Located: Lying off the north-west coast of Europe.

*The UK:

Name:

- In term of geography

+Great Britan & Ireland

+The British Isles

- In term of political

+The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Island: usually shorted as The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest, at the United Nations and in the European parliament.

+The UK: Everyday speech or .uk in the internet/email addresses

+Great Britain: other cases, such as the Olympic Games

+Britain: writing and speaking (not specially format or informat)

+GB: Banking and on car sticker

Is Great Britain and Britain the same

No, cause GB has 3 nations (England, Wales, and Scotland), Britain has 2 (England and Wales)

Flag

Name: Union Jack or Union Flag

Describe: The Union Jack consisted of

A standing red cross on a white ground, the cross of St George, patron saint of England.

A diagonal white cross on a blue ground, cross saltire of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland.

A diagonal red cross on a white ground, is the cross saltire of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

*Wales

Flag: The Flag of Wales (Welsh: Balner Cymru or Y Ddraig Goch, meaning 'the red dragon') consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. The red dragon was then included as a supporter of the Tudor royal arms to signify their Welsh descent.

The flag is officially recognized in 1959.

*Politically of England

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy: A King or Queen is the head of the country, besides that we have a parliament. The monarch has a little power, can only reign by the support of parliament.

Theoretically, every act of government is done in the Queen's name. Ex: Every letter is sent out by a government department is marked 'On Her Majesty's Service'. She appoints all the minister, including the Prime Minister.

In reality, everything is done on the advice of the elected Government, and the monarch takes no part in the decision.

Parliament:

+House of Commons: (Hạ nghị viện)

+House of Lords: (Thượng nghị viện)

- Is it correct when people call Britain "England"?

+England is just one of 4 nations in Britain (Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England)

-They have the same passport for the whole Britain regardless of where in Britain they live. Nationality: British

-Many aspects of government are organized separately (some differently) in the four parts of the United Kingdom.

Symbols and Tokens

Surname:

Prefix:

- 'Mac' or 'Mc' (such as McCall, MacCarthy, MacDonald) is Scottish or Irish.

- The prefix 'O ' (as in O 'Brien, O 'Connor) is Irish.

- A large number of surnames (for example, Evans, Jones, Morgan, Price, Williams) suggest Welsh origin.

- The most common surname in both England and Scotland is 'Smith'

First name:

- John (English)

- Ian (Scottish)

- Sean (Irish)

→Common throughout England

Nickname

Men sometimes know and address as

- Jock (Scottish)

- Paddy/Mick (Irish)

- Dai/Taffy (Welsh)

The person using these name is not a friend or using it in the plural form → insulting

Clothes:

- Kilt (skirt) is worn by men. It is the symbol of Scottishness. Patten: checked. Material: wool (because in the highland is cold). Colour: colourful

Characteristics:

- The Irish are supposed to be great talkers (good at eloquence)

- The Scots have a reputation for being careful with money

- The Welsh are renowned for their singing ability (good at singing)

Musical instruments

- The harp is a stringed musical instrument which has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard, which is plucked with the fingers.

The dominance of England:

Why and how does England dominate the UK?

* England is the biggest country in the UK:

- England is a country in the UK and occupies most of the southern two-thirds of Great Britain. The total area of England is 130,410 square km (50, 352 square mi).

- England used to be known as England, meaning the land of the Angles, people from continental -Germany, who began to invade Britain in the late 5th century, along with the Saxons and Jute.

* England contains about 84% of the UK population..

* The capital of the UK is in England:

- The capital, seat of government, and the largest city in the United Kingdom is London. 
London is also is the capital of England.

- All of Great Britain has been ruled by the UK government in London since 1707. (In 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales took place leaving England as the only part of Great Britain with no devolved assembly or parliament).

* The English language comes from England:

- As it names suggest, the English language, today is spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language from England, where it remains the principal tongue today.

- English is the official language of the UK and the first language of the vast majority of the population. Both Wales and Scotland have their own languages but English is spoken in both countries more.

* The British Royal family live in England.

* Most of the world assumes that British people are "English" unless specified otherwise:

- This, of course, is wrong. British people can be Scottish, Welsh, Irish (living in Northern Ireland) or English. The Scots and the Welsh are proud of their separate identities and tend to be more forward about referring to themselves as Scottish or Welsh.

* Culture: British culture is specifically English.

* Public:

- Finance: bank of English.

- The Queen: Elizabeth II. She covers all over 4 countries.

- The Anglo – American relations.

* The names of publications and organizations:

British are the people with the largest amount of reading newspapers in the word. Some newspaper with over 200 pages, sometimes with supplement.

Ex: Times – Times Educational Supplement.