Перевод текста "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" на русский язык

Geographical situation. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is situated mainly on two islands - Great Britain proper (England, Scotland and Wales) and Ireland (often called Ulster).

The country is separated from the continent by the English Channel, the narrower part of which is called the Strait of Dover. The seas surrounding the isles are very shallow and reach in fish. There are a lot of rivers in the country, but they are not very long. Though the Severn is the longest river, the most important river is the Thames. It is navigable to the seagoing ships all the year round and the largest port of the country in the east of London is situated here as well.

Climate. The Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream influence the weather of the British Isles. Summers "are relatively cool and rainy, winters are mild. There are often fogs in winter and autumn, mixed with smoke in the cities they sometimes form thick smog which can be seen far above the metropolises. The average winter temperatures are above zero, sometimes lower in the north. Snow is very rare and does not lie on the ground for long.

Landscape. There are mountains in certain parts of the country. The ancient Pennines stretch across the center of Great Britain from north to south. The Highlands rise in the north of Scotland. Cornwall and Wales in the south-west of the country are two mountainous peninsulas. The south-east of the GB is a lowland country,

Population and cities. The British Isles cover an area of about 121,600 sq. miles. The territory of the country is densely populated. The greater part of the population is urban, about 80% live in towns and cities. There are many industrial cities in Great Britain, such as London (the capital of the whole country and England at the same time), Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Sheffield, etc. Industry. Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. The traditional and very important industries are iron and steel production (Sheffield and Birmingham), textiles (Manchester and Leeds), and chemicals. Coventry is an important centre of aircraft and car industries. The country has very few raw materials арап from coal. It imports crude oil and petrochemicals, ores, timber, oolton and food-stufis. The export comprises motor-cars, lorries, buses (double-deckcrs), aircraft, electronics, chemicals, woolen and cotton fabrics, textile products, etc.

Political system. Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of England (Elizabeth II) is the head of the executive, the head of the judiciary and the commander-in-chief of all the Royal armed forces.The Queen summons or dissolves the Parliament. In fact she acts on the advice of her Ministers. There is a phrase "the Queen reigns but does not rule” which describes her limited power.

The supreme legislative authority is shared by the Queen and the Parliament which consists of the two chambers - the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Lords has 850 members (peers, lords, bishops and archbishops) who are mostly large company directors, bankers, industrialists and newspaper owners. The leader of this chamber is Lord Chancellor who sits upon the Woolsack, which reminds of the times when England was a powerful country and its commercial prosperity was founded on Her wool export. The other chamber - the House of Commons - consists of 630 members who are elected by ballot. The elections are held every five years. The party which gets the majority of seals in the House of Commons becomes the Government, the party (parties) in the minority is called the Opposition. The Government sils to the right of the Speaker (the leader of the chamber), the Opposition on the left. There are only 437 seats in the House of Commons, thus on great occasions, when the House is full, the members have to sit in the gangways or stand round the Speaker's Chair and at the Bar.

The largest and most important political parties which take turns in the Parliament are the Conservatives (the Tories) and the Labour party (the Wliigs). The leader of the party in power is elected Prime Minister of ihe country. Today Gordon Brown, the leader of the Labour Party, is the Prime Minister of the Kingdom.