Chapt e r 1 The Land and Histo r y英国全称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国，由英格兰、苏格兰、威尔士及北爱尔兰构成，位于大西洋东部的不列颠群岛，是个岛屿国家，由大不列颠岛，爱尔兰岛北部和众多小岛组成。
面积约24.40万平方公里，人口超过6400万(2013年)。
英国属于温带海洋气候，常年温和多雨，气候多变。
受高纬度因素的影响，有类似极昼极夜的现象，冬季日短夜长，夏季日长夜短。
公元前3000年左右，伊比亚人最先到达大不列颠岛。
随后，比克利人、凯尔特人相继来到不列颠。
公元前1世纪到公元5世纪，罗马入侵。
罗马人撤离后，欧洲北部的盎格鲁撒克逊人和以丹麦人为主体的斯堪的纳维亚先后入侵。
到了1066年，诺曼底公爵威廉征服了英格兰，英国的封建制度正式形成。
1215年，国王约翰被迫签订了大宪章。
不久，议会制度形成，从此英国的王权被不断削弱和限制。
1688年，―光荣革命‖爆发，确立了君主立宪制。
18世纪后期到19世纪前期，英国成为世界上第一个开始并完成工业革命的国家。
19世纪是英国发展的鼎盛时期，分别建立了第一大英帝国和第二大英帝国。
到二战前夕，英国统治了世界约1/4的土地。
第一次世界大战以及第二次世界大战的爆发，导致英国的政治、经济势力大为削弱，失去了霸权地位。
随着其殖民地的相继独立，20世纪60年代，大英帝国彻底瓦解。
I. Gener a l Intro d ucti o n1. Locat i on and the Four Natio n s The full name of the UK is the Unite d Kingd o m of Great Brita i n and North e rn Irela n d. It is made up of four natio n s: Engla n d, Scotl a nd, North e rn Irela n d, and Wales . It is locat e d to the north w est of conti n enta l Europ e , separ a ted by the Engli s h Chann e l. Geogr a phic a lly, it is an islan d count r y, cover i ng an area of about 244,019 km 2, and consi s ts of Great Brita i n and north e aste r n part of Irela n d, toget h er with many small islan d s of Briti s h Isles . Great Brita i n accou n ts for over 90% of the count r y’stotal landm a ss. It is the large s t islan d off the north w este r n coast of mainl a nd Europ e with Engla n d, Scotl a nd and Wales on it. Irela n d is the secon d large s t islan d of Briti s h Isles locat e d to the north w est of Great Brita i n. It is divid e d into two parts : North e rn Irela n d and the Repub l ic of Irela n d (an indep e nden t count r y).Engla n d is the large s t part of the UK and occup i es most of the south e rn two third s of Great Brita i n. The total area of Engla n d is 130,410 km 2 with a popul a tion of aroun d 53.9 milli o n (Mid-2013 estim a ted), which cover s morethan 84% of the total UK popul a tion . It is the most popul o us and highl y urban i zed part of the UK . Londo n , the capit a l of the UK and Engla n d, as well as the seat of gover n ment , is locat e d in its south e aste rn part.Map of Briti s h Isles Scotla nd is the second larges t and most mounta inous part of the UK in the northof GreatBritai n. Compar ed with that of Englan d, the popula tiondensit y is quitelow. Thereare only 5.3 millio n people with an area of 78,789 km2. Edinbu rgh, its larges t city, is the capita l of Scotla nd. Scotla nd is famous for its beauti ful natura l scener y, such as Scotti s h Highla nds1and Loch Ness2, as well as many histor icalplaces, like the Edinbu rgh Castle s.Walesis on the wester n side of centra l southe rn GreatBritai n. The totalarea of Walesis 20,779 km2, whichaccoun ts for 1/4 partsof the UK. It is also a mounta inous part of GreatBritai n, partic ularl y in the northand centra l region s. The southe ast region is the most builtup region of Wales, and the majori ty of its popula tionlive thereand a largepropor tionof its indust ry is basedthere. Its capita l city, Cardif f, is also in this region.Northe rn Irelan d lies in the northe ast of the island of Irelan d, coveri ng14,139 km2, whichconsti tutes 1/6 of the island. It is the smalle st part amongthe four nation s of the UK, as well as the second sparse ly popula ted part afterScotla nd. The capita l is Belfas t, the larges t city in Northe rn Irelan d both in popula tionand in area. It is the center for govern ment,econom ic, arts, higher educat ion, busine ss, law of Northe rn Irelan d. Additi onall y, it is the birthp laceof Titani c, and votedone of the world’stopdestin ation s.2. Climat eThe overal l climat e in the UK is temper ate mariti me, whichmeansthat it is mild with temper ature s neithe r much lowerthan 0℃ in winter nor much higher 32℃ in summer. Genera lly, the UK has warm summer s and cool winter s, with July and August as the warmes t month, and Januar y and Februa ry as the coldes t. Howeve r, due to the influe nce of Gulf Stream3, the summer s are cooler than thosein contin ent whilethe winter s are milder. Normal ly, the temper ature in summer is around20℃，with the high rarely goingabove30℃. The averag e temper ature in winter is around 0℃ and seldom go below-10℃ even in the most northe rn part of the countr y.Meanwh ile, sinceBritai n is an island countr y and surrou ndedby the sea, the climat e is consid erabl y change ablecompar ed with othercountr ies. Sincethe variab le climat e changi ng day to day, it is hard for people to predic t what the weathe r will be like the next day. Additi onall y, the unique geogra phica l positi on is also the reason for the dampne ss of the climat e. The rainfa ll is fairly distri buted throug houtthe year. Althou gh it does not rain everyday, it is always advisa ble for people to bringan umbrel la or waterp roofclothi ng everyday.II. Histor y1. The Foundi ng of the NationThe record ed histor y of the UK begins with the Romaninvasi on in 55BC. In 55 and 54BC, Britai n was twiceinvade d by Julius Caesar and his Romantroops. Howeve r, it was not until43AD that the Romanled by Claudi us I finall y succes sfull y invade d and Britai n became part of the RomanEmpire. The native Celtic were driven to the mounta in region s of Scotla nd and Wales, whichremain ed unconq uered by the Romans.The Romans have greatimpact on many aspect s of the Britis h cultur e. The Romancivili zatio n was introd ucedto the Britai n during this period. For exampl e, Romanstylebathsand temple s were built, cities like London and townswere constr ucted, and the system of govern mentwas also introd uced. With the declin e of the RomanEmpire, when the German ic troops attack ed Rome in 410 A.D., the Romans had to withdr aw in orderto protec t theirown nation, whichled to the end of Romanoccupa tion.Afterthe leaveof the Romans, threegroups of German ic tribes called the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons came to Britai n from the Europe an contin ent in the mid-4th centur y. They conque red differ ent region s of Britai n:1Scotti sh Highla nds：苏格兰高地，是对苏格兰高地边界断层以西和以北的山地的称，被认为是欧洲风景最优美的地区。
