Where is England?

England is part of Britain and the United Kingdom.

England is one of the most diverse nations in the world; the 50 million people of varied backgrounds who live there prove it. England shows many different faces: pulsing city life and lonely landscapes, old-fashioned customs and avant-garde culture, lovely beaches and rough mountains.

Culture of England

It has a vast culture that encompasses elements both old and new. The modern culture of England is sometimes difficult to identify and separate clearly from the culture of the wider United Kingdom. However, the traditional and historic culture of England is more clearly defined.

In England you can find some of the finest mediaeval castles and forts in the world including Warwick Castle, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. In the centre of the country, the main attractions are the old university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, and Stratford, the town of Shakespeare. In the north of England, Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester are lively places, and York and Durham have splendid historical treasures.

The weather

The weather in England has a reputation of being cold and clammy for much of the year, but splendidly long temperate summers mark the difference.

Moving to England  

Moving abroad brings with it excitement as well as anticipation. In order to reduce the anticipation to a manageable level and enjoy the excitement, be sure to plan well in advance and do your homework about the new country as thoroughly as possible. Your local library, bookstore and of course the internet will have lots of useful information on what to expect. Even if you have visited the country in the past, living in another country brings with it a whole new set of issues you will need to get your arms around.

Health care in England

The Health care system in England is universal, and financed by government though a system of national health insurance.

The England Department of Health offers health services to all public schools, in order to appraise, protect and promote the health of students.

There are many public and private hospitals; they are fully equipped with trained medical personnel

More information on the web - Watch the videos and try to understand the language and people, living in this beautiful part of the world.

http://www.visitbritain.com/en/GB/

http://www.visitpeakdistrict.com/

http://www.enjoyengland.com/find-tic/

Where is Scotland?

Scotland is part of Britain and the United Kingdom.

Scotland offers a great quality of life, beautiful scenery, rich culture and history, a well-respected education system, friendly people, great work opportunities, and a wonderful range of leisure activities.

Some key information on aspects of life in Scotland:

Healthcare

Comprehensive healthcare is available to people living in Scotland. The majority of NHS (National Health Service) provision is free, paid for through personal taxation. Private care is paid for, usually, through a private healthcare insurance scheme.

Education

Scotland has a comprehensive state education system and all children attend school from age 5-16, with the option of continuing until age 18. All children are provided with free nursery education for two years prior to beginning school. Scotland also offers further and higher education through a network of world-class universities and colleges.

Finding a House

Depending on how long you’re going to be here, you can either buy or rent a home. Whichever you decide to do, you can look forward to a huge range of housing possibilities, both in town – where you can choose between everything from waterfront apartments and large Victorian villas to more modern houses – and in the country, within easy commuting distance of the city.

Relocation Advisory Service

Thankfully help is at hand from The Relocation Advisory Service (RAS), a unique service provided by the Scottish Government. RAS offers friendly help and advice, from a team of trained immigration advisers, to anyone with questions on moving to Scotland.

More information on the web - Watch the videos and try to understand the language and people, living in this beautiful part of the world.

http://www.visitscotland.com/
http://www.scotland.org/

Whether it's enjoying a gentle country stroll or a breezy coastal walk, trekking long distance routes or scrambling amidst the majestic mountains, Scotland's breath-taking landscape will refresh and enliven your senses. Use the in-depth information on our dedicated walking website to help plan your next walking break to Scotland.

Scotland has an abundance of fantastic food & drink to offer. Find out about our Michelin Star dining, cosy cafés in the Highlands, great local farmers markets, local delicacies and world-class distilleries.

The drama and sheer variety of Scotland's natural features never fails to impress visitors. Though small, the country offers an amazing range of landscapes, from the gentle rolling hills of Dumfries and Galloway to the breath-taking peaks of the Cairngorms, and from the rugged coastlines of the north east to the sub-tropical gardens of Wester Ross.

Where is Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland is part of Britain and the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland is a strange kind of place to live in.

For a start, it's the only place in the United Kingdom where people will say that their nationality is British. Everywhere else, they'll say they're English, Scottish or Welsh but know that they're also British. In Northern Ireland, if someone says that they're Irish, then they definitely don't consider themselves British and those that consider themselves British definitely don't think of themselves as Irish.

Although Northern Ireland is pretty small, you'll find a wealth of tourist attractions of which our little guides only touches a few of the highlights from the World Heritage site of the Giant's Causeway with its gigantic volcanic columns to the ancient history of the country at the Ulster History Park.

Northern Ireland offers you the chance to experience two cultures and the meld that this creates in both the original Irish and Scottish communities that live here.

Climate

As I said Belfast is small and it's also a good deal further north than London. I don't know if you'd know about oceanic and continental climates but Belfast has an oceanic one while London is partly continental. Basically if you've an oceanic climate you don't get very cold winters or very warm summers because the ocean beside you takes ages to heat up and cool down. Since land heats up and cools down pretty fast you get very hot summers and much colder winters (depending on latitude obviously). So when I'm going to London in the summer it's always a few degrees warmer and I leave the coat at home whereas in the winter I need to take a big coat.

Economy

Well we're part of the UK so everything is dictated by UK laws in terms of tax, interest rates, currency, etc. However, the Northern Ireland economy is dominated by the public sector so even when there is a recession in the UK as a whole we wouldn't notice that much if it weren't on the news. We've a Value Added Tax which goes on just about everything but it's included in the price so you don't need a calculator to work out what you've to pay in the shops (well I would if I ever looked at the prices as I'm just dreadful at counting!). Income tax starts at 20% but it's mainly 23% up to about UKP 30,000 ($45,000) annual salary and 40% on everything above that. As well as that there's National Insurance which is another income tax in all but name and is about 7%. The currency is Sterling (the Republic of Ireland uses Euro). We've two universities which is a lot considering that the entire population is only about 1.5 million but quite a lot of students come up from the Republic as they get free education here whereas they'd have to pay for it there (there's about 3 million people living down there).

Housing

Over the last few years there has been quite a growth in the private rental market so you have a choice of public housing through the Housing Executive or various private landlords. Most houses are semi-detached although there are a considerable number of terrace houses. A good site to find housing is www.propertynews.com which covers rented and owned properties. Purchasing is generally done via a 25 year variable rate mortgage; the mortgage market is quite complex with fixed rate, variable rate and numerous variations on discounted mortgages. Although we're in the UK not all UK mortgages are available in NI.

Banking and Finance

Your choice of bank is rather wider than that though for there are a number of large building societies (savings & loans) that offer full banking facilities (in rough order of number of local branches: Halifax, Alliance & Leicester, Woolwich, and Nationwide) , not to mention HSBC which after having sold the Northern Bank to National Australian is now opening branches across the province.

More information on the web - Watch the videos and try to understand the language and people, living in this beautiful part of the world.

http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/

Broshure for N.Ireland

 

Where is Wales

Wales is part of Britain and the United Kingdom.

We have our own international airport just outside the city's capital, Cardiff in south east Wales. A number of airlines offer European and international flights into Cardiff including KLM and bmibaby.

The nearest London airport is Heathrow. It takes about 2 hours to get to Cardiff from there, travelling by motorway all the way.

Healthcare

Healthcare in Wales is mainly provided by the Welsh public health service, NHS Wales. NHS Wales provides healthcare to all permanent residents that is free at the point of need and paid for from general taxation. Health is a matter that is devolved, and considerable differences are now developing between the public healthcare systems in the different countries of the United Kingdom.Though the public system dominates healthcare provision, private health care and a wide variety of alternative and complementary treatments are available for those willing to pay.

The largest hospital in the country is the University Hospital of Wales hospital.

Education

Education in Wales differs in certain respects from education elsewhere in the United Kingdom. For example, a significant number of students all over Wales are educated either wholly or largely through the medium of Welsh: in 2008/09, 22 per cent of classes in maintained primary schools used Welsh as the sole or main medium of instruction. Welsh medium education is available to all age groups through nurseries, schools, colleges and universities and in adult education; lessons in the language itself are compulsory for all pupils until the age of 16.

Finding a House

Depending on how long you’re going to be here, you can either buy or rent a home. Whichever you decide to do, you can look forward to a huge range of housing possibilities, both in town – where you can choose between everything from waterfront apartments and large Victorian villas to more modern houses – and in the country, within easy commuting distance of the city.

Banking and Finance

Your choice of bank is rather wider than that though for there are a number of large building societies (savings & loans) that offer full banking facilities (in rough order of number of local branches: Halifax, Alliance & Leicester, Woolwich, and Nationwide) , not to mention The Bank of Wales which is now opening branches across the province.

More information on the web - Watch the videos and try to understand the language and people, living in this beautiful part of the world.

About Wales guide-culture, people and language

www.wales.com/

www.lonelyplanet.com/wales