The document provides an overview of facts and statistics about Britain including its population, currency, languages, government, cities, sports, traditions, foods, landmarks, famous people, and more. Some key details are that Britain has a population of over 60 million, its two official languages are English and Welsh, London is the capital and largest city, and well-known people from Britain include William Shakespeare, The Beatles, and David Beckham.

1. Presented By: The British Comenius Representatives A SHORT PRESENTATION OF BRITAIN

2. FACTS AND STATISTICS Population – approximately 60.6 million people live in Britain – 50,714,000 in England, 5,108,000 in Scotland, 2,977,000 in Wales and 1,733,000 in Northern Ireland. Currency – we use pounds sterling (£) Area – the land and water of Britain covers and area of 152,033 square miles. Language – the two official languages in Britain are English and Welsh, English being the most widely spoken. Scottish Gaelic is also spoken in some parts of Scotland. Government – the UK is a constitutional monarchy that is a representative democracy where Queen Elizabeth II is recognised as head of state, and the elected Prime Minister, Gordon Brown is the head of government. Weather – British people are renowned for talking about the weather! This probably because it changes so much. It is generally warm in Summer 14 – 25 degrees C, and cool in the Winter 1 – 4 degrees C. Economic profile – The UK is a leading trading power and a financial centre. Agriculture is a major industry, along with primary energy such as coal and oil are major contributors to the economy but services like banking and insurance are the main contributors.

3. London is the capital city of Britain. It is the world’s largest financial centre along with New York. It is also home to the first underground transport network. London

4. Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain. It has more canals than Venice in Italy! It is also home to the largest shopping centre in Europe which is called the Bullring. Birmingham Skyline of Birmingham

5. Our School (St. George’s School, Edgbaston) is in Birmingham. It is a fully co-educational independent day school. Children from ages 2½ - 18 attend our school.

6. In Britain we are an exceedingly multi-cultural nation. We have a large amount of immigrants from: India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, South Africa, Turkey, Jamaica and Somalia. This makes Britain very diverse.

7. Our Nation is made up of lots of different religions and we accept many different ways of life in Britain. We get along together and experience different cultures. The top four religions in the UK are: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.

8. We play lots of football, rugby, tennis, golf and other well-known sports but we also have some different ones as well such as curling where teams slide granite stones down lanes of ice with people to scrub the ice in front of the stone, to get it to stop where they want it to. The British Curling Team The Target to Land the Stones On Sport

9. Polo is another less common sport where teams on horse back use long handled mallets to hit plastics or wooden balls in the other side’s goal. There is also water polo which is played in swimming pools with teams of seven have to through the ball into the opposing teams goal.

10. Fencing is an individual sport where two people play to hit each other with bendy swords. There are three different weapons which can be used: foil, sabre and epee.

11. We really do have some strange traditions here are just some of them: Cheese rolling, this takes place every year in a small town in the countryside of England. A large round cheese is released from the top of the hill and competitors race it down, often spending more time on the ground than the ir feet as the hill is so steep. People rarely win though as the cheese can reach speeds of up to 112km/h. Traditions

12. Here are some pictures of the cheese rolling tradition.

13. Bog snorkelling started in Wales in 1985 and has grown even more since then. Competitors must complete two 55m lengths of peat bog wearing a snorkel and flippers, they may not use the ir arms and have to rely on flipper power.

14. Morris dancing is an old form of English folk dancing where people dressed in white with ribbons, handkerchiefs and sticks, dance to traditional music this often involves banging of sticks and waving handkerchiefs.

15. We have many foods that are linked with England such as: “ Bangers and mash” A dish of sausage and mashed potato served with gravy. “ Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding” Slices of roast beef with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, carrots and broccoli. Food

16. In Scotland haggis is their national food which is various parts of animals boiled with spices, herbs, onion and other ingredients inside an animals stomach lining. This may sound strange but it is actually very nice and uses all of the animal. Cranachan is a traditional Scottish desert

17. The Welsh eat a lot of lamb and rabbit but is also famous for a cake called Bara Brith a type of strong fruit cake. A traditional Welsh “rack of lamb” Bara Brith

18. Corned beef and cabbage is often considered to be the national food in Ireland. They also eat a huge amount of potatoes. There national drink is a heavy, black coloured beer called Guinness.

19. Landmarks of Britain

20. Big Ben: London Big Ben is linked to the Houses of Parliament and keeps London on time!

21. The London Eye The London eye was built to celebrate the millennium but it is so popular it has stayed.

22. Stonehenge Stonehenge is over 5000 years old and is thought to be a healing ground for the ancient people.

23. The Bullring: Birmingham The Bullring is a shopping centre in Birmingham and has a statue of a bull outside it.

24. The Gherkin: London The Gherkin is the headquarters of HSBC . When it was opened it was lit up green and looked like a gherkin, hence the name Gherkin.

25. The Angel of The North The Angel of the north is built so it can be seen from Newcastle cathedral and is also on an old coal mine.

26. Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace is one of the homes of the Royal Family of Great Britain. The guards wear red jackets and big fluffy hats.

27. Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is another home of the royal family. On the 20 th November 1992 the castle caught fire, then in 1994 it was restored to its former glory.

28. The Beatles were around between 1960 - 1970 and 1994 - 1995 and started pop thus changing music for ever. We also have more traditional music that has been around for hundreds of years, this is “folk music” people such a Kate Rusby and the band Steeleye Span still play folk music. Steeleye Span Music

29. Concert Halls The Concert Hall in Birmingham is well known as the SYMPHONY HALL (top left) The Main, Well known concert Hall in London is the ALBERT HALL (bottom left)

30. Books Ian Fleming is an author well known for his James Bond Series. The other well known author is J.K.Rowling. She has written the Harry Potter Series.

31. William Wordsworth; the great poet. William Shakespeare; Britain's best ever playwright. Charles Dickens; the great author of Oliver Twist and a Christmas Carol. Literature

32. Because of where Britain is, it has a very temperate climate. This means we have a wide range of weather, we have recently had some bad floods which have left many people homeless. In Scotland you often also get large amounts of snow and big frosts especially in the mountains. Weather

33. Mountains The highest mountains in the Britain include: Ben Nevis in Scotland – 1344metres Snowdon in Wales – 1085metres Scafell Pike in England – 977metres Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland – 852metres

34. Ben Nevis

35. Snowdon

36. Scafell Pike

37. Over the years Britain has produced many great writers, athletes, heroes and national treasures. Famous People

38. Martin Johnson; England captain and Rugby World Cup winner in 2003. David Beckham; football super star. Andrew Flintoff; both bats and bowls and won England the Ashes in 2005. Sporting Heroes

39. Pierce Brosnon; the best Bond ever? Dame Judie Dench; famous actress. John Cleese; some consider him to be the greatest comedian actor ever. Actors & Actresses

40. There is so much more to tell you about Britain but we hope this will give you some idea about us, our culture and way of life.

41. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING