Wales

Wales is a small country, bounded on the north and west by the Irish Sea, and on the south by Bristol Channel. Its total area is 8,06 square miles and its total population is about 3 million people.Wales is divided into 13 counties, but 70% of the population resides in the three industrial counties on the South – Glamorgan, Monmouth and Carmarthen. Agriculture is the main occupation in the remaining 10 counties in Mid-Wales and North-Wales.Of the three industrial counties in the South, Glamorgan is the biggest, with nearly one-half of the total population of Wales. Its main industries are coal-mining, iron, and steel, and engineering. About two-thirds of the population live in the South Wales coastal area, where the three biggest towns are located: Swansea, Cardiff and Newport.Cardiff (280,000), the modern national capital of Wales is the largest city in industrial South Wales. It rose to importance with the coal mining and iron industries. Today the cargoes it handles, are mainly imports, to be distributed throughout South Wales.The main port of Wales today is Milford Hayen (situated in the very south-west because of its oil tanker traffic). It is one of the leading oil terminals of Britain. Refineries grew up on opposite shores and Milford Hayen became an important refining centre. A pipeline takes petroleum to a refinery near Swansea.South Wales is a region of contrasts. The industrial cities of Swansea, Cardiff and Newport are only a short journey away from sandy beaches and busy holiday resorts.Mid Wales is rather sparsely populated. Along the coast there are many fishing ports. North Wales has several impressive castles built by English kings. Anglesey is flat, but the rest of the region is very mountainous. Reсently 2 nuclear power stations were built: on the North Wales, the other in Anglesey.Tourism is mainly concentrated in the northern coastal strip. Surrounded on three sides by an attractive coastline, Wales has become a popular holiday resort. It is also well known for its hills and dales, and in these places a great number of people derive their livelihood from tourists and holiday-makers.There are several more lakes and artificial reservoirs, some of them providing the water supply for the cities of Birmingham and Liverpool in England as well as one or two power dams providing electricity.The highest mountain in Wales is Snowdon, which is famous for the very difficult climbing that can be practiced on its slopes.

Scotland (Land of Cakes)

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and is governed from London. The capital is Edinburgh, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, which is full of historical monuments of great interest. There is a special minister in the Government, the Secretary of State for Scotland, who is responsible for education, local government and other important matters in Scotland. Although the legal education and banking system are slightly different from those in England, life is very similar to the rest of the UK.Scotland has a population of just over 5 million people of whom about one third live in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee.All the inhabitants speak English although about 100,000 still speak Scottish Gaelic. Many of the Scottish accents of English are very strong, and visitors from abroad (or even England) sometimes have difficulty in understanding them.Scotland can be divided into the Southern Uplands, which never rise to much more than about 2,500feet, the Central Lowlands, which include the valleys of the rivers Tay, Clyde and Forth, and the Northen Highlands which are themselves divided by the Great glen which runs from Fort William to Inverness. In this area are the tallest peaks, the highest of which is Ben Nevis. The Northen Highlands are sparsely populated but contain much of the most beautiful and impressive lochs, moorland, mountain and coastal scenery in the country. Scotland is famous for its beautiful large lakes with mountains round them. There are many rivers in Scotland, but they are not long.Scottish steel has long been used chiefly by the heavy industries of the Glasgow area where shipbuilding has been paramount. Shipyards extended along both banks of the Clyde estuary for about 30 km.Nowadays practically as many workers are in the service industries as in manufacturing of the latter, textile and clothing production has long been important, and carpets are among woolen goods. Food products, furniture and office equipment are also manufactured. An activity which is extremely important in Scotland’s export trade is the blending of Scotch whisky produced in Highland distilleries.Scotland is a country with an intence and living national tradition of a kind only too rare in the modern world. it has its distinctive national dress, the kilt, worn only by men. It has its own typical musical instruments (the pipes, sometimes called “the bagpipes”), its own national form of dancing, its own songs, language, traditions and education. Scotland has even its own national drink, a fact so widely known that one need only ask for “Scotch”.

England

Historically England proper is divided into the following economic regions: the South Industrial and Agricultural region (the South of England), Central England or the Midlands, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Northen England.The South of England is the most important region in the country in terms of industry, agriculture and population. This includes both the South East and the South West. London is Britain’s and England’s capital and main communication centre, one of the world’s most important financial centres, one of the world’s three largest cities (with Tokyo and New York), and one of the largest ports (with New York and Rotterdam). London is the main centre in Britain of printing, cinema film production and of manufacture of clothing, food and drink, furniture, materials of arts, precision instruments and many other specialized products. London is also important for light engineering, chemicals and consumer goods. There are heavy –engineering plants and a number of leading research establishments in this area. Some of the aircraft plants are near London and factories manufacturing motor vehicles – lorries – are also situated here. The first metro (underground ) in the world was built in London.In the estuaries of the Thames and other rivers of the region there are large oil refineries as well as shipyards.Major motor vehicles manufacturing plants are some 50 miles from north-west of London, near Oxford. Oxford and Cambridge are famous university centres, Oxford being also a car-manufacturing centre, while Cambridge includes industries which have depended to a considerable extent on university connections and orders, as diverse as instrument making, printing, electronics.The South-West is known for its extensive grassland which is three times as extensive as the area under cultivation. The grouth of grass is promoted by frequent rains and mild warm climate. The principal activity here is farming. Although there are some big farms, most are small family farms with a mixture of cows, sheep and cereal crops. Butter, cheese and cream are the chief products. In the eastern part of the region there are many pigs and the production of bacon and other products, including pork sausages, is prominent.Industry is centered on three large ports: Bristol in the North and Portsmouth and Southampton in the south-east. In Bristol aircrafts are designed and built. In Portsmouth and Southampton, the main industries are shipbuilding and oil-refining.

British economy

Among the main trends in industrial activity in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s have been the decline in heavy industry and the grouth of the offshore oil gas industries together with related products and services; the rapid development of electronic and microelectronic technologies and their application to a wide range of other sectors; and continuous rise in the services industries. Tourism, for example, is now one of Britain’s most important industries and growing source of employment.
In certain regions, older industries, such as coal, steel, shipbuilding and textiles, have steadily declined. As a result unemployment is far higher in Scotland, Wales, Northen Ireland and the North of England.
Membership of the European Community has had a major impact on Britain’s pattern of trade. The proportion of Britain’s exports of goods going to other EC countries has risen to 50%, while that going to other Commonwealth countries has fallen to 10%.
In the last years there have been important changes in ownership. The Thatcher government returned many of the nationalized industries, such as British airways, British gas and Telecom to the private sector, although other industries in the same sectors, such as British Rail[1], British Coal and the Post Office, are still publicly owned. There has also been a growing trend towards the formation of massive international corporations through mergers and acquisitions.
Britain is famous for its offshore natural gas. About half of the national consumption is used for industrial and commercial purposes, and the remainder for the household use. Britain is the world’s fifth largest oil producer, although production is expected to start declining slowly, Britain should remain a significant producer in the twenty-first century. About 80% of offshore production is brought ashore by submarine pipeline to one of the 14 refineries.
Britain was the first country in the world to have a public supply of electricity, but today it is in the process of being privatized.
Among Britain’s largest companies are the following: British Petroleum Company, Shell Transport and Trading (oil industry), B.A.T. Industries (tobacco, retailing, paper, financial services), Electricity Council, Hanson (Consumer products), Grand Metropolitan (milk prds., brewers) etc.
Less than 3% of the working population is employed in agriculture in Britain, yet the industry produces nearly two-thirds of Britain’s food requirements, with gross output accounting for about 4% of the country’s GDP. Just over three quarters of the land in Britain is used for agriculture. About three-fifths of full-time farms are devoted to dairing or beef cattle and sheep. The majority of sheep and cattle are reared in the hill and moorland areas of Scotland, Wales, Northen Ireland although beef fattening takes place in better grassland areas and arable farms. Pig production occurs in most areas, but is particularly in eastern and northen England. Britain is also broadly self-sufficient in poultry meat and eggs.
Britain is one of Europe’s most important fishing nations. The fishing industry provides about 66% of British fish supplies and it is an important source of employment and income in a number of ports.
82% of the tonnage of inland freight is carried on the roads. The car is also the most popular form of passenger transport. Railways, inland waterways, coast shipping and pipelines are important in carrying certain types of freight, particularly bulk goods. Less than 1% of Britain’s roads are motorways.
Britain had the world’s first passenger railway service (opened in 1825). Today it comprises a fast inter-city network (up to 200 km. per hour) linking the main centres of Great Britain; local stopping services; commuter services in and around large conurbations, especially London, Channel Tunnel. The main freight carried by train is coal, steel and other bulk goods.
A lot of traffic is done through ports. Traditional major ports like London, Liverpool and Manchester, have lost general (non-bulk) cargo traffic to ports like Dover and Felixstowe. Southern ports have gained importance over the last years due to increase in Britain’s connections with the continent of Europe.
Around 100 million passengers travel by air to or from Britain every year. The value of overseas trade carried by air is approximately 21.5% of the value of exports and 16.8% of imports. London’s two airports, Heathrow and Catwick, are the world’s two business airports, mainly as a result of their geographical position.
Britain is the world’s third largest trading nation, accounting for about 11% of international trade in manufactured goods. Over a quarter of total exports go to Commonwealth countries and over a third to Western Europe. The USA, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand and the Federal Republic of Germany are among Bitain’s chief trading partners.
Britain’s role as a trading nation and as centre of the Sterling Area, which holds a quarter of the world’s population, includes a vast network of financial services, centered in the City of London. With its many famous institutions, such as the Bank of England, the Stock Exchange and Lloyd’ sand its international markets for commodities such as rubber, metals and tea, the City has for over a century held a place of first importance in world trade.

The United Kindom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The United Kindom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political name of the country which is made of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (sometimes known as Ulster). Several islands off the British coast are also part of the UK (for example, the Isle of Wight, the Orkneys, Hebrides and Shetlands, and the Isles of Scilly), although the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not. However, all these islands do recognize the Queen.
The British Isles is the geographical name that refers to all the islands off the north-west coast of the European continent: Great Britain, the whole of Ireland (Northern and Southern), the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. But it is important to remember that Southern Ireland – that is the Republic of Ireland (also called “Eire”) – is completely independent.
Britain is one of the world’s smallest countries with an area of some 244,100 square kilometers; with some 56 million people, it ranks about 14th in terms of population. About half the people live in a large belt stretching north-westwards from London across England. Other large concentrations of population are in the central lowlands of Scotland, south-east Wales and the Bristol area, parts of north-east England and along much of the English Channel coast.
The climate is generally mild and temperate. The average range of temperature between winter and summer is greatest in inland, in the eastern part of the country. During a normal summer the temperature occasionnaly rises above 30°C in the south: winter temperatures below -10°C are rare. January and February are usually the coldest months, July and August – the warmest.
The landscape is rich and varied, sometimes showing marked contrast within short distances, particularly on the coasts. Most of the land is agricultural, of which over one third is arable, growing various crops, and the rest pasture and grazing. Woodlands cover about 8% of the country. Britain has neither towering mountain ranges, not impressively large rivers, plains or forests. But this doesn’t mean that its landsape is boring. What it lacks in grandeur it makes up for in variety. The south and east of the country is comparatively low-lying, consisting of either flat plains or gently rolling hills. Mountainous areas are found only in the north and west, although these regions also have flat areas.