Great britain

The Map Of Great Britain: The British Isles is an archipelago of Great Britain, Ireland and other neighboring islets, with Great Britain being the largest, followed by Ireland. England, Wales and Scotland are the constituent countries of Great Britain. On the world map, Great Britain lies in the Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the European mainland and is separated from the continent by the English Channel. Great Britain is the eighth largest island in the world, with an area of 80, 800 square miles. On the world map, Great Britain is situated at latitude of ten degrees in the northern hemisphere. It is known to enjoy a cool and pleasant climate, with plenty of rainfall.

St. George Of Great Britain: Saint George was the patron saint of England, Great Britain. A soldier from the Roman Empire, he is revered as a Christian martyr. He is also the patron saint of various other places and professions.

George Stephenson designed the Liverpool-Manchester railway. ‘God Save The Queen’ is the national anthem of Great Britain.

The Flag Of Great Britain: The union flag, also referred to as the ‘Union Jack’, is the national flag of Great Britain. To mark the union of the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland, the flags of the respective countries were fused together to create a new one. In 1606, the flag of England, displaying St. George’s red cross on a white background and the flag of Scotland, with St. Andrew’s cross, a white saltire on a blue background was combined to form a new flag for the Kingdom of Great Britain. Later in 1801, when the Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland, the flag of Ireland, with St. Patrick’s cross, red on a white background was also incorporated into the flag of Great Britain. Thus was created a new flag for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The History Of Great Britain: Great Britain was not an island originally, but a peninsula. However, the rise in sea level during the last ice age, led to the formation of the English Channel that resulted in the creation of Great Britain. Recently, circumstantial evidence has also been found to support this claim. The skeleton of a human and animals found near Bristol, native to the continent of Europe and dating back to 7150 B.C., suggest that there must have been a path connecting the island to the mainland.

The name is derived from Britannia, earlier used by the Romans, as early as 55 B.C. The ancient name for Great Britain was ‘insula albionum’ that means ‘island of the Albions’.

King James VI of Scotland was the first to officially use the name. Although initially England and Scotland retained their individual status and parliaments, later under the act of the union, King James merged the parliaments of both the countries. This resulted in a new nation that was called the Kingdom of Great Britain. Again in 1801, he annexed the new island kingdom of Great Britain to the kingdom of Ireland. This union resulted in the formation of a new kingdom called United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. However, an Irish Free State was formed in 1922, when 32 counties in Ireland were granted independence. From then onwards, the remaining Kingdom came to be known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.