The British Isles

The British Isles

The British Isles form a group lying off the north-west coast of the

Continent of Europe ,mainly within the rectangle 50-60 degrees North

and 0-10 degrees West.

Their total area is about 121,600 square miles.

The two largest island are Great Britain, including England, Wale ,

Scotland and Ireland; comprising Northern Ireland and the Republic

of Ireland.

The seas surrounding the British Isles are the North Sea , the Atlantic

Ocean and the English Channel.

Great Britain is the largest island in Europe. Its western coast is

deeply indented; on the contrary, its eastern coast is for the most part

lowlying .

The mountainous and hilly areas lie to the north and west ; south-east

England and the Midlands are know as Lowland Britain.

Great Britain and Ireland are separated by the North Channel , the

Irish Sea , and St. Georges’ s Channel. Great Britain and Northern

Ireland make up the

United Kingdom (UK).

England occupies the southern part of the island of Great Britain;

Scotland occupies the northern part of the island of Great Britain ;

Wales is a peninsula on the south-western of great Britain ; Northern

Ireland takes up the northern corner of Ireland.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGES

The first people in Britain about whose languages we have definite

knowledge are the Celts. Celtic was therefore presumably the first

Indo-European languages to be spoken in the country we now know as

England.