Intro to Culture

and Society
INSTRUCTOR:
TRAN THI NGUYET THANH,
M.A.
REVIEW
THE UK
 1. The Physical
Setting of British
Civilization
 1. WHAT ARE THE KEY FACTS?
Official Name:
Parts:
Total population:
Capital City:
Type of Government :
Flag:
Money:
Highest mountain:
Longest river:
Major languages:
Total land area (sq.km):
Major rivers:
Official Name: United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern
Ireland
Parts: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
Total population: 66, 870, 000
Capital City: London
Type of Government : Constitutional monarchy
Flag: The Union Flag
Money: Pound sterling (£)
Highest mountain: Ben Nevis (1,343m, Scotland)
Longest river: River Severn (354 km, Wales)
Major languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population
of Wales), Scottish (as a form of Gaelic, about 60,000 in Scotland)
Total land area (sq.km): 244,820 sq. km
Major rivers: Thames, Severn, Tyne
What is the climate
like in The UK?
 Varied climate

 variable climate changing from day to day

 difficult to predict the weather
  warm summers & cool winters

 Temperate maritime
 mild
 damp
 subject to frequent changes.
What influences the
weather?
Main influence on the climate is close proximity
to

Atlantic Ocean

 Northern latitude

the Gulf Stream
 (a warm current of the northern Atlantic
Ocean)
How many seasons are
there
in The UK?
 Spring
4 seasons - March to May
Summer
- June to August
Autumn
- September to November
Winter
- December to February 
 South & East:
comparatively low-
lying: -flat
Land plains or gently
rolling hills

No towering mountain

ranges

No impressively large

rivers, plains, forests
It lacks in grandeur it
makes up for in variety
 North & West: Mountainous
areas & flat areas

 great proportion of grassland

 fields with hedgerow

in southern England
 Settlement
 Land: used for human habitation
 densely populated in most areas
 habitual concern for privacy
 love of the countryside

 The English and the Welsh don’t like

living in blocks of flat in city centres

⇒Cities have been built outwards rather

than upwards
Geographically regional
features
 London
Northern England
ENGLAND The Midlands
of England
Southern
England
  Population: 55,977,000
ENGLAND  Area: 130,410 sq km

 largest of the countries

 comprising the island of Britain,
 covering about two-thirds of the
island.

 No place in England is more than 120

km from the sea.
 LONDON  Country’s business & banking Centre
 Centre of its transport network.
 Capital of the UK
 Headquarters of national television
 Largest city in Britain & in
networks & national newspapers.
western Europe
 About 7 times larger than any other
 Home to
city in the country
 headquarters of all
government departments  About a fifth of total population of
the UK lives in the wider London area.
 country’s parliament
 Nearly a million people travelling into
 major legal institutions the Centre each day to work.
 the monarch
 Southern England

 Outer suburbs of  reputation of being

London 'commuter land’

 Most densely  millions of its

populated area inhabitants travel into
London to work every
day.
Countries of Southern England

Bristol West Sussex

Cornwall East Sussex
Devon Kent
Dorset Somerset
Hampshire Wiltshire
Isle of Wight Berkshire
Oxford shire Gloucestershire
Surrey
 The Midlands of England
 Birmingham:
 second largest city
 develop into country’s major engineering center
 convert iron & steel into a vast variety of goods.

Other industrial areas in the Midlands

 develop The Potteries in Manchester
 famous for producing China: factories of
Wedgwood, Spode & Minton
 world's greatest fishing port in Grimsby
 country's major fish
processing centre
 Northern England

 Run up the middle of northern England like a spine.

 Western side, world's leading producer of cotton goods

in Manchester area in 19th century
 Eastern side, world's leading producers of woollen
goods in Bradford & Leeds
 Other towns sprang up on both sides of the Pennines
concentrating on certain auxiliary industries or on coal
mining.
 Further south, centre for the production of steel
goods in Sheffield
 Further north, shipbuilding - major industry - around
Newcastle.
 The Lake District
(north-western corner of the country)

 (the ‘Lake Poets’)

Romantic poets: Wordsworth,
Coleridge & Southey

 favorite destination walking

holidays

 classified as a National Park

(largest in England).
 Scotland
 In north-west Europe
 Part of Great Britain
 An island country & the United Kingdom

Area: 78,789 sq km
Population: 5,438,000
Capital City: Edinburgh
Major Cities: Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow
Highest point:  Ben Nevis (1,343 m)
Longest river:  Tay (193 kilometres) long
Largest Lake: Loch Lomond (60 sq.km) 
40 km long
-Three fairly clearly-marked
regions:

+ Southern upland

+ Central plain

+ The highlands
cotland’s two major cities have very different reputation

Glasgow
+ Scotland's largest city
+ A strong artistic heritage,
design, architecture
+ One of the world’s leading
industrial
Edinburgh
+ the capital and second
largest city of Scotland
+ Many historical
buildings
 Loch Ness
 Over 600 square miles

  Large, deep, freshwater loch

in Scottish Highlands

 Best known for alleged

sightings of the Loch Ness
Monster

 Known affectionately as
"Nessie"
 Two national parks

The Cairngorms National Loch Lomond & The

Park, created in 2003. Trossachs National
Park, created in 2002
 Wales  In north-west Europe
 Part of Great Britain, 
 An island country & the United
Kingdom(UK) 

Area:  20,779 sq km
Population:  3,139,000
Capital City: Cardiff 
Major Cities: Cardiff, Swansea & Newport
Highest point:  Snowdon (1085 m)
Longest river: Towy (103 km)
Largest Lake:  Bala (4.4 sq km)
 Wales
 Live in one small part of Wales
 Most heavily populated in the
south-east
 Coal has been mined in many
parts of Britain
 locate its prototype coal mine
in south Wales.
 Cardiff - the capital of Wales –
population: third of a million
 Most of the rest of
Wales is mountainous
 Travel between south &
north is very difficult.
 Each part of Wales has
closer contact with its
neighboring: the north
with Liverpool, & mid-
Wales with the English
West Midlands.
 Lies in the northeast of


the island of Ireland
Covers 5,459 square
Northern Ireland
miles (14,139 km²)
 About a sixth of the
island's total area.

Area: 5,459 square miles

Population: 1,882,000
Capital City: Belfast
Major Cities: Belfast, Londonderry,
Lisburn, Newtonabbey, Bangor, Craigavon
Highest point: Slieve Donard mountain (848
m)
Longest river: River Bann (129 km)
Largest Lake: Lough Neagh (392 km²)
 Belfast:

 capital & largest city

of Northern Ireland
Lough Neagh
 famous for the
osometimes Loch Neagh
manufacture of linen
(still a shipbuilding
oa freshwater lake
city)
in Northern Ireland

othe largest lake by area in

the British Isles
 Identifying symbols of the four nations
England Wales Scotland Ireland
Flag St Georges Red Dragon St Andrew’s Cross St Patrick’s red
Cross White diagonal Cross diagonal
Red upright

Plant Rose Leek/Daffodil Thistle shamrock

Colour white red blue green
Patron Saint St George St David St Andrew St Patrick

Saint’s day 23 April 1 March 30 November 17 March

Names Smith, Davis, Davis, Evans, Mc Donald O’Hara,

Evans, Jones, Jones, Lloyd, (Mac-son), Smith Mc Call
Morgan, Rees Morgan, Rees

Clothes Kilt (skirt)

Musical harp bagpipe Harp, bagpipe

instrument
 2. THE
BRITISH
PEOPLE
 3. The
British
Government
and
Politics
4. BUSINESS

IN THE UK
5. Education
in the UK
 Thank you for your

 attention !