2. Check your comprehension.

1. What kind of country is Great Britain? 2. What place does Britain occupy among the exporters of industrial goods? 3. What are the largest industrial cities in Great Britain? 4. What does the industry in Sheffield produce? 5. What products is Manchester famous for? 6. Where is wool industry developed? 7. Where is shipbuilding centered? 8. What mineral resources are obtained in Cornwall and in North Wales? 9. What does economic prosperity of Great Britain depend on? 10. Who coordinates work of private and public companies?

The Population of the Country

1. Read the text and say what peoples live on the British Isles.

The British Isles are the home of four nations – the English, the Scotsmen, the Welsh and the Irishmen. Many foreigners often call all British people "English" and sometimes find difficulty in distinguishing these nations, but the people inhabiting the United Kingdom are well aware of their national characteristics. The British are descendants of different peoples who settled in the British Isles at different times. The English are mainly Anglo-Saxon in origin, while the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish regard themselves as Celtic people and many of them prefer to speak their native tongue.

Now there are also many people of all coloures and races in the United Kingdom. These are mostly former inhabitants of the former British colonies. These people, called 'the coloureds', came to the UK in search of better life.

Nowadays the population of the United Kingdom is about 58 million inhabitants. Over 46 million people live in England; three million people live in Wales. About 75 per cent of the people of Wales live in towns and urban districts. Scotland takes up one third of the territory of the British Isles, but its population is not very big, because Scotland is the most northern part of the island of Great Britain and is located not far away from the Arctic Circle. That's why it is not densely populated: its population is a little over five million people. About 1, 5 million people live in Northern Ireland; half of its population is concentrated in urban areas. Some million people inhabit numerous large and small islands, surrounding the largest island of Great Britain.

English is the official language of the United Kingdom. Besides standard literary English there are many regional and social dialects. People of East London, for example, speak a special London dialect, called "cockney" and consider themselves real Londoners.

The greatest concentrations of population are in big cities, such as London, Birmingham, Glasgow, northwest English industrial cities, in the Lowlands of Scotland.

2. Check your comprehension.

1. What nations live on the British Isles? 2. What are the English in origin? 3. What is the origin of other peoples living on the British Isles? 4. Where did coloured people come to Britain from? Why? 5. How many people live in the United Kingdom? 6. What is the population of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland? 7. What territory does Scotland occupy? 8. Is Scotland densely populated? Why? 9. What is the official language in Britain? 10. Where do British people prefer to live?