Academic Study in the UK: The Four British Nations

The map of the United Kingdom

Most international students get confused about how the united kingdom is formed, sometimes they think that England is the United Kingdom other times they don't distinguish between Great Britain and the United Kingdom and they keep mixing up all of the four nations. Therefore, today I'm writing this essay to clarify the most distinctive features of all four nations which are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

England map and St. George flag

First, I'm going to write about the biggest country, nation, in the United Kingdom, England , this country extend to occupy two thirds of the southern Great Britain and its total area is 130,410 sq km (50, 352 sq mi) and it contains 84% of the UK population. England's national flag is St. George, the national day on 23th April is St. George's Day, and its emblem is the red rose. The capital city of England is London and it is also the capital city of the UK the biggest city in the whole UK and where the royal family live particularly in Buckingham Palace. Even though all of the four nations have their own languages such as Scottish, Welsh, Irish but the official language in the UK which is English originated from this country and it is even spoken more in Scotland, N. Ireland and Wales. Many people think that the national sport of England is Football, the most popular sport in the UK whereas it is actually called Cricket and it can be played on green lands in villages or towns. Also, England has very famous football teams worldwide and they are Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. The United Kingdom is generally very famous of Fish & Chips, traditional meal, and it is the national meal of England.

The red rose

The Queen Elizabeth II

Cricket Sport

Fish & Chips

Scotland

Scotland map and St Andrew flag

Scotland is the second biggest country after England and it's located in the northern part of Great Britain. Its capital city is Edinburgh and it has about 790 island 130 of them are inhabited. Scotland is famous for its fresh water lakes, the most famous lake is Loch Ness where a mysterious monster is alleged to live in the depths of the lake. The flage of Scotland is called St Andrew and its national day is St Andrew's day on 30 November and its national flower is the Thistle. Also, Scotland has a national dish named haggis and neeps

and it is prepared from lamb’s offal (lungs, liver and heart) mixed with suet, onions, herbs and spices and it is normally served with mashed potatoes. The dominating sport in Scotland is golf, there are numerous golf courses, over 400, in Scotland alone and the most popular golf club is in town of St Andrew.

The Thistle

Loch Ness Lake

The mysterious monster

Wales

Flag of Wales

Wales is one of the four nations along England and Scotland. It is a mountainous country located in western side of Great Britain. Wales is inhabited with about 2,918,700 people (2002) and its area is 20,779 sq km. The national flag of wales is a red dragon on a green and white fields and its national day is St David's day which is on 1 March. Like the others nations, wales has its national flower too and it is the Daffodil and its national game that is Rugby. There are many traditional food in wales that are made of local ingredients and one of the most popular is laverbread and it is made from seaweeds. Traditionally, Wales is ruled by the eldest prince of England's monarch and that is why the welsh flag is not showing on the union flag.

The Daffodil

Rugby

Laverbread Dish

Northern Ireland

Although Northern Ireland is part of Ireland island, it is as the other nations a part of the United Kingdom but it is not one of the Great Britain. N. Ireland is the smallest country in the United Kingdom its area is 13,843 km squared and its population is 1,810,900 people (2011). The capital city is Belfast where the HMS titanic ship was built. Its flag is St Patrick that is red cross on white field. As all nations of Great Britain, N. Ireland has a national day it is St Patrick's day on 17th March and the Shamrock is the national flower of Northern Ireland. N. Ireland does not have national sport, but there are very popular sports such as Gaelic Football and soccer.