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DifferentNamesforBritainanditsPartsGeographicalnames:theBritishIsles,GreatBritainandEngland.Officialname:theUnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIreland.TheBritishIslesaremadeupoftwolargeislands-GreatBritain(thelargerone)andIreland,andhundredsofsmallones.ThreepoliticaldivisionsontheislandofGreatBritain:England,ScotlandandWales.(1)EnglandisinthesouthernpartofGreatBritain.Itisthelargest,mostpopuloussection.(2)ScotlandisinthenorthofGreatBritain.Ithasthreenaturalzones(theHighlandsinthenorth;theCentrallowlands;thesouthUplands)Capital:Edinburgh(3)WalesisinthewestofGreatBritain.Capital:Cardiff(4)NorthernIrelandisthefourthregionoftheUK.Capital:Belfast..GeographicalpositionofBritainBritainisanislandcountrysurroundedbythesea.ItliesintheNorthAtlanticOceanoffthenorthcoastofEurope.ItisseparatedfromtherestofEuropebytheEnglishChannelinthesouthandtheNorthSeaintheeast.ThenorthandwestofBritainaremainlyhighlands;andtheeastandsoutheastaremostlylowlands.Thesurroundingwaterstendtobalancetheseasonaldifferencesbyheatingupthelandinwinterandcoolingitoffinsummer;Theprevailingsouth-westwindsortheWesterliesblowoverthecountryalltheyearroundbringingwarmandwetairinwinterandkeepingthetemperaturesmoderate;TheNorthAtlanticDriftpassesthewesterncoastoftheBritishIslesandwarmsthem.Britainhasamaritimeclimate.Wintersarenottoocoldandsummersarenottoohot.Ithasasteadyreliablerainfallthroughoutthewholeyear.Thetemperaturevarieswithinasmallrange.RainfallBritainhasasteadyreliablerainfallthroughoutthewholeyear.TheaverageannualrainfallinBritainisover1,000mm.Thereisawatersurplusinthenorthandwest,andawaterdeficitinthesouthandeast.RiversandLakesBenNevisisthehighestmountaininBritain(1,343m)SevernRiveristhelongestriverinBritain(338km).ThamesRiveristhesecondlongestandmostimportantriverinBritain.(336km).LoughNeaghisthelargestlakeinBritainwhichislocatedinNorthernIreland.(396squarekilometres).RiverClydeisthemostimportantriverinScotland.SnowdoniaisthehighestmountaininWales.（1,085m）PopulationAcensusofthepopulationinBritianhasbeentakenevery10yearssince1801(withtheexceptionof1941,whenBritainwasatwar).Thenextcensuswillbein2011.2001CensusIn2001,thepopulationoftheUnitedKingdomwasrecordedatjustunder59millionpeople.GreatBritainisheavilypopulatedcomparedwithmanyothercountries.Britainisarelativelydenselypopulatedcountry:itismorethantwiceasdenselypopulatedasFrance(106peoplepersq.km),ninetimesasdenselypopulatedastheUSA(27peoplepersq.km)and100timesasdenselypopulatedasAustralia(2peoplepersq.km).AccordingtoaBBCReportinSeptember2005,immigrationmadeupmorethanhalfofBritain'spopulationgrowthfrom1991to2001.Britainranks18thintheworldintermsofpopulationsize.ThepopulationisveryunequallydistributedoverthefourpartsoftheUK:Englandmoreorlessconstantlymakesup84%ofthetotalpopulation,Walesaround5%,Scotlandroughly8.5%,andNorthernIreland(since1921)lessthan3%.AdministrativeDivisionPopulation(mid2004)Population(mid2005)AreaSize(sqkm)Populationdensity(peoplepersqkm)England50,093,80050,431,700130,281383NorthernIreland1,710,3001,724,40013,576125Scotland5,078,4005,094,80077,92565Wales2,952,5002,958,60020,732142UnitedKingdom59,834.90060,209.500242,514246FromthetableaboveyoucanseethatEnglandhasthehighestpopulationdensityandScotlandthelowest.ThisismainlyduetomanypartsofScotlandbeingunsuitableforpeopletolive.Nearly84percentofthetotalpopulationoftheUnitedKingdomlivesinEngland.ThemostdenselypopulatedareasofEnglandarethemajorcitiesandmetropolitanareasofLondonandtheSouthEast,SouthandWestYorkshire,GreaterManchesterandMerseyside,theWestMidlands,andtheconurbationsontheriversTyne,WearandTees.Londonhasthehighestpopulationdensitywith4,700peoplepersquarekilometre,andtheSouthWestthelowest(210peoplepersquarekilometre).Englandisdividedintoninegovernmentalregions.BritishFlag俗称“米字旗”，正式称呼是“theUnionFlag，也常常称为“theUnionJack。Jack是海军用语，指悬挂在舰首的旗帜，英国军舰舰首都悬挂国旗，因而得名。UnionFlag是意为“联合旗帜”。它是深蓝底色的红白米字旗。这面旗帜由英格兰的白底红色正十字旗，苏格兰的蓝底白色斜十字旗和爱尔兰的白底红色斜十字旗合一而成。后来爱尔兰岛的一部分脱离了英国，国旗也未再改变。国旗上没有代表威尔士地区的形象，因为设计时，威尔士早已与英格兰合并了。英国国旗上的十字分别代表英格兰守护神圣乔治、苏格兰守护神圣安德鲁以及爱尔兰守护神圣帕特里克。英格兰圣乔治的白地红十字旗产生于1200年，随后被英格兰采纳为国旗。苏格兰的圣安德鲁的蓝地白色“X”型十字旗，最早于8世纪时出现，但直至13世纪时才被苏格兰正式用作国旗。1606年，詹姆斯一世统一英格兰和苏格兰时，将这两面旗帜图案重叠起来，作为大不列颠的国旗。爱尔兰的圣帕特里克的白地红色“x型十字旗，最早是爱尔兰菲茨诺德家族的旗帜；1801年，爱尔兰与大不列颠联合组成王国后，这面旗帜又与大不列颠国旗重叠，最后形成了大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国的这面构图奇特的“米字旗”詹姆士是苏格兰女王玛丽·斯图亚特与她的第二任丈夫达恩利伯爵亨利·斯图亚特(HenryStuart)所生的唯一儿子。出生后5个月，其父死亡，其母遭苏格兰贵族驱逐，流亡英格兰。1567年，苏格兰贵族废黜玛利·斯图亚特，詹姆士被立为国王，称詹姆世六世，由几个大贵族执政。1583年，詹姆士六世亲政。1587年，其母玛丽因卷入暗杀英格兰女王伊丽莎白一世的阴谋而被处死。同年，詹姆士迎娶丹麦国王腓特烈二世的女儿安妮公主。1603年，英国女王伊丽莎白一世指定詹姆士为其继承人后驾崩。詹姆士即位为英格兰国王，自封为大不列颠王国，称詹姆士一世。NationalAnthem英国国歌笼罩着神奇的色彩。它决不是由某个人作词或作曲,而是在民间逐渐形成的。16世纪时人们首次提到英国国歌,但其歌词(开始是用拉丁文写的)频频变动和增减。英国人在表达对祖国的忠诚时所唱的并不是振奋人心的进行曲,也不是战歌,而是一首普通的祷辞,祝愿国王或女王健康、长寿和富足。难怪英国国歌中最基本的歌词来源于圣经，“上帝佑我国王”在圣经中共出现过3次。没有人确切知道是谁为国歌谱的曲,是谁写了现在的歌词。到了1545年,“上帝佑我国王”在英国海军中已成为一句口令，回口令时该说：“愿君王统治天长地久”。显而易见，如果人们祈求上帝保佑国玉，那就意味着他的生命受到了危害。所以,有一种传说认为该国歌起始于1688年，因为当时奥兰治王子正在侵扰沿海地区,威胁着统治王朝的安全。这种说法还认为国歌是一首为詹姆斯二世的私人天主教小教堂唱诗班所写的拉丁文合唱曲。人们出于对君王命运的关注,不久就在伦敦的剧院和街头唱开了。据称是英国国歌作者的人当中,最出名的{但也是最不可能的}是那首颇有独创性的歌曲《我们巷中的萨莉》的作者亨利·凯里。他是哈利法克斯侯爵之子,生活十分不幸,最后自杀身亡。据说是他写