Industrial Regions of Wales

I. The Welsh Massif

II. Industrial South Wales

III. The Welsh Borderland

The Welsh Massif is mainly plateau with much moorland, cool and rainy climate. Small settlements and farmlands are concentrated in the valleys and along the coast. This region is sparsely populated. At the higher levels sheep farming is of great importance, but in the valleys there is a marked change from sheep to cattle. There are many lakes in Snowdonia (fishing), a lot of foxes (fox-hunting), wild goats, mountain ponies. The most important towns are Colwyn Bay, Llalundo, Pembroke. They are distributing centers for the farmland products of the South Wales.

Industrial South Wales

About 2/3 of the whole population of Wales live here, densely populated. This part is well-known for its manufacturing of ferrous metals, coal-mining, tin-plate.

The biggest towns are Cardiff, Swansea, Newport. Engineering on Cardiff includes ship-repairing, making of railway wagons, oil engines, vehicles, electric goods. Swansea is a good port, metallurgical centre, seas of the copper, tin-plate, zinc industries, steel and light factories. Newport has only ship-repairing and ship-building industries. This 3 towns has much in common.

They all import: petroleum, pig-iron, steel bars, grain, timber.

Their main exports are: refined oil, iron, steel manufactures, tin-plate, coal coke.

Milford Avon is an important sea-port of Wales. It handles 59 million tons a year mainly petroleum. It's also one of the principle fishing ports of Wales.

The Welsh Borderland

The Welsh Borderland is hilly, well-farmed with few towns. The climate is better, but winters are cold, because of the distance from the sea. It's pastures are chiefly used for cattle-grazing. Dairy cattle is for out member beef stock. The most extensive crops are wheat, barley, oats, mixed corn.

The northern part of the country has large number of poultry, which produce eggs for all town markets. Orchard fruit is more typical and chief product is cider apple.

Shrewsbury is a big centre of machine tools and vehicles production.

Hereford is an important market centre. It's most prominent industries depend on local agriculture and include brewing, cider manufactures, the canning of fruit and vegetables and flour-milling.

Scotland

Fact file

Population: more than 5 million of people

Capital: Edinburgh

Official languages: English, Gaelic, Scots

Symbol: a thistle

Total area: 78,772 km2

Largest city - Glasgow

Motto: No one provokes me with impunity.

Scotland had been an independent state and was joined into the UK in 1707, after a long struggle for its independence.

Edinburgh has been the capital since the 15th century, when its fortified castle was the centre of Scotland's resistance to its enemies. Edinburgh is the cultural centre of Scotland. It is associated with the names of George Gordon Byron and Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. It is also associated with the world-famous Edinburgh Festival of Music and Drama. The Festival was first held in 1947 and has been held annually ever since. Its emblem is a thistle. The Edinburgh International Festival of 1987 was devoted to this country.

Most of the population of Scotland is concentrated in the Lowlands. Here, on the Clyde, is Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city.

Glasgow was a grim city because of the houses, many of which were not suitable fo living and needing repairs or rebuilding. But now this city is rapidly changing, turning into an important cultural centre. Glasgow is sometimes called the friendly city.