GREAT BRITAIN - part 1

Articles In This Section:

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 1

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 2

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 3

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 4

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 5

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 6

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 7

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 8

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 9

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 10

· GREAT BRITAIN - part 11

In a Nutshell. Great Britain, including Northern Ireland, has a land area of but 94,212 square miles but a population of over 50 million. This means she is about the size of our Wyoming or Oregon but runs neck and neck with Western Germany in having the largest population in Europe save the Soviet Union.

It's been said over and over that the reason the British are the greatest colonizers the world has ever seen is because they have such a terrible climate that they flee abroad. And actually I'm not going to argue the point. The only place I've lived with so much rain is Portland, Oregon.

Be that as it may, England still has its gracious beauty. Largely manmade, but nature does her share too. So much rain could only result in a fabulously green and beflowered countryside, and so it is.

But in man-made sights, England cannot be surpassed. Her buildings go back to prehistory. The famed Stonehenge was built long centuries ago, before the coming of the Romans in 41 B.C. Roman ruins are here, there and the other place and such early Briton ones as Tintagel in Cornwall, reputedly the place where King Arthur was born. It was with the coming of the Normans in 1066 A.D. that the castles which are England's glory began to be erected. Today there are so many of these that the British Travel Association puts out a special booklet for tourists entitled Castles In Britain which lists 48 of the best preserved. With the discovery of the New World, England's empire began to grow and with it an enormous wealth was put into the cities, towns and villages of England. Cathedrals, palaces, government buildings, churches, fortresses—and the most picturesque pubs in the world. It would be hard, in Great Britain, to be able to get more than a mile or two away from some worthwhile sight.

London, until just recently, was the biggest city in the world and for long years had carried this distinction. Tokyo is now larger, in population, but in many respects London is still the most important city on earth. This is not because of the number of her inhabitants but due to the fact that through this great sprawling city for centuries the biggest Empire the world has even seen was governed. As a result the British museum is the greatest library in the world. St. Paul's possibly the greatest cathedral, The City is the greatest banking and commercial center of the world (with the possible exception of Wall Street) and Lloyd's of London which is in The City is the largest insurance network. We could go on adding to this list indefinitely but to what end? Everyone knows of the grandness of London.

In many respects, England is the ideal place for an American to retire. The language advantages are obvious and no country offers so much in the way of entertainment, cultural activities and opportunities to pursue a study of almost any subject as does England. Plays, movies, radio and TV must remain a mystery to us in France, Italy or Spain until we learn the language. But in England all these are immediately ours to enjoy.