英语国家概况(英国部分)

Chapter 1 The Land and History

英国全称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国，由英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士及北爱尔兰构成，位于大西洋东部的不列颠群岛，是个岛屿国家，由大不列颠岛，爱尔兰岛北部和众多小岛组成。面积约24.40万平方公里，人口超过6400万(2013年)。英国属于温带海洋气候，常年温和多雨，气候多变。受高纬度因素的影响，有类似极昼极夜的现象，冬季日短夜长，夏季日长夜短。

公元前3000年左右，伊比亚人最先到达大不列颠岛。随后，比克利人、凯尔特人相继来到不列颠。公元前1世纪到公元5世纪，罗马入侵。罗马人撤离后，欧洲北部的盎格鲁撒克逊人和以丹麦人为主体的斯堪的纳维亚先后入侵。到了1066年，诺曼底公爵威廉征服了英格兰，英国的封建制度正式形成。1215年，国王约翰被迫签订了大宪章。不久，议会制度形成，从此英国的王权被不断削弱和限制。1688年，“光荣革命”爆发，确立了君主立宪制。18世纪后期到19世纪前期，英国成为世界上第一个开始并完成工业革命的国家。19世纪是英国发展的鼎盛时期，分别建立了第一大英帝国和第二大英帝国。到二战前夕，英国统治了世界约1/4的土地。第一次世界大战以及第二次世界大战的爆发，导致英国的政治、经济势力大为削弱，失去了霸权地位。随着其殖民地的相继独立，20世纪60年代，大英帝国彻底瓦解。

I. General Introduction

Map of British Isles

1. Location and the Four Nations

The full name of the UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is made up of four nations: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. It is located to the northwest of continental Europe, separated by the English Channel. Geographically, it is an island country, covering an area of about 244,019 km2, and consists of Great Britain and northeastern part of Ireland, together with many small islands of British Isles.

Great Britain accounts for over 90% of the country’s tota l landmass. It is the largest island off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe with England, Scotland and Wales on it. Ireland is the second largest island of British Isles located to the northwest of Great Britain. It is divided into two parts: Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (an independent country).

England is the largest part of the UK and occupies most of the southern two thirds of Great Britain. The total area of England is 130,410 km2 with a population of around 53.9 million (Mid-2013 estimated), which covers more than 84% of the total UK population. It is the most populous and highly urbanized part of the UK. London, the capital of the UK and England, as well as the seat of government, is located in its southeastern part.

Scotland is the second largest and most mountainous part of the UK in the north of Great Britain. Compared with that of England, the population density is quite low. There are only 5.3 million people with an area of 78,789 km2. Edinburgh, its largest city, is the capital of Scotland. Scotland is famous for its beautiful natural scenery, such as Scottish Highlands1and Loch Ness2, as well as many historical places, like the Edinburgh Castles.

Wales is on the western side of central southern Great Britain. The total area of Wales is 20,779 km2, which accounts for 1/4 parts of the UK. It is also a mountainous part of Great Britain, particularly in the north and central regions. The southeast region is the most built up region of Wales, and the majority of its population live there and a large proportion of its industry is based there. Its capital city, Cardiff, is also in this region.

Northern Ireland lies in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering14,139 km2, which constitutes 1/6 of the island. It is the smallest part among the four nations of the UK, as well as the second sparsely populated part after Scotland. The capital is Belfast, the largest city in Northern Ireland both in population and in area. It is the center for government, economic, arts, higher education, business, law of Northern Ireland. Additionally, it is the birthplace of Titanic, and voted one of the world’s top destinations.

2. Climate

The overall climate in the UK is temperate maritime, which means that it is mild with temperatures neither much lower than 0℃in winter nor much higher 32℃in summer. Generally, the UK has warm summers and cool winters, with July and August as the warmest month, and January and February as the coldest. However, due to the influence of Gulf Stream3, the summers are cooler than those in continent while the winters are milder. Normally, the temperature in summer is around 20℃，with the high rarely going above 30℃. The average temperature in winter is around 0℃and seldom go below -10℃even in the most northern part of the country.

Meanwhile, since Britain is an island country and surrounded by the sea, the climate is considerably changeable compared with other countries. Since the variable climate changing day to day, it is hard for people to predict what the weather will be like the next day. Additionally, the unique geographical position is also the reason for the dampness of the climate. The rainfall is fairly distributed throughout the year. Although it does not rain every day, it is always advisable for people to bring an umbrella or waterproof clothing every day.

II. History

1. The Founding of the Nation

The recorded history of the UK begins with the Roman invasion in 55BC. In 55 and 54BC, Britain was twice invaded by Julius Caesar and his Roman troops. However, it was not until 43AD that the Roman led by Claudius I finally successfully invaded and Britain became part of the Roman Empire. The native Celtic were driven to the mountain regions of Scotland and Wales, which remained unconquered by the Romans.

The Romans have great impact on many aspects of the British culture. The Roman civilization was introduced to the Britain during this period. For example, Roman style baths and temples were built, cities like London and towns were constructed, and the system of government was also introduced. With the decline of the Roman Empire, when the Germanic troops attacked Rome in 410 A.D., the Romans had to withdraw in order to protect their own nation, which led to the end of Roman occupation.

After the leave of the Romans, three groups of Germanic tribes called the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons came to Britain from the European continent in the mid-4th century. They conquered different regions of Britain:

1Scottish Highlands：苏格兰高地，是对苏格兰高地边界断层以西和以北的山地的称，被认为是欧洲风景最优美的地区。人烟稀少，有多座山脉，包括英国境内最高峰本内维斯山。

2Loch Ness：尼斯湖，位于苏格兰高原北部的大峡谷中，面积并不大，却很深。平均深度达200米，最深处有300米。该湖终年不冻，湖北端有河流与北海相通，是英国内陆最大的淡水湖。

3Gulf stream：墨西哥暖流，简称湾流，是大西洋上重要的洋流。世界大洋中最强大的暖流，起源于墨西哥湾，是英国温和气候的关键。如果没有来墨西哥暖流，大不列颠群岛的气温将下降4至6摄氏度。