The impact of GGP and EGP on the British economy. The economic and geographical position of Great Britain - abstract. Features of the UK population

Great Britain (United Kingdom)- Island state, most of whose territory is located on two major 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.

The official name of the country is 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 with independent republic Ireland. Thus, the general land border The UK has only with Ireland.

The British Isles lie off the northwest coast of Europe. The British Isles are surrounded by many small islands. To the southwest of the Isle 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 North Sea.

From the south, Great Britain borders on France - the closest and most developed neighbor, which has common water borders with it. The shortest distance to north coast France - the Strait of Dover, but the main communication between the states is carried out through the English Channel, called the English Channel by the British, along the bottom of which a tunnel for high-speed rail traffic was laid at the end of the twentieth century. Prior to 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, Norway are located much further.

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

The administrative map of Great Britain has changed several times, because. the accession of the countries that make up the United Kingdom lasted for centuries. Every 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. The 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 South part Ireland separated from Great Britain and became an independent state.

EGP characteristic

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. The total area of ​​the UK is 244,017 sq. km. The population of Great Britain is 58,395 thousand people.

The official name of the country is 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, Great Britain has a common land border only with Ireland.

The British Isles lie off the northwest coast of Europe. The British Isles are surrounded by many small islands. The Isles of Scilly are located southwest of the Isle of Britain, and the Isle of Anglesey is to the north of Wales. 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 - the closest and most developed neighbor, which has common 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 high-speed rail tunnel was built at the end of the twentieth century. Prior to 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, Norway are located much further.

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

The administrative map of Great Britain has changed several times, because. the accession of the countries that make up the United Kingdom lasted for 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. The 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 seceded from Great Britain and became an independent state.

Contemporary 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 square meter of its area. However, the distribution of the population across the country is very uneven. The main part of the inhabitants of Great Britain is concentrated in England, which has the most convenient geographic location, favorable natural conditions and playing the lead economic role throughout the history of the British Isles. Here average density increases to 356 people per 1 sq. km. km. Within England itself, the main industrial belt of the country, stretched along the London-Liverpool axis, is most densely populated: half of the entire population of Great Britain lives in this belt. The most sparsely populated areas are in Scotland with its harsh natural conditions and less developed economy compared to other parts of the country. For 1 sq. km. It has an average population of 86, with the population concentrated mainly on the coasts, in the 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 migration of rural residents to cities, where almost 4/5 of the country's population now lives. Drawing a line between urban and rural settlements in a highly urbanized country like the UK is difficult. Many villages have become the "bedrooms" of nearby towns, with villagers commuting daily to the towns for work.

There are about a thousand cities in the UK. Half of the country's urban population is concentrated in seven conurbations. One of them - Central Clydesgard (1.7 million people) - are located in Scotland, and the rest in England. These are Tynesad, which is home to 0.8 million people, West Midlands (2.4 million), South East Lancashire (2.3 million), West Yorkshire (1.7 million), Mersnside (1.3 million) and Greater London(7 million). Over 1/10 of city dwellers live in cities with a population of more than 200,000 people each, of which Sheffield and Edinburgh each have more than half a million inhabitants. 75 cities with a population of 50 to 100 thousand people belong to the average in the UK. Five conurbations and half of all large and medium-sized cities in the country are concentrated in an 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 exorbitantly high population density. 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 country, one of its largest industrial centers, the largest sea ​​port and the leading city of Britain's most important economic region, Southern England. In addition to London, many "capital" functions are performed by 10 more cities in Great Britain: Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast as the capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively; Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds and Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool - like central cities conurbations and regional centers. In addition, over 150 cities, in terms of the number of inhabitants and the role they play in the life of nearby territories, are higher than the main mass of cities. These cities are called "City", all the rest - "town".

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

Much faster than other cities, in the last two centuries, the largest industrial centers: Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Belfast, Middleborough, etc. The developing industry required more and more workers, and the working quarters, 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 houses of the same type standing back to back. The monotony of working quarters in industrial cities broken only by the huge sooty buildings of factories and plants, warehouses and gas distribution stations. The railway here, as a rule, goes to the very center of the city and serves as its "skeleton". The old quarters of industrial cities are overgrown with new buildings, in which the industrial zone is separated from the residential area.

Until very recently, all cities in the UK grew mainly in breadth, as low-rise buildings are cheaper and more in line with the tastes and traditions of the British. Until now, some are reluctant to settle in apartment buildings because it means living without your own, even a tiny, garden. Cities are expanding their territory more and more due to the growth of suburbs, absorbing already scarce land resources. Only in the last decade, multi-storey apartment buildings began to appear in British cities, but housing in them 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 social and economic problems.

In the UK, there are mainly two types of rural settlements. In the low-lying eastern part of England, the population lives predominantly in villages. The forms of villages are varied: more often a star-shaped plan, less often an ordinary, street layout.

Everywhere there are many medium-sized farms on which farming is carried out without the use of hired labor. Small-scale 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 main industrial belt of the country and around the conurbations of Tynsad and Clydeside. Here, the settlements in which workers live, employed in the industrial enterprises of conurbations, are interspersed with villages, hamlets and individual farms.

In the most ancient times, the island was inhabited by island Celts, which included such a people as the Britons. In 43 AD the southern and eastern part of the island was conquered by the Roman Empire, whose power lasted for about 400 years. In the 5th-6th century, the territory was conquered by the Anglo-Saxons (the Romans left the island). These are German tribes. They conquered mainly the center and the east. In the 9th century, the state of England was formed here. Later, England was conquered by the Normans, who brought feudalism here. In the 13th century, Wales was annexed to England and a centralized state began to form, which finally took shape in the 15th-16th centuries. In the middle of the 17th century, Ireland was captured by the British, which in 1921 received the status of a dominion and only its northeast became part of Great Britain. In the 17th century, earlier than in other states, a bourgeois revolution took place, which replaced the feudal system with a capitalist one. Earlier, the development of capitalism created the conditions for the production of a huge amount of goods, new markets were required. Therefore, Great Britain began an active policy of capturing new overseas territories and turned them into their rich colonies. By the end of the 18th century, Great Britain had become the greatest maritime power and the greatest metropolis in the world. In the middle of the 19th century, the first in history carried out an industrial revolution. By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Great Britain was ahead of the USA and Germany in terms of development rates. In the 1930s, the gradual disintegration of the colonial system began, which hit the country's economy. The First and Second World Wars lead to a serious crisis in the economy. In the 1940s and 1950s, the country's economy was almost completely dependent on the United States. The country emerged from the crisis by the 60s, and in the 70s began restructuring the economy, taking into account scientific and technological innovations.

EGP. Great Britain is located on the islands and is located in the northwestern part of Europe. It has a favorable neighborly position, since the first-order maritime neighbors are the highly developed countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Western and of Eastern Europe. They are all members of the EU, with which the UK has close economic ties. The country is washed by the non-freezing waters of the seas of the North Atlantic Ocean. Great Britain is separated from the mainland by the English Channel and the Pas de Calais. In various historical periods, the coastal position of the country was either very beneficial (especially during the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries) or served as a certain isolating factor. Communications with the rest of Europe improved with the construction of the Eurotunnel in 1994 between Calais in France and Dover in the UK.

Natural resource potential

The orographic conditions of the country are such that, in fact, along the line of New Castle-Shelfield-Bristol, the country is divided into mountainous northern and western and hilly-flat eastern. Orography influenced the development of agriculture and resettlement. The territory of the country is more favorable for the development of animal husbandry.

Mineral resources. Of the industrially significant, only fuel resources can be noted. Coal reserves are allocated (180 billion tons). There are about 6 large basins in total, only 3 are the most significant: Yorkshire, Northumberland, Wales. Mostly coal seams are represented. Oil and gas reserves were discovered in the 60-70s of the 20th century on the shelf of the North Sea. The total oil reserves are 2 billion tons, gas - 2 trillion cubic meters. Iron ores, in fact, are not mined. Rock and potash salts are mined in the Yorkshire region. Uranium ore is mined in Scotland.

Agro-climatic resources. The climate is temperate oceanic with western drift, there is a lot of precipitation (600-3000 mm), winters are mild with positive temperatures. Vegetation is poor, grain crops ripen poorly, but meadows and pastures are juicy.

Land resources. Podzolic and brown forest soils predominate under natural pastures. The best lands are concentrated in the southeast of Great Britain, where the climate is most comfortable for the country. 77% of the territory is suitable for agricultural work. In the structure of agricultural land, arable land - 65%, pastures - 32%.

Forest resources. Natural forest cover is 9% of the territory. Broad-leaved species predominate, conifers in Scotland. The volume of forests satisfies the needs of the country by 15%.

Water resources. Due to the peculiarity of the cool climate in the country, there are a huge number of rivers and lakes. The rivers are full-flowing, but short. The largest: Thames, Severn, Trem. Used for shipping.

egp japan

1. not profitable, because there are no neighbors

2. profitable, because it is a leader among port states and many trade routes pass through it

3. not profitable, poor in minerals, has polymetallic ores and copper ores, agricultural areas are not developed

4. profitable egp

5. Trade relations with other countries of the world have become more active. From the end of the 12th century until 1867, the feudal state that existed on the islands of Japan was ruled by the shoguns. The feudal rulers imposed a ban on almost all contact with foreigners, fearing their expansion and the spread of Christianity. The “closure” of Japan prevented the colonization of the country. However, a long period of its isolation led to the fact that until the 20th century it was, as it were, hidden from the eyes of Europeans. The severe isolation has had a profound effect on economic development countries. At a time when all of Europe was advancing with leaps and bounds scientific and technological progress, Japan was still in the agrarian stage of development. In the 20th century, Japan was a participant in three major wars (Russian-Japanese, 1st and 2nd World Wars). In World War II, it was an ally of Nazi Germany and Italy. In 1945, in accordance with the secret Yalta agreements of the victorious countries, Soviet Union all the Kuriles crossed as a war trophy. Since the Second World War, Japan has not had a peace treaty with Russia and claims Russia for the islands Kuril ridge: Kunashir, Shikotan, Khabomai. After almost 50 years of belonging to the Kuriles of the USSR and Russia, the socio-economic situation on the islands remains extremely difficult, the islands have remained undeveloped. Based on the principles of justice, it must be recognized that Japan has the moral and legal right to claim at least Southern Kuriles. It is necessary to support in every possible way the emerging trend towards rapprochement, resolve the territorial issue and conclude peace with Japan, putting an end to the Second World War.

6.beneficial influence, increased production area

egp uk

1. favorable

2.favorable, there is access to the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean

3.Favorable, average amount of minerals

4.favorable

6.EGP has a positive effect on the manufacturing sector

The leading role in the country belongs to maritime transport (86% of cargo turnover), it provides international and domestic communications. On automobile transport accounts for 75% of domestic traffic (the main motorway London-Manchester-Glasgow), and rail - about 20%.

With the opening of the railway tunnel, the role of this transport in international transport. High-speed trains cover the distance between London and Paris in 3 hours.

River routes are used for recreational purposes, and the role of pipeline transport is increasing.

Since the country is an island, the role of air transport. There are 150 passenger airports in the country, which provide communication with 120 countries of the world. Transportation is carried out by the transnational company British Airways. The largest airports are located in London (Heathrow and Gatwick).

Since the UK is an island state, all of its external transportation and trade is connected with sea and air transport.

About 90% of the total cargo turnover is accounted for by sea transport, including 25% for cabotage.

The UK Navy is 9.6 million reg. br.t. All areas of the country, except the West Midlands, are in one way or another directly connected with seaports which serve as the main transportation hubs. The largest of them are London, Southampton, Liverpool, Goole and Harwich. The ports of London and Liverpool handle about half of all cargo (by value).

In past by sea arrived in the UK more passengers than air.

However, since the beginning of the 60s of the 20th century, the number of air passengers began to grow rapidly and now exceeds the number of those arriving in the country by sea by several times.

egp uk. The position of the UK in relation to neighboring countries.

In total, the country has about 150 airports, through which it is connected by permanent airlines with more than 100 countries of the world.

Almost all transportation is carried out by British Airways. Five largest airports countries - located in the London area Heathrow and Gatwick, as well as Manchester, Luton and Glasgow - provide 75% of all passenger and air cargo transportation.

Great Britain is connected with the continent by two railway ferries (Dover - Dunkirk and Harwich - Ostend), the English Channel and numerous sea automobile and passenger ferries– with Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland and France.

To attract passengers, duty-free trade is open on ferries.

Road transport plays the most important role in domestic freight transport. It is more than 3 times inferior to the railway and coastal routes. In connection with the development of motor transport, more than 12 thousand km of railway tracks were removed. Now the length of the railway tracks is about 17 thousand km. the network is expanding at the same time highways(371 thousand km) and their reconstruction is taking place.

In doing so, the focus is on shortcuts connect the main conurbations of the country.

UK transport system wikipedia
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Characteristics of Great Britain

(England) 1 position in relation to neighboring countries 2 Provide against to major land and sea transport routes 3 Rules in relation to the main fuel bases of raw materials, industrial and agricultural areas 4 positions in relation to the main areas of sales of products 5 Change in the EGP in time 6 General conclusion Influence of the EGP on the development and deployment of the country's economy

(England)1 Position in relation to neighboring countries 2 Position in relation to
to the main land and sea transport routes 3 Position on
relation to the main fuel resource bases, industrial and
agricultural areas 4 Position in relation to the main
sales areas 5 EGP change over time 6 General conclusion about
the influence of the EGP on the development and location of the country's economy

• 1) Great Britain borders only with Ireland.
  2) The island state is an important point of cargo transportation from Europe to America and Africa.

  Land transport is only relevant in domestic transport.
  3) one of the major fuel bases in Europe, the North Sea, is located near Great Britain. Great Britain, through the narrow English Channel, neighbors with the major economic countries of Europe - France and the Netherlands with Belgium.
  4) UK sales areas are Europe, America, Asia and Africa
  5) EGL has not changed significantly over time since the 80s of the 20th century (the formation of the EU).
  6) Thanks to its favorable geographical position (access to the Atlantic, close to Europe, direct connection with the USA), Great Britain is actively developing its economy and international trade.

  The largest economic centers of Great Britain are located on the coast, near major ports.

Most easy way movement in the center of London is the subway. You can buy tickets for one or two trips, but if you use the metro often, then travel cards will be very convenient.

These can be cards for one day, for a week, or for a month, and they give you the opportunity to use the metro, bus and train in the areas you have chosen for an unlimited number of times.

One-day travel cards can be purchased at metro ticket offices. They are valid for travel on the metro and buses at any time. They are not valid for airport buses or special tours.

Weekly passes are valid for metro and bus travel at any time, but are not valid for airport bus travel or special tours.

The cost varies depending on the number of zones selected.

How to get to the city center from Heathrow Airport

TAXI. The taxi rank is located next to the airport exit.

BUS. Airport buses run to central London (A1 to Victoria station and A2 to Euston station). The fare is about 6 pounds. Tickets can be purchased at the airport building or on the bus.

Buses depart every 20 minutes.
METRO. The Piccadilly line runs from Heathrow to central London and links the ramified underground network metro.

But if you have a lot of luggage, then the trip can be difficult. Trains depart every 5 minutes and the journey takes 55 minutes.
HIGH-SPEED TRAIN. To central London, to PADDINGTON railway station, every 20 min. walk high speed trains, travel time 20 min.
TAXI"Black cabs" are a characteristic feature of the London streets, they are safe and their traffic is orderly.

Taxis can be hailed on the street when the yellow light is on to indicate that the taxi is available. There are taxi ranks in many places, including major stations. Doormen and porters in hotels will order a taxi for you. Be careful and do not accept offers from car drivers who do not have special taxi signs.

Many of them do not have a legal work permit, they are not safe to drive because they are not insured, and the drivers are often inexperienced.

Urban transport

London is one of the cities in the world where transport has become a legend.

The world's first subway and the famous double-decker buses make up business card English capital. Of course, Londoners, faithful to the traditions, try to preserve their appearance with the least changes. True, London's urban transport has long been no longer limited to the underground and red Double Decker double-decker buses.

Despite all the English conservatism, new modes of transport regularly appear in the British capital. The steam subway has long been electrified, the division of carriages into classes has disappeared, and buses in London are no longer only double-decker. Now the main transport load is still borne by the metro and buses. However, the history of London transport (beginning with omnibuses and launched in 1863 by the steam metro) is so great and interesting that a museum of urban transport has been created in the British capital.

Metro (Underground, Tube) has twelve lines. All of them were created in different time and different owners and therefore still quite different from each other. Some trains run mostly underground, others on the surface.

Over time, many sections of the railways switched from metro to trains. long distance and vice versa. At first glance, the subway scheme intertwined with the network conventional trains, leads to despair, especially after the slender system of the Moscow metro. However, it's pretty easy to figure it out. The lines often branch out into separate branches to one or another area of ​​the city, so you should always pay attention to the destination of the train.

In addition, trains of different lines can run on the same tracks. On the main lines, trains run quite often, with an interval of no more than five minutes; on the outlying lines, you can wait up to half an hour.

The position of the country in relation to neighboring countries. Economic and geographical position of countries

The London Underground fare system sounds complicated, but it's actually not that big of a problem to figure it out.
All Greater London is divided into six zones, which concentric circles diverge from the center.

Any ticket must be valid in all zones through which the trip passes. Therefore, when choosing a travel route, you need to make sure that you do not inadvertently get into an area where your ticket is not valid. In general, the London Underground usually allows you to get to your destination in several ways. Among them, you can choose the one that affects fewer zones. Let's say, if you need to travel from the second zone to the third one on the opposite side of the city, you can easily bypass the first central zone and, thus, halve the cost of the trip.

The most expensive is the first zone, which includes the city center and the largest number of tourist attractions.
A single smart_card (Oyster Card) is another way to pay for travel on the London Underground, buses and trams. It is also valid on some rail routes and DLR (Docklands Light Rail) lines.

Oyster Card is a more economical payment system that allows you to link several travel cards to a magnetic card, or use the “pay as you go” mode.

You can top up your magnetic card balance at London Underground stations, at some railway stations, at specialized points of sale of these cards, by phone or on the website www.tfl.gov.uk.
The tram has recently been restored in London. Everyone knows about double-decker buses, but few people know that fifty years ago double-decker trams ran around London.

The London Tram now has three routes in the southern part of the city. Thirty meter long double wagons serve the Croydon area. Tram tickets are sold separately from vending machines at stops. If you need to transfer to a bus after a tram ride or vice versa, you can buy a “tram-bus” ticket for the same price. Bus tickets are not valid on the tram.
Another new (a little over ten years old) type of London transport is the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

It owes its appearance to the collapse of the London docks, which lost their orders after the modernization of maritime freight transport. Large-tonnage container ships began to unload in the deep-water ports of the coast, leaving the vast London area in desolation.

The program for reviving the docks area provided for the appearance of high-speed transport there, which was launched in the late eighties. The DLR train consists of several driverless trailers that can accommodate about 250 people. Four lines are currently in operation.

They link the former dock area with metro stations and railway as well as the city center. The DLR fare system is the same as the metro, metro tickets are valid on the DLR and vice versa.
Tickets for transport can be bought at vending machines located at metro stations and bus stops. land transport. Besides, bus tickets can be bought from the driver.

All child tickets expire at 22:00.
In general, London transport operates from four or five in the morning until one in the morning. It is better not to drive during peak hours: 07:30-09:30 and 16:30-18:30. Night buses have an N index in front of their number, for example, N-23.

They all go through Trafalgar Square. On Sunday, transport starts after seven in the morning and stops by midnight. Traffic intervals on Sunday are approximately twice as long. At Christmas, many lines do not function at all.
Another part of the London transport system are river boats, plying between the many marinas on the Thames.

They are owned by several companies and contain a total of twenty routes. The Thames fare system is its own.

Great Britain (full name - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is an island state in Western Europe (Fig. 1.1), the form of government is a constitutional monarchy. The capital is the city of London.

Rice. 1.1

State in Northwestern Europe, on British Isles(the island of Great Britain and the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), washed by Atlantic Ocean and its seas. The area is 241 thousand km 2.

The north and west of Great Britain is dominated by mountainous relief-- North Scottish Highlands (up to 1344 m), Pennine and Cambrian mountains; in the south and southeast there are hilly plains. The climate is temperate oceanic, humid. In January average temperature air is from 3 to 7°C, in July - about 11--17°C; rainfall up to 3000 mm per year in the west and 600--750 mm in the southeast. Major rivers: Thames, Severn, Trent, Mersey, Clyde. Forests (mainly beech, oak, birch) occupy about 9% of the UK.

Great Britain consists of four administrative and political parts ( historical provinces): England (it includes 39 counties, 6 metropolitan counties and Greater London), Wales (it consists of 9 counties, 3 cities, and 10 city-counties), Scotland (consists of 32 regions) and Northern Ireland ( includes 26 districts). Economic and social geography of neighboring countries: Ed. M.P. Ratanova. - M: Bustard. 2004. - 576 p.

The UK population over the last century is represented by the following census results:

• - 1900 - 35,405,900 people
• - 1949 - 50.3 million people.
• - 1959 - 51.9 million people.
• - 1976 - 55.9 million people.
• - 1998 - 59.1 million people.
• - 2004 - 59,834,900 people Simagin Yu. A. Territorial organization Population: Textbook. - M.: Dashkov and K. - 2005. - 236 p.

Population dynamics can be represented on a graph (Fig. 1.2).

Rice. 1.2

The ethnic composition of the UK population is as follows:

• - British - 81.5%.
• - Scots - 12.4%.
• - Irish - 2.4%.
• - Welsh (or Welsh) - 1.9%.
• - Ulster - 1.8%. Shepetilov A.A. Economics of Western Europe. - K.: Higher school. - 2003. - 262 p.

The remaining ethnic groups make up a very low percentage in the UK. In addition, these ethnic groups are relatively constant and their share in the UK population is also always approximately the same. The rest of the ethnic groups are unstable and difficult to account for.

For a clearer perception, we present the data on the diagram ethnic composition UK population (Fig. 1.3).

Political structure. Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy headed by a queen.

The legislature is a bicameral parliament, consisting of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The government is headed by the prime minister.

Rice. 1.3

A distinctive feature of the British Constitution is the absence of any single document that could be called the fundamental law of the country; moreover, there is not even an exact list of documents that would relate to the Constitution. Sinitsyn O.I. Modern economy. Public course. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2005. - 608s.

Economy. Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country, a major supplier of finished industrial products to the world market and a major exporter of capital (mainly in the developed countries). GNP per capita $16,070 per year. Extraction of oil and natural gas (mainly on the shelf of the North Sea), coal. Mechanical engineering is the most developed (focused on the production of non-standard products, as well as various kinds and types of machines), including electrical and electronic, transport (including large aircraft, rocket, car and shipbuilding), machine tool building, agricultural, production of industrial equipment, handling equipment, etc., chemical and petrochemical (Great Britain occupies one of the leading places in the world for the production and export of synthetic fibers and dyes, plastics, detergents, fertilizers, etc.), the pharmaceutical, oil refining, ferrous (high-quality steels) and non-ferrous (tin, aluminum) metallurgy. The oldest branch of English industry - textile - has lost its former importance. Large food flavoring (traditional production of whiskey, beer; processing of imported agricultural raw materials) industry; production of footwear, knitwear; famous English porcelain. Dairy and meat and dairy cattle breeding and bacon pig breeding predominate in agriculture; meat and wool sheep breeding. They grow mainly barley, wheat, sugar beets, oats, and potatoes. Vegetable and fruit growing (large greenhouse and greenhouse farm), floriculture (daffodils, tulips).

The monetary unit is the pound sterling = 100 pence. Runova T.G. Economical geography with the basics of regional studies: Textbook (3rd ed., ster.). - M.: MGIU. - 2007. - 184 p.

British Armed Forces. British Armed Forces armed forces is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The British Armed Forces are under the control of the Defense Council of the Ministry of Defence. The primary mission of the British Armed Forces is to protect the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, advance the UK's security interests and support international peacekeeping efforts. Also, the British Armed Forces are active and permanent participants in NATO operations and coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kuskov A.S. Economic Geography in Questions and Answers: Textbook. - M.: League. - 2004. - 224 p.