Great Britain

The United Kingdom (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Great Britain) is very small compared with many other countries in the world.

However, there are only nine other countries with more people, and London is the worid’s seventh biggest city.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. This means that it has a monarch (a King or a Queen) as its Head of State. The monarch has very little power and can only reign with the support of Pariiamenl. Pariiament consists of two chambers known as the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Parliament and the monarch have different roles in the government of the country, and they only meet together on symbolic occasions such as the coronation of a new monarch or the opening of Parliament. In reality, the House of Commons is the only one of the three which has true power. It is here that new bills are introduced and debated. If the majority of the members are in favour of a bill it goes to the House of Lords to be debated and finally to the monarch to be signed. Only then does it becomes law.

• Where is Great Britain situated?
• Great Britain is situated in the north-west of Europe.
• What are the major political parties in Great Britain?
• The major political parties in Great Britain are the Conservative, Liberal, Labour and Social Democratic parties.