National Profile - ICYE

More documents

Recommendations

Info

9. Some facts about the UK9.1 A bit of HistoryThe early history of the British Isles is a history of invasions. The first people to inhabitthe area after the ice had gone, were the Iberians, who were followed by the Celts. JuliusCaesar came to be the next invader, attacking England in 55BC. With the decline of theRoman Empire in the 4th Century, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes raided Britain fromnorthern Europe. From the 9th to the 11th Centuries, the British Isles were continuallyraided by the Vikings. As soon as they were gone, the English were defeated by theNormans at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Norman influence prevailed for the nextthree centuries, ending in the Hundred Years War between England and France in 1339.In 1485 Henry VII inaugurated the rule of the House of Tudor which lasted until 1603,the year of the unification of England and Wales with Scotland.The 17th Century was a century of struggles and internal wars, which ended in arevolution. The next two centuries saw the growth of the British naval supremacy and thedevelopment of a powerful empire and industrial leadership, which lasted until the twoWorld Wars.The first decade after the Second World War, the British government had to concentrateon re-building the country and introducing a <strong>National</strong> Health Service, better housing andeducation for all. The second half of the 1950s was a period of prosperity with minimalunemployment, rising salaries and lower income taxes. During the 1960s this idyllicsituation was changing, culminating in an economic crisis in 1966. Since then cuts ingovernment expenditure, rising taxes and increasing unemployment have becomecommon features of the British politics and the nation is now facing severe economic andsocial problems with rising crime, more homeless people and a worsening standard ofeducation.9.2 The British TemperamentThe British are inclined to be shy and reserved, are brought up to respect people'sprivacy and will often wait for a newcomer to make the first move in initiating arelationship. This pattern of behaviour has earned the British and particularly the Englisha reputation for being reserved and even snobbish. This is often not the case; it is morelikely to be fear of intruding, imposing or being embarrassed. English people in general,are different from Irish, Scottish and Welsh, having in general different origins. They arequite friendly, even though this may not be immediately obvious. When starting aconversation with an Englishman, it is normal to make some comment about theweather. There is no doubt that the weather has an effect on the British temperament.The British sense of humour is normally very dry and sometimes even absurd. It is oftendifficult for foreigners to understand British humour or to recognise when someone isserious or joking - a general clue is the more earnest the topic, the more likely they are20
to be joking. The British are masters of the understatement and rarely enthuse aboutanything. When asked "How are you?", a typical answer would be, "Oh, not too bad".This actually means "I'm really well", but it is very un-English to say so.It is important to remember that the United Kingdom is a country with manygeographical differences. Village people often tend to be a lot friendlier towards newpeople than people in the big cities who are too busy running from one place to anotherto take time for a chat.The most common meeting-place is the pub - and they are to be found on almost everystreet-corner in any town or city. There might not be a shop in some of the many smallvillages, but there will definitely be a pub or two. People not only gather in the pubs fortheir pint of beer, but also for their lunch out. The pubs close at 11 p.m. (10.30 p.m. onSundays) after which only specially licensed places, such as wine-bars and discotheques,stay open.9.3 Other InformationPoliticsThe main political parties are the Conservatives (the Tories), the Labour Party and theLiberal Democrats. The Labour Party with its leader Gordon Brown has been in powersince 1997.GeographyThe United Kingdom comprises England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Spreadout on 242,500 sq. km it stretches 1000 km from the south coast of England to the northof Scotland and is 500 km at its widest.PopulationPopulation:Population density:Most populated cities:60.5 million246 inhabitants/sq.kmGreater London – 7.5 millionBirmingham – 1 millionLanguageThe official language of the UK is English. In Wales, especially the North and West, thenative language, Welsh, is widely spoken as well as taught in schools. Gaelic is taught inmany Irish schools even though the official language is English. In remote parts ofScotland, English has only been spoken for the last hundred years. Accents and dialectsvary from region to region and town to town, or even within the same city.Ethnic GroupsOver three million people belong to ethnic minority groups. The biggest ethnic groupsare:1. Indian2. Pakistani3. Irish4. Black Caribbean5. Black African6. BangladeshiReligionThe main religion is Christianity and the Protestant Church of England is the establishedchurch. Freedom of worship is a legal right. In most big towns there is a synagogue andmosque as well as Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh places of worship.21
Page 1 and 2: National Profile
Page 3 and 4: Contents1. Is ICYE-UK for me? Page
Page 5 and 6: 2. ICYE-UK ProgrammeThe ICYE-UK pro
Page 7: 3. ICYE-UK Projects3.1 Types of pro
Page 12 and 13: Practitioner) to whom you can go, s
Page 14 and 15: 5.5 Useful books & websites• Lone
Page 16 and 17: also recognise the boundaries of yo
Page 18 and 19: 8. ICYE-UK STRUCTUREICYE-UK was fou

National Profile - ICYE

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?