Scotland

Location ' Three Main Regions • Population and Its Distribution • Lochs • Aberdeen¹ and Glasgow Edinburgh and Edinburgh Festival²

Although Scotland takes up one third of the territory of the British Isles, its population is not very big. It is the most northern part of the island of Great Britain and is not far from the Arctic Circle³.

That's why it is not densely populated: its population is a little over 5 million people. The Cheviot Hills mark the boundary between England and Scotland. Apart from this land link with England, Scotland is surrounded by sea.

Scotland includes the Hebrides⁴ off the west coast, and the Orkney* and Shetland Islands⁶ off the north coast. It is bounded by the North Sea on the east.

Scotland is divided into three regions: the Highlands, which is the most northern and the most underpopulated area with a harsh climate, Lowlands, which is the most industrial re­gion, with about three quarters of the popula­tion, and the Southern Uplands, with hills, which bolder on England.

The Highlands of Scot­land are among the oldest mountains in the world. They reach their highest point in Ben Nevis (1343 m). Many valleys between the hills are filled with lakes, called lochs. The best known is Loch Ness⁷ where some people think a large mon­ster lives. The most im­portant city here is Ab­erdeen, which is the oil centre of Scotland. Ships and helicopters travel from Aberdeen to the North Sea oil rigs. Work on an oilrig is difficult and dangerous.

Most of the popula­tion of Scotland is con­centrated in the Lowlands. Here, on the Clyde⁸, is Glasgow, Scotland's big­gest city.

Shipbuilding is one of its most important in­dustries, other industry A piper tries are iron and steel, heavy and light engineering and coal-mining. It is the cen­tre of the working-class movement and has glorious revolu­tionary traditions.

Glasgow was a grim city because of the greyness of the houses many of which were not suitable for living and needed repairs or rebuil­ding. But now this city is rapidly changing, turn­ing into an im­portant cultural centre. Glasgow is sometimes called 'the friendly city’. Scotland had been an independent state and was joined into the UK in 1707, after a long struggle for its independence.

One of the things that people associate with Scotland is the kilt⁹. The kilt is a relic of the time when the clan¹⁰ system existed in the Highlands. Everybody in the clan had the same family name, like MacDonald or MacGregor (Mac means 'son of). The clan had its own territory and was ruled by a chieftain. Each clan had its own tartan¹¹.

Edinburgh has been the capital since the 15th cen­tury, when its fortified castle was the centre of Scotland's resistance to its enemies. Edinburgh is the cultural centre of Scotland. It is associated with the names of George Gordon Byron¹² and Walter Scott¹³, Robert Louis Stevenson'⁴, Robert Burns¹⁵ and Arthur Conan Doyle¹⁶, creator of Sherlock Holmes. It is also associated with the world-famous Edinburgh Festival of Music and Drama. The Festival was first held in 1947 and has been held annually ever since. Its emblem is a thistle¹⁷. The Edinburgh International Festival of 1987 was devoted to this country. Our musicians, dancers and singers were a great success.

Wales

Landscape • The Welsh • Minerals • Industries • Cardiff'Swan­sea³ ' Culture

Another constituent country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is Wales. It became part of England in 1536 by the Act of Union. Until then it had been regarded as a sepa­rate principality but a dependency of England. The Welsh call their country Cymru², and themselves they call Cymry³, a word which has the same root as 'comrader' (friend, or comrade). The popula­tion of Wales is over 3 million people. About 75 per cent of the people of Wales live in towns and urban districts.

The living standards of people in Wales are lower than in England, the unemployment rate is higher. South Wales has a rich tradition of struggle for more jobs and better working conditions in mines.

Wales is a highland country of old, hard rocks. North Wales is a country of mountains and deep valleys, South Wales is a land of high hills and wide valleys. The pride of Wales in scenery is Snowdonia⁴, a region of high mountains. Snowdon⁵ is the highest mountain in England and Wales.

Except for coal, mineral resources are limited, and in­clude gold, silver, lead and copper. South Wales is more developed: coal-mining, steel production, electronics, elec­trical engineering can be found here.

The capital of Wales is Cardiff, the largest city of Wales. Cardiff is situated near the mouth of the Taff River⁶. It is an important in­dustrial city and a port, II is also an administrative and educational centre.

The second largest city in Wales is Swansea where mainly steel production can be found. Since World War II there has been in­tensive development in the metals industries especi­ally in the south and southeast.

The Welsh people, especially in rural areas, are fond of folk music, singing, poetry and drama. Welsh litera­ture is one of the oldest in Europe. There are many choirs in Wales, the standard of singing is high and the love of good music is widespread. Now there is a growing move­ment of revival of Welsh culture from which sprang the revival of Eisteddfod⁷. Eisteddfod in the form of a gathering of bards had occasionally been held in the 15th, Kith and 17th centuries. Now Eisted­dfod is a festival of Welsh culture. It includes competitions in prose, poetry and singing.

Wales has its own flag called the Welsh dragon.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 3113