DID YOU KNOW? by Óscar Rodríguez

UNITED KINGDOM

UK is divided in four regions; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. The type of goverment is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament system and its capital is London. The actual British monarch since 6 February 1952 is Queen Elisabeth II. She is the most popular and appreciated Queen in the world, however, the royal family is always in the news.

United Kingdom is a developed country and it is the sixth largest economy of the world. The pound sterling is the currency of UK. One pound is equal to 1,2 euros.

There are many interesting places to visit. For example, in England; the amazing “London Eye” , the traditional “Big Ben” that it is a symbol of London and the most known all around the world. The opulent “Buckingham Palace”, the “Tower Bridge” and the “Tower of London” that is one of the most famous fortresses of the world and has been used as royal palace, prison, armory and even a zoo.

The Castle of Cardiff and the Castle of Caernafon in Wales are also very common tourist destinations.

Talking about Scotland, the Castle of Edinburg and the very famous Loch Ness, thanks to a lot of movies, with its terrible monster which lives into the water. Be careful if you decide to take a bath there. In Northern Ireland is important to point out the Castle of Belfast and the Hills of Mourne. Without any doubt it is a wonderful landscape.

And now, I want to give you some more details such as population, situation or these four regions. England is the biggest and it is situated in the south-east of UK. The population is over 53 million people (comprises the 84% of UK).London is the capital city of England. It is the most populous region, urban zone and metropolitan area in the UK. The universities of Cambridge and Oxford are very popular in Europe. There are also very famous streets, like “Oxford Street” with more than 300 shops.

Wales is situated on the south-west of UK. The population is over 3 million people and the capital is Cardiff. The north of Wales is one of the most beautiful areas of Britain. There are spectacular lakes, valleys, rivers and mountains including Snowdon, the highest point in Wales and England. People speak two languages: English and Welsh, this is one of the oldest language in Europe but, nowadays, only 20% of the inhabitants of Wales speak Welsh.

Scotland is situated in the north of UK. The population is over 5 million people. The capital is Edinburg. Most of the people live in the south of the country. The north of Scotland is called Highland because there are a lot of mountains, the highest is called Ben Nevis. Scottish language is also spoken but only by a few people.

And the last one is Northern Ireland. It is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. The population is about 2 million people and the capital is Belfast. N.I. was founded in 1921 when Ireland was between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. N.I. has been the most industrialized region.

By Oscar Rodriguez Díez