The First Group: We shall speak about England. It’s the largest country in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The capital of England is London. Its land is 130,000 sq. km. The population of England is 48 mln people. The largest cities are Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham, Sheffield and others. People who live in England are called the English. They speak only English. The famous River Thames runs through London. The national emblem of England is the red rose. The national flag of England represents a red cross on a white field. It’s Saint George’s Cross of England. England is the heart of Great Britain. The national emblem of Scotland is a thistle. The national flag is a blue field with white diagonal crossed stripes. It’s Saint Andrew’s Cross. In the north west Scotland is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, but in the north east it is washed by the North Sea. We shall speak about Wales. It’s the smallest country in the UK. The capital of Wales is Cardiff. Its land is 20,800 sq. km. Its population is about 2,8 mln people. The largest cities are Swansea and New Port. The biggest river is Usk and the biggest lake is Wirnwel. One of the biggest mountains is Snowdon. The national symbol is a yellow daffodil. The national flag is white and green with a red dragon on it. The land of the UK is 244,000 sq. km. The population is about 58 million people. Great Britain consists of three parts. They are: England, Scotland and Wales. The UK is separated from France by the English Channel and Strait of Dover. The UK is also washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the North and the North Sea in the east. Everyone who was born in the UK is considered British.  The flag of the UK is known as the Union Jack. It is called Jack’ because the flag is flown on the jack staff of ships to show their nationality. In Britain the Queen is the head of the state, but she doesn’t rule the country. The Queen is a symbol of the country history and traditions. British people are very conservative. They are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. But traditions are different in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. | Ukraine Ukraine is situated in the south-east of Europe. It borders on Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The area of Ukraine is 603,700 sq. km. The territory of Ukraine is mostly flat. There are the Carpathian Mountains in the west and the Crimean Mountains in the south, but they are not high. The main rivers are the Dnieper, the Dniester, the Buh, the Donets and others. The Dnieper is one of the longest European rivers and one of the main sources of hydroelectric power in the country. The coasts of the Azov Sea and the Black Sea are good for ports. We have quite a lot of big sea ports, for example, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Izmail, Mariupol and Kerch. The geographical position of Ukraine is very favourable because the country lies on the crossroads of the ways from Asia to Europe. Since the times of Kyivan Rus Ukrainian roads have been used for trade contacts. Due to favourable climatic conditions, Ukraine is traditionally an agricultural country. Wheat, maize and other corns, vegetables, all kinds of fruit are grown here. The country is rich in natural resources, such as iron ore, coal, non-ferrous metals, oil, gas. It has developed a varied industry, concentrated mostly in and around big cities, such as Kyiv, Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv and others.Ukraine produces planes and ships, lorries and buses, electronic equipment and agricultural machines, TV and radio-sets and other goods.   |