Industry and main cities

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country. Its main industries are textile, shipbuilding, motorcar aviation, metallurgy, chemical and coal mining, electrical engineering, electronics etc.

Coal-mining is an old industry, esp. in Wales, in the South of Scotland and in the Northern part of England. It was Britain’s development of coal production, which determined its economic leadership of the world in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. But nowadays British coal industry is declining, though it still has considerable reserves.

Textile industry is considered to be one of the oldest in Great Britain. High quality woolen material, called Cheviot tweed is manufactured in England.

Great Britain is well-known for its light industry goods of superior quality (clothing, footwear, leather goods, knitwear, hosiery, pottery, glassware, etc.).

Metal manufacturing is a traditional highly developed industry. Now it is being extensively modernized. It includes production of steel and nonferrous metals. Besides, Britain is a major producer of specialized alloys used by the aerospace, electronic, petrochemical and other industries.

Today, in a new age of modern technology, Britain has made important advances in such new industries as electronics, aerospace, chemical, biotechnology. Their major exports are electronics and telecommunications equipment, aircraft engines, plastics and synthetic materials, new drugs. The British aerospace industry is now the third largest in the world. Its products include civil and military aircrafts and satellites, which are widely exported. Rolls Royce is one of the world’s three largest aero engine manufacturers. British Aerospace is the largest European producer of communications satellites.

Other major manufacturing industries include food and drink, timber and furniture, printing and publishing, paper and rubber.

As in other developed countries, rising living standards have led to a growth of the role of services. The service industries include banking, finance, insurance, trade, travel, shipping, tourism, health, leisure, and education. Tourism now is one of Britain’s most important industries and source of income and employment (it employs about 1,5 million people).

There are many big industrial cities in Great Britain such as London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and others. London is the largest city in Europe. It is home for the headquarters (центр, штаб-квартира) of Government, Parliament and the monarch. It is also business and banking center of Britain. Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain. It is also a big industrial center with many modern factories. It is even called as the Black Country for its factories and mines. Birmingham enterprises produce metal goods, jewellery, plastics, motor vehicles, electrical equipment and machine tools. Birmingham is long famous as an international business center. It is a modern and exciting city whose buildings and shops are second to none (непревзойденные). Birmingham is at the heart of Britain’s motorway system. The superbly designed inner ring road gives easy access to the city center. Shopping facilities in Birmingham are a magnet for thousands; the multilevel Bull Ring Shopping Center includes most kinds of retail shops, open-air covered markets, banks, restaurants and offices. Equally impressive is the air-conditioned New Street Shopping Center. Birmingham has more canals than Venice. Some canals are recreational centers with walks, pubs, restored buildings and boat trips.

Glasgow is the third largest city in Great Britain. It is associated with heavy industry and a strong artistic heritage (наследие). Glasgow became a great port and manufacturing center in the 18^th century. Today its leading industries are shipbuilding, iron and steel, machinery and chemicals, textile and clothing, marine and aero engines, road vehicles and machine tools, cotton and woolen carpets production. It is also known for its book-producing and publishing firms.

Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland) is the city of science, law and administration. Together with many historic buildings Edinburgh is called «The Athens of the North». Edinburgh is a great educational center. It has 3 universities now. It boasts of such world famous scientists as Adam Smith, the father of political economy, David Hume, a well-known philosopher and historian, Alexander Bell, the inventor of the telephone, etc. If you ever go to Edinburgh, don’t miss important sights: the Royal Museum of Scotland, the National Gallery of Scotland, the National Portrait Gallery, Holyrood Palace (another official residence of the Queen), the Museum of Childhood with its unique collection of toys and games, the Writers’ Museum (a treasure house of items relating to Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Stevenson), etc.

Liverpool and Manchester are the main centers of textile industry. Manchester is the commercial capital of the cotton and man-made fibre (волокно) textile industries, a very important financial center and major port. Liverpool is the second port of Britain, a great commercial and insurance center and, after London, the greatest center for processing imported foodstuffs and raw materials (flour milling, soap manufacture, sugar refining (очистка сахара) and rubber products and motorcar manufacture.

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