There are several names for Britain : Britain , Great Britain , the United Kingdom , the UK.The official name is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.A lot of people call the country " England " , but this is not correct. England is only one part of the UK. However , it is the largest part.There are four " countries " in the UK - England , Scotland ? Wales and Northern Ireland.The Republic of Ireland (or Eire) is not part of the UK.It is an independent county.
London is the capital of the UK , as well as England , but all the other countries have their own smaller capital cities , too.
Scotland:Until 1603 , Scotland and England were separate countries with their own monarchs and parliaments.In that year , however , the English queen , Elizabeth 1 , died.She had no children , so her cousin , James 6 , the Kingdom of Scotland , became King James 1 of England , too.In 1999 , Scotland got its own parliament again.This can make laws about some things.
Wales:The Enlish Kingdom Edward 1 , conquered Wales in the 13th century.Many people in Wales , espacially in the north , speak Welsh as their first language and all children must learn Welsh at the school.In some school other subject are taught in Welsh , too.
Ireland:Elizabeth 1's armies conquered Ireland in the 16th century and it latec became part of the United Kingdom.They were a lot of problems in Ireland in the 19th century and thousands of people emigrated to the USA. In the 1928s ,the sound became an independent country (The Republic of Ireland ) , but Northern Ireland is still part of the UK.
