The United states of America

GREAT BRITAIN

Great Britain is situated on the British Islands which lie to the north-west of Europe. The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom has an area of 94, 249 square miles. The popula­tion of the United Kingdom is 56, 6 million people. The capital of the country is London. English is the official language.

The United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy. In law, the Queen of Great Britain is the head of the executive system, the hear of system of justice and of the Armed forces.

In practice, the Queen acts only on the Advice of her Min­isters. She reins but she does not rule.

Great Britain has the oldest Parliament in the world.

Parliament consists of the Queen, the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Parliament sits in the Palace of Westminster. It opens every year in Autumn.

The prime Minister is the head of the government.

Every five years the British people elect the members of the House of Commons. The House of Commons consists of 630 members, who may belong to various parties.

At present there are two main political parties in Great Britain: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party. The party which obtains the majority of seats in the House of Commons forms the Government and the other parties form the Opposition. Great Britain has a non-elected, hereditary, second Chamber - the House of Lords. It has 850 members.

The main functions of Parliament are to legislate, and to control the Actions of the Government.

Any member of the Parliament may introduce a bill to the Parliament.

Every bill has three readings at first in the House of Com­mons.

After the third reading the bill goes before, the House of Lords. If the Lords agree to the bill, it will be placed before the Queen for signature.

The Queen is the only non-party member and the only one with access to all government papers.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The USA is located in the central part of North America. Its area is 9, 363, 200 square kilometers. The population of the USA is over 228 million.

The United States is a Federal Union of 50 states. The Presi­dent is the head of the government He forms the government.

The Constitution is the basic law. It defines the structure and the method of national government and lists its rights and fields of authority (власть).

According to the Constitution the three main branches of the USA government are the executive, the legislative and the judicial.

The executive branch includes the President, Vice-President, and the Presidents' Cabinet.

The function of the executive branch is to administrate and execute the law. Every four years the America people elect the President. But they may re-elect their President for another term of four years.

The function of the Cabinet is to advise the President on any affair he wishes such advice. The Cabinet consists of the heads of the thirteen executive departments - the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Treasury (финансы), the Secretary of De­fence and all the rest.

The legislative branch of the government is the Congress. It consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 members. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members. The population of each state determines the number of members.

The function of the Congress is to make laws and to fi­nance the operation of the government.

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial organ of the United States and the head of the judicial branch.

The major political parties in the United States are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. This two-party sys­tem practically dominates the political life of the country.