A Brief Introduction of UK

2013级英语5班第五组成员：唐芮王迪王岚孔丽王玉19李付春温昕韦丽杨小惠THEUNITEDKINGDOMOFGREATBRITAINANDNORTHENIRELANDFLAGFlagoftheUnitedKingdom•Thehistory,currentstatusandnomenclatureoftheUnionFlag,anditsuseotherthanasaflagfortheUnitedKingdom,aretreatedmorefullyunderthearticleUnionJack.•TheFlagoftheUnitedKingdom,commonlyknownastheUnionJackorUnionFlag,isthenationalflagoftheUnitedKingdom.•ThecurrentdesignoftheUnionJackdatesfromtheunionofIrelandandGreatBritainin1801.ItconsistsoftheredcrossofSaintGeorge(patronsaintofEngland)edgedinwhite,superimposedontheCrossofStPatrick(patronsaintofIreland),whicharesuperimposedontheSaltireofSaintAndrew(patronsaintofScotland).Wales,however,isnotrepresentedintheUnionFlagbyWales'spatronsaint,SaintDavid,asatthetimetheflagwasdesignedWaleswaspartoftheKingdomofEngland.•Theflag'scorrectheight-to-lengthproportionsare1:2.However,theversionusedbytheBritishArmymodifiestheproportionsto3:5andalsocropstwoofthereddiagonals.•Monarch:•PrimeMinister：•Population：•Density：•Demonym：•Nationalterritoryarea•Thewatersoftherate•GDP（Total）•Percapita•ElizabethⅡ•DavidCameron•64,447,000•255.6/km²•British，Briton•243,610/km²•1.34%•$2,490trillion•$40879ElizabethⅡDavidCameron•TheNationalFlower:•NationalTree:•NationalBird:•NationalStone:•Landsball:•Rose•Roserush•Erithacusrubeculamelophilus•Diamond•CricketEconomy•TheUKhasapartiallyregulatedmarketeconomy.BasedonmarketexchangeratestheUKistodaythesixth-largesteconomyintheworldandthethird-largestinEuropeafterGermanyandFrance,havingfallenbehindFranceforthefirsttimeinoveradecadein2008.HMTreasury,ledbytheChancelloroftheExchequer,isresponsiblefordevelopingandexecutingtheBritishgovernment'spublicfinancepolicyandeconomicpolicy.TheBankofEnglandistheUK'scentralbankandisresponsibleforissuingnotesandcoinsinthenation'scurrency,thepoundsterling.BanksinScotlandandNorthernIrelandretaintherighttoissuetheirownnotes,subjecttoretainingenoughBankofEnglandnotesinreservetocovertheirissue.Poundsterlingistheworld'sthird-largestreservecurrency(aftertheUSDollarandtheEuro).Since1997theBankofEngland'sMonetaryPolicyCommittee,headedbytheGovernoroftheBankofEngland,hasbeenresponsibleforsettinginterestratesatthelevelnecessarytoachievetheoverallinflationtargetfortheeconomythatissetbytheChancelloreachyear.Education•EducationintheUnitedKingdomisadevolvedmatter,witheachcountryhavingaseparateeducationsystem.•WhilsteducationinEnglandistheresponsibilityoftheSecretaryofStateforEducation,theday-to-dayadministrationandfundingofstateschoolsistheresponsibilityoflocalauthorities.Universallyfreeofchargestateeducationwasintroducedpiecemealbetween1870and1944.Educationisnowmandatoryfromagesfivetosixteen(15ifborninlateJulyorAugust).In2011,theTrendsinInternationalMathematicsandScienceStudy(TIMSS)rated13–14-year-oldpupilsinEnglandandWales10thintheworldformathsand9thforscience.Themajorityofchildrenareeducatedinstate-sectorschools,asmallproportionofwhichselectonthegroundsofacademicability.TwoofthetoptenperformingschoolsintermsofGCSEresultsin2006werestate-rungrammarschools.OverhalfofstudentsattheleadinguniversitiesofCambridgeandOxfordhadattendedstateschools.DespiteafallinactualnumberstheproportionofchildreninEnglandattendingprivateschoolshasrisentoover7%.In2010,morethan45%ofplacesattheUniversityofOxfordand40%attheUniversityofCambridgeweretakenbystudentsfromprivateschools,eventhoughtheyeducatejust7%ofthepopulation.EnglandhasthetwooldestuniversitiesinEnglish-speakingworld,UniversitiesofOxfordandCambridge(jointlyknownasOxbridge)withhistoryofovereightcenturies.TheUnitedKingdomhas9universitiesfeaturedintheTimesHigherEducationtop100rankings,makingitsecondtotheUnitedStatesintermsofrepresentation.OxfordCambridgeEnergy•In2006,theUKwastheworld'sninth-largestconsumerofenergyandthe15th-largestproducer.TheUKishometoanumberoflargeenergycompanies,includingtwoofthesixoilandgassupermajors–BPandRoyalDutchShell–andBGGroup.In2011,40%oftheUK'selectricitywasproducedbygas,30%bycoal,19%bynuclearpowerand4.2%bywind,hydro,biofuelsandwastes.AnoilplatformintheNorthSeaLiterature•'Britishliterature'referstoliteratureassociatedwiththeUnitedKingdom,theIsleofManandtheChannelIslands.MostBritishliteratureisintheEnglishlanguage.In2005,some206,000bookswerepublishedintheUnitedKingdomandin2006itwasthelargestpublisherofbooksintheworld.•TheEnglishplaywrightandpoetWilliamShakespeareiswidelyregardedasthegreatestdramatistofalltime,andhiscontemporariesChristopherMarloweandBenJonsonhavealsobeenheldincontinuoushighesteem.MorerecentlytheplaywrightsAlanAyckbourn,HaroldPinter,MichaelFrayn,TomStoppardandDavidEdgarhavecombinedelementsofsurrealism,realismandradicalism.CharlesDickensWilliamShakespeareReligion•FormsofChristianityhavedominatedreligiouslifeinwhatisnowtheUnitedKingdomforover1,400years.AlthoughamajorityofcitizensstillidentifywithChristianityinmanysurveys,regularchurchattendancehasfallendramaticallysincethemiddleofthe20thcentury,whileimmigrationanddemographicchangehavecontributedtothegrowthofotherfaiths,mostnotablyIslam.ThishasledsomecommentatorstovariouslydescribetheUKasamulti-faith,secularised,