Britain. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002

Reference > The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy > 15. World Geography

CONTENTS · INDEX · GUIDE · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

Britain


Officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, located on the British Isles off the western coast of the mainland (continent) of Europe. It comprises England, Wales, and Scotland on the island of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. Its capital and largest city is London.	1
‡ Britain declared war on Germany in 1939. Allied with the United States and the Soviet Union, the British, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, played an important role in defeating Germany.	2
‡ Most of the settlers of the American colonies were British. The colonies remained under the British crown until the American Revolutionary War.	3
‡ It is one of the world’s leading industrialized nations.	4
‡ A constitutional monarchy, Britain’s government calls for the hereditary king or queen to perform mostly ceremonial functions. Parliament governs the country.	5
‡ At the height of its imperial power in the late nineteenth century, Britain boasted colonies and possessions around the globe. (See British Empire.)	6

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · GUIDE · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Click here to shop the Bartleby Bookstore.