United Kingdom - History

The United Kingdom is a union of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. The Head of the State is Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen reigns, but she doesn’t rule. A cabinet of ministers rules the country. These ministers belong to the political has a majority in Parliament.
Nowadays to two main political parties in Great Britain are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
The countryside is varied. Northern Scotland is a wild region full of lakes.
Northern Ireland has low mountains and beautiful fields.
The British coastline is a combination of steep cliffs, golden beaches, rocks, and small fishing towns.
The English Channel separates Britain from France. It has helped to protect Britain from invasion.
Since 1066 when William the Conqueror invaded the country big tunnel joins England to the rest of Europe.
The United Kingdom has a population of about 57 milion people. There are important universities such as London University, Cambridge, Oxford and St Andrew’s University in Scotland. Oxford is the oldest university in Britain.

THE GOVERNAMENT

Elisabeth II is the present sovereign. She has the power to appoint the Prime Minister.
Who is generally the leader of the majority party in Parliament, the Prime Minister lives in London at W. 10 Dawning Street. He/She chooser his/her ministers.
Parliament is the real government.
It is made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The 650 members of the House of are elected by the people over the age of 18 while the members of the House of Lords are not elected at all Most of the members of the
House of Lords are hereditary members the two Houses of Parliament meet in the Palace of Westminster.

London was founded by the Romans in the years 43 A.D.
They gave it the name of Londinium. The most visible remains of the Roman period are the straigt roads. When the Romans went away, the town declined.
The Anglo-Saxons arrived from northern Europe and settle the region. Other peoples invaded the Island like the Vikings and the Normans.
In the 1066 William the Conqueror become King of England Under his reigns the tower of London was built to protect the city. In the Middle Ages London became an important city with fine buildings, narrow streets, gothic churches and cathedrals London became famous for its theatres under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. unfortunately theatres were shut down after the Civil War.
In 1066 a fire started in the City and destroyed part of it. Many people died and many buildings were destroyed.
Today London is a big metropolis with elegant shops, street, cafés and boutiques.