About Britain

basic document

Country name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK for short).

Welsh: teyrnas unedig prydain fawra gogle DD iwerddon

Scottish Gaelic: In a village in mu thuath.

Irish: rí ocht aontai the na breath aine mó ire

Scottish: Agus thuaise arté ire ann unity of British Kingdom and Norlin Airland

Interpretation of the country name: "Britain" means "colorful" in Celtic. Because some English people moved to France, they called the mainland Great Britain.

National flag: it is a horizontal rectangle with an aspect ratio of 2:1. This is a "meter" flag, which consists of a dark blue background and red and white "meters". The red cross with a white border in the national flag represents St George, the patron saint of England, St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland and St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. This flag was made in 180 1, and it was formed by overlapping the original English white red plus ten flags, the Scottish blue and white cross flag and the Irish white red cross flag.

National emblem: the national emblem of Britain. The central pattern is a coat of arms, and the upper left corner and lower right corner of the shield are three golden lions with a red background, symbolizing England; In the upper right corner is a red lion standing on the golden ground, symbolizing Scotland; In the lower left corner is the golden harp on the blue ground, symbolizing Northern Ireland. On both sides of the coat of arms are a lion wearing a crown representing England and a unicorn representing Scotland. There is a motto written in French around the coat of arms, which means "evil is rewarded with evil, and evil with evil"; There is a guardian medal hanging at the bottom, and the ribbon says "God has God, I have rights". At the top of the coat of arms is a gold and silver helmet inlaid with jewels, an imperial crown and a crowned lion.

National anthem: "God Bless the Queen" (if the incumbent is a male monarch, the national anthem is changed to "God Bless the King").

Area: 243,600 square kilometers

Population: 60.2 million (June 2005). According to statistics in 2006, the population of Britain is about 60.6 million, and now the total population of Britain is about 60.78 million. Among them, there are 4910.8 million people in England, 2.9 million people in Wales, 5.06 million people in Scotland and 0/0.69 million people in Northern Ireland (5438+0 in 2006). The official and common language is English. Welsh is also spoken in northern Wales, and Gaelic is still spoken in parts of the northwest highlands of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Most residents believe in Protestantism, which is mainly divided into the Church of England (also known as the Anglican Church, whose members account for about 60% of British adults) and church of scotland (also known as the Presbyterian Church, with 660,000 adults). In addition, there are Catholic churches and larger religious groups, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam.

British monarch

Queen Elizabeth II is called "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and other lands and territories, head of the Federation". 1April 2, 9261Born in London, formerly known as Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, the eldest daughter of King George VI, the fourth monarch of Windsor Dynasty in England. Educated in the palace since childhood, majoring in constitutional history and law. She has profound knowledge in history, language and music, and can speak French, Spanish and German fluently. In the late World War II, he joined the British auxiliary forces and received training in driving and repairing motorcycles. 1947 On July 9th, she got engaged to her distant cousin, Prince philip Mountbatten (now Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), and got married on October 20th of the same year/kloc-0.

Elizabeth II began to represent King George VI in various formal occasions in 195 1. 1February 6, 952, the king died and she succeeded to the throne. 1953 crowned on June 2. From June 5 to February 2003, Elizabeth II underwent face and knee surgery at Edward VII Hospital in London. The doctor removed a piece of bad skin from the queen's face and removed the cartilage of her left knee. The Queen is the hereditary head of state of Britain. In addition to Britain, she is also the head of state of Australia, New Asia, Canada and other countries. Elizabeth II has three sons and a daughter. The eldest son Prince Charles is the heir to the throne, the second son Andrew, the third son Edward and the daughter Alice Louise Victoria Alexandra Dagmar. Elizabeth II visited China from 1986 to 10, and was the first head of state to visit China in British history.

On June 17, in London, England, Queen Elizabeth II (left) and her husband Prince Philip drove out of Buckingham Palace in a carriage to attend their 80th birthday celebration. Elizabeth II's birthday is April 2 1. Traditionally, British officials usually choose a Saturday in June to celebrate their birthdays.

Capital: London; Population: 7 172036(200 1 year). The hottest month is July, and the general temperature is 13℃ ~ 22℃. The coldest month is 65438+ 10 month, and the general temperature is 2℃~6℃. In April 2006, Beijing and London became sister cities. London is the political center of the country and the headquarters of the British royal family, government, parliament and political parties. Westminster Palace is the activity place of the upper and lower houses of the British Parliament, so it is also called the Parliament Hall. Westminster Abbey, south of Parliament Square, was built in 1065, and has always been the place where the king or queen of England was crowned and members of the royal family held weddings. There are more than 20 British kings, famous politicians and military strategists, as well as the cemeteries of scientists, writers and artists such as Newton, Darwin, Dickens and Hardy. Buckingham Palace is the royal palace in Britain, located in the central area of west London, with St James Park in the east and Hyde Park in the west. It is a place where members of the British royal family live and work, and it is also a place for major state affairs in Britain.

British cities

Birmingham is the most culturally diverse city in Britain, with a total population of about 2 million. According to the statistics of 200 1, 29.7% of the population is not white, and there are many immigrants from the Caribbean, South Asia and Ireland, which is the region with the largest number of black Christians in Jamaica outside Jamaica. Irish people celebrate St Patrick's Day parade, which is the third largest parade in Birmingham after Dublin and new york. The "Balati" curry cooking method invented by Birmingham Indians has become popular all over the world.

Birmingham receives about 22 million tourists every year, and its business center is second only to West End of London.

There are 60 kilometers of rivers in the center of Birmingham. During the industrial revolution, these rivers were the lifeblood of industry, but now they are only used for tourism. People often say that the river in Birmingham is longer than that in Venice, which is only 43 kilometers. In fact, Birmingham is much bigger than Venice, so the proportion of rivers is not as big as Venice.

During World War II, Birmingham was heavily bombed and Victorian buildings were completely destroyed. All of them were rebuilt in 1950s and 1960s, so Birmingham became the ugliest city in Britain, often called "concrete forest".

In recent years, great changes have taken place in the city center. Many old streets have been restored and many squares have been built.

history

Birmingham used to be a small village, but it became a big town in the14th century. After the industrial revolution, the city developed rapidly because of the discovery of coal mines nearby. Urban population 1800 is 75,000, 1900 is 65,000, and 1889 is included in the list of British cities.

National Day: There is no traditional national day in Britain, only the Queen's "official birthday". Queen Elizabeth II's real birthday is April 2 1, 1926, and her "official birthday" is scheduled for Saturday near June 1 1 every year. At this time of year, the weather in London, which has always been known as the "foggy city", is also better. Its main activity is for the Queen to personally review the "flag salute determinant". Because Saturday is not a working day, it is not a holiday.

State dignitaries: the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II; The head of government is Gordon Brown, leader of the Labour Party.

National flower: rose

National bird: red-breasted pigeon

National stone: diamond