The British Isles — Transcript

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1. 0:00The British Isles
2. 0:02People are unsure about the difference
3. 0:05between the terms United Kingdom,
4. 0:08Great Britain and the British Isles.
5. 0:11The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
6. 0:15is the political union of England,
7. 0:18Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland.
8. 0:22Great Britain is a geographical term
9. 0:26which indicates England, Scotland
10. 0:29and Wales, but not Northern Ireland.
11. 0:33The British Isles is also a geographical term
12. 0:37that includes the two main islands of Great Britain and Ireland,
13. 0:41including the Republic of Ireland,
14. 0:44where people are Irish, not British,
15. 0:47and over 6.000 little islands around the UK.
16. 0:53Far north are the Shetland Islands;
17. 0:58to the west the Hebrides
18. 1:00and the Orkney Islands are just off
19. 1:03the most north-easterly point of the UK.
20. 1:07At the other end of the UK,
21. 1:09south-west,
22. 1:11are the Isles of Scilly.
23. 1:13And off the south-east coast of England is the Isle of Wight,
24. 1:17also nicknamed the Ghost Isle or the Dinosaur Isle!
25. 1:22The UK flag, or ‘Union Jack’,
26. 1:26is red, white and blue
27. 1:28and it includes the crosses of the English,
28. 1:31Scottish and Northern Irish flags,
29. 1:34but not the Welsh flag, a red dragon.
30. 1:39There are symbols for each country too:
31. 1:42a red rose for England;
32. 1:44a thistle for Scotland;
33. 1:47a shamrock for Northern Ireland;
34. 1:49a leek or a daffodil for Wales.
35. 1:53The population of the UK is over 63 million,
36. 1:58with over 53 million people in England,
37. 2:01over 5 million in Scotland,
38. 2:04almost 2 million in Northern Ireland
39. 2:07and over 3 million in Wales.
40. 2:10London is the capital city of England and the UK
41. 2:15and it is a very international city
42. 2:18with residents from many different countries.
43. 2:22Other important English cities are Birmingham,
44. 2:25Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.
45. 2:29Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland,
46. 2:32Cardiff of Wales
47. 2:34and Belfast of Northern Ireland.
48. 2:37English is the official language of the United Kingdom.
49. 2:42Other recognised regional languages are Irish,
50. 2:45Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Cornish.