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Great Britain
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (or the UK) is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK covers the British Isles which is the geographical name of all the islands situated off the northwest coast of the European Continent. They consist of Great Britain, Ireland and of about five thousand small islands. The North Sea, the Strait of Dover and the English Channel separate Great Britain from the continent. It is washed on the west coast by the Atlantic Ocean and by the Irish Sea.
The mountains in Great Britain are not very high, the highest mountain is Ben Nevis in Scotland. The main rivers in Britain are the Thames, the Mersey, the Severn and others, but none of them are very long.
The climate of Great Britain is mild. The Atlantic Ocean and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream influence the weather on the British Isles. The summers are cool and rainy; the winters are not very cold.
Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. One of the leading industries in Great Britain is the textile industry.
Coal, iron and steel as well as various machines are also produced there. Shipbuilding and motor industry are highly developed too.
There are many big industrial cities in Britain, such as Birmingham and Sheffield (with big iron and steel works),Manchester and Liverpool(the biggest centers of textile industry), Cardiff and others. London, the capital city of the UK, is one of the biggest commercial centers and ports of the world. It is also an important political, cultural and educational centre. Other educational centers in Great Britain are Oxford and Cambridge with the world famous oldest Universities, and also Edinburg and Sheffield.
The total population of Great Britain today is about 59 million people. The official language of the country is English, though in Wales people speak Welsh which is different from English, while the Scottish dialect differs little from English.
There are many other languages spoken in Britain as it has become now a multinational state.
The United States of America
The United States is the fourth largest country in the world in size and population. It has an area of 9.371.781 square kilometres and its population is 249 million people. The US consists of 50 states. The largest state is Alaska. Hawaii is one of the smallest states, it is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, 2.397 miles from California. The other 48 states stretch across the North American continent for about 3.000 miles(4.800 km) from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Along the Atlantic Coast the land is flat, inland from the coast there are the Appalachian Mountains. In the middle of the continent there is the great Mississippi River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The middle part of the country is generally flat, this area is called the Great Plains. In the west there are two main mountain systems: the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range.
The climate of the US is temperate, with four distinct seasons. The northern part of the country has snow in winter. The hottest places are Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Southern Florida and Hawaii are subtropical. The East is much wetter than the West.
The main rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Colorado and the Ohio. The largest cities of the US are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia. The capital of the US is Washington.
The US has many natural resources, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas, rich soil for agriculture and forests. The economy of the US is based upon free enterprise. The US produces non-electric machinery, transportation equipment, metal products, paper and plastic products.
There are many ethnic groups in the United States. The largest group is Black Americans(about 12 % of the population). Spanish-speaking people are about 9%. The fastest growing ethnic groups are Chinese, Japanese and Indochinese(about 3%). Native Americans are about 1% of the population. The basic language spoken throughout the country is American English.
Canada
Canada is a vast country, bigger than the United States, bigger than the continent of Australia. It is in fact one of the world’s largest countries. Its area is about 10 mln sq km. As Canada extends for thousands of miles from the Arctic Ocean to the United States and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, all kinds of weather conditions and scenery are to be found there.
The population of Canada is 29 mln people. The capital is Ottawa; the main cities are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The word Canada comes from one of the Red Indian languages – "Kannata", meaning "a number of huts". Canada is often called the "Land of the Maple Leaf". The maple leaf is the national emblem of Canada.
The story of Canada goes back over 400 years. The French were the first settlers to this country. In 1759 Canada became part of the British Empire. In 1931 was Independence from Britain. Today Canada is an independent federative state, consisting of 10 provinces and 2 territories. It is a member of the Commonwealth, headed by the Queen of Great Britain. The two official languages are English and French. But many other languages are spoken: Italian, Chinese, German, Polish and Greek. Canada is a country with a very high standard of living. This country is particularly advanced in the areas of health, education, social protection and human rights.
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