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The United Kingdom. Geographical Position and Political System.

The official name of Great Britain is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Sometimes, a short name for this country is used, which is the UK.
The capital of the country is London.
The United Kingdom is situated northwest of France on more than five hundred islands including one-sixth of the island of Ireland.
The largest of these islands is called Great Britain.
We should note that the name Great Britain does not refer to the whole country but only to England, Scotland, and Wales.
Great Britain is the largest island in Europe and eighth largest in the world.
It is almost twice the size of Iceland or Cuba.
The total area of the UK is over 244,000 sq km.
The UK is 500 km wide and approximately 1,000 km long.
However, due to the deeply indented coast line, no point is farther than 125 km from the tidal waters.
The UK has land boundaries only with one country, Ireland.
Its closest continental neighbours are France and Belgium.
Since the United Kingdom is an island country, it is surrounded by water: by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea in the north-west and west, and by the North Sea in the east.
The Great Britain is separated from the European mainland by the English Channel.
In the north-west, it is separated from the island of Ireland by the North Channel.
The geographical position of the country was favourable for sea trade, which partly accounts for the country’s economic success story.
Although the UK is as close to the North Pole as eastern part of Siberia, its climate is much milder.
The British climate is notorious for sudden changes, yet temperatures rarely fall below -10C or go higher than +32C.
The lowest point in the UK is The Fens, which is 4 metres below the sea level.
The highest point in the country is mount Ben Nevis, which is 1,343 m high.
The country boasts relatively large deposits of natural resources such as coal, oil, natural gas, iron ore, limestone, salt, and others.
The UK used to consume much coal in the past which lead to the SMOG in the fifties of the last century and persuaded the government of the country to opt for more environment-friendly sources of energy.
According to the last estimates in 2004, there are 60,270,000 people in the UK most of whom are English (80%).
People of Scottish origin make up almost 10% of the population, Irish 2.5%, and Welsh almost 2%.
The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy, which actually means that the legislature or the parliament selects the government composed of a prime minister along with the cabinet ministers according to party strength as expressed in elections.
That is if a political party has won most votes in the parliamentary elections, it is going to form the government of the country also called the cabinet.
At the same time, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy traditionally ruled by a monarch.
The current monarch, her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, succeeded to the throne in 1952 and is Head of State, though this is a rather symbolic role.
British Parliament is the oldest in the world and is composed of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
The House of Lords consists of approximately 500 life peers (that is those who may sit in the Parliament all their lives), 92 hereditary peers (that is those whose children will have the right to sit in the Parliament) and 26 clergy representing church.
Apart from its parliamentary functions, the House of Lords is the highest court in the state.
The House of Commons, unlike the House of Lords, is formed by regular elections in which citizens elect 659 members of parliament (or MPs) representing different political parties.
The largest parties are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.


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