The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It has a varied landscape from mountains to lowlands. The UK has a temperate climate influenced by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Many groups have invaded and settled in Britain over time, including the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and Normans, leaving behind cultural and linguistic influences. The country developed a strong monarchy and parliamentary system of government.

1. Great Britain

2. The United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland
The United
Kingdom is made
up of:
England - The
capital is London.
Scotland - The
capital is Edinburgh
Wales - The capital
is Cardiff.
Northern Ireland -
The capital is
Belfast.

3. The UK is bordered by
four seas:
• to the south by the
English Channel, which
separates it from
continental Europe
• to the east by the
North Sea
• to the west by the
Irish Sea and the
Atlantic Ocean

4. The Land
• The UK Landscape is
very varied, ranging
from the Grampian
Mountains of Scotland
to the lowland fens of
England which are at or
below sea level in
places.

5. The Land
• Scotland and Wales are the most mountainous
parts of the UK. A ridge of hills, the Pennine, runs
down the centre of northern England. Many
coastal areas are low-lying, especially in the east
and south of England. These include the wetlands
of the Somerset levels, that regularly flood during
heavy rain.
• Most of the UK is made up of gently rolling hills
with isolated areas of high ground such as
Dartmoor in the south-west of England or the
Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland.

6. Rivers
Being a relatively small
Island, the UK's rivers
are not very long. The
Severn, its longest river,
is just 338 km in length.
Other major rivers include
the Thames, which
flows through Oxford
and London.

7. Climate
The UK's climate varies greatly according to
season and location, but on the whole can be
described as mild with few extremes. Britain is
an island country and the surrounding sea
gives England a varied climate. In general there
are warm summers and cool winters. The
summers are cooler than those on the
continent, but the winters are milder.
The overall climate in England is called
temperate maritime. This means that it is mild
with temperatures not much lower than 0ºC in
winter and not much higher than 32ºC in
summer. It also means that it is damp and is
subject to frequent changes.

8. The main influence on British climate is close
proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, northern latitude,
and the warming of the waters around the land by
the Gulf Stream .
Month
Average
Sunlight
(hours)
Temperature
Average
Precipitation
(mm)
Wet Days
(+0.25
mm)
Average Record
Min Max Min Max
March 4 3 10 8 21 37 11
April 5 6 13 2 26 37 12
May 6 8 17 1 30 46 12
Month
Average
Sunlight
(hours)
Temperature
Average
Precipitation
(mm)
Wet Days
(+0.25 mm)
Average Record
Min Max Min Max
June 7 12 20 5 33 45 11
July 6 14 22 7 34 57 12
Aug 6 13 21 6 38 59 11
Month
Average
Sunlight
(hours)
Temperature
Average
Precipitation
(mm)
Wet Days
(+0.25 mm)
Average Record
Min Max Min Max
Sept 5 11 19 3 30 49 13
Oct 3 8 14 4 26 57 13
Nov 2 5 10 5 19 64 15
Month
Average
Sunlight
(hours)
Temperature
Average
Precipitation
(mm)
Wet Days
(+0.25 mm)
Average Record
Min Max Min Max
Dec 1 4 7 7 15 48 15
Jan 1 2 6 10 14 54 15
Feb 2 2 7 9 16 40 13

9. Area: 244,100 km²
Population: about 60 million
Capital: London (7 million )
Official language: English
Currency: pound sterling
The UK part of Europe and is a
member of the European Union
(EU).

10. The main industries: steel, metals,
vehicles, shipbuilding, shipping,
chemicals or electronics.
30 percent of land is arable and the main
agricultural products are grains, sugar,
beet, fruit and vegetables.
Resources : coal, oil, gas and lead
The main trading partners: Germany, the
USA, France and the Netherlands.

11. Brief history
• The first men and women came to Britain over
2.5 million years ago. They were hunters and
gatherers of food who used simple stone tools
and weapons.
• 500 BC - The Celtic people arrived from
Central Europe.
The Celts were farmers and lived in small
village groups in the centre of their arable
fields. They were also warlike people. The
Celts fought against the people of Britain and
other Celtic tribes.

12. The Romans came to Britain nearly 2000 years ago
( in 43 AD).
The Roman Empire made its mark on Britain, and even
today, the ruins of Roman buildings, forts, roads, and
baths can be found all over Britain.
Britain was part of the Roman Empire for almost 400
years!

13. • By the time the Roman armies left
around 410 AD, they had established
medical practice, a language of
administration and law and had created
great public buildings and roads.
• Many English words are derived from the
latin language of the Romans.

14. Romans gave British:
• Language (words of Latin origin)
• The Calendar
• Laws and a legal system
• The Census
• straight roads
• central heating
• concrete
• aquaducts (bridges for water)

15. Anglo-Saxon Britain
• The Roman army left Britain about AD 410.
When they had gone there was no strong
army to defend Britain, and tribes called the
Angle, Saxon, and Jute (the Anglo-Saxons)
invaded. They left their homelands in
northern Germany, Denmark and northern
Holland and rowed across the North Sea in
wooden boats.

17. Vikings

18. Who were the Vikings?
• Vikings were also known as the Norsemen. They were
great travellers and sailed to other parts of Europe,
where they traded, raided, and often settled
• They were also farmers, fishermen, trappers and
traders. Viking craftsmen made beautiful objects out of
wood, metal and bone; Viking women were skilful
weavers, produced fine, warm textiles.
• Norsemen means 'people from the North'
• Many Vikings were great travellers and sailed all over
Europe and the Atlantic Ocean in their long ships.

19. Vikings´ships

20. Why did the Vikings
invade Britain?
• Most Vikings who sailed overseas were
simply searching for better land for their
farms. Their land was not very good for
farming. Norway was very hilly, Sweden
was covered in forests, and Denmark had
a lot of sandy home land.

21. Place Names
• Place names ending in –by eg. Derby, Rugby, Whitby,
Selby, Grimsby
–by meant farm or homestead (village). These places
mark the earliest Viking settlements.
• Derby - A village where deer are found
• Place names ending in –thorpe (or -thorp, -throp or –
trop) eg. Scunthorpe and Grimethorpe
-thorpe meant farms.
• Place names ending in –toft or-tofts.
A -toft referred to the site of a house or a plot of land.

22. Normans
• The Normans were people who lived in
Normandy in Northern France. They were
originally Vikings from Scandinavia.
• They invaded England in 1066

23. The story behind
invasion
• King Edward III (called also the Confessor –
built Westminster Abbey) died on January 5th,
1066 after a reign of 23 years.
• left no heirs
• rivalry for the crown Battle of Hastings
• destruction of the Anglo – Saxon rule in
England

24. Who should be the next
King?
• no firm rules about who should be the King
• the crown passed to whoever could:
• show that they had some sort of blood
claim
• grab the throne before anyone else got it

25. Claimants to the English
throne
Harold Godwinson
• powerful noble in England
• good soldier (had won many battles)
• said that it was Edwards dying wish that he,
Harold, should have the crown (no witness)
• not a direct blood link to the King Edward
• King Harold II of England – the day after
Edward´s death

26. Claimants to the English
throne
William, Duke of Normandy
• distant cousin of Edward the Confessor
• claimed that Edward and Harold promised
him the throne

27. Battle of Hastings 1066
• lasted one day
• William won

28. William Duke Of
Normandy,
King of England
• feudal system – King owning everything (land,
animals and buildings)
• built a string of castles in strategic areas
across the country (Tower of London,
Windsor)

29. The Tudors
• Welsh-English family
• 1485 to 1603 - they ruled for 118 years
• encouraged new religious ideas, overseas
exploration and colonisation.
Henry VII 1485 - 1509 Henry VIII 1509 - 1547
Edward VI 1547 – 1553 Jane Grey 1553 - 1553
Mary I 1553 – 1558 Elizabeth I 1558 - 1603

31. 1. Catherine of Aragon
2. Anne Boleyn
3. Jane Seymour
4. Anne of Cleves
5. Catherine Howard
6. Katherine Parr
"Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded,
survived..."

32. • Golden age of English history
• foreign trade, exploration, literature,
art
• Francis Drake
• Virginia in USA is named after her

33. During Queen Victoria's reign:
Britain became the most powerful and richest country in
the world, with the largest empire that had ever existed, ruling
a quarter of the world's population.
Towns and cities got piped water, gas and, by the
end of the century, electricity
The number of people living in Britain more than
doubled from 16 million to 37 million, causing a
huge demand for food, clothes and housing.

34. • Factories and machines were built
• Railways, originally built to transport goods,
meant people could travel easily around the
country for the first time. Railways brought
new foods to towns and cities.
• Many households had a servant or servants –
in 1891, 2 million servants were recorded in
the census
• Seaside holidays were 'invented' (became
popular).

35. Monarchy
•constitutional monarch
•officially the head of the
state, but the country is
run by the government, led
by the Prime Minister
•Queen of 16 former British
colonies including
Australia, Canada and New
Zealand and the head of
the Commonwealth

36. Political System
Prime Minister
Leader of the majority party
In the House of Commons
Cabinet
Treasury
Foreign Office
Home Office
The Speaker The Lord
Chancellor
House of
Commons
cca 650
Members of
Parliament
MPs are
elected
House of
Lords
700
members
(hereditary and life
peers)
Lords Spiritual
(senior Bishops)
Lords Temporal
(lay peers)
Peers are not
elected
Government Parliament

37. Currency
The monetary unit is a
pound.
1 pound = 100 pence
(100p)