The flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack

The United Kingdom

of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
By Tiago Silva (nº23) and Elvina Pinto (nº11)

Escola Secundária de Paços de Ferreira

November 2022
Index

Introduction 3

Information about the UK 3

History 3

Culture 4

Landmarks 4-5

Languages of the United Kingdom 5

Conclusion 5

Webography 6
Introduction
With this project, we intend to learn and share information about the United Kingdom,
we are sharing facts about various subjects such as history, geography, languages, and
more. We hope that everyone can learn a little more about this country.
We chose this country because we find it interesting and have first-hand experience
which will help make the project more accurate.

Information about the UK

The UK is a country in Europe, off the north-western
coast of the continental mainland.
It borders the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the
English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea.
The capital of the UK is London.
The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,495
square kilometers, with an estimated population of
more than 67 million people. This information is from
2023.
The United Kingdom has a fiercely independent,
developed, and international trading economy.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and
a parliamentary democracy. The country’s head of
state is the reigning king or queen, and the head of
government is the prime minister, who is the leader of
the majority political party in the House of Commons.

History
The United Kingdom is composed of four constituent states: England, Wales, Scotland,
and Northern Ireland. But there have long been tensions between England and the
other three U.K. states, in part because England has always been the dominant
political power among them.
Wales became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and then the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
Stuart, king of Scotland, also inherited the throne of England in 1603, becoming James
I of England, and the Stuart kings and queens ruled both independent kingdoms until
the Acts of Union in 1707 merged the two kingdoms into a new state, the Kingdom of
Great Britain.
The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of
Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
Culture
As a multinational state, the UK has no single national customs.
As an example of the different festivals and events, there are:

Aldeburgh Festival in England:

The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly
to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk.

National Eisteddfod of Wales in Wales

The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held
annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are
considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe.

Cultural clothes
There is no national dress code in the United Kingdom.
A kilt is the national dress of Scotland. A kilt is a garment resembling a wrap-around
knee-length skirt, made of twill woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and
back and traditionally a tartan pattern.
The national dress of Wales constitutes a long skirt, worn with a petticoat and a shawl.

Landmarks
Stonehenge is an ancient wonder of the world, located
on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. For centuries, its origin
has puzzled everyone. This is because it dates back to
3000-2000 BC but seems to have been built with
techniques that surpass those of the people who lived at
the time. Although recent studies have suggested that it
was built by many different people over the centuries, it
remains an interesting landmark worth visiting.

Although usually mistaken for being the name of the

whole clock tower, Big Ben is the nickname given to
the Great Bell located inside the Great Clock of
Westminster. The actual name for the clock tower
was “Clock Tower” but it was renamed to “Elizabeth
Tower” to honour Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond
Jubilee. When built in 1859, it was known as the
largest and most accurate chiming clock in the world
but now it stands as a cultural icon of the UK.
Edinburgh castle is known as one of the oldest castles in
Europe. Its location, on top of Castle Rock, gives it a
strategic advantage. Because of this, it served as the
residence for many kings of Scotland. The castle survived
multiple wars and was invaded twice by the English.
Nowadays, it is a popular tourist destination and an
important landmark.

Languages of the United Kingdom

English is a germanic language. This
language originated in England but has
spread to all the continents. It is an official
language in 67 countries but is considered
a global language because of its 1.5 billion
speakers worldwide.
Currently, English is the most spoken and
official language of the United Kingdom but
it isn’t the only language spoken there.
Although they seem to be slowly
disappearing, many Celtic languages are
also spoken in the UK such as Welsh
(538k speakers) and Irish (124k speakers),
and non-Celtic languages like Scots (1.5
million speakers).
Map of the evolution of languages in
the British Isles over time

Conclusion
In conclusion, we think this project has helped us learn more about a country that we
are both interested in. We have learned many facts and found out about many different
locations that we could visit in the future.
Webography

Websites

https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation in 18/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldeburgh_Festival in 18/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Eisteddfod_of_Wales in 18/03/23

https://historyplex.com/culture-of-united-kingdom in 18/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_Kingdom#Cuisine in 18/03/23

https://www.history.com/news/united-kingdom-scotland-northern-ireland-wales in
17/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Wales in 17/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom in 17/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formation_of_the_United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_an
d_Northern_Ireland in 17/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Scotland in 17/03/23

https://thesoundingline.com/map-of-the-day-languages-of-the-british-isles-throughout-
history/ in 15/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_Kingdom, in 15/03/23

https://www.britannica.com/topic/English-language, in 15/03/23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyVP4td5k_Y&ab_channel=TheInfographicsShow
, in 17/03/23

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy0CfYd1hWg&ab_channel=EnglishHeritage, in
17/03/23

https://www.britannica.com/place/Edinburgh-Castle, in 17/03/23

https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/the-castle/history, in 17/03/23

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben, in 18/03/23

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Big-Ben-clock-London, in 18/03/23