The English Studies Info Pages

Home
Links page

INDEX
Definitions
People
Language
Government
Geography
Economy
History

The PEOPLE:
People from the UK. are called The British, or Britons. 
Depending on where in Britain they come from, they may also be called "English", "Scottish" (or "Scots"), "Welsh" or "Northern Irish"

The POPULATION:
The total population of the U.K is 55,486,800 (1991 census figures): it will probably reach about 60 million by the year 2030, then start to fall.

Population density: 588 people per square mile (230 people per km2)
Britain is a relatively densely populated country: it is more than twice as densely populated as France (100 people per sq.km) and nine times as densely populated as the USA (27 people per sq.km).

The population is very unevenly distributed:
   5 million people live in Scotland
   2.8 million people live in Wales
   1.6 million people live in Northern Ireland
   46 million people live in England
England is an extremely densely populated country, with about 427 people per sq. km.
   A third of the people in England live in the South East of the country, in London and the "Home Counties" (the region around London).

LANGUAGES.
The official language in the whole of the UK is English, but Gaelic is also an official language in Scotland, and Welsh in Wales.

GOVERNMENT
The United Kingdom is a Constitutional Monarchy; however, as a Parliamentary Democracy, the ultimate authority in the land is Parliament - not the Prime Minister nor the Monarch.

The monarch (the Queen) is Britain's Head of State.
She must sign all new laws, and she receives other heads of state who visit Britain; but apart from that, her function is mainly symbolic. She opens Parliament every autumn, and in theory she nominates "her" prime minister. In reality, the prime minister is the leader of the biggest political party. She has regular consultations with the Prime Minister, but does not have any role in deciding policies.

The Prime Minister is the "head of government". At present, the prime minister is Tony Blair, leader of the Labour Party. He is Prime Minister because the Labour Party won an overall majority in the 2001 General Election. The Labour Party first came back to power in 1997, after eighteen years of Conservative government..
  The Prime Minister chooses his government by appointing (naming) his ministers. Most ministers are elected members of the House of Commons The principal ministers in the government belong to the Cabinet, which decides the main lines of government policy. The Cabinet meets once a week to discuss important questions of government.
  The most important ministers are called Secretaries of State, and they are in charge of a Government Department (a ministry). Each minister is responsible for his department, and makes sure that his department applies the policy of the government.
   The most important Secretaries of State are:
     The Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance)
     The Foreign Secretary (international affairs)
     The Home Secretary (internal affairs)
     The Lord Chancellor (the legal system)
     The Secretary of State for Education.
     The Secretary of State for Transport and the Environment.

Parliament:
The legislative governing body for Britain is called Parliament. The English (now British) Parliament has existed for over 900 years, and is sometimes called the "Mother of Parliaments". For over 900 years, it has met in the same place, called the Palace of Westminster (or the Houses of Parliament).
  Its nature and function have changed in the course of time, but the two "Houses" of parliament, the House of Commons  and the House of Lords have existed since the Middle Ages.
  The most important of these is the House of Commons, where most government new laws originate. This is an elected body, and members are elected every 5 years at a General Election. The party that has an absolute majority in the House of Commons becomes the party of government, and its leader becomes the Prime Minister. If no party has an absolute majority of seats, then the leader of the biggest party is invited to form a government. Because of the British voting system, almost every general election produces an absolute majority for one party or the other (these days for the Conservative Party or the Labour Party).
   Unlike many heads of government, the British Prime Minister is an active and elected Member of Parliament (an "M.P.") , and he is usually present in the House of Commons when important matters are being discussed. Twice a week, MP's have the opportunity to question the Prime Minister directly at Prime Minister's Question Time - a unique feature of the British system.
  Legislation that originates in the House of Commons must be approved by the second chamber, the "Upper House", called the House of Lords.
  This very old institution is an unelected chamber; Tony Blair is currently reforming it.  At present (1999) it is composed of Peers (Lords), i.e.  "hereditary peers" (aristocrats) and  "Life Peers" (people who have been given the title "Lord ...." for their services). There are the "Lords Spiritual", also 26 Bishops from the Church of England.
  Following a recent  reform, there are now only 98 hereditary peers in the House of Lords. In due course, these peers will probalbly lose their right to sit in the House of Lords; most people in Britain accept that there is no reason why non-elected aristocrats should be able to participate in the legislative system of a modern nation!
   In fact, the House of Lords does not have the right to block legislation from the House of Commons. It can ask the Commons to modify texts, or change details or proposed legislation; it can delay legislation for a limited period - but not indefinitely. It cannot interfere in legislation concerning finance or foreign affairs. Generally speaking, it does a lot of useful work that the House of Commons does not have time for, and it acts as a "second opinion" for the Commons.

GEOGRAPHY
Physical geography: 
Britain is an island, with a mild climate.
The south of Britain is mostly low-lying land, with hills and agricultural land; the north of England, Wales and Scotland are mostly covered in moorland and mountains. The highest mountains in Britain are only about 1300 metres high (Ben Nevis, in Scotland, is Britain's highest point), but they are real rocky mountains, because of Britain's latitude. 
   Snow lies on Ben Nevis for half the year or more; but in the south of England, snow only lies for a few days each winter, and sometimes never at all. There is plenty of rain in Britain, particularly in the west. In summer, daytime temperatures do not often rise above 25°c.
  Britain's longest rivers are the Severn (220 miles) and the Thames (215 miles)

Human and economic geography

OVERVIEW:
  The South East of England is the most prosperous and most populated region. There are hardly any people living in the Highlands of Scotland.
   The main industrial regions of Britain are in the north, near the cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Birmingham. These regions became important in the 19th century, because of their rich mineral resources (coal, iron etc.).

a) England:
  The main economic centre in today's Britain is London - the most important city for service industries (financial services, etc.). The "Inner London" region (Inner London is one of the official "regions" of the European Union) is the richest region in Europe, with a per capita income almost twice that of any other European region.
   "Greater London" is the most prosperous of the British regions, and is one of the five richest regions of Europe (along with the regions of Amsterdam, Hamburg, Paris and Luxembourg). In 1998, "gross disposable household income" (the money that people have for spending) in the Greater London region was 120% of the national average for Britain. In the poorest region of England, the North East, GDHI was only 85.7% of the national average.
   The GDP (gross domestic product, i.e. the value of all the work and business done by people in the area) of the London area is larger than that of many European countries: 
 

The South East of England (including London) is by far the most prosperous region of the UK. It contains 30% of the population, but is responsible for 35% of GDP
The region is prosperous for many reasons; firstly because it is a capital region; secondly because London has a long and prestigious history as one of the world's most important financial centres. Although Britain does not belong to the "Euro zone" countries, the City of London already carries out more international business in Euros than any other European city! There are more international banks in London than in any other city in the world !
   The south east of England  also attracts international business, because London has Europe's busiest international airport (Heathrow) as well as 4 other international airports.
   However the cost of living in the South East of England is very high, and there are serious transport problems. Many people working in London take over an hour to reach their workplace every day!

The second most prosperous region of Britain is East Anglia, situated directly to the north east of London. This region is largely rural, and the population density is lower than any other region of England; it is a rich agricultural region, and a popular region for people who want to move out of London. Economically, the region has become much more prosperous in recent decades
   The main economic pole in the region is centered round Cambridge, which is quickly becoming the European equivalent of Silicon Valley, known as "Silicon Fen" (a fen is an area of flat land).
   Cambridge has Europe's best environment for industry/university cooperation: many high-tech companies sponsor the university and its labs, and the labs provide the companies with the research they need to develop. The biggest such company in Microsoft, which has its only non-American research centre in Cambridge. Cambridge is also home to dozens of cutting-edge high tech companies, in such fields as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, etc.

Next, in terms of prosperity, comes the East Midlands, centred around the city of Nottingham. This was a semi-industrial region in the past, a region with a mixture of rich rural agricultural areas and industrial areas based essentially on coal and transformation industries. 
   The region has several dynamic cities, with modern industries:  Nottingham with its chemicals, and light engineering;  Leicester a town that has regenerated to a certain extent because of its extremely dynamic Asian community.
 Derby, once the home of railway engine manufacturing, is now the home of Rolls Royce Aerospace, and Toyota cars - two industries that have moved in to use the reserve of skilled labour left after the reduction of the railway industries. 

The fourth most prosperous region of Britain is also in the south; it is the South West.
This is Britain's fastest growing region, compared to the size of its population.
The Bristol end of the South West benefits from with good transport links to London and the North. A lot of "new industry" has settled in this region, in sectors such as  aerospace, car manufacturing, and high technology.  The area also benefits from a major consideration in modern society: a favourable climate. This is the warmest part of England, so attracts a lot of retirees. The "English Riviera" (Torquay, Paignton) benefits from a very mild climate.
 The extreme south west, however, is considerably less prosperous; it is too far from the rest of Britain, and suffers from this classic problem of an "outlying area". Cornwall has high unemployment.

The West Midlands, the region centered on the city of Birmingham, is the most prosperous of England's old industrial regions. This is the region in which the "Industrial Revolution" first took place, and the region has a strong industrial heritage; yet it has suffered considerably over the past thirty years, during the period of "deindustrialisation".
   Today, Birmingham is a dynamic international city.

The North of England was once Britain's industrial heartland. Millions of men and women worked in its great industries - textiles, coal, iron and steel, and shipbuilding: but all of these industries have declined in recent years. Today, though cities like Manchester and Leeds have reinvented themselves and attracted lots of new activity, other parts of the North of England are relatively poor, particularly the North East, the area near the city of Newcastle.

b) Scotland
Generally speaking, Scotland is one of the more prosperous regions of Britain, thanks to some strong and rich industries; high technology, oil and chemicals, whisky and tourism.
  The population of Scotland is about 5 million, but almost all of this population lives in the "lowlands", notably in the area between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
  The East of Scotland is - or at least was - prosperous agricultural land, and the area has also benefited largely from North Sea Oil, with the city of Aberdeen being nicknamed the "Scottish Dallas".
  Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, also has a strong tradition as a centre for finance and insurance.

c) Wales
The old industrial region in South Wales has been through a period of decline similar to that of the regions of the North of England. Most of the Welsh population lives and works in this region, which has had to redefine its economy now that the coal mining and iron and steel industries have almost disappeared

d) Northern Ireland
See Northern Ireland page

Return to top            Return to the Linguapress home page