The UK- Scotland and Northern Ireland
The official name (title) of this state is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.We can use shorter names such as the United Kingdom or the British Kingdom.A lot of people use only the name " Great Britain " , but it isnīt right. Itīs the same , as if you wanted to talk about the USA and you would say such name of its part, f.e. California. Great Britain is only a part of UK.??????? ( Exactly) the UK consits only of islands and Great B 13513c213n ritain is the largest one.Ireland is the second largest one.
Now Iīd like to say something about 2 parts of these islands.About northern part of GB called Scotland and about northern part of Ireland called Northern Ireland.
Scotland is the northernmost part of Britain. It used to be independent country , but now a days itīs part of the UK.It has been part of the UK since 1707 , when the UK of GB was established by Act of Union , and English and Scottish parliaments were united.
Scotland is the second largest country of the UK - in area as well as in population . Its area is almost exactly the same as area of the Czech Republic( 78,470 sq km). Many islands belong to Scotland , f.e. the Orknays or the Shetlands. Scotlandīs climate (despite its northern geograpical position) is temperate. This is caused by the sea , especially by the warm Gulf Stream. However there are also terrible storms from sea.
About 5 millions people live in Scotland.Most of them use English. Scottish Gaelic is spoken only by 1,3 percent of population. Gaelic is member of the Celtic branch of the Indo-European family and it is also spoken in Ireland and it was spoken in the Isle of Man until(??????) 1974.Glasgow and close areas is center of Gaelic speaking inhabitants. Gaelic is also used by small number of people in Nova Scotia ,Canada.
Itīs interesting that Scotland has its own legal and educational system. Scottish law can be called civil law which is derived from Roman law(Similar to Bur.)???.English law is other. Also Scottish currency differs.Value is the same but banknotes have different design.Also the presbyterian Church of Scotland isnīt linked with the church of England. This church has established high number of public schools. Scotland has also its own football league with famous football clubs such as Glasgow Rangers.But their national team isnīt so succesful (this fact knows every fan of our national team , because we won both matches with Scotland in qualification for the Europe Championship).
Scotland is country of traditions. When I think of Scotland I imagine men dressed in kilts made of tartan , playing pipes and drinking Scotch whisky. The word "whisky" is derived from Gaelic and it means "the water of life".
I must also mention beauty of its landscape . We can find there beautiful hills covered in grass , where sheeps look for their meal. There used to be a vast forest in Scotland , but its area is novadays quite reduced. Itīs also country of lakes , everybody knows Loch - Ness and its monster "Nessy" and Loch Lomond.
The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh.This city is situated on the south-east coast of Scotland near the Firth of Forth , itīs important port and cultural, religious,(politicial) and industrial centre of the country. To main products of its factories belong beer and ships.
In Roman times it was occupied by Celtic peoples (Hadrīs wall). Once it was destroyed by English and it has lost most of its politicial importance in 1707 by Act of Union.
Edinburgh can be divided into two historical parts- the Old Town and the New Town.
The New Town is of course younger - from Georgian era.We can find here many impotant institutions , f.e. the National Gallery of Scotland .
The Old Town is still mediavel. It has retained its ancient face with old high and dark buildings. We can find there Edinburgh Castle , with its oldest part. St Margaretheīs Chapel, which is every week decorated with the flowers by girls called Margaret from all over Scotland.Another interesting building is the Palace of Holyroodhouse which was founded in 12th century , James II. was born here. It is still a royal residence. The Queen stays here two weeks each summer.
The largest city of Scotland is Glasgow. It is situated on the river Clyde. There is the worldīs greatest concentration of nucelar weapons at the UK and Us bases on the Clyde. Glasgow is mainly cultural and industrial centre.I have forgotten to mention some important Scottish people such as Walter Scott or Robert Louis Stevenson.
Northern Ireland used to be for me an unknown country . I used to listen to news and i sometimes heard that IRA did that , that Ulster did something another and then I heard something about the Republic of Ireland and I was confused. But nowadays(I hope) i know a little bit more. So first well known fact is , that the island Ireland is divided into two countries.. One is independent Republic of Ireland and the second is Northern Ireland , which belongs to the UK. The reasons of its separation were mainly religious . Northern Ireland is mainly protestant and Rep. of Ireland is catholic. About 50 on N.I. people are protestants but next 38 are catholics. But catholic inhabitants have been discriminated. F.e. in 1993 75 of unemployed people were catholics. This lead to unrest and unsian and IRA started with bomb attacks, which should force goverment to establish independent republic. So IRA is militant nationalist organization, whose aim is to create a united Irish socialist republic including Ulster- Ulster are six counties of Northern Ireland. With IRA is connected Sinn Féin - thatīs the political wing of IRA.(From 1978 its president is Gerry Adams)
Northern Ireland is mainly rolling land with beautiful nature. We can find there the largest lake in the UK. - Lough Neagh.
Belfast is the capital of N.I.. Itīs one of the youngest capital in the world and it has grown incredibly fast. Itīs recent population is about 400.000.The city is well known for shipbuilding. It was here , where Titanic was made. Sometimes its streets were full of violence , but people still live in Belfast and enjoy theirselves.There are many cultural and leisure facilities.
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