英国，全称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国(The UnitedKingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)，由英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰四个部分构成。由于英格兰在各地区中人口最多，经济最发达，又是首都伦敦所在地，人们常常非正式地以英格兰来代表整个“联合王国”。“英国”这一中文翻译正是来源于此。在英文当中，英国常常被简称为The United Kingdom (The UK)，Great Britain或者Britain。需要指出的是，Great Britain从严格意义上讲其实是一个地理名词，指称的是大不列颠岛，包括英格兰、苏格兰和威尔士三个地区。

       英国国土面积24.3万平方公里，是一个位于欧洲西部的岛国，由大不列颠岛（包括英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士）、爱尔兰岛东北部和一些小岛组成。隔北海、多佛尔海峡、英吉利海峡与欧洲大陆相望，它的陆界与爱尔兰共和国接壤。英国南北最长不到1000公里，东西最宽不超过500公里。

       英国领土的大部分地形崎岖不平，有很多山地和丘陵，大不列颠岛尽管面积很小，但是仍然可以根据地形划分为两个区域：高地区，即西北的丘陵山区地带；低地区，即东南部起伏的平原地带。高地区主要在西北部，低地区则主要在东南部。

       英国属海洋性温带阔叶林气候，终年温和湿润。通常最高气温不超过32℃，最低气温不低于-10℃。虽然气候温和，但是英国的天气却总是变化无常，英国人见面寒暄时也总少不了天气这个话题。

       英国的大小河流不计其数，境内主要河流有塞文河（354公里）和泰晤士河（346公里），最大的湖泊是位于北爱尔兰的内伊湖，面积382平方公里。

       无论是从地理上还是行政区划上，英国都可以被分为英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰四部分。在四个地区中，英格兰面积最大，人口最集中，经济最发达，作为全国政治、经济、文化中心的首都伦敦就在英格兰境内。苏格兰位于大不列颠岛北部，南临英格兰。该地区也包含周围许多小岛，是面积第二大的地区。苏格兰境内地形丰富多样，高山峡谷遍布。首府爱丁堡（Edinburgh）也是著名的旅游城市，以其古老的建筑特色和独特的苏格兰风情吸引着来自世界各地的游客。威尔士与英格兰西南接壤，面积只有2万多平方公里，多为山区丘陵地势。首府加的夫（Cardiff）是重要的工业和港口城市。北爱尔兰位于爱尔兰岛的北部，南与爱尔兰共和国接壤，东与大不列颠岛隔海相望，是四个地区中面积最小的。工业区和大城市多集中在沿海地区，包括首府贝尔法斯特（Belfast）。

学银课程 （Geographic Condition in the UK） 

 

学习要点（Learning Objectives）

(1) Understand the geography and physicalfeatures of theUnited  Kingdom.

(2) Know the characteristics of the climateand weather of the country.

(3) Have an idea of what the four componentsof theUKare.

 

中心问题（Project）

What information about theUKcanbe inferred from its full name? What are the four components of the country?

 

生词与词组（New Words and Expressions）

Great Britain                                   大不列颠

Northern Ireland                      北爱尔兰

geographical term                    地理名词

political term                            政治名词

European Continent                 欧洲大陆

English Channel                       英吉利海峡

Republic of Ireland                  爱尔兰共和国

territory                                    领土；领地

archipelago                              群岛，列岛

landscape                                 （陆上）风景，自然景色

topography                               地形；地貌；地势

highland                                          高地，高原（地区）

lowland                                    低地

the Severn                                塞文河

the Thames                               泰晤士河

drain                                        排出；(使)流出

Lake District                           （英格兰）湖区

tourist destination                    旅游胜地

latitude                                     纬度

determining factor                   决定性因素

moist                                        湿润的；潮湿的

drift                                         水流

temperate                                 (气候)温和的

maritime                                   (气候)海洋性的

unpredictable                           不可预测的

offshore                                    离开海岸的；近海的；

metropolitan                             大都会的;大都市的

coastline                                   海岸线

注释\解释（Notes and Explanations）

LoughNeagh--Lough Neagh, sometimes called Loch Neagh, isa large freshwater lake inNorthern  Ireland. It is the biggest lake inNorthern Ireland, supplying 40% of its water;the biggest on the island of Ireland, and the biggest in the British Isles. Its name comes from Irish.

The Lake Poets--The Lake Poets are a group ofEnglish poets who all lived in the Lake District of England at the turn of thenineteenth century. As a group, they followed no single “school” of thought or literarypractice then known. They are considered part of the Romantic Movement. Thethree main figures of what has become known as the Lakes Schoolare William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey.

ChannelTunnel--The Channel Tunnel is a 50.5-kilometreundersea rail tunnel linking theUnited KingdomwithFrancebeneath theEnglish Channel at the Strait of Dover. At37.9 kilometres, the Channel Tunnel possesses the longest undersea portion ofany tunnel in the world. The tunnel carries high-speed Eurostar passengertrains, Eurotunnel Shuttle roll-on/roll-off vehicle transport—the largest inthe world—and international rail freight trains.

The Gulf Stream--The Gulf Stream, together with itsnorthern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful,warm, and swift Atlantic Ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of theUnited Statesand Newfoundlandbefore crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The GulfStream influences the climate of the east coast of North America from Florida to Newfoundland,and the west coast of Europe.

Physical Features

 

       Theofficial name of theUKis the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.Great Britain is the island that consists ofEngland,ScotlandandWales, whileNorthern Irelandis physically separate but is part of the unionwithGreat Britain.However, while the term “United Kingdom”is used on formal occasions such as government conferences and diplomaticdealings, in everyday conversation the term “Britain” is a widely accepted namefor the nation. It is, however, noteworthy that it is incorrect to use the term“England” to refer to thewhole country, as it might be offensive to people fromScotland,Wales,andNorthern Ireland, whichare all equally integral parts of theUnited Kingdom.

       Themost notable geographical fact about theUKis that it is an island state.  Situated north-west of the European Continentbetween the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, theUKis separated from the northwest coast ofFranceby the English Channel. The only land borderconnecting theUKto anothercountry is betweenNorthern Irelandand the Republic of Ireland. In terms ofits territory, theUnited Kingdomis made up ofGreat Britain,Northern Ireland, and numeroussmaller islands including the Isle of Wight, Anglesey,and the Scilly, Orkney, Shetland, and Hebridean archipelagos.

       TheUnited Kingdomis a small nation inphysical size. With an area of about 243,000 square kilometers, the U.K isabout 1,000 kilometers from the south coast to the extreme north and less than500 kilometers from east to west at the widest point. Dueto its small size, no one in theUKactually lives more than 120kilometers from the sea. And because of the same reason, there is no extreme ofdistance, size, height, length, or climate in this country. It has no greatmountain chains, no great rivers, no large lakes, and no sweeping forests.

        At the same time,though, theUKis notable for the variety of its landscapes, from flatlands to hills andmountains. Such variety is the product of a combination of geological andclimatic change over time, and of centuries of human activity. In fact,Britainboasts of having one of the richest andmost diverse sets of geological features of any country in the world: examplesof most of the different types of rock, soils, mineral and land forms foundelsewhere in the world can be found somewhere here in theUK.

       Topographically,Great Britaincan be divided into two major natural regions—a highland zone and a lowlandzone. The highland zone is a region of high hills and mountains in the northand west that are frequently broken by valleys and plains, which includesScotland,Walesand parts ofEngland.The lowland zone, which lies in the south and east ofGreat Britainand occupies most ofEngland,consists mostly of rolling plains broken up by chains of low hills.

       Thereare many rivers and lakes inBritain.But due to the small size of the country itself, the rivers are never verylong, nor are the lakes impressively large. The longest river, the Severn, is just 338 kilometers in length. However, it isthe second largest river that enjoys the greatest significance inBritain—the Thames.It flows through Oxford and Londonand drains rainfall from large areas of centralEnglandalong the Trent and Merseyrivers. The largest lake inBritain,Lough Neagh, is found inNorthern  Ireland, covering an area of 396 squarekilometers. But most of the large lakes in the country are located in the deepvalleys of the upland areas ofScotland,northEnglandand northWales.Among them, Lake District, located in northwestEnglandand comprising 15 major beautiful lakes is, and has become a popular touristdestination in the country, mainly because of its association with the Lake Poetsfrom the 19th century.

 

Climate

 

       Judgingfrom its geographical location, that is, between latitudes 49°N and 59°N, theforeigners may get the wrong impression that the climate of theUKisfeatured by extremely cold winter days. However, it is important to know thatlatitude is not the only determining factor for the climate. Thanks to the factthat the country is actually made up of islands, and the fact that its climateis mainly influenced by the moist and mild westerly wind from the AtlanticOcean and the warm drift of the Gulf Stream around the land, the UK overallenjoys a temperate maritime climate.

       Themaritime influence means that the UK climate is mild with temperatures rarelylower than 0℃ in winteror higher than 32℃ insummer. January temperatures are generally in therange of 3-5℃ and Julytemperatures are in the range of 11-16℃.It also means that there is abundant rainfall, with more than 1,600mm in the mountainousareas of the north and west but less than 800mm over central and eastern parts. Rainfall is usually well distributed throughout the year,and tends to be soft and steady rather than sharp and heavy, with few majorstorms. One of the results is the characteristic lush greenery of the Britishlandscape, which usually lasts throughout the summer and the winter.

       However, it is important to understand that moderate climate does notequal  fine weather. As a matter of fact,althoughBritainenjoys the cool and wet summers and the mild and snowless winters, it isnotorious for its changeable and unpredictable weather. Sunshine can turn torain and back again in a day, and even under an hour inScotland. Statistically at any timeof the year, it might be a 40 per cent of sunshine on any day; a 25 per centchance of rain; 10 per cent of days will be windy, while the temperature canfall anywhere within a range of 15℃depending on the time of year. And it is not surprising to experience all ofthe above conditions in one day. Such  unpredictabilityhas actually contributed to the distinctive British way of small talk—discussing,or rather, complaining about the weather. As a matter of fact, weather is sucha frequent topic of the British daily conversation that the English languagelearners have to learn at least some expressions related to that topic in orderto “survive” in theUK.

       Moreover, due to global warming, it is also a fact thatBritainhas experienced more and more extreme weather in recent years. Take the year2000 for example, it began with the sunniest winter inEnglandandWalessince 1909, followed by thewettest April since 1766. Parts ofScotlandandNorthern Irelandthen had the driest July since 1929, before October saw rainfall records brokenthroughout the country. The fall turned out to be the wettest forEnglandandWalessince records began,continuing into the spring of 2001. More than that, in both 2005 and 2006 therewere long spells of hot weather with little rain, leaving large parts ofBritaindry and parched. And 2006 turned out to have the highest average temperaturessince records began in 1914.

 

Components

 

       TheUKis made up of four different regions, both geographically and politically, thatare not independent nations. These regions areEngland,Wales,ScotlandandNorthern Ireland.

      Englandis the largest of the four geographicalregions making up theUnited  Kingdom. It is bordered byScotlandto the north andWalesto the west. Its total landarea is 130,395 square kilometers and a population of 51.4 million people. Thecapital and largest city ofEngland(and theUK) is London. The topography ofEnglandconsists mainly of gently rolling hills and lowlands. There are several largerivers inEnglandand themost famous of these is the Thames River that runs through London.Englandis separated from continental Europe by the 34-km English Channel but they are connected by the undersea Channel Tunnel.

      Scotlandis the second largest of the four regions. It is located on the northern partofGreat Britainand bordersEnglandto the south. Its area is 78,772 square kilometer, whichaccounts for approximately one-third ofBritain’s landmass. But it containsonly some 12 per cent of the population (5.1 million).Scotland’s area alsoincludes almost 800 offshore islands. The capital ofScotlandis Edinburgh but the largest city is Glasgow. The topography ofScotlandis varied and its northern portions have high mountain ranges, while thecentral portion consists of lowlands and the south has gently rolling hills anduplands.Britain’shighest mountain, Ben Nevis (1,344 meters) islocated here. A major tourist attraction inScotlandis Loch Ness, said to behome to a monster “Nessie”.

       Wales isBritain’s third largest region bothin area (20,779 sq km) and population (2.99 million).It is bordered byEnglandto the east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to the west. The capital and largest city ofWalesis Cardiffwith a metropolitan population of 1.4 million.Waleshas a coastline of 1,200kilometers which includes the coastlines of its many offshore islands. Thelargest of these is Anglesey in the Irish Sea.       The topography ofWalesconsists mainly of mountains and itshighest peak is Snowdon at 1,085 m.Waleshas a temperate,maritime climate and it is one of the wettest regions in Europe.

       The only part ofBritainthat shares a land border with another state isNorthern Ireland. It is locatedon the northern part of the island of Ireland and borders the Republic of Irelandto the south.Northern Irelandhas an area of 13,843 square kilometers, making it the smallest of theUK’sregions. The population ofNorthern Irelandis 1.7 million and the capital and largest city is Belfast.Northern Irelandis varied intopography and consists of both uplands and valleys. Lough Neagh is a largelake located in the center ofNorthern  Irelandand with an area of 391 squarekilometers. It is also the largest lake in theUK.