The irregular shaped island on the northwestern coast of Europe, famously known as the United Kingdom, is actually a combination of four countries made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is more correctly called ‘The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’. Just under 1000 km long and 500 km wide, UK is small in size, but big in spirit, and boasts a proud heritage of beauty and culture.
England
England is the most popular as well as the largest country out of the four amalgamates. It boasts over an 83% population of the United Kingdom and was named after the Germanic tribes called the Angles, settlers during the 5th and 6th centuries. England was the founder of the most popular ‘English’ language, the international language of all times, while the English law is also the root of the legal system of a majority of the countries in the world. Renowned as the first industrial country of the world, England was also the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, which paved the way to rapid technological advances all over the world.
England shares land boundaries with Scotland in the north and Wales in the west and is bordered by water bodies such as the North Sea, Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, as well as the Bristol and English Channels. The capital city London is a large urban area and a leading business, financial, and cultural hub of the Midwest, holding a diverse population of various cultures, ethnicities and religions. The world's oldest public zoo resides in London and dates back to the year 1828 and the Heathrow Airport in London is one of the busiest airports of the world, with the highest traffic rate for international flights.
The English have imprinted their footprints in the development of the modern world in fields ranging from arts, economics and sciences. Valuable personalities such as Sir Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, John Stuart Mill, David Ricardo and Thomas Hobbes, were either born or resided in England.
English is also famous as one of the leading ‘tea drinking’ nations of the world.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is located in the northeast of Ireland and encompasses six counties of the Ulster province. With an area of 14 thousand square kilometers, Northern Ireland was established as an independent administrative region in 1921, with a separate jurisdiction. This constituent country has been subjected to may volatile ethnic and political clashes, between Nationalist Roma Catholics and Unionist Protestants, during ‘The Troubles’, as these conflicts were famously called.
Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland and was established in the 17th century by Sir Arthur Chichester as a settlement for Plantation migrants of Ulster. Belfast is the home of Harland and Wolff shipyards, one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, with an employment of around 35,000 workers.
Scotland
Scotland occupies the northern portion of Great Britain Island, (taking up one third of the mainland) as well as 790 odd smaller islands, which includes the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. The name derives from the Latin word Scoti, which refers to the Gael ethno-linguistic group. While Edinburgh is the capital, Glasgow is the largest city, both holding high importance in Europe’s economical forefront. The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent state with a separate legal system, jurisdiction, as well as the Scottish Education System and Church of Scotland, before the political unification with the Kingdom of England.
Scotland boasts a distinct culture with a uniqueness in literature, music, language and heritage found nowhere else in the world. E.g. The Great Highland Bagpipe, a traditional Scottish wind instrument of three drones and a melody pipe, always played wearing a characteristic uniform. It was also at a coffee-shop in Edinburgh that the author of the famous Harry Potter Series, J. K. Rowling was inspired to create her most appealing, wide-read children’s book series.
Wales
Wales is a bilingual country located in the west of Great Britain. The capital Cardiff in residential South Wales is the largest metropolis and had been one of the biggest coal ports in the Victorian era. Wales is a country of beautiful landscapes, with a culture to match it, holding much touristic appeal. The largest second-hand book market in the world is found at the border of Wales and England, in a small village called Hay-on-Wye and is considered a gem mine amongst scholars and book readers. Famous as the ‘land of song’, Welsh are also famous for their unique storytelling skills.
Also prominent after the ‘Prince of Wales’ title of the British Royal Family which denotes the heir to the throne, Wales boasts a long standing history dating back to tribal prehistoric men and the Roman invasions. Megaliths and various other unique monuments represent the rich cultural heritage of this age old constituent country.
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