The united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland is situated on the british isles. it consists of four parts: england, wales, scotland and northern ireland. england, wales and scotland occupy the territory of great britain and northern ireland is situated in the northern part of ireland. the territory of the united kingdom is about 244000 square kilometres. the population is over 56 million people. the capital of the united kingdom is london. the surface of the united kingdom varies greatly. the northern and the western parts of the country are mountainous and are called the highlands. all the rest is a vast plain which is called the lowlands. the mountains are not very high. the rivers are not very long. the most important of them are the severn and the thames. there are many beautiful lakes in the mountainous part of the country. the mountains, the atlantic ocean and the warm waters of the gulf stream influence the climate of great britain. it is mild the whole year round. winters are not cold and summers are not hot. great britain is a highly developed industrial country. it is known as one of the world's largest producers and exporters of iron and steel products, machinery and electronics, chemicals and textile. one of the industries is shipbuilding. great britain is a country with old cultural traditions and customs. the most famous educational centres are oxford and cambridge universities. they are considered to be the intellectual centres of europe. the education is not free, it is very expensive. the united kingdom is a monarchy and the queen is the head of the state. but in practice it is ruled by the government with the prime minister at the head. the british parliament consists of two chambers: the house of lords and the house of commons. there are three main political parties in great britain: the labour party, the conservative party arid the liberal party.
