unit1 UK.ppt

Unit1 TheUK IntroductionoftheUK UnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIrelandItisanislandcountry spanninganarchipelagoincludingGreatBritain thenortheasternpartofIreland andmanysmallislands NorthernIrelandistheonlypartoftheUKwithalandborder sharingitwiththeRepublicofIreland Apartfromthislandborder theUKissurroundedbytheAtlanticOcean theNorthSea theEnglishChannelandtheIrishSea Thelargestisland GreatBritain islinkedtoFrancebytheChannelTunnel TheUnitedKingdomisaconstitutionalmonarchyandunitarystateconsistingoffourcountries England NorthernIreland ScotlandandWales ItisgovernedbyaparliamentarysystemwithitsseatofgovernmentinLondon thecapital butwiththreedevolvednationaladministrationsinBelfast CardiffandEdinburgh thecapitalsofNorthernIreland WalesandScotlandrespectively TheUKhasfourteenoverseasterritories allremnantsoftheBritishEmpire whichatitsheightin1922encompassedalmostaquarteroftheworld slandsurface thelargestempireinhistory Britishinfluencecancontinuetobeobservedinthelanguage cultureandlegalsystemsofmanyofitsformercolonies Demography Population 60 975 000by2007EthnicgroupWhite54 153 89892 1 Black1 148 7382 0 Mixedrace677 1171 2 Indian1 053 4111 8 Pakistani747 2851 3 Bangladeshi283 0630 5 OtherAsian non Chinese 247 6440 4 Chinese247 4030 4 CommonwealthofNations TheUKhasvariedrelationshipswiththecountriesthatmakeuptheCommonwealthofNationswhichoriginatedfromtheBritishEmpire TheQueenistheheadoftheCommonwealthandisheadof16ofits53memberstates ThosethatretaintheQueenasheadofstatearecalledCommonwealthRealms TheEuropeanUniongenerallytakesprecedenceovertheCommonwealth andtheUKhastendedtosidewithEUcountriesoverCommonwealthcountrieswhendisputesarise Forexample overFrenchnucleartesting theUKsidedwithFranceoverfellowAnglospherenations AustraliaandNewZealand England Englandhasbeensettledbyhumansofvariousculturesforover29 000years butittakesitsnamefromtheAngles oneoftheGermanictribeswhosettledGreatBritainduringthe5thand6thcenturies EnglandbecameaunifiedstateinAD927 andaftertheAgeofDiscoveryhashadasignificantculturalandlegalimpactonthewiderworld Thename England isderivedfromtheOldEnglishwordEnglaland whichmeans landoftheAngles Motto Dieuetmondroit French Godandmyright TheRoyalStandardofEngland alsoknownastheThreeLions infavourduringTudortimes wasanarrow taperingswallow tailedflag ofconsiderablelength usedmainlyforpageants EnglishStandardshadthecrossofSt Georgeattheirhead thentheheraldicdevice badgeorcrest withitsmotto Thesedidnotbearthecoatofarms Theroyalstandardchangedfrequentlyfromreigntoreign Celts ThehistoricalCeltswereadiversegroupoftribalsocietiesinIronAgeEurope Proto CelticcultureformedintheEarlyIronAgeinCentralEurope Hallstattperiod namedforthesiteinpresent dayAustria BythelaterIronAge LaT neperiod Celtshadexpandedoverawiderangeoflands asfarwestasIrelandandtheIberianPeninsula asfareastasGalatia centralAnatolia andasfarnorthasScotland BytheearlyfirstmillenniumAD followingtheexpansionoftheRomanEmpireandtheGreatMigrations MigrationPeriod ofGermanicpeoples CelticculturehadbecomerestrictedtotheBritishIsles InsularCeltic andtheContinentalCelticlanguagesceasedtobewidelyusedbythesixthcentury CelticEurope todayreferstothelandssurroundingtheIrishSea aswellasCornwallandBrittanyoneithersideoftheEnglishChannel Angles TheAngleswereoneofthemaingroupsthatsettledinBritaininthepost Romanperiod foundingseveralofthekingdomsofAnglo SaxonEngland andtheirnameistherootofthename England theAnglessplitupandfoundedthekingdomsoftheNordAngelnen Northumbria OstAngelnen EastAnglia andtheMittlereAngelnen Mercia AsaresultofinfluencefromtheWestSaxons thetribeswerecollectivelycalledAnglo SaxonsbytheNormans theWestSaxonkingdomhavingconquered unitedandfoundedtheKingdomofEnglandbythe10thcentury TheregionsofEastAngliaandNorthumbriaarestillknownbytheiroriginaltitlestothisday NorthumbriaoncestretchedasfarnorthaswhatisnowsoutheastScotland includingEdinburgh andasfarsouthastheHumberEstuary SaxonsinBritain Saxons alongwithAngles Jutes Frisians andpossiblyFranks invadedormigratedtotheislandofGreatBritain Britannia aroundthetimeofthecollapseofRomanauthorityinthewest SaxonraidershadbeenharassingtheeasternandsouthernshoresofBritanniaforcenturiesbefore promptingtheconstructionofastringofcoastalfortscalledthelitoraSaxonicaorSaxonShore andmanySaxonsandotherfolkhadbeenpermittedtosettleintheseareasasfarmerslongbeforetheendofRomanruleinBritannia KingArthur KingArthurisalegendaryBritishleaderwho accordingtomedievalhistoriesandromances ledthedefenceofBritainagainsttheSaxoninvadersintheearly6thcentury ThedetailsofArthur sstoryaremainlycomposedoffolkloreandliteraryinvention andhishistoricalexistenceisdebatedanddisputedbymodernhistorians Viking AViking pron v k isoneoftheNorse Scandinavian explorers warriors merchants andpirateswhoraidedandcolonizedwideareasofEuropefromthelateeighthtotheearlyeleventhcentury TheseNorsemenusedtheirfamedlongshipstotravelasfareastasConstantinopleandtheVolgaRiverinRussia andasfarwestasIceland Greenland andNewfoundland ThisperiodofVikingexpansionisknownastheVikingAge andformsamajorpartofthemedievalhistoryofScandinavia Britain IrelandandtherestofEuropeingeneral WilliamtheConqueror WilliamIwasDukeofNormandyfrom1035andKingofEnglandfromlate1066tohisdeath Williamissometimesalsoreferredtoas WilliamII inrelationtohispositionasthesecondDukeofNormandyofthatname Inparticular beforehisconquestofEngland hewasknownas WilliamtheBastard French GuillaumeleB tard becauseoftheillegitimacyofhisbirth TopresshisclaimtotheEnglishcrown WilliaminvadedEnglandin1066 leadinganarmyofNormans Bretons Flemings andFrenchmentovictoryovertheEnglishforcesofKingHaroldGodwinson whodiedintheconflict attheBattleofHastings andsuppressedsubsequentEnglishrevoltsinwhathasbecomeknownastheNormanConquest BattleofHastings TheBattleofHastingslastedallday Althoughthenumbersoneachsidewereaboutequal Williamhadbothcavalryandinfantry includingmanyarchers whileHaroldhadonlyfootsoldiersandfewifanyarchersNormanarrowsalsotooktheirtoll progressivelyweakeningtheEnglishwallofshields Atdusk theEnglisharmymadetheirlaststand AfinalNormancavalryattackdecidedthebattleirrevocablywhenitresultedinthedeathofHaroldwho legendsays waskilledbyanarrowintheeye Twoofhisbrothers GyrthandLeofwineGodwinson werekilledaswell Bynightfall theNormanvictorywascompleteandtheremainingEnglishsoldiersfledinfear Scotland Inadditiontothemainland Scotlandconsistsofover790islandsincludingtheNorthernIslesandtheHebrides Edinburgh thecountry scapitalandsecondlargestcity isoneofEurope slargestfinancialcentres EdinburghwasthehuboftheScottishEnlightenmentofthe18thcentury whichtransformedScotlandintooneofthecommercial intellectualandindustrialpowerhousesofEurope Glasgow Scotland slargestcity wasonceoneoftheworld sleadingindustrialcitiesandnowliesatthecentreoftheGreaterGlasgowconurbation RoyalStandardofScotland TheRoyalStandardofScotland alsoknownastheBanneroftheKingofScotsormorecommonlytheLionRampantofScotland istheScottishRoyalBannerofArms anditscorrectuseisrestrictedtoonlyafewGreatOfficersofStatewhoofficiallyrepresentTheSovereigninScotland Motto InMyDefensGodMeDefend Scots TheScotspeople ScotsGaelic Albannach areanationandanethnicgroupindigenoustoScotland Historically asanethnicgroup theyemergedfromanamalgamationofPicts Gaels BrythonsandtoalesserextentBernicianAnglesandNorsemen Gaelic Gaelicasanadjectivemeans pertainingtotheGaels includinglanguageandculture Asanoun itmayrefertothegroupoflanguagesspokenbytheGaels ortoanyoneoftheindividuallanguages allofwhicharemembersoftheGoidelicbran