Great Britain

1. Great Britain • By: Sarah Schieman Population: 63 million Area: 229, 848 km2 London’s Absolute Location: 51.5072° N, 0.1275° W

2. Geography • Island to the north of France, West of Denmark, Northwest of Belgium and East of Ireland. The surrounding waters are the Celtic Sea, English Channel, Irish Sea and the North Sea. • Physical Features: long coast lines, rolling grasslands, large valleys. Most of Britain consists of lowland terrain.

3. Man made Geography Buckingham Palace 10 Downing Street Salisbury Cathedral London Eye Big Ben Facts on Big Ben: Now officially called the Elizabeth Tower after being renamed from “Clock Tower” Largest 4 faced chiming clock in the world Was completed May 31st 1858 One of the most prominent symbols of both London and England There are 334 steps from the ground to the Belfry

4. History

5. Archaeology • Stonehenge – A circle of ancient stones located in Wiltshire, England. It was built between 3000BC and 1600BC. • Hadrian’s Wall – Long wall that stretched almost 120km in northern Britain. It was used for defense against the Scottish in Roman Britain in 122 during the rule of emperor Hadrian. • Bones of King Richard III – He died in 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field during the War of the Roses. He was buried under an old church and was missing until August 24th 2012 when they found him under a parking lot. • Tower of London- Was build by William the Conqueror in 1078. Was previously used as a prison and a execution site. Now the crown jewels are kept there.

6. Political science/sociology • Great Britain’s central government is called Her Majesty’s Government (HMG). It is lead by the Prime Minister who selects 22 other Cabinet ministers to help him. He is the most senior of the government ministers and has the most authority. The Cabinet is the collective decision-making body of HMG.Britain is a constitutional monarchy and it is a democratic country just like Canada. The ideology is liberalism and socialism. It is a democracy just like Canada. Social systems: • National Health Service which is a publicly funded healthcare system. It is the largest and oldest single payer healthcare system in the world. • The police department, fire department, National Health Service, and primary schools are all funded by the general taxation system. • Full time education is mandatory in Britain between the ages of 5 and 17. It is divided into Early years (ages 3-4), Primary Education (ages 4-11), Secondary Education (ages 11-18) and Tertiary Education (18+)

7. economics • Britain’s lumber resource has almost been deforested. It has a large coal, natural gas, and agriculture resources. • Unlike the rest of Europe, Great Britain uses “Pounds” and “Sterling” as their currency. 1 Pound is equal to 100 Pence. • Britain's largest trade partners are with the US, Germany, and the Netherlands • The tax in Britain goes to two places Central Government and Local Government. Central Government gets money from income tax, National Insurance, Value Added Tax, Corporation Tax and Fuel Duty. Local government gets its money from Business rates, Council Tax and On-street parking. • The five main banks in Britain are HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Barclays, and Standard Chartered

8. Work cited • Taxation in the United Kingdom • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom • Geography of the United Kingdom • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_United_Kingdom • British History Timeline • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/timelines/british/index_embed.shtml