For more than hundred years, especially in 1800’s the British Empire ruled over almost quarter of the world. It stretched from America to Asia. The expanse of the empire was so vast that there was daytime in one or the other country it ruled. Therefore, it was famously said ‘The sun never sets on the British Empire’. After its peak from 1815-1914, it became impossible for the empire to manage about 458 million people that was one-fifth of the world’s population at that time. So the kings and queens decided to retreat.
Today, Britain still has a queen, but she is not the one who runs the country. There is a ‘constitutional monarchy’ which means that the monarch – in this case the queen is the head of the state, but she has absolutely no political power. Buckingham Palace is the London residence of the Queen. It is also the main workplace. Believe it or not but The Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms out of which 92 room are used for offices!
Windsor Castle in Windsor, Berkshire is another landmark where Queen spends a part of her year. It is the largest inhabited castle in the world. Splendid, isn’t it?
Do you know where Great Britain is on the map of the world? Look for the largest island in the northwest Europe that is strikingly similar to an inverted sea horse floating in the Atlantic ocean. That’s it! That’s Great Britain. It comprises of England, Scotland, Wales. All the three were once separate countries that have now got united. We mostly see countries getting divided, rarely we see them getting united.Wow! Great Britain was not an island always. It was once connected to its neighbors Denmark and Netherlands by a strip of low marsh.
United Kingdom is often mistaken as Great Britain. But both countries, are different. United Kingdom refers to the union of Great Britain and Ireland.
Britain is the fastest industrialized country in the World. Industrialization took place so rapidly that Britain can not boast of much wildlife or many natural wonders. But there exist a number of man-made marvels.
London, the largest city in England and middle Europe is the first place to have an underground subway system. It is also world’s largest financial center.
Big Ben, is the world’s largest four-faced chiming clock. It is one of London’s best-known landmarks. Do you remember the nursery rhyme “London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down”? London Bridge is a popular bridge over the River Thames. Did it actually fall? Some say it did fall a long time ago and that it was the Saxons who brought it down using ropes.
Stonehenge, a world heritage site where you find standing stones impeccably arranged in circles is also in England. Madame Tussaud is a worldwide famous wax museum in London. It has real looking wax figures of famous people in history, film stars, sports stars and even some notorious murderers!
Wouldn’t it be great to explore many great landmarks in Great Britain?
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