pleasure like we have !!!!!"
Lauren and Jenny, Queensmary High School, United Kingdom
"My dream is to become a champion
triple jumper/long jumper and a top-class basketball player."
Thomas Garratt Age 11 Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
"My dream is to be a teacher because I
would get to teach little children. I will have to do well at school and get all of my
tests right."
Daryl Harper, aged 7, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
"My dream is to be able to swim with
dolphins."
Chantal, aged 14, Stafford, UK
"My dream is to be a designer of
houses, buildings and technology so if I design all of these i'll get money to take care
of me, my family and most of the things I care or feel sorry for."
Tau han, aged 11, Milton Keynes, England
"My
dream is to be a computer expert and then tell my dad all the stuff I learned
and teach him and my brother Tau Han."
Tau Vinh, Aged 13, Milton Keynes, UK
"My dream is to be an
athlete and be in the olympics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Natalie, Lincolnshire, UK
"My dream is to meet my two favourite
popgroups, they are A1 and Five!!!"
Annabelle Self, age 9, Milton Keynes, UK.
"My dream is to be a famous actor on
Friends (a popular programme in England)."
Jessica, aged 10, UK
"My dream is that all people could learn to fly."
Susie, aged 7, Sheffield, UK
"Our dream is to pass our exams and to
get a good job. Some of us want a motorbike and some of us want to kiss Jack Ryder. We
also would like a loving family and world peace."
Julia Lewis, Beth Pearson, Bhavini Patel and Natalie Mills, aged 13-14, Midlands,
UK
"My dream is that no-one should be
cruel to animals any more and there should be not as much homework because we really can't
be bothered."
Rebecca Hayes, age 14, UK
"I want to stop people
drink driving and smoking. And I'd like the environment to be a nicer place."
Marsha, age 8, London, UK
"I hope there will be no more wars or
poor people on the streets by the year 2050."
David Watson, aged 11, Kent, UK
"I would like to see Mr Bean on the
television every day."
Michael, age 6, Banbridge, Northern Ireland, UK
"My dream is that my parents will get
the Internet at home!"
Hazel, Stafford, UK
"To have a happy world in the future
and to have no wars and to be safe and everyone to be kind and no one killing eachother
and more chocolate from Thorntons."
Anon
"I want to do my A-levels and become a
vet or a nurse."
Lindsay, age 13, Lisburn, Northern Ireland, UK
"Eat a lot of chocolate
again."
Ali, aged 7
"I would like to be the greatest Black
Male Principle Dancer with the Royal Ballet Company and to dance at the Royal Opera House
in Covent Garden and all over the world. If I had one wish to change the world, it would
be to make the world a better place. There would be no crime or poor people, and to stop
all wars."
Jade, aged 12, Royal Ballet School, London
"My dream is to be a football
commentator and commentate Manchester United's matches which they hopefully win."
Kim, age 12, Lisburn, Northern Ireland, UK
"My dream is that the world debt will
be cancelled and everybody in the world will be able to focus on a brighter future. Also
for Derby County Football Club to win the FA cup."
Karl, age 12, Derby, UK
"I would like to be a fashion designer
or a teacher and travel around the world."
Claire, age 12, Lisburn, Northern Ireland, UK
"I would like to invent
‘agreement gas’ which we could put in bombs and drop on wars and they would
agree to stop fighting. Also I want Bristol City Football Club to win the Champions
Cup."
Harry, age 9, Bristol, UK
"When I grow up I hope people will have stopped cutting the rainforest down because
if they cut all the trees down we won't be able to breathe."
Rosa, age 10, Oxford, UK
"When I grow up I want to either be a footballer or work in a computer shop as
with both of these you get paid money for playing games. I think all the computers will
blow up in the year 2000."
David, age 10, Penarth, UK
"When I grow up I want to be a teacher because I like ticking things. I think in the
next millennium boys will all become weak and tired and girls will rule the world."
Sian, age 8, Penarth, UK
"My dream is to become a vet as I really like animals and I have many pets."
James, Fareham, UK
"My dream is to become a High Court Judge because they get lots of money and they are
respected by all."
Charlotte, Fareham, UK
"I would like to be an actor or fashion designer. I love drawing and have designed
and made my own dress. I'd like to travel around the world designing textiles."
Rachel, age 11, Oxford, UK
"If I had one wish to change the
world, it would be to end all wars and feed all of the people of the world and make it so
that there are no more poor and starving people."
Philip, age 10, Ashmount Jr. School, London, UK
"My dream is in my spare time be a professional
gymnast and the rest of the time to be a whitewater kayaking instructor."
Daniel, age 11, Oxford, UK
"I would love to circumnavigate the globe, visiting lots of different countries and
their people's cultures. I would hope everyone could do this so they have a better
understanding of other people's views and opinions: this would hopefully reduce the amount
of military conflicts round the world."
Tomos, age 15, Begbroke, UK
"Don’t let your fears stand in the way of your dreams!"
Meg, age 14, Oxford, UK
"I want to save the endangered animals and stop so many trees being cut down for
paper."
George, age 8, Oxford, UK
Welcome to the United Kingdom
This guide book is packed with interesting information about the United Kingdom. It contains facts, figures, and intriguing information to stimulate and inspire.
The British Empire began to grow at the beginning of the 17th century and expanded all over the globe, particularly in North America and India. The Empire was built on colonial trade, which went hand in hand with slavery. Slaves were bought in West Africa and shipped to the Americas in appalling conditions, then sold to plantation owners in exchange for produce which was then returned to Britain. Slavery was finally abolished in all the British colonies in 1834. The 19th century was dominated by the industrial revolution which was supported by the development of the railway network. Twentieth century UK history has seen rapid technological developments, thanks in part to the First and Second World Wars (1914-18 and 1939-45).
The UK is a parliamentary monarchy, and is part of the European Union. Everyone over the age of 18 can vote. The UK does not have a written constitution. The current head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, the hereditary monarch.
Since World War II, the government has been formed by one of two parties: Labour or Conservative. The Labour government came to power in a landslide victory in May 1997 after 18 years of Conservative rule, 12 years of which was under Margaret Thatcher. Tony Blair is the current Prime Minister.
The United Kingdom comprises Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland:
England:
England emerged late in the first millennium AD as the Anglo-Saxon influence spread after
the collapse of the Roman Empire. In 1066 England was conquered by Duke William of
Normandy. His was the last successful invasion of the country. The English language
evolved as a mixture of Norman French, which was spoken by the nobility, and Anglo-Saxon,
spoken by the rest of the population.
Wales:
In 1536 England and Wales were formally united. Although the Welsh retained their language
and culture, English became the main language. In 1999 the Welsh National Assembly was
established.
Scotland:
The English made several attempts to conquer Scotland, which was inhabited by the Celts, and in 1707 the Scottish Parliament and English Parliaments were united. On 6 May 1999, the Scots elected their own Parliament.
Northern Ireland:
The island of Ireland was conquered by the Normans in the late 12th century and ruled from
England until 1921, when the country was divided. Northern Ireland remained part of the
UK, and the remainder of the country became the Republic of Ireland. Violent conflict
between Nationalists and Unionists has been a feature of life in Northern Ireland since
1969. In 1973 the people voted in a referendum to remain part of the UK rather than join a
united Ireland. A Peace Agreement was signed in 1998 but the situation has still not been
completely resolved.
The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The first three make up Great Britain, which is an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the West, the North Sea along the east coast, and the English Channel to the South. The UK is connected to France by a tunnel under the English Channel.
There are mountainous areas in northern Scotland, Wales and parts of northern England. Much of the countryside is suitable for either arable or animal farming. Popular areas for walking and exploring include the Lake District, the Pembroke Coast, the Cornish Riviera, the 560 miles of the Ulster Way, and the West Coast of Scotland. Some people claim that that they have seen a giant dinosaur-like creature living in Loch Ness in Scotland. Nessie as she is known is now a popular tourist attraction, but her existence has never been proved.
The UK has plentiful resources of coal, oil, and natural gas but only limited supplies of other minerals. It is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centres. Its capitalist economy ranks among the four largest in Western Europe. Agriculture is intensive and highly mechanised, and produces about 60 per cent of food needs using only about one per cent of the labour force. Crops grown include wheat, barley, rape, and potatoes.
| The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland comprises Great Britain
(England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland. |
|
| Capital | London |
| Population | 59 million |
| Size | 244,100 square km |
| Languages | English (official), but Welsh, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Gaelic, and other languages are also spoken |
| Average life expectancy | Male 74, female 80 |
| Infant deaths per 1000 births | 7 |
| People per doctor | 604 |
| Currency | Pound sterling |
| Literacy | Male 99%, female 99% |
| Major exports | Manufactured goods (including cars), food, beverages, tobacco |
| Total external debt | $16.2 billion |
| Communications | 450 TV sets and 1429 radios, 488 main telephone lines per 1000 people |
| Climate | Temperate |
| Time | GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| Places on the line | Greenwich - London, Humber, Lincolnshire Wolds, The Fens, Somersham, Puckeridge, North Downs, East Grinstead (West Sussex), Lewes, Peacehaven |
Sources: Economist Intelligence Unit, United Kingdom Country Profile 1997-98, http://www.odci.gov, and Human Development Report 1998 and 1999, UNDP, The World Guide 1999/2000
Agricultural land accounts for around 75 per cent of the UK's land area. The country used to have large areas of wild woodland but much of this has been cleared to make room for farms, houses, and roads. Since the Second World War, an estimated 97 per cent of Britain's ancient meadows and 50 per cent of its ancient, natural woodlands have been destroyed. In the Scottish Highlands, there used to be 1.5 million hectares of native pinewood. Now only about one per cent of this remains. More than 300 of Britain's plant species now face extinction.
Wildlife in the UK includes deer, badgers, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, small rodents - including the water vole and the tiny shrew, as well as a variety of birds. There are many protected animal species, including the otter. Populations of otter are now beginning to expand having previously faced extinction due to increased levels of pollution and destruction of their habitat in the years immediately following the Second World War. Of the UK's 15 bat species, two are at severe risk and others are increasingly rare. For example the greater horseshoe bat has suffered a 99 per cent reduction in its numbers during the twentieth century.
An increase in road-building, and changes in farming practices, including the use of pesticides, threatens many of the surviving species. Farming has become more intensive and industrialised since the Second World War. Farm woodlands, hedges, trees, streams, ponds, ditches, tracks, and verges - very important features for wildlife - have declined as a result of intensive farming. This has caused widespread damage to wildlife habitats, threatening butterflies, birds, mammals, and plants. Some small-scale farmers have begun to use organic (chemical-free) methods which provide a range of benefits for the nation's wildlife.
In terms of consumption, the UK generates a great deal of waste - including more than six billion drinks cans and 12 billion food cans every year. In recent years some people have got involved in recycling activities as well as trying to reduce the amount of waste they produce in the first place. There are lots of things that you can do in your own home and garden, in order to help protect the environment.
recycling
Each year people in the UK use more than six billion drinks cans, 12 billion food cans, 1.7 million tonnes of glass, and an average of two trees worth of paper each. In 1996 almost 25 million tonnes of household waste was generated in England and Wales.
Some people recycle their waste. Recycling is the processing of waste or rubbish back into raw materials so that it can be made into new items. This benefits the individual, the community and the planet. For example, people can buy fewer disposable items and more that have a longer life-span. They can also re-use products - use the same carrier bags for shopping, buy refillable items, and repair products instead of buying replacements.
About nine per cent of household waste is incinerated - but this disposal method can create pollutants, including the gases that cause acid rain. Acid rain damages the environment and threatens people’s health. Recycling waste helps to avoid these problems. For example, recycling aluminium cans and foil saves 95 per cent of the energy required to produce new aluminium. Recycling these, and paper and glass, also reduces the need for raw material extraction, which often causes widespread environmental damage - and it also reduces the need for landfill space and incinerators.
things you can do to help protect the environment
in the garden ...
in the home ...
The UK's population of 58 million is ethnically diverse. There are many different groups representing people with roots in countries around the world, such as Ireland, India, Uganda and Jamaica.
There are approximately 27 millions Anglicans (of the Church of England), as well as Roman Catholics, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, and Jews. There are a wide variety of accents in the UK, and only a tiny percentage of the population uses "Received Pronunciation", which is heard on the BBC World Service.
Education, health and social work, and manufacturing are the largest areas of employment. Tourism is becoming a major employer, and in 1996, 26 million business and pleasure visitors came to the UK from overseas. The Royal residencies, including Buckingham Palace in London, are particularly popular attractions.
The National Health Service (NHS) was introduced by the Labour government in 1945 and became the cornerstone of the welfare state. It continues to provide free health care for UK citizens, but over the past two decades the government has contained the growth of social welfare programmes. People are usually required to stop working in their 60s (60 years old for women and 65 for men) and they spend the rest of their lives in retirement, sometimes trying to survive on very small pensions provided by the government. Sixteen year olds can get married with their parents’ consent, but they are not legally adults until they are aged 18.
Many voluntary organisations which work in the UK, including Oxfam GB, claim that poverty is on the increase, and because of this millions of people feel powerless and excluded from society. In 1990 around seven million people were dependent on Income Support, a benefit payment which is provided by the government. It is not known exactly how many people are homeless because of poverty and the breakdown of families.
poverty
Millions of poor people around the world find that they cannot play a full part in society because of language barriers, illiteracy, or lack of confidence. This in turn means that they are excluded from taking part in the decision-making processes which affect their lives. In the UK too, this is often the reality for poor people.
food poverty
Food poverty means having too little money and other facilities to be able to eat healthy food. This has come about in the UK because traditional local shops are rapidly going out of business as large supermarket chains are being built on the outskirts of towns and cities. This means that people often have to travel some distance to buy their food. Poor people who cannot afford their own transport have to pay for public transport, which may be infrequent or unavailable. In a country where few own land where they can grow their own food, this situation makes life very difficult for poor people.
Sustain (a national development organisation) is working with Oxfam GB to help people to develop local schemes, such as a network of community cafés, food co-operatives, cooking clubs and voucher schemes to enable people in poor communities to have a healthy diet. Sustain and Oxfam also work with government departments to create policies which tackle food poverty.
homelessness
There are no national statistics on how many homeless people there are in the UK, but reports show that the number of people who have nowhere to live is rising. Sometimes young people whose families have broken down end up sleeping on the streets and begging because they have nowhere else to go.
The Big Issue organisation was set up in 1991 to give homeless people the chance to make an income. It publishes a magazine, called The Big Issue, which is written by homeless people and then sold by them in the streets. The Big Issue has been very successful in giving homeless people the chance to make a living and in spreading public awareness of homelessness and its causes. Now homeless people sell local versions of The Big Issue on streets all around the world, including South Africa and Russia.
Education is free and compulsory up to the age of 16, and children usually attend the school nearest to their home, although there are also fee-paying schools, which are sometimes residential. There are three stages of education: primary (including nursery), secondary, and tertiary. Children start school at the age of five and must continue, at least, until the age of 16. There is a national curriculum and two levels of national examinations - when students are 16 and 18 years old. If they are successful in their examinations students can go to university, or a college of higher education. Cambridge and Oxford are the oldest universities in the country - they were founded in the 12th century.
Most schools teach in English, but some schools in Wales have reintroduced lessons in Welsh to ensure the survival of the language and culture.
In Northern Ireland, primary and secondary schools are often segregated along religious grounds, although Catholic and Protestant students mix at the two universities.
All the answers to the following questions can be found in
the United Kingdom virtual journey and guide book pages.
1. What structure connects the UK to France?
2. In which century was Cambridge university founded?
3. What is the name given to a traditional Welsh festival, which originally featured a contest involving poetry and music, but is now a general celebration of Welsh arts and culture?
4. How many people live in the UK?
5. Who is "Nessie"?
6. Which artist is famous for putting lumps of elephant dung in his paintings?
7. How many drinks cans does the UK generate in waste per year?
8. What is 'haggis'?
united kingdom quiz answers
1. The structure that connects the UK to France is the Channel Tunnel.
2. Cambridge university was founded in the 12th century.
3. Eisteddfodau is the name given to a traditional Welsh festival.
4. 58.144 million people live in the UK.
5. "Nessie" is a giant dinosaur-like creature who is said to live in Loch Ness in Scotland. She is a popular tourist attraction, but her existence has never been proved.
6. The artist who is famous for putting lumps of elephant dung in his paintings is Chris Ofili.
7. The UK generates six million drinks cans in waste per year.
8. 'Haggis' is the Scottish national dish, made of sheep's stomach and stuffed with oatmeal and spices.
united
kingdom virtual journey home page | On
the Line home page