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1. THE UNITED KINGDOM OF

GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND



The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an insular country situated on the British Isles to the north-west of Europe. The total area of the country is 244,021 square km. The UK is a small country. The UK’s territory takes the 75th place among other countries. The British Isles are composed of about 4000 islands of different size.

The largest of the British Isles is Great Britain which contains England, Wales and Scotland. It is the biggest island in Europe and the 7th largest in the world. The second largest island of the British Isles is Ireland. It is shared by 2 separate and independent states. The larger part of Ireland is the Republic of Ireland, an independent state with its capital in Dublin. Northern Ireland, which occupies north-eastern part of the island, remains a part of the UK with London as its capital.

So, the UK comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The capital of England is London. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh. The capital of Wales is Cardiff and the capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast. London is also the capital of the UK and its population is approximately 10 mln. people.

Great Britain is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the north, north-west and south-west. From the European continent it is separated by the North Sea, the Straight of Dover (Pas de Calais) and the English Channel (La Manche – a French name meaning “sleeve”). In the west Great Britain is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea, the North Channel and St. George’s Channel.

The UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a highly centralized and unitary state – the state which has acquired this name since 1922. The UK’s national flag is Union Jack. The name, the colours and crosses symbolize the union of the united parts of the country. Union Jack comprises 3 crosses. The red upright cross on the white field is St. George’s Cross – the patron saint of England. The diagonal white cross on the blue field is St. Andrew’s Cross – the patron saint of Scotland. The red diagonal cross on the white field is St. Patrick’s Cross – the patron saint of Ireland.

The national anthem is the oldest in the world, established in 1745 and based on a song of the 17th century. Besides the Union Jack there is Royal Standard – Royal personal flag.

National emblems are: the red rose – of England, the thistle – of Scotland, the leek or daffodil – of Wales, the shamrock – of Ireland.

The rivers of Britain are very short. They seldom freeze in winter but they are not navigable for ocean ships. The most important rivers are the Severn (354 km) the Thames (346 km), the Trent, the Ouse, the Clyde, the Tweed, the Tyne.

Great Britain is a highly-developed industrial state with such centres of industry as Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford, Newcastle, etc.

The total population of the UK nowadays is over 57 mln. people. The UK is inhabited by the English, who constitute about 83% of the total population, the Scots– 9,5%, the Welsh – 5%, the Irish – 2,7% of the total population.

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy headed by the Queen. The queen is not only the Head of State but also an important symbol of national unity. The power of the monarch is limited by the Parliament which consists of the House of Lords (Upper Chamber) and the House of Commons (Lower Chamber).


2. HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY LINES

High-speed railway lines are new specialised railway lines designed for trains travelling at speeds of between 200-400 kph. Fast lines are classified as those carrying passengers at speeds of between 140-200 kph on existing but upgraded lines.

Since December 2009, Moscow, Tver, Novgorod, Leningrad, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod regions have been linked by fast and high-speed connections on upgraded infrastructure. High-speed Sapsan trains operate between Moscow - St. Petersburg, Allegro fast trains between St. Petersburg and Helsinki, and fast Swallow trains between St. Petersburg and Veliky Novgorod and between Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. These fast and high-speed trains operated by Russian Railways transport over 3.2 million passengers every year.

An important step in the development of a fast and high-speed network in Russia is the construction of modern dedicated main lines capable of handling passenger trains travelling at speeds of up to 400 kph.

Studies show that promising routes for such lines are Moscow - St. Petersburg, Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod - Kazan - Yekaterinburg with connections to Perm, Ufa and Chelyabinsk, and Moscow - Rostov- on-Don - Adler with connections to the cities in this region. These lines will reduce the travel time between neighbouring conglomerations to 1-1.5 hours and enable more than 100 million people living in the catchment areas of these routes to take advantage of high-speed services.

The construction of a network of fast railways and high-speed lines is provided for in the updated Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation to 2030 and considered in the Forecast for Russia's Socio-Economic Development covering the same period. Both these documents assume increased investment in economic growth based on the creation of modern transport infrastructure and high-tech industries.