Interstate relations between neighboring countries of Great Britain. UK transport system. Physico-geographical position of Great Britain

Characteristic UK EGP

1) Great Britain (United Kingdom) - Island state, most of whose territory is located on two large islands separated by the waters of the Irish Sea.

It consists of four countries: England, Scotland and Wales, located on the island of Britain, and Northern Ireland. The UK shares a common land border only with Ireland.

From the south, Great Britain borders on France - its closest and most developed neighbor, which shares water borders with it.

Also, the closest neighbors of Great Britain are Belgium and the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Norway are located much further away.

Thus, the UK EGP is both neighboring and coastal, which is extremely beneficial for economic development country, although it undoubtedly has certain disadvantages in strategic and military terms.

2) To the southwest of the island of Britain are the Isles of Scilly, and to the north of Wales is the Isle of Anglesey. On the western and northern coasts of Scotland there are numerous small islands that are part of Great Britain. The most important of these are the Orkney Shetland Islands. Great Britain is washed from the west by waters Atlantic Ocean, and from the east - by the waters of the North Sea.

Shortest distance before north coast France - the Strait of Dover, but the main communication between the states is through the English Channel, called the English Channel by the British, along the bottom of which a tunnel for high-speed rail transport was built at the end of the twentieth century. Before this, communication between the two countries was carried out by water or air.

3) The main sources of energy are coal and oil, and to a lesser extent natural gas. The coal mining industry is one of the oldest industries in the UK. The main coal mining areas are Cardiff, South Wales and Central England (Sheffield).

Great Britain has a temperate and fairly humid climate. Therefore, most of the used rural land is occupied by pastures (about 80%). A minority of the area is occupied by crops, which are mainly grown in East Anglia. One of the main crops is sugar beet, grown in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, where the main sugar refineries are located. Wheat, barley, oats, grown in England, are also important crops. Northern Ireland and on the east coast of Scotland.

Dairy farming also plays an important role in UK agriculture. Dairy cattle are raised primarily in the southwest of England.

Since Great Britain has been a maritime power since ancient times, fishing is considered a traditional industry. The main fisheries are cod, flounder, herring, whitefish, trout, oysters and crabs.

4) The administrative map of Great Britain has changed several times, because the annexation of the countries that make up the United Kingdom took centuries. Each once independent state has its own capital or administrative center. Official capital Great Britain is London, since the unification of the lands took place around England.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Great Britain, being in first place in the world in terms of economic development, created a colossal colonial power that occupied almost a quarter of the planet's territory. British colonies included India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and much of Africa. In the twentieth century, the English colonies became independent states, but many of them are part of the British Commonwealth, headed by the British Monarch. In 1921, the southern part of Ireland separated from Great Britain and became an independent state.

Characteristics of EGP

Great Britain (United Kingdom) is an island state, most of whose territory is located on two large islands separated by the waters of the Irish Sea. total area Great Britain is 244,017 sq. km. The population of Great Britain is 58,395 thousand people.

Officially the country is called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It consists of four countries: England, Scotland and Wales, located on the island of Britain, and Northern Ireland. The latter is located on the same island as the Independent Republic of Ireland. Thus, the UK shares a common land border only with Ireland.

The British Isles lie off the northwestern coast of Europe. The British Isles are surrounded by many small islands. To the southwest of the island of Britain are the Isles of Scilly, and to the north of Wales is the Isle of Anglesey. On the western and northern coasts of Scotland there are numerous small islands that are part of Great Britain. The most important of these are the Orkney Shetland Islands.

From the west, Great Britain is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and from the east by the waters of the North Sea.

From the south, Great Britain borders on France, its closest and most developed neighbor, which shares water borders with it. The shortest distance to the northern coast of France is the Strait of Dover, but the main communication between the states is through the English Channel, called the English Channel by the British, along the bottom of which a tunnel for high-speed rail transport was built at the end of the twentieth century. Before this, communication between the two countries was carried out by water or air.

Also, the closest neighbors of Great Britain are Belgium and the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Norway are located much further away.

Thus, the UK’s EGP is both neighboring and coastal, which is extremely beneficial for the economic development of the country, although it undoubtedly has certain disadvantages in strategic and military terms.

The administrative map of Great Britain has changed several times, because... the annexation of the countries that make up the United Kingdom took centuries. Each once independent state has its own capital or administrative center. The official capital of Great Britain is London, since the unification of the lands took place around England.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Great Britain, being in first place in the world in terms of economic development, created a colossal colonial power that occupied almost a quarter of the planet's territory. British colonies included India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and much of Africa. In the twentieth century, the English colonies became independent states, but many of them are part of the British Commonwealth, headed by the British monarch. In 1921, the southern part of Ireland separated from Great Britain and became an independent state.

Modern Administrative division Great Britain

The UK is one of the most densely populated and highly urbanized countries in the world. On average, there are 230 people per 1 sq.m. of its area. However, the population is distributed very unevenly throughout the country. The bulk of the UK population is concentrated in England, which has the most convenient geographical location, favorable natural conditions and has played a leading economic role throughout history. British Isles. Here the average density increases to 356 people per 1 sq. km. Within England itself, the country's main industrial belt, stretched along the London-Liverpool axis, is most densely populated: half of the total population of Great Britain lives in this belt. The most sparsely populated areas are in Scotland, with its harsh natural conditions compared to other parts of the country and a less developed economy. For 1 sq. km. It has an average population of 86 people, with the population concentrated mainly on the coasts, valleys and lowlands (especially around Glasgow and Edinburgh), while some highland areas are virtually deserted.

By the end of the nineteenth century. 3/4 of the population of Great Britain lived in cities, and the predominant type of population was already large conurbations. Since the beginning of the twentieth century. There is an intensive resettlement of rural residents to cities, where almost 4/5 of the country's population now lives. Drawing the line between urban and rural settlements in a highly urbanized country like the UK is difficult. Many villages have become the “bedrooms” of nearby cities: villagers commute to the cities every day to work.

There are about a thousand cities in Great Britain. Half of the country's urban inhabitants are concentrated in seven conurbations. One of them - Central Clydessa (1.7 million people) - is located in Scotland, and the rest are in England. These are Tynesad, which is home to 0.8 million people, the West Midlands (2.4 million), South-East Lancashire (2.3 million), West Yorkshire (1.7 million), Mernsside (1.3 million) and Greater London (7 million). Over 1/10 of city residents live in cities with a population of more than 200 thousand people each, of which Sheffield and Edinburgh each have more than half a million inhabitants. Medium-sized cities in the UK include 75 cities with populations ranging from 50 to 100 thousand people. The five conurbations and half of all the country's large and medium-sized cities are concentrated in the industrial belt along the London-Liverpool axis, which is partly called the metropolis.

One of the consequences of the development of conurbations and especially their central cities is an unreasonably high overcrowding of the population. In this regard, measures are being taken to relieve them: part of the excess population is moving to the suburbs or to new expanding medium-sized cities.

In the “hierarchy” of British cities, London undoubtedly occupies a leading position as the capital, the main political and cultural center of the country, one of its largest industrial centers, the largest sea port and a leading city in the UK's most important economic region, Southern England. In addition to London, many “capital” functions are performed by 10 other cities in the UK: Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast as the capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively; Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds and Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool - as central cities conurbations and regional centers. In addition, over 150 cities are higher than the bulk of cities in terms of the number of inhabitants and the role they play in the life of nearby territories. These cities are called "City", all the rest are called "town".

There are few countries in the world in which seaside towns occupied such an important place as in Great Britain, in which out of 100 large cities 44 are seaside. London arose primarily as a seaport for trade with continental European states; Through Gul (Hull) trade has long been carried out with the countries of the Baltic Sea basin; Bristol and Liverpool served as "gateways to New World. Near large industrial centers there are seaside resort towns: Brighton and Margate - near London, Blacknul - near the Lanshire coalfield, Scarborough - on the Yorkshire coast. All the original development gravitated towards the sea. All the specialized apartments were built near the coast, and further on - housing.

Much faster than other cities, in the last two centuries the largest cities grew near coal and iron ore deposits. industrial centers: Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Belfast, Middleborough, etc. Growing industry required more and more workers, and working-class neighborhoods, hastily built up by speculators, were often slums from the very beginning. Houses for workers were built according to a single standard. Most often these are monotonous “terraces” - rows of identical houses standing back to back. The monotony of working-class neighborhoods in industrial cities is broken only by the huge, smoky buildings of factories and factories, warehouses and gas distribution stations. Railway here, as a rule, it goes to the very center of the city and serves as its “skeleton”. The old quarters of industrial cities are being overgrown with new buildings, in which the industrial zone is separated from the residential one.

Until very recently, all UK cities grew predominantly in width, since low-rise buildings are cheaper and more in line with the tastes and traditions of the British. Until now, some are still reluctant to settle in apartment buildings, since this means living without their own, even tiny, garden. Cities are increasingly expanding their territory due to the growth of suburbs, absorbing already scarce land resources. Only in the last decade have multi-storey apartment buildings begun to appear in British cities, but housing is very expensive. Therefore, most Britons continue to live in old houses, many of which were built in the last century. The acute housing crisis, accompanied by rising rents, is one of the country's most serious socio-economic problems.

There are mainly two types of rural settlements in Britain. In the lowlands of eastern England, the population lives primarily in villages. The shapes of the villages are varied: more often with a star plan, less often with a row, street layout.

There are many medium-sized farms everywhere, where farming is carried out without the use of hired labor. Small farming is concentrated mainly in Scotland and Wales. The densest network of villages is in north-east Yorkshire, where they are often no more than 2.5 km away. from each other. The density of rural and semi-rural settlements is exceptionally high in the country's main industrial belt and around the Tynesad and Clydeside conurbations. Here, the villages in which workers employed at the industrial enterprises of the conurbations live interspersed with villages, hamlets and individual farms.

Introduction page 2

Main part:

1. Geographical position page 2

2. State system p. 3

3. Relief page 3

4. Minerals page 4

5. Climate page 5

6. Water resources page 5

7. Soils page 6

8. Agriculture page 7

9. Industry p. 7

Conclusion page 9

List of sources and literature page 10

Geographical location

Introduction:

The topic “Economic and geographical position of Great Britain” is very extensive. It covers many aspects relating to this country. Such as: economic, geographical position, state of economic sectors at this stage of the country’s development. This essay was written using three sources, which quite accurately and completely describe the current situation in Great Britain. A clear description of the state of the economy, EGP, geographical location (relief, climate, etc.) is given. The essay is written to show the current situation of the country and draw a conclusion about its condition.

The abstract consists of an introduction, main part and conclusion. The introduction briefly provides an analysis of sources and literature, and also states the purpose of writing the abstract. The main part is divided into three chapters. The first chapter provides some basic information; in the second we will talk about natural conditions; and the third chapter describes the state of the country's economy. In conclusion, a conclusion is given about the general condition of Great Britain.

Main part :

Chapter 1

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION

The country located on the British Isles off the northwestern coast of continental Europe is traditionally called Great Britain, and by the name of the historical part - England. Officially, it is called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The country includes 4 historical regions: England (occupies the central and eastern part of the island of Great Britain); Wales (in the west of the same island); Northern Ireland (island of Ireland) and Scotland. The British Isles are the largest archipelago in Europe. It includes two large islands (Great Britain and Ireland) and more than 5 thousand small islands. The southern tip of the island of Great Britain - the Lizard Peninsula - is located at 50 degrees north latitude, and the most Northern part archipelago - Shetland Islands - 60 degrees north latitude. The length of the island of Great Britain from north to south is 966 km, and its greatest width is half that. The British archipelago is separated by the shallow North Sea from Sweden and Denmark and by the narrow English Channel and Pas de Calais from France. Modern outline coastline emerged relatively recently. The area of the United Kingdom is 244,100 square meters. km.

STATE STRUCTURE

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. There is no constitution here; its legislation is based on centuries-old constitutional customs and precedents, that is, parliamentarians look at how a similar case was once resolved. Formally, the country is ruled by a monarch (since 1952 - Queen Elizabeth II), but in fact the highest legislative body is parliament, which includes the queen, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is a national assembly, elected every five years. House of Lords - aristocrats, princes of the blood, hereditary peers... The House of Lords has the right to delay a bill (not financial) for up to one year. Finance bills become laws when they pass the House of Commons and are signed by the Queen. Usually it does not interfere with the work of the House of Lords and generally does not interfere in government affairs.

Chapter 2

RELIEF

The natural features of Great Britain are in many ways similar to neighboring countries of Western Europe. This is not surprising since the British Isles, located within the shelf, separated from the mainland only in recent geological time. The coastline of the North Sea and the English Channel took on shapes close to modern ones just a few thousand years ago.

The island position of Great Britain, the proximity of the warm North Atlantic Current, and the strongly dissected coastline nevertheless left a certain imprint on the nature of this country. This is reflected in the predominance of moderate temperatures, increased humidity, an unusual abundance of surface water, and the spread of deciduous forests and heathlands.

At the base of the mountains throughout Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales lie Lower Paleozoic folded structures, and in southern Wales and southern Cornwall - Hercynian ones. These ancient mountain structures were subjected to intense erosion and destruction for a long time, which led to the leveling of their surface. In the Alpine era, uplifts contributed to the revival of the medium-high mountains of Great Britain, and due to the unevenness of these uplifts, the western parts of the mountains turned out to be significantly higher than the eastern ones.

Such orographic asymmetry is, as a rule, inherent in all mountain structures in Great Britain, and accordingly the main watershed is shifted towards the west coast. The western steep and steep shores differ sharply from the gently sloping low-lying shores that predominate in the east of the country.

The Quaternary glaciation generally intensified the smoothing of the mountains of Great Britain, and only in the most elevated areas did Alpine-type relief form with sharp jagged ridges and peaks, glacial cirques and typical valleys. A significant role in modeling the relief was played by erosive processes that are actively occurring at the present time. In many lowland areas, erosion has severely, and in some places completely, erased glacial-accumulative landforms, formed in that era when ice sheets descended from the mountains to the plains. It is known that, for example, during the maximum glaciation, ice approached the Thames Valley, but the extreme south of England was never covered with ice.

The northern, most elevated part of Great Britain is occupied by the Scottish Highlands, which rise steeply to the west. To the east, the highlands gradually decrease and are replaced by coastal lowlands. The deep and narrow linear depression of Glen Mawr forms the boundary of large parts of the North Scottish Highlands - the North West Highlands and the Gramnian Mountains with the majestic peak of Ben Nevis (1343) highest point the whole country.

The Grampian Mountains drop steeply into a vast depression occupied by the Lowlands of Scotland, the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. The thick layer of sedimentary rocks filling the depression contains productive horizons of Devonian coals, which are very intensively mined here. The Southern Scottish Highlands have a highly rugged topography. Elevations average about 600 m, with the highest point, Mount Merrick, reaching 842 m.

In the north of England, the Penin Mountains stretch in the meridian direction, rising on average 700 m. In their northern part there is the highest point of the Penin - Mount Cross Fell (893 m).

The massive Camberlain Mountains, composed mainly of Cambro-Silurian shales and ancient igneous rocks, approach the Pieniny Mountains in the northwest. This dome-shaped rise with the summit of Scafell (978 m) is strongly dissected by radial valleys that formed on the site of faults. In the upper part of the mountains, glacial landforms and numerous lakes have been preserved, due to which this area received the name “Circle of Lakes”.

The mountains of Wales, collectively called the Cambrian Mountains, are highest in the north, where Mount Snowdon (1085 m) rises.

MINERALS

In general, the lowland areas of England have long been widely used for settlement and agricultural development. Somewhat later, mountainous areas began to be developed, where rich pasture lands, and subsequently mineral resources, served as an important incentive for this. During the complex geological history of the islands, a variety of minerals were formed in their depths. Almost all known minerals, except diamonds, are found there.

In the north of England lie the Pennine Mountains, made up of carboniferous sedimentary rocks. Karst is widespread in their northern part. At the foot of the Pieniny Mountains, rich productive strata of coal lie shallow. On the basis of these deposits, large mining and industrial centers of the Lanksshire, Yorkshire and other basins arose, the reserves of which amount to more than 4 billion tons.

Most of England is characterized by an alternation of flat plains and rolling cuesta ridges. Cuestas are usually composed of limestone or chalk, and the plains are composed of looser rocks: sands, marls, clays. The accumulation of all these sedimentary rocks occurred in the ancient sea basins. The gentle peaks of the cuestas are characterized by the development of karst, and on many plains a cover of glacial deposits (moraines) has been preserved. These deposits are particularly widespread on the Midland Plains. Deposits of coal and iron ore are associated with small outlier hills here. The largest iron ore deposit is in the East Midlands: 60% of all reserves are concentrated here.

Significant reserves of rock and potash salts have been discovered in Cheshire and Durham.

Lead-zinc and hematite ores were found in the Cambedlen massif, and lead-zinc and tin ores were found in Cornwall. Much hope is placed on North Sea oil and gas, the total reserves of which are 2.6 billion tons and 1,400 billion cubic meters, respectively.

CLIMATE

The oceanic nature of the UK climate is reflected in the prevalence of unstable weather with gusty winds and dense fog throughout the year. Winters are very wet and unusually mild, with a sharp temperature anomaly (about 12-15 degrees) compared to mid-latitude indicators. The average temperature of the coldest month - January - does not fall below +3.5 degrees even in the extreme northeast of Great Britain, and in the southwest it reaches +5.5 degrees, and plants there grow all year round. Masses of warm sea air coming from the southwest increase winter temperatures, but at the same time bring cloudy and rainy weather with strong winds and storms. When cold air invades from the east and northeast, frosty weather sets in for a long time. Snow in winter time falls throughout the country, but very unevenly. In the mountainous regions of Scotland, snow cover lasts for at least 1-1.5 months. In the south of England and especially in its southwest, snow falls very rarely and lasts no more than a week. Here the grass is green all year round. The west of Britain typically receives twice as much rainfall in winter as in summer. In the eastern regions, winter is colder and less humid.

Cold air blows in spring north winds, significantly retarding the growth of crops in the east of Scotland, and sometimes dry eastern. This time of year is usually the least rainy. Spring in the British Isles is cooler and longer than at the same latitudes on the continent.

In Great Britain, as in other countries with a maritime climate, summers are relatively cool: the average temperature of the warmest month - July - is 1-2 degrees lower than at the same latitudes of the mainland. In the summer months, cyclonic activity decreases, and the distribution of average July temperatures is more consistent with the latitudinal zonality: in the southeast of the country +16 degrees, and in the extreme northwest +12 degrees. Maximum temperatures in the southeast of England sometimes rise above 27 degrees, and sometimes as high as 32 degrees. Maximum precipitation here occurs in the second half of summer.

In autumn, cyclonic activity intensifies, the weather becomes cloudy and rainy, sometimes with strong storms, especially in September and October. When warm air is carried to the cooled surface of the islands, fog often occurs on the coasts.

Warm and humid winds blowing from the Atlantic are responsible for the abundance of rain in the western regions of Great Britain. On average, 2000 mm of precipitation falls there annually, while in eastern England, located in the “rain shadow,” it is only about 600 mm, and in some places even 500 mm. The mountains thus serve as a natural barrier, trapping moist air on the western side. Heavy rainfall adversely affects the growth of many crops, especially wheat and barley. In general, grain crops in the British Isles perform well in drier years, but grasses often burn out then.

WATER RESOURCES

Britain is rich water resources. Almost throughout the entire territory of the country, except for some southeastern regions, the amount of precipitation exceeds evaporation, and therefore a dense network of deep rivers is developed. The largest of them are the Severn, with a length of 354 km, and the Thames (338 km), the basins of which border each other. The Thames is of greatest importance to the UK economy. Its basin is home to 1/5 of the country's total population. The capital's conurbation, Greater London, is also located here.

The rivers of the low-lying part of the country, located east of the main watershed, are calm. In the mountainous regions of Scotland and Wales, the sources of the rivers are at significant altitudes, so the rivers flow quickly and often overflow their banks, especially in the rainy season. The short but deep and fast rivers of north-west Scotland and Wales are used to generate electricity. More than 60 hydroelectric power stations have been built here. The estuaries of the largest rivers in Great Britain - the Thames, Severn, Humber, Mersey, Clyde and Forth - are wide, artificially deepened and straightened bays. They contain the largest sea ports and industrial units. At high tide, salt water penetrates estuaries far upstream, so the population of most seaports is supplied with drinking water from upper rivers, underground reservoirs and mountain lakes.

The largest lakes in Great Britain are Loch Neagh (about 400 sq. km) in northern Ireland, as well as Loch Lomond and Loch Ness in Scotland. Numerous lakes in the Scottish Highlands and the Circle of Lakes serve as flow regulators and are used as local transport routes. There are no large lakes in the lowlands of Great Britain, but there are many artificial reservoirs created on the site of former peat mining, sand and gravel quarries.

Underground reservoirs have long been the main source of high-quality water for the people of lowland England. The largest underground pool, the area of which reaches almost 30 thousand square meters. km, located under the Cretaceous limestones in the southeast of England. Currently, underground reservoirs supply 2/5 of all water consumed in England and Wales.

SOILS

The most fertile soils in Great Britain are found in the warm and relatively dry south-east, where they are formed mainly on calcareous rocks. Relatively high summer temperatures here contribute to increased biological activity and the accumulation of humus in the top layer of soil. Initially, this entire area was covered with broad-leaved forests, under which brown forest soils formed. Currently, the soils are highly cultivated as a result of long-term use for crops of barley, wheat and sugar beets, as well as grasses. In the marshy coastal lowlands - marshes - and in some other flat areas of England that have undergone reclamation, brown forest podzolized soils have been preserved under natural and perennial pastures. In the drained maritime lowlands of the Fenland, as well as in the Trent River valley, fairly fertile peaty alluvial soils are common. In these areas, more than in other regions of the country, wheat is sown, gardens and berry fields are planted, and intensive gardening is practiced. On the hills and cuesta ridges, thin humus-carbonate and soddy-carbonate soils are developed. The western and north-western regions of Great Britain are dominated by acidic brown podzolic soils. These lands are used for grass growing and as natural pastures. The main grain crop grown here is barley. IN mountainous areas Cornwall, the Pennines, the Circle of Lakes and Scotland, where the humid and cool climate develops soddy-podzolic soils that are easily subject to waterlogging, leading to the formation of peat bogs. It is dominated by pastures with coarse grass.

Chapter 3

AGRICULTURE

UK agriculture employs only about 3% of the country's working population. Great Britain produces more than half of the agricultural products consumed by its population. The needs for barley, oats, potatoes, poultry, pork, eggs and fresh milk are fully met. However, many of Britain's important products have to be imported from other countries. They import 4/5 of the butter, 2/3 of the sugar, half of the wheat and bacon, and 1/4 of the beef and veal consumed in the country.

The natural conditions of Great Britain are more favorable for the development of livestock farming than agriculture. Livestock and crop production account for 65 and 23% of the value of the country's agricultural products, respectively. Mostly livestock farms are located in the western, wetter part of the island of Great Britain. England is one of the world's largest suppliers of sheep wool.

INDUSTRY

UK industry provides 1/3 of the gross national product and accounts for 1/3 of all employees. It uses mainly imported raw materials and is increasingly focused on the foreign market. On the one hand, Great Britain is characterized by the rapid growth of modern industries using advanced production technology and labor organization, the latest equipment and advanced management methods, on the other hand, the lag of old traditional industries; the first group includes electronics, the latest branches of general and precision engineering, most industries chemical industry, the second - coal mining, cotton and wool industries, shipbuilding, ferrous metallurgy.

The main branch of the UK mining industry is coal mining. It has been going on for three centuries. Until 1910, British coal dominated the world market. However, since 1913, when a record amount of it was produced - 287 million tons, production has been steadily declining.

For centuries, coal mining fully provided the British economy with fuel. Coal was also exported. Coal basins became the core of the formation of most industrial regions of the country. While the newest industries developed based on the latest achievements of science and technology, the coal industry continued to produce millions of tons using old methods. Oil became an increasingly serious competitor to coal. In addition, methods for using coal itself were improved. All this led to a decrease in its consumption. The use of natural gas, new methods of steelmaking and the electrification of transport have led to an even greater reduction in the consumption of this type of fuel.

However, coal still remains one of the leading fuels in the country. It provides 1/3 of the UK's energy consumption, second only to oil, which provides almost half of it. The largest coal basin in the British Isles is Yorkshire, where 28 million tons were mined in 1975. coal It is followed by Northumberland Durham and North Western.

UK coal consumption increased slightly in last years due to rising world oil prices.

The British oil refining industry is still dependent on imports of crude oil and petroleum products. Wells in the East Midlands produce less than 100 thousand tons annually. Oil and gas extraction from the North Sea is a new, thriving industry in the country. Crude oil is injected from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and Libya, petroleum products - from Italy, the Netherlands and Venezuela.

The largest oil refineries are located at the deep sea ports of Southampton, in Cheshire, in the estuaries of the Thames, Trent and Tees. Five factories in south Wales are connected to the port of Eng Bay by an oil pipeline. There is also a large plant in Scotland on the gulf coast. Firth of Forth. From the fields of the North Sea to the oil refineries at the mouth of the river. Oil pipelines have been installed in the Tees and the Firth of Forth.

Through a gas pipeline laid at the bottom of the North Sea, gas reaches the east coast of the island of Great Britain in the area of Easington and Yorg-shire. There are five main natural gas fields exploited in the British zone, which provide 1 6 of the country's energy consumption. Today, almost all gas comes from natural sources.

The UK is the world's second largest supplier and exporter of kaolin (the white clay from which porcelain is made); Other types of clay for the ceramic industry are also mined here on a very large scale. There are prospects for the extraction of tungsten, copper and gold from newly explored deposits. It is even possible that in the future Britain could stop importing tungsten entirely.

Iron ore mining occurs in a relatively narrow belt that begins at Scunthorpe in Yorkshire in the north and stretches across the East Midlands to Banbury in the south. The ore here is of low quality, siliceous and contains only 33% metal. The need for iron ore is met by imports from Canada, Liberia and Mauritania.

The UK is fully self-sufficient in electricity. 86% of electricity is produced by thermal power plants, 12% by nuclear power plants and 2% by hydroelectric power plants. The overwhelming number of thermal power plants operate on coal, but in recent years some of them have switched to oil. The largest thermal power plants (with a capacity of more than 1 million kW) are located on the Trent River and near London.

Hydro stations are generally small and are located mainly in the Scottish Highlands. And in 1970, the construction of a unified power transmission system (“Supergrid”) with high voltage was completed in Great Britain.

One of the leading sectors of British industry - ferrous metallurgy - consumes the most energy. Great Britain ranks eighth in the world in iron and steel smelting. Almost all of the country's steel is produced by the state-owned British Steel Corporation. The UK metallurgy developed in favorable conditions. The country is rich in coal. Iron ore was often contained in the coal seams themselves, or was mined nearby. The third component necessary for metallurgy - limestone is found almost everywhere in the British Isles. The coal basins, near which metallurgical centers developed, are located relatively close to each other and from the country's largest seaports, which facilitates the delivery of missing raw materials from other parts of the country and from foreign countries and the export of finished products.

The UK steel industry is increasingly using scrap metal as a raw material, so modern steelworks are usually tied to major industrial centers as sources of raw materials and markets for finished products.

British non-ferrous metallurgy is one of the largest in Europe. It operates almost entirely on imported raw materials, so the smelting of non-ferrous metals gravitates towards port cities. Exports of non-ferrous metals in value far exceeded exports of cast iron and steel. The UK is also one of the main suppliers of metals such as uranium, zirconium, beryllium, niobium, germanium, etc., which are used in the nuclear industry, aircraft manufacturing and electronics. The main buyers of British non-ferrous metals are the USA and Germany.

Britain's oldest traditional industry is the textile industry. Woolen fabrics are produced mainly in West Yorkshire, rayon production predominates in the Yorkshire town of Silsden, and cotton fabrics are produced in Lancashire, in the small textile towns north-east of Manchester. The production of woolen fabrics, products, and yarn is the oldest in the British Isles. Woolen products from British textile manufacturers are still highly valued in foreign markets.

Conclusion:

Now Great Britain is a highly developed state, one of the leading world powers. In terms of industrial production, it ranks fifth in the world after the USA, Japan, Germany and France. But this is not done yet. In Britain, minerals are being mined and new methods of extracting them are being developed. Due to the fact that Britain is an island state, it remains one of the largest maritime powers today.

Thanks to its EGP, the UK still has development options. This country can only develop and improve its position in the world.

List of sources and literature used:

Soviet encyclopedic dictionary. –M.: Soviet Encyclopedia

1979.– p.204.

3. What is Who is. – M.: Pedagogika 1990. – p. 208. *

* Source No. 2 and No. 3 were used mainly in the first chapter.

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Characteristics of Great Britain

Completed by: Marina Rogaleva

11th grade student

Teacher: Mayshev A.N.

R. Pyshma village - 2011

State structure

Great Britain is a parliamentary monarchy. Formally, the country is ruled by a monarch (since 1952 - Queen Elizabeth II), but in fact the highest legislative body is parliament, which includes the queen, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is a national assembly, elected every five years. House of Lords - aristocrats, princes of the blood, hereditary peers.

Position in relation to neighboring countries

The country is located in the British Isles off the northwestern coast of continental Europe, traditionally called (by name largest island) Great Britain, and by the name of the historical part - England. Officially, it is called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the north and west sides. Across the expanses of this ocean, this country “neighbors” Iceland in the north.

From the east, the shores of “Foggy Albion” are washed by the waters of the North Sea. The neighboring countries on this side are Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The closest neighboring country is France. It borders Great Britain on the southern side and is separated from the shores of the United Kingdom by the English Channel.

In the west, Great Britain is separated from the main part of Ireland by the Irish Sea and St. George's Channel.

Natural conditions

The climate of the United Kingdom is very mild. The mildness of the climate is mainly due to the influence of the North Atlantic Current (a continuation of the Gulf Stream), which brings warm waters to the western coast of Europe. At these latitudes, westerly transport of winds predominates, and thus cool air comes from the Atlantic Ocean in summer and warm air in winter.

Although the temperature differences are very small, winters on the west coast of the United Kingdom are warmer than on the east. Winters become less favorable as you move north along east coast, where chilly, humid winds blow from the cold North Sea.

Frost and snow are not unusual phenomena, especially at high altitudes, but in the lowlands in a normal winter, temperatures below 0 ° C last only 30-60 days a year, and snow only 10-15 days. In London there is only snow on the ground for about 5 days a year.

In normal years, all areas of the UK receive sufficient rainfall for farming, and in some mountainous areas it is even excessive. Seasonal and annual fluctuations in precipitation are slight, and droughts are rare.

The weather is fairly cloudy, as most precipitation falls in the form of constant drizzle rather than showers, and the sun does not appear many days of the year.

At these latitudes, summer days are long and winter days are very short. The lack of sunlight depends more on continuous cloud cover than on fog. Damp, damp fog occurs in London on an average of 45 days a year, predominantly in January and February, and most ports experience between 15 and 30 foggy days each year, with fog that can paralyze all traffic for a couple of days or more.

Natural resources

There are not so many valuable natural resources in the UK. The once all-important iron ore production has now dropped to virtually nothing. Other economically important fossil ores include lead, whose extraction only supplies half of the economy's needs, and zinc. There are quite a lot of other resources, such as chalk, lime, clay, sand, gypsum.

On the other hand, Great Britain has large reserves energy resources, including oil, natural gas and coal, than any country in the European Community.

The discovery of oil deposits in the North Sea led to the rapid development of the oil industry. Since operations began in 1975, the amount of oil produced each year has increased every year, making the UK virtually self-sufficient in oil consumption, and even an oil exporter. With an average production level of 2.6 million barrels per day, the UK ranks sixth in the world as an oil producer. Oil reserves in Great Britain reach 770 million tons. UK device population economy

With the start of natural gas production in 1967, coal in cities was gradually replaced by gas, and gas pipelines were built throughout the country. Natural gas reserves are estimated at 22.7 trillion cubic feet.

Population

According to the first UK census conducted in 1801, the population of England and Wales was almost 9 million people, and Scotland - more than 1.5 million. Throughout the 19th century. the population increased annually by 1-1.5%, but in the 20th century. its growth slowed and by the mid-1970s it virtually stopped.

Fertility and mortality

During the 1970s, the birth rate in the United Kingdom fell and reached the death rate. From the 1969 birth rate of 16.7 people per thousand inhabitants, it fell in 1977 to 11.8. However, in subsequent years, the birth rate slowly increased.

Age structure of the population

Due to low mortality in the 1930s and again from the late 1950s, the proportion of the active age population was relatively small - in the 1980s it was only about 63%, and an even greater decline was expected. The share of children under 16 years old accounted for only 22%. Elderly people, especially in age category after 85 years, have significantly increased their share in the total population. Their number has also increased in absolute terms. Today there are 9 million Britons living in Britain whose age is equal to or greater than 65 years.

Discordpopulation division and density

If we exclude Greater London, South coast England and the area around Belfast, it is safe to say that the majority of citizens of the United Kingdom live in the cities that arose next to coal mining. Approximately 90% of the population lives in the city, and more than one in three residents lived in one of the eight city regions that the British call " big cities"(i.e., cities with suburbs). Each such metropolis arises from a large city; with the exception of London, they are all located next to large coal fields.

There are 9 densely populated areas in the UK. Greater London, with its center in London, is a political, commercial, financial and cultural capital United Kingdom; its population is estimated to be about 7 million. In the West Midlands, such a metropolitan area is Birmingham and the Black Country, an area of metalworking and light industry. The county of Lancashire, with its two metropolitan areas - Merseyside (the Mersey Valley) and Greater Manchester - is located at the north-western end of a densely populated belt that runs diagonally across England from London through Birmingham.

Lowland Scotland is home to the capital Edinburgh and the industrial region of Central Clydeside, centered on Glasgow. The Lagan and Bann valleys in Northern Ireland are located around Belfast, a modern industrial city and the capital of Northern Ireland. South Wales is a coal-mining and industrial region where people live in small towns along deep, narrow valleys with open-pit coal mines. On south coast From Portsmouth to Eastbourne there are resorts and leisure areas, as well as the important port cities of Southampton and Portsmouth.

At the opposite end of the densely populated regions are largely uninhabited areas - much of central Wales, the northern Pennines and Lake District, the south coast and the Highlands.

Farm

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country (share of GDP: industry 24.1%, agriculture 1.8%), which acts as a supplier of industrial products in the international division of labor. At the same time, the economic role of Great Britain in the modern world is determined not only by industrial, but also by banking, insurance, shipping and other commercial activities.

For the development of the UK economy, the export of industrial goods and the export of “services” to the capitalist world, which together provide 26% of the gross national product, are of exceptional importance. An important source of income for British international monopolies has been and remains the export of capital to other countries.

With the reorientation of British industry towards new industries for its development, the external market began to play a greater role than cheap labor. Recently, British monopolies have found this market in developed capitalist countries, whose share in the export of British capital has exceeded 3/5. Great Britain's capital exports to developing countries are still large: it accounts for almost half of the capital exported to these countries by Western European countries. At the same time, the contributions of foreign monopolies to the UK economy are growing rapidly.

Great Britain remains a large, rich country with a high level of both economy and economy. The UK remains one of the main exporters of capital to developing countries (mainly to countries Persian Gulf and Foreign Europe). The country continues to occupy one of the first places in the world in terms of economic level.

Industry

The most important industrial sectors are mechanical engineering, food industry (including the production of soft drinks and alcoholic beverages), tobacco and chemical industries, paper and printing industries, and light industry. The fastest growing industrial sectors were the chemical, forestry, furniture, rubber and plastics industries. Within the chemical industry, the pharmaceutical industry began to develop especially actively. The food and light industries, as well as mechanical engineering in general, perform below average.

The largest industrial areas of Great Britain are Mid-Scotland (in the north of the country), South Wales ( West Coast). Such industrial areas as London, Midland, North-East, Lancashire are located within the boundaries of the “central axis” of development, where about half of the region’s total economic potential is concentrated.

Agriculture

The natural conditions of Great Britain are more favorable for the development of livestock farming than agriculture. Livestock and crop production account for 65% and 23% of the value of the country's agricultural products, respectively. Mostly livestock farms are located in the western, wetter part of the island of Great Britain. England is one of the world's largest suppliers of sheep wool.

The most important cereals are wheat, oats, rye (mainly in the northern eastern regions of distribution). A significant part of the grains is used to feed livestock, but the rest is used to produce bread, cereals, etc. In livestock farming, the most important are cattle.

Transport

Since Great Britain is an island state, all its external transport and trade are related to maritime and by air. About 90% of the total cargo turnover is accounted for by sea transport.

All areas of Great Britain, except the West Midlands, are, to one degree or another, directly connected to seaports, which serve as the main transport hubs. The largest of them are London, Southampton, Liverpool, Goole and Harwich, with the London and Liverpool seaports handling about half of all cargo.

In past by sea More passengers arrived in the UK than by air. However, from the early 1960s, the number of air passengers began to grow rapidly and soon doubled the number of those arriving by sea. Freight transport by air is also increasing. There are about 150 passenger airports in the country. Great Britain is connected by regular airlines to almost 100 countries. Five largest airports countries - located in the London area (Heathrow and Gatwick), as well as Manchester, Luton and Glasgow - provide 3/4 of all passenger and air cargo traffic.

The UK is connected to the continent by two railway ferries (Dover-Dunkirk and Harwich-Ostend), and numerous sea car and passenger ferries - with Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland and France. The UK is also connected to France via the Eurotunnel under the English Channel - a double-track railway tunnel about 51 km long, of which 39 km is under the English Channel. Thanks to the tunnel, it became possible to visit London from Paris in just 2 hours 15 minutes; In the tunnel itself, trains take from 20 to 35 minutes.

In domestic freight transport, road transport plays the largest role. It is more than 3 times (in ton-kilometers) inferior to railway transport and by the same amount to cabotage. In connection with the development of motor transport, more than 11 thousand km of railway tracks were removed.

At the same time, the network is expanding highways and their reconstruction takes place. In terms of the length of roads per unit area, the UK ranks fourth in the world. At the same time, it still has few modern highways, and the roads remain the most congested in the world.

Main economic regions

In terms of development conditions in Great Britain, there is a sharp difference between the southeast - the so-called "Green England" - and the rest of the territory, where the industrial revolution of the 18th century. created large centers of industry based on coal and iron ore resources.

SOUTH - East Anglia remains the most agricultural part of the country. The industrial role of South East England has grown significantly. It has become one of the most important areas for the concentration of new industries. In Greater London there is a significant number of heavy industry enterprises - electrical, automotive, chemical, etc., concentrated in the suburbs. Agriculture in South East England specializes in supplying London with meat, milk, vegetables and fruit.

South-West England includes the mountainous Cornwall Peninsula - one of the most important areas of dairy farming, developing on the basis of large, lush pastures. Tin and kaolin are mined in Cornwall.

On the banks of the English Channel is the city of Plymouth - military and Trading port and a shipbuilding centre, forming one unit with Devonport. The largest city and port in South-West England, Bristol is a significant center for the aviation and food industries.

To the north of "Green England" lie areas of heavy industry (coal mining, metallurgy, heavy engineering) and old textile industry areas. They start from a strip of coal and iron ore deposits bordering the southern spurs of the Pennines.

Midland is an industrial area located on the central plain, the oldest center of the coal metallurgical and engineering industries.

Birmingham is the largest center of the military, automotive, aviation, electrical industries, car and locomotive construction, and the production of high-quality steel, alloys and metal products.

Wales is a mountainous peninsula in the west of Great Britain, abundant in pasture for sheep. Dairy farming and horticulture are developed in the valleys and on the coast. South Wales is one of the most important areas of the coal industry, as well as an area of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy (in particular the production of white wool) and the chemical industry.

Northern England is the most industrialized part of the country. It contains 3 large industrial areas - Lancashire, Yorkshire and North-East and the smaller Camberlain. All of them were formed on the basis of coal deposits. Lancashire, together with the adjacent parts of the counties of Cheshire and Derbyshire, - largest district cotton industry.

Scotland. The Lowlands are home to a coal and metal industry; its center is Glasgow with shipyards, engineering factories, chemical and textile factories. In the eastern part of the Lowlands of Scotland, along with coal mining, light industry is developed. Large cities are located here - Edinburgh (the administrative center of Scotland) and Dundee. Northern and Southern Scotland are backward, sparsely populated mountainous regions where large areas occupied by sheep pastures and hunting reserves. There are fishing ports on the coast, the most important of which is Aberdeen. In Southern Scotland, in the river basin. Tweed developed the production of woolen fabrics.

Northern Ireland occupies the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland. Wheat and flax crops are common here, and dairy farming and gardening are developed. The main industrial city and port of Belfast is a center for shipbuilding and linen production.

Foreign economic relations

Foreign trade turnover almost quadrupled. On the one hand, the export of capital has doubled, on the other, the contributions of foreign monopolies to the UK economy are growing rapidly. Great Britain has large capital investments abroad (about 20 billion pounds sterling), the bulk of which is in the Commonwealth countries, which have large reserves of raw materials. At the same time, American, West German and Japanese monopolies are increasingly penetrating the former British colonies, and private American capital is occupying an increasingly strong position in the economy of Great Britain itself.

In world exports of highly developed countries, Great Britain ranks 5th. “Invisible exports” increased almost fourfold. Most of the export value comes from manufactured products: automobiles, aircraft, metal products, electrical equipment, chemical products, synthetic fabrics, steel and textiles. Export: machinery and equipment, oil and petroleum products, chemical products.

The country continues to import natural rubber, phosphorites, almost all non-ferrous and rare metals, more than half of iron ore, as well as cotton, sulfur, and wool.

However, in general, the UK's dependence on imported raw materials is decreasing due to the reorientation of domestic industry towards modern industries and, in particular, with the further development of chemistry and the use of substitutes and local raw materials.

Main foreign trade partners: EU countries, USA, Japan. Great Britain exports many minerals (oil, metals) from Commonwealth countries, and machinery and equipment and chemical products from the USA and Japan.

General conclusion

Great Britain today is a country with a highly developed, strong and independent economy. Now Great Britain is a highly developed state, one of the leading world powers. In terms of industrial production, it ranks fifth in the world after the USA, Japan, Germany and France. But this is not the limit. In Britain, minerals are being mined and new methods of extracting them are being developed. Due to the fact that Britain is an island state, it remains one of the largest maritime powers today.

Thanks to its EGP, the UK still has development options. This country can only develop and improve its position in the world.

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