Join the new world

General information

Population : 65.6 milion people (22nd in the World, 5th in Europe)
Total Area : 242,495 km^2 (78th in the World, 11th in Europe)
Official languages : English
Official currency : Pound sterling(GBP)
Capital : London
Population density : 270.7 people/km^2 (50th in the World, 11th in Europe(refering to UK proper, as some UK dependent territories like Guernsey, have a much higher population density)
Top 5 biggest cities : London, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield
Top 5 biggest urban areas : Greater London b.u.a, Greater Manchester b.u.a , West Midlands b.u.a (Birmingham & others), West Yorkshire b.u.a (Leeds & others), Greater Glasgow b.u.a (* b.u.a = Built-up Area)

The UK is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy.The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the longest-serving current head of state.The UK's capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million. Other major urban areas in the UK include the conurbations centred on Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Liverpool.
The UK consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All but England have devolved administrations,each with varying powers, based in their capitals Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation.

Each country of the United Kingdom has its own arrangements, whose origins often pre-date the UK's formation, meaning there is no consistent system of administrative or geographic demarcation across the United Kingdom. Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.

The organisation of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to local arrangements. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine regions, now used primarily for statistical purposes. One region, Greater London, has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a referendum.It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected regional assemblies, but a proposed assembly in the North East region was rejected by a referendum in 2004. Below the regional tier, some parts of England have county councils and district councils and others have unitary authorities; while London consists of 32 London boroughs and the City of London. Councillors are elected by the first-past-the-post system in single-member wards or by the multi-member plurality system in multi-member wards.

For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 council areas, with wide variation in both size and population. The cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas, as is the Highland Council, which includes a third of Scotland's area but only just over 200,000 people. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223; they are paid a part-time salary. Elections are conducted by single transferable vote in multi-member wards that elect either three or four councillors. Each council elects a Provost, or Convenor, to chair meetings of the council and to act as a figurehead for the area.

Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities. These include the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, which are unitary authorities in their own right. Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.

Local government in Northern Ireland has since 1973 been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as collecting waste, controlling dogs and maintaining parks and cemeteries. In 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils and replace the present system.

The United Kingdom has sovereignty over seventeen territories which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself: fourteen British Overseas Territories and three Crown dependencies (which I covered above).

The BOS are represented primarily by islands (ex : Pitcairn, Falkland, Bermuda) with exceptions like Gibraltar, Akrotiri and Dekhelia on Cyprus, and the British Antarctic Territory.








National sport : Football

Rugby


Cricket


National animals : Lion(for England)

Unicorn(for Scotland)


Dragon(for Wales)


National plants : Rose (Rosa spp.) - (for England)


Thistle(Cynareae spp.) - (for Scotland)

Daffodil(Narcissus spp.) - (for Wales)


Flax(Linum usitatissimum) - (for Northern Ireland)


National instuments : Great Higland bagpipe - Scotland




The significance of the 18th of June

Let’s get this straight. The UK does not have an “official national holiday”. While each constituent country has some kind of national holiday (mainly on the day celebrating the patron saint, such as St.Andrew in Scotland), these aren’t really celebrated.

The closest thing to a national holiday they have is the Queen’s birthday (21 April), which also isn’t really celebrated.

So why did I choose the 18th of June?

Well, the 18th of June celebrates the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This defeat marked the end of the First French Empire, and thus eliminated the UK’s only serious rival for global hegemony.

After this battle, the following decades, all the way until the beginning of the First World War, were defined as “Pax Britannica” (British Peace), as it was a period of relative peace between the Great Powers. (there were some land wars, like the Crimean War and the Franco-Prussian War, but considering this is Europe we’re talking about, it’s a relatively small amount of war compared to the many previous centuries)

The reason why the UK is relevant to this Pax Britannica is because of 2 reasons :

Diplomacy aimed at preserving a balance of power within Europe
Uncontested naval dominance across the globe

Besides this, I had to pick some sort of context in order to justify an article about the UK. 😛










The creation of the Arthurian Legend

The Arthurian Legend, one of the best known legends in the Western World, didn’t just show up with all the characters we know and like, like the wizard Merlin or the knight Sir Lancelot.

Like all good myths, the story of King Arthur has been expanded on for hundreds of years by multiple writers from different places. Let’s see how this all starte😛

King Arthur, also called Arthur or Arthur Pendragon, is a legendary British king who appears in a cycle of medieval romances (known as the Matter of Britain) as the sovereign of a knightly fellowship of the Round Table. It is not certain how these legends originated or whether the figure of Arthur was based on a historical person. The legend possibly originated either in Wales or in those parts of northern Britain inhabited by Brythonic-speaking Celts.


Assumptions that a historical Arthur led Welsh resistance to the West Saxon advance from the middle Thames are based on a conflation of two early writers, the religious polemicist Gildas and the historian Nennius, and on the Annales Cambriae of the late 10th century. The 9th-century Historia Brittonum, traditionally attributed to Nennius, records 12 battles fought by Arthur against the Saxons, culminating in a victory at Mons Badonicus.


Stories about Arthur and his court had been popular in Wales before the 11th century; European fame came through Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae (1135–3😎, celebrating a glorious and triumphant king who defeated a Roman army in eastern France but was mortally wounded in battle during a rebellion at home led by his nephew Mordred. Some features of Geoffrey’s story were marvelous fabrications, and certain features of the Celtic stories were adapted to suit feudal times. The concept of Arthur as a world conqueror was clearly inspired by legends surrounding great leaders such as Alexander the Great and Charlemagne. Later writers, notably Wace of Jersey and Lawamon, filled out certain details, especially in connection with Arthur’s knightly fellowship (the Knights of the Round Table).


Using Celtic sources, Chrétien de Troyes in the late 12th century made Arthur the ruler of a realm of marvels in five romances of adventure. He also introduced the themes of the Grail and the love of Lancelot and Guinevere into Arthurian legend. Prose romances of the 13th century explored these major themes further.An early prose romance centring on Lancelot seems to have become the kernel of a cyclic work known as the Prose Lancelot, or Vulgate cycle (c. 1225).


The Lancelot theme was connected with the Grail story through Lancelot’s son, the pure knight Sir Galahad, who achieved the vision of God through the Grail as fully as is possible in this life, whereas Sir Lancelot was impeded in his progress along the mystic way because of his adultery with Guinevere.


Another branch of the Vulgate cycle was based on a very early 13th-century verse romance, the Merlin, by Robert de Boron, that had told of Arthur’s birth and childhood and his winning of the crown by drawing a magic sword (see Excalibur) from a stone. The writer of the Vulgate cycle turned this into prose, adding a pseudo-historical narrative dealing with Arthur’s military exploits.


A final branch of the Vulgate cycle contained an account of Arthur’s Roman campaign and war with Mordred, to which was added a story of Lancelot’s renewed adultery with Guinevere and the disastrous war between Lancelot and Sir Gawain that ensued. A later prose romance, known as the post-Vulgate Grail romance (c. 1240), combined Arthurian legend with material from the Tristan romance.


The legend told in the Vulgate cycle and post-Vulgate romance was transmitted to English-speaking readers in Thomas Malory’s late 15th-century prose Le Morte Darthur. At the same time, there was renewed interest in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia, and the fictitious kings of Britain became more or less incorporated with official national mythology.


If you thought I could present something about King Arthur without mentioning Monty Python and the Holy Grail, then you sir/madam, are wrong: 🙂











Top 5 places visited by tourists


London



Elizabeth Tower / Clock Tower / Big Ben (though the name refers to the bell inside the tower)


Palace of Westminster - home of the British Parliament


Tower Bridge


Westminster Abbey


Buckingham Palace


British Museum


Gherkin Tower


Tower of London

London is a fascinating city laden with history, filled with museums and art galleries, beautiful green parks, fantastic shopping and dining, a vibrant theatre scene, and, of course, royalty. London is truly a city that has it all. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace is a not-to-be-missed experience, as is watching the minutes tick away at Big Ben, probably the world’s most famous clock. Another London must is riding a double-decker bus across Tower Bridge over the Thames River.



Edinburgh







Edinburgh Castle :





Palace of Holyroodhouse :



Royal Mile :



Visitors to Edinburgh need to be prepared to experience history, from the cobblestone streets to Edinburgh Castle that is symbolic of Scotland’s capital. Edinburgh is steeped in history, beginning with the Old and New Towns, which have more than 4,500 historic buildings and sites between them. Old Town is home to Edinburgh’s most famous street, the Royal Mile that connects Edinburgh Castle with the Palace of Holyroodhouse. New Town isn’t really new, since it dates back to the 18th century and is best known for its neoclassical architecture.



York

York Walls and Micklegate Bar, the southern entrance to the city:





York Minster :









Streets of York




York is a walled city with a rich heritage located where the River Foss meets the River Ouse. An impressive number of attractions are packed into the space of this ancient city. One of the city’s landmarks is York Minster. This commanding stone cathedral is filled with remarkable works of art. York is one of the largest pedestrian zones in Europe, which means getting around without transport is not difficult.



Lake District










Located in north west England in the county of Cumbria, the Lake District is the second largest National Park in the UK. The main attractions are the lakes, mountains and hills carved by glacial erosion and providing dramatic and inspiring scenery. It is England’s premier destination for hiking and climbing. Among the most popular places to visit in the United Kingdom, the park is visited by about 14 million tourists each year.





Cambridge






King’s College Chapel


Mathematical Bridge

Cambridge is a charming English city located on the River Cam just north of London. As the home to one of the world’s top universities, the University of Cambridge, it has all of the cultural and entertainment options you might expect from a college town. The King’s College Chapel, situated along the River Cam, is considered a fine example of perpendicular Gothic architecture and is one of the most visited sights in the city.







Top 3 locations suggested by the locals

Peak District - located north of Lake District





Oxfordshire - home of the Oxford University and many traditional villages







Durham - an older, but smaller York














Inventions England gave to the world!

*Steam engine!
*invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, perfected by James Watt in 1781



*Seed drill!
*Jethro Tull, 1701


*Turbojet engine!
*Frank Whittle, 1930


*The first vaccine - for smallpox!
*Edward Jenner, 1798




*The World Wide Web!
*Tim Berners-Lee, 1989










Famous people from the United Kingdom


William Shakespeare - English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both the greatest writer in the English language, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, and are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. Then, until about 1608, he wrote mainly tragedies, among them Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances), and collaborated with other playwrights.


(1564 - 1616)


Isaac Newton - English mathematician, astronomer, theologian, author and physicist (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time, and a key figure in the scientific revolution.

His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in 1687, laid the foundations of classical mechanics. Newton also made pathbreaking contributions to optics, and he shares credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for developing the infinitesimal calculus.

(1642 - 1727)


Charles Darwin - English naturalist, geologist and biologist,[6] best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors and, in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.

Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species. By the 1870s, the scientific community and a majority of the educated public had accepted evolution as a fact.


(1809 - 1882)



Isambard Kingdom Brunel - English mechanical and civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engineering giants", and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions". Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.

Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river and development of SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going, iron ship, which, when built in 1843, was the largest ship ever built.


(1806 - 1859)


Winston Churchill - British politician, army officer, and writer, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. As Prime Minister, Churchill led Britain to victory in the Second World War. Ideologically an economic liberal and British imperialist, he was a Conservative until 31 May 1904 when he crossed the floor, defecting from the Conservatives to sit as a member of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons where he was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924 before defecting to the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955.

Widely considered one of the 20th century's most significant figures, Churchill remains popular in the UK and Western world, where he is seen as a victorious wartime leader who played an important role in defending liberal democracy from the spread of fascism. Also praised as a social reformer and writer, among his many awards was the Nobel Prize in Literature. Conversely, his imperialist and racist views—coupled with his sanctioning of human rights abuses in the suppression of anti-imperialist movements seeking independence from the British Empire—have generated considerable controversy.



(1874 - 1965)


William Wilberforce - English politician known as the leader of the movement to stop the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming a Member of Parliament for Yorkshire (1784–1812). He was independent of party. In 1785, he became a born-again Christian, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for social reform and progress.

In later years, Wilberforce supported the campaign for the complete abolition of slavery, and continued his involvement after 1826, when he resigned from Parliament because of his failing health. That campaign led to the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire.

(1759 - 1833)

Adam Smith - Scottish economist, philosopher and author as well as a moral philosopher, a pioneer of political economy and a key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment era. Smith is best known for two classic works: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (typically called The Wealth of Nations; 1776) and The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). The former, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics.

Smith laid the foundations of classical free market economic theory. The Wealth of Nations was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. In this and other works, he developed the concept of division of labour and expounded upon how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity. Smith was controversial in his own day and his general approach and writing style were often satirised by Tory writers in the moralising tradition of William Hogarth and Jonathan Swift. In 2005, The Wealth of Nations was named among the 100 Best Scottish Books of all time. The minor planet 12838 Adamsmith was named in his memory.

(1723 - 1790)

James Clerk Maxwell - Scottish scientist in the field of mathematical physics. His most notable achievement was to formulate the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, bringing together for the first time electricity, magnetism, and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism have been called the "second great unification in physics" after the first one realised by Isaac Newton.

His discoveries helped usher in the era of modern physics, laying the foundation for such fields as special relativity and quantum mechanics. Many physicists regard Maxwell as the 19th-century scientist having the greatest influence on 20th-century physics. His contributions to the science are considered by many to be of the same magnitude as those of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. In the millennium poll – a survey of the 100 most prominent physicists – Maxwell was voted the third greatest physicist of all time, behind only Newton and Einstein. On the centenary of Maxwell's birthday, Einstein described Maxwell's work as the "most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton".

(1831 - 1879)

Bertrand Russel - British (Welsh) philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist, and Nobel laureate. At various points in his life, Russell considered himself a liberal, a socialist and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had "never been any of these things, in any profound sense". Russell was born in Monmouthshire into one of the most prominent aristocratic families in the United Kingdom.

Russell was a prominent anti-war activist and he championed anti-imperialism. Occasionally, he advocated preventive nuclear war, before the opportunity provided by the atomic monopoly had passed and "welcomed with enthusiasm" world government. He went to prison for his pacifism during World War I. Later, Russell concluded that war against Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany was a necessary "lesser of two evils" and criticized Stalinist totalitarianism, attacked the involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War and was an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought".

(1872 - 1970)

C.S Lewis - British (Northern Irish) novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist. He held academic positions at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge University (Magdalene College, 1954–1963). He is best known for his works of fiction, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy, and for his non-fiction Christian apologetics, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.

(1898 - 1963)






Traditional food


Haggis



A haggis is the stomach of a sheep (or an artificial casing) stuffed with a mixture of chopped sheep’s heart, liver and lungs, oatmeal, onions, suet (fat), stock and seasoning. It’s eaten with ‘neeps and tatties’ (boiled and mashed swede and potato) and washed down with a dram (glass) of Scottish whisky.

Pies



There are so many different pies from around the UK: cottage pie (minced beef with a mashed potato topping), shepherd’s pie (using lamb instead of beef), steak and kidney pie made with a suet-based (beef or mutton fat) pastry case, pork pie (famously made in Melton Mowbray) Top 10 UK foods - British Foods: Pork piewhich is eaten cold, and the Cornish pasty - meat, potato and vegetables wrapped up in a semi-circular pastry case which is a meal in itself.


Fish ‘n’ Chips



Brits have been eating fish and chips since the 19th century.

The fish, usually cod, haddock or plaice, is dipped in batter and deep-fried; the chips are cut thicker than French fries (more like American ‘home fries’) and deep fried twice: once to cook the potato; second to crisp up the outside. Eat sprinkled liberally with salt and malt vinegar, and as an accompaniment perhaps a pickled egg or onion, a giant pickled cucumber called a ‘wally’ or some curry sauce.


Full English Breakfast (Fry up)



No one in the UK would eat this breakfast every day but most people admit to indulging every now again. A ‘fry up’ may consist of fried or grilled bacon, a sausage or two, a fried egg, baked beans (tinned beans in a tomato sauce), grilled or fried tomatoes, a slice of fried bread (or toast), perhaps some slices of fried black pudding (sausage made from pig’s blood), and fried mushrooms – eaten in any combination, with a dollop of either brown sauce or tomato ketchup on the side.

Sunday roast



Once, most families in the UK would sit down together for a big roast lunch every Sunday. This doesn’t happen so much now but the Sunday (or any other day of the week) roast is still a very popular meal. Beef, chicken, lamb, pork or, especially at Christmas, turkey is roasted in the oven. It’s served with a selection of vegetables like roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage, roasted onions, Brussels sprouts, peas, as well as tiny sausages wrapped in bacon called ‘pigs in blankets’ and gravy made from the meat juices (‘the trimmings’).
Roast beef is traditionally accompanied with a peppery horseradish sauce, English mustard and Yorkshire pudding (a batter of eggs, flour and milk which rises up in the oven). Roast pork is often served with an apple sauce, while roast lamb tastes delicious with a mint sauce or redcurrant jelly.


Bangers



Unlike European sausages, most British sausages (‘bangers’) are made from fresh meat rather than smoked or cured and then grilled, fried or baked. Sausages are usually made from casings filled with pork or beef and flavoured with herbs and spices and come in long ‘links’ or strings.

Lancashire hotpot



This stew, which originated in the north west of England, is made from mutton or lamb and vegetables, topped with sliced potatoes. It’s simple to prepare and cheap to make, but cooked long and slow so that the meat is succulent and tender, it tastes delicious. It’s often eaten with pickled red cabbage or beetroot. Other similar stews are scouse from Liverpool, Irish stew from Ireland and cawl from Wales.

Beef Wellington



A fillet steak covered in pâté and herbs and then baked into a puff pastry.When it’s good, it’s amazing, and when it’s bad, it’s still really good.

It is also the signature dish of Gordon Ramsay.



Traditional desserts

Trifle



A cold dessert made with fruit, ladyfingers soaked in sherry or other fortified wine and custard. It is usually topped with whipped cream. Think of if as the English tiramisu.


Christmas Cake



Christmas cake! It’s a cake! For Christmas! It is mainly fruit and nuts and sugar, and the secret is you bake it in October. You then add brandy to it for the next 3 months and by Christmas it is mostly alcohol. It is delicious and literally cannot expire due to alcohol content.

Apple Pie



It’s apple pie. No description required. 🙂)


Bread and Butter Pudding



Bread and butter pudding is made from sliced bread interlaced with dried fruit and baked in custard. If there ever was a way to use old slices of bread, this is it.


Spotted dick



Spotted dick is a steamed suet pudding with dried fruit and served with custard.

The name isn’t indicative of how good it is.

Cream tea



The cream tea is a teatime treat associated with the South West of England, especially Devon and Cornwall and served in cafes and tearooms all over. It consists of a pot of tea – Earl Grey in preference – drunk black with lemon or with a dash of milk, and scones. These are dense, bread-like cakes made from flour, butter and milk, served with strawberry or raspberry jam and clotted cream, a rich yellow cream with a crusty top. Simply cut the scone in half, spread it with jam and clotted cream – and enjoy.


Traditional drinks

Beer

Beer! UK has an insane variety of beers, in every possible colour, taste, type you can imagine. Beer with nettles and raspberries? Done. Beer made from toast? Done. Beer that tastes just… peculiar? Done. Probably the most famous export of recent times is the India Pale Ale which seems to be taking the world by storm.


Whisky / Scotch



Whisky is the mother and father of all drinks, with a smoky perfection nothing else can match.

Gin



While it was invented by the Dutch, gin took the UK by storm after the coronation of William of Orange. When we think of gin&tonic, we think of the British.

*Late addition:

*the fact that I forgot this means that I either have memory problems, which is troubling, or I only focused on alcohol, which probably says a lot about me.

Either way:

Tea



Tea time (3 -5 PM) is sacred in the UK. While this drink was originally the beverage of aristocrats, it is now enjoyed by everyone.

In fact, the Brits love tea so much than they even went to war for it. The Opium Wars in the 19th century were primarily about forcing China to trade with the UK, primarily for tea.






Interesting facts about the UK:


1.At its zenith in the 18th century, the British Empire stretched 20% of the world’s surface and contained a quarter of the world’s population.
2.Nowhere in England is more than 75 miles (121 km) from the sea.
3.The United Kingdom recently named chicken tikka masala as its national dish, which is a spicy curry created in Britain and is unheard of in India itself.
4.The 1.5-mile journey from Westray to Papa Westray in the UK’s Orkney Islands is the shortest scheduled flight in the world. The trip takes less than two minutes.
5.Britain’s most remote pub is the Old Forge on Inverie, Scotland. It is 107 miles (172 km) from the nearest city, Inverness, and has no road access.
6.The most celebrated residents of the Tower of London today are the ravens. There must be six ravens in residence at any one time by a Royal Decree put in place by Charles II. According to an old legend, if the birds should leave, the British Monarchy and the White Tower will crumble and fall. To be on the safe side, the Tower usually keeps eight birds at all times.
7.The London subway, or the “Tube,” is one of the oldest in the world. The 409 escalators in the Tube cover a distance every week which is approximately equivalent to several trips around the globe.
8.Over 27 tons (59,523 lb.) of strawberries and 7,000 liters (1,849 gal.) of cream are consumed every year during the two weeks of Britain’s Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
9.The sport of football, or soccer, supposedly got its start in England when Anglo-Saxon farmworkers plowing a field unearthed the skull of a Danish warrior killed in battle a few years earlier. To show their still bitter feelings towards the Danes and to amuse themselves, they began kicking the skull among them. This early form of football was called “kicking the Dane’s head.”
10.On the chilly day of his execution, England’s dethroned King Charles I reportedly wore two shirts to avoid shivering and being regarded as a coward.






My 5 words when I hear about the UK:
#London,#Chav,#Ale,#Pub,#Queen

What are your 5?





Special thanks to Spite313 and a little message from him:













I leave you with some memes from the United Kingdom:













Waiting for feedback , comments , opinions and if there is anyone that thinks I missed something , I could do something better or just wants to help me with this project , PM me !

Special thanks to Kariky for the spacers !!




Hope you enjoyed and see you next time!

P.S. Article 55/74!









P.S.2. Don't forget to push the flags !