England is the most populated country in the United Kingdom.

The other countries that make

up the United Kingdom are Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

England is bordered by Wales to the west and Scotland to the north.

The population of England in 2011 was around 53 million.

The capital city of England is London. Other major cities include Birmingham, Manchester,
Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds.

England includes many small islands such as the Isle of Wight and Hayling Island.

There is only a 34 kilometre (21 mile) gap between England and France and the countries are
connected by the Channel Tunnel which opened in 1994.

England was the first industrialized nation after the industrial revolution that began around
1760.

Famous English scientists include Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Isaac

Newton and Stephen Hawking among many others.

The longest river in the United Kingdom is the River Severn. Located in England and Wales, it
stretches around 354 kilometres (220 miles) in length.

The longest river found entirely in England is the River Thames, it flows through London and is
slightly shorter than the River Severn at around 346 kilometres (215 miles) in length.

The largest lake in England is named Windermere.

The highest mountain in England is Scafell Pike, which stands at around 978 metres (3,209 ft)
in height.

England has a large economy and uses the pound sterling as its currency.

English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide Web.

There have been a number of influential English authors but perhaps the most well known is
William Shakespeare, who wrote classics such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and Hamlet.

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in England but others such as cricket and rugby
have large followings.

The Summer Olympic Games have been held in London 3 times, in 1908, 1948 and 2012.

The official London home of the British monarch (king or queen) is Buckingham Palace.

Geography of United Kingdom

Borders: Republic of Ireland (only land border), Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, English
Channel, maritime (water) borders with France,
the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, andSpain

Total Size: 244,820 square km

Size Comparison: slightly smaller than Oregon
Geographical Coordinates: 54 00 N, 2 00 W
World Region or Continent: Europe
General Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east
and southeast
Geographical Low Point: The Fens -4 m
Geographical High Point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m

Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic
Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
Major Cities: LONDON (capital) 8.615 million; Birmingham 2.296 million;
Manchester 2.247 million; West Yorkshire 1.541 million; Glasgow 1.166 million
(2009)
Major Landforms: Island of Great Britain, Island of Ireland (northern fifth), Cumbrian
Mountains, Pennines, Hebrides Islands, Shetland Islands, Scottish Highlands, Ben
Nevis, Highland Boundary Fault, Mourne Mountains
Major Bodies of Water: Thames River, Severn River, Humber River, Lough Neagh
(lake), Loch Lomond, Windermere, Bala Lake, English Channel, North Sea, Irish
Sea, Celtic Sea, Atlantic Ocean
Famous Places: Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge, Westminster
Palace, Big Ben, London Eye, Windsor Castle, Trafalgar Square, Cotswolds, St.
Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Hyde Park, Loch Ness, Wembley Stadium, Ben
Nevis, Globe Theatre, Edinburgh Castle, White Cliffs of Dover, Channel Tunnel

Palace of Westminster

Economy of United Kingdom

Major Industries: machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment,
railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and
communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper
products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods
Agricultural Products: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry;
fish
Natural Resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin,
limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land

Major Exports: manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco

Major Imports: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs
Currency: British pound (GBP)
National GDP: $2,288,000,000,000

Government of United Kingdom

Type of Government: constitutional monarchy
Independence: England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the
union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was
not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707,
England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative
union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the
name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921
formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the
United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927.
Divisions: The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales,
and Northern Ireland. Each country has its own way of forming administrative
divisions of the government. England is divided up into nine regions, Scotland into 32
council areas, Wales into 22 authorities, and Northern Ireland into 26 districts.

Tower of London
The nine regions of England are:
1. North East
2. North West
3. Yorkshire and the Humber
4. East Midlands

5. West Midlands
6. East of England
7. London
8. South East
9. South West
National Anthem or Song: God Save the Queen
National Symbols:

Animal - Bulldog (England), Lion

Bird - Red Kite (Wales)

Flower - Tudor Rose (England), Thistle (Scotland), Flax Flower (Northern

Ireland)

Tree - Royal Oak

Colors - Red, white, and blue

Motto - "God and my Right", "In Defense" (Scotland)

Other symbols - Unicorn (Scotland), Welsh Dragon (Wales), Britannia

Description of flag: The flag of the United Kingdom was adopted on January 1,
1801. The name of the flag is the Union Jack. It has a blue background (field) with a
red cross outlined in white and a red "x" outlined in white.
Other flags:

England - White with a red cross.

Scotland - Blue with a white "x".

Wales - Two horizontal stripes of white (top) and green (bottom) with a red
dragon.

Flag of Scotland
National Holiday: the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday
Other Holidays: New Years' Day (January 1), Saint Patrick's Day (March 17), Easter,
May Day (May 1), Bank Holiday, Christmas (December 25), Boxing Day (December
26)

The People of United Kingdom

Languages Spoken: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales),
Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
Nationality: Briton(s), British (collective plural)
Religions: Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%,
Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census)
Origin of the name United Kingdom: The name "United Kingdom" is short for the
official name of the country which is the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland." The term "Great Britain" is used to describe the island that
contains the three countries England, Scotland, and Wales. When Northern Ireland
was added, the country became known as the United Kingdom.
Famous People:

David Beckham - Soccer player

Winston Churchill - Prime Minister during World War II

Captain James Cook - Explorer

Princess Diana - Famous Princess

Sir Francis Drake - Explorer and privateer

Elizabeth I - Queen of England during the Elizabethan Era

Mick Jagger - Singer for the Rolling Stones

John Lennon - Singer for the Beatles

David Lloyd George - Prime Minister during World War I

Henry VIII - King of England broke with the Catholic Church

Henry Hudson - Explorer

Isaac Newton - Scientist

J.K. Rowling - Author who wrote the Harry Potter series

William Shakespeare - Playwright

Margaret Thatcher - Prime Minister during the end of the Cold War

J.M.W. Turner - Painter

William the Conqueror - Norman invader

Queen Victoria - Queen of England during the Victorian Era

Choose a country..

The United Kingdom

of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland

Things to Know
Abbreviation: UK
Capital: London
The United Kingdom's government is a constitutional
monarchy. The head of state is the king or queen of the
royal family. Elizabeth II has been the queen since 1952.
The government is run by a prime minister and the
members of Parliament. My Parliament Scrap
Bookexpains about Parliament and citizenship--ages 11-14
(pdf)
Many of the British people come from groups that invaded
or migrated to the UK: the Celts, the Jutes, the Angles,
the Saxons, and the Normans.

God Save the Queen" is the national anthem of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Many of the British people come from groups that invaded

or migrated to the UK: the Celts, the Jutes, the Angles,
the Saxons, and the Normans.

The United Kingdom consist

of a group of islands off the
northwest coast of Europe.
The United Kingdom
consists of four nations:
England, Wales, Scotland
(who together make up
Great Britain) and Northern
Ireland.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom flag is called the "Union Jack" or
"Union Flag". The United Kingdom flag incorporates the
national symbols of three distinct countries, England,
Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK flag is made up
made up of three different national symbols: St. Georges
Cross, St. Andrew's Cross, and St. Patrick's
Cross.

St. George's Cross

(England)

St. Andrew's Cross

(Scotland)

St. Patrick's Cross

Why doesn't the Welsh dragon appear on the Union Jack?

When the first Union Jack was created in 1606, Wales was
already united with England.
Wales was annexed by England in the 13th century and
was considered a part of the Kingdom of England.

Prehistoric
4000 to 1500 BCE
The people of this era left no literature, but they did leave
many burial chambers, monuments and artifacts.
Avebury stone monuments
Bronze Age 2500 - 700 BCE.
The Beaker People migrates and settles in England. They
are called the Beaker People because of the shape of the
pottery vessels which are so often found in their round
barrow graves.
Stonehenge site was before the Bronze Age, built
sometime around 2800 B.C.E. The Beaker People began
the process of building a double ring of stones inside the
henge. These "bluestones" were transported all the way
from southern Wales, a distance of several hundred miles.
The Iron Age (700BCE - 43CE)
During the Iron Age people took to farming in permanent
fields and to living in protected hill forts. Maiden Castle in
Dorset is typical of a large protected hill fort.
The Celts (600 BCE - 50CE)
Many of Britain's Celts came from Gaul, driven from their
homelands by the Roman armies and Germanic tribes.
Roman Britian (43 CE to 410CE)

The first Roman invasion of the British Isles took place in

55 B.C. under war leader Julius Caesar, who returned one
year later, but this did not lead to any significant or
permanent occupation.
In 43 CE Emperor
Claudius ordered an
expedition against
Britain. He sent his
general, Aulus Plautius,
and an army of 40,000
men. The Romans
pushed west to a line
from Exeter to Lincoln,
and by 60CE controlled
most of Britain south of
the Humber. They
pushed north into
Scotland, they decided
to build a gigantic wall, Hadrian's Wall , to control the
frontier. They were to remain for nearly 400 years.

Boudicca , Queen of the Iceni, led a revolt against the

Roman military in 60-61CE.
England
Capital: London
The flag of England has a white background with a red
cross, and is known as the St. George's
Cross.

Museum of London
Tells the fascinating story of London from prehistoric
times to the present day.
The British Monarchy official web site
Learn about the British Monarchy through the ages. Take a
stroll and learn the history of many castles and palaces of
the United Kingdom.
The national flower of England is the rose-the Tudor Rose
which is half white and half red.
The Tudor Rose, aslo known as the Rose of England, takes
its name from the Tudor dynasty. It was adopted as
England's emblem since the time of the Wars of the Roses
and merges a white rose (representing the Yorkists) and a
red rose (representing the Lancastrians).
During the Wars of the Roses, these two sides went to war
over control of the royal house. The Wars of the Roses was
a long drawn out war between two rival branches of the
royal House of Plantagenet--the House of York and the
House of Lancaster. They fought over the throne of
England. The Wars of the Roses lasted 32 years from 1455
to 1485 with sporatic battles.
Color
Tudor Rose color page

Make
Tudor Rose
Use paper or fabric to create a Tudor Rose.

Scotland
Capital: Edinburgh
The flag of Scotland has a blue background with a white xshaped cross (saltire). The saltire is an heraldic symbol in
the form of a diagonal cross. The cross represents the cross
of the parton saint of Scotland; Saint Andrew. The flag is
also know as Saint Andrew's Cross.
There is no official national anthem of
Scotland. Scotland is part of the UK and
"God Save the Queen" is the national anthem for the
United Kingdom as a whole and is used in Scotland in that
context. However, a number of songs are used as unofficial
Scottish anthems. Flower of Scotland is one song which
unofficially fulfil this role and is used frequently at special
occasions and sporting events.
In Scotland men wear kilts, which is a form of national
clothing
that is a symbol of honor. The tartan (a Scottish wool
woven in a wide range of checked or plaid patterns) kilt of
Scotland was a way of identifying family clans. Each clan
had their own pattern.
a Scottish wool woven in a wide range of checked or plaid
patterns.
Scotland's national instument is the
bagpipes.

An amimal native to Scotland is the

Scottish Highland cattle. Scottish
Highland cattle are a rugged breed of
cattle bred for the harsh conditions of the Scottish
Highlands. They have long horns and are covered in long

wavy hair with a forelock of long hair which almost covers

their eyes. Highland cattle can be the color black, brindled
(brown or grey streaked or patched with a darker color),
red, yellow, dun (yellow brown). The Highland cattle's hair
gives protection during the
cold harsh winters.
The national flower of
Scotland is the
thistle.
The most
identifiable
symbols of Scotland is the
tarton and the
thistle. How did the prickly purple thistle win the hearts of
the Scots? No one knows.
There is a legend that the army of King Haakon of Norway
was intent on conquering the Scots. During the night to
move quietly the Norse removed their footwear. The
sleeping Scottish warriors were saved from an ambush by
the invading Norse army when one of the attackers stepped
on a thistle with his bare feet, and shrieked out in pain. The
Scots won the day. There is no historical evidence for this
legend, but it is a good story and might be true or not.
Color
Thistle color page

Make
How to Make Thistles for St Andrew's Day
Use green paper, pipe cleaner, and tissue
paper to make the emblem of Scotland.

Sites to See
Landscapes
With the friendly guide Goggs tour the landscapes of the
Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Also, learn
geographical terms and map skills.
Lock Ness Live Web Cam
Keep a watchful eye out for Nessie with a special web
camera on the shores of Loch Ness. Site also has an
underwater camera. See pictures live to the Internet from
below the surface of Loch Ness. Can you spot Nessie live
on camera?
Stories to Read
The Lore of the Orkney Islands has collected a number of
essays and stories about odd things from the land to the
sea. From the hogboon to selkies, vanishing islands to
ghosts, there is a variety of folklore at this site.
Wales
Capital: Cardiff
The flag of Wales is a red dragon on a green and white
background.
Wales: History of the Welsh Flags

The national flower of Wales is the daffodil.

The daffodil blooms in the early Spring. The daffodil
begins to bloom around March 1st. It has come
to symbolise St. David's Day, the patron saint of
Wales. The daffodil is traditionally worn on St.
Davids Day, the 1st of March.

Color
Daffodil color page

Make
Make Your Own Welsh Dragon
Print the templates to create a 3D dragon.
Also on the webpage is a Wales flag color page and
instructions to create your own 3D
daffodil.

Paper plate cupcake daffodils

Cut out a star shape from yellow construction paper.
Add cupcake liners and rolled paper (green or paint green)
to create daffodils.

Sites to See
Iron Age Celts in Wales
Fact files, stories, games, and more.

Northern Ireland
Capital: Belfast

Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four parts of the

United Kingdom.
It is often called Ulster because it includes six of the nine
counties that made up the
ancient kingdom of Ulster.
The national flower of Northern Ireland is the
shamrock.

Color
Shamrock color page

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