Chapter 1 Land，People and Economy
》》Key Words
■the Union Jack
■Great Britain
■highland zone
■lowland zone
■climate
■natural resources
■Anglo⁃Saxons
■English language
■agriculture
■industry
■services
■transportation
■trade
■cities
The UK flag
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland，commonly referred to as the United Kingdom，Great Britain，or Britain，is an island country that lies northwest of the European Continent across the English Channel.Its national capital is London，a city on the River Thames.Its national flag is called the Union Jack，so called because the United Kingdom is historically a union of nations.The British flag combines the flags of three of the four nations that make up the union：the red cross represents England;the white saltire and blue background symbolize Scotland，and the red saltire stands for Northern Ireland.“God Save the Queen”is the national anthem of the United Kingdom.The lyrics are as follows：
God save our gracious queen，
long live our noble queen，
God save the queen.
Send her victorious，
happy and glorious，
long to reign over us，
God save the Queen.
As the first industrialized nation in the world，the United Kingdom has remained an economic giant over the past two centuries，although its influence on the world economy has been diminishing more recently.It has the fifth⁃largest national economy in the world as measured by nominal GDP.