THE UNITED KINGDOM

Some British people say that they are from Great Britain...
Other British people say they are from the United Kingdom...
Some say they are from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland...

What a mess! What do you think about these different places?

England, Scotland and Wales are on an island in the north-west of Europe called `Great Britain´. Great Britain together with Northern Ireland is called The United Kingdom (the UK).

England is the largest part of the UK. Its name comes from people called “the Angles”. About 53 million people live in England and the capital city is London.

Scotland is in the north of Great Britain. Over 5 million people live in Scotland. The highest mountain in the UK is in this country. It is called `Ben Nervis´. The capital city of Scotland is Edinburgh.

Wales is in the west of Great Britain. About 3 million people live there and about 20 per cent of them speak Welsh. Welsh is one of the oldest languages in Europe. The capital of Wales is Cardiff.

Northern Ireland is a part of Ireland. Nearly 2 million people live there. There are huge rocks made by lava from a volcano, but an old story says that a giant built it! The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast.