8 British Studies

Elena V. Komarov

Lecture I

The land

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was created by the Act of Union (that received Royal ascent on August 1, 1800 and came into effect January 1, 1801) and constitutes the greater part of the British Isles, a group of islands lying off the north-west coast of Europe.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or UK) is the political name of the country, which is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Several islands off the British coast are also part of the UK (# the Isle of Wight, the Orkneys, Hebrides and Shetlands, and the Isles of Scilly), although the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not. However, all these islands do recognise the Queen.

Location

The state, informally known as Britain, constitutes the greater part of the islands, described geographically as the British Isles. The largest island is Great Britain proper comprising England, Scotland and Wales. The second largest island, Ireland, is shared by Northern Ireland (or Ulster) and the Republic of Ireland (also known as Eire. It is politically independent and not part of the UK). These and over 5,500 smaller islands lie at different distances from the coasts and are included in the British administrative and political union.

GB is located between the latitudes of 50ºN, which cuts through the Lizard peninsula in south-west England and 61ºN, which stretches across the Shetlands off the north-east coast of Scotland. The prime meridian of 0 passes through the old observatory of Greenwich, London.

The total area of the country is 242,514 sq. km. Thus, GB is relatively small and compact when compared with many European countries, being, #, half the size of France or almost 20% smaller than Italy. GB is about 1,000 km long (from the southern coast of England, Lizard Point, Cornwall, to the extreme north of the Scottish mainland, Dunnet, near John O'Groats) and about 500 km across in its widest part.

The British Isles are separated from the continental Europe by the English Channel. The channel in its narrowest part (the Strait of Dover) is only 32 km wide and when the weather is fine one can easily see from the middle of the Channel the French coast. The widest part of the channel in the west is 220 km wide.

The eastern coast reaches the waters of the North Sea. The Atlantic Ocean washes the coast in the west and north-west. From Ireland GB is separated by the Irish Sea, the North Channel and St. George's Channel.

The British coastlines are deeply indented with numerous bays, inlets, and estuaries. Consequently, no part of the country is more than 120 km from some type of tidal water. However, tides along the coast and in inland rivers can cause frequent flooding in many parts, particularly on the English east coast. Besides, the islands are under constant attack from the surrounding sea. Every year, little bits of the east coast vanish into the North Sea. Sometimes the land slips away slowly, at other times it slips away very suddenly.

The seas around the coasts are not deep, often less than 90 m, because the greater part of the British Isles lies on the continental Shelf. To the north-west edge of the Shelf (to the west of Ireland) there is a sudden deepening of the sea floor from 180 m to about 900 m.