Читать книгу Great Britain: geography, politics, culture - Л. А. Ласица - Страница 3

The official name of the country is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It has several shorter names:

– The United Kingdom – used at European vision of Song Contest, at the United Nations and in the European Parliament;

– the UK – used in every day speech;

– Great Britain – heard in the Olympic Games;

– GB is written on stickers on cars;

– Britain – used in writing and speaking;

– Albion – a word used in some poems. It was the original Roman name for Britain. It may come from the Latin word albus, meaning white. The white chalk cliffs around Dover on the south coast are the first thing to be seen when you cross the sea from the European land.

– Britannia – the name that Romans gave to their southern British province (which covered the area of present-day England).