Читать книгу Great Britain: geography, politics, culture - Л. А. Ласица - Страница 2

On the map you can see that the UK lies to the north-west of Europe. There are 2 large islands and several smaller ones. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The other large one is called Ireland. Ireland is divided into Northern Ireland (Ulster) and the Irish Republic. The UK also includes more than 5000 smaller islands.

Politically speaking there are 2 states in the British Isles. The first is the Irish Republic or Eire, which governs the most part of Ireland and the other state controls the rest of the British Isles. Its official name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Its geographical position is advantageous as it is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the North Sea in the east. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel and the Strait of Dover.

On the one hand the kind of isolation of the country makes its geographical position different from European countries; on the other hand it has influenced the formation of the main characteristic feature of British people. That is their love for privacy.