Scotland
The Lowlands contain 75% of the population and most of the industry. The Highlands famous for hunting and fishing have been opened to industry by many hydroelectric power stations. About the 4th part of the total area of the country is under cultivation or in permanent pasture. The main Scottish crop is oats with more than half of the total cultivated area being devoted to it. Sheep raising is an important activity in the Highlands, but it has been declining recently. Here is a form of agriculture known as “crofting” is practiced: people buy rights (права на землю) and can occupy a plot of land called “a croft”, but it’s only enough to grow potatoes, have one cow, three sheep and such kinds of things. It is a small farming on a poor land, because of the North of the country, the Highlands, the winters are long, the summers are wet and the land is sour for real farming.
Scotland has important commerce, valuable mines of iron and coal though both are declining. Then, fishing, iron, cotton, woolen, linen and jute manufactures; ship building is also developed in Scotland, and the principle centers being along the banks of the river Clyde. Engineering products are the most industry with growing emphasis on office machinery, electronics and other consumer goods. Oil has been discovered in the North Sea, and it stimulates the development of industry in Scotland. Scotland is also known for its special breeds of cattle and sheep. Whiskey is the biggest export, and tourism is also developed in Scotland very much.
The largest cities are: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.
Glasgow is Britain’s largest ship building and marine engineering centre. The electronics equipment industry is a new direction in the developing of industry, and some other industries are developed: printing, binding (переплетение книг), and it has brewing industry (пивоварение), and whiskey distilleries.
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and it has printing, brewing and engineering industry.
Aberdeen is a fishing port, and food industry is developed here, and also ship building.
Dundee is the centre of textile industry, the centre of jute production. It specializes also in electronics, clocks, watches, refrigerators are produced there.
Wales
Wales being a mountainous area it is not evenly (неровно) developed economically. 2/3 of the population lives in the main industrial centres which are in the South of the country. The northern and the north-western part of Wales raise a lot of sheep and beef cattle. South-West is important for dairy cattle and pigs. The central part of the country is mostly in rough hill pasture for sheep. Although some parts of Wales are good for farming, the mountainous area running all the way up the centre of the country has very poor land which is good only for sheep farming and growing pine forests. The sheep provide wool for local weaving industry and the wood (pine) is used for beautiful handmade furniture.
Wales is famous for mineral wealth. It produces iron, coal, copper (медь), lead (свинец), zinc, slate (сланец) and lime stone (известняк). Coal is mined in the South. South Wales is highly industrialized with a great coal field and large iron and steel works, chemical plants and other heavy industries. In the North there is Snowdonia, and tourism is its chief industry here, though the lives of the people are dominated by mining and shopping of slate. Wales produces about a third of Britain’s steel and its former narrowly based economy had been widened to include electronics and high technology industries. New factories have been built and many of them are Japanese and American companies.
Tourism is important not only in the North. It ranks second to manufacturing industry. The capital of Wales is Cardiff. Coalmining, steel industries are developed there. They also specialize in men-made fibers (искусств. волокна), clothing, electronics, and metal production. Swansea is the centre of non-ferrous metal production. Swansea was traditionally agricultural. Dairy cattle, meet cattle, sheep breeding and vegetable growing are developed in Wales.