Great Britain: economic geography. UK: Abstract: Geography

Official name- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Located off the northwest coast of continental Europe. The area is 244.8 thousand km2, the population is 59.8 million people. (July 2002). The official language is English. The capital is London (7.2 million people). Public Holiday- The Queen's Birthday (1926) is celebrated on the 2nd Saturday of June. The monetary unit is the pound sterling (equal to 100 pence).

Under British control are 15 overseas territories with a population of approx. 190 thousand people, incl. Gibraltar in Europe, Anguilla, Bermuda, part of the Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, the Falkland Islands - in South and Central America, St. Helena - in Africa, Pitcairn Island - in the Pacific Ocean, territories in Antarctica.

The British monarch is the nominal head of the Commonwealth (formerly the British Commonwealth of Nations), which includes most of the former colonies and dominions of Great Britain, a total of 54 states with a population of 1.7 billion people.

Member of international organizations: UN (since 1945), IMF and World Bank (since 1947), NATO (since 1949), OECD (since 1961), EU and OBSS (since 1973), G7 (since 1975), EBRD ( since 1990), WTO (since 1995).

Landmarks of Great Britain

Geography of Great Britain

Located between 49°57' and 60°49' north latitude; 1°46′ East and 8°00′ West.

Great Britain is an island state; consists of the island of Great Britain and the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland (they are separated by a narrow North Strait), as well as smaller islands (the most significant of them are Anglesey, White, Orkney, Hebrides, Shetland). Great Britain includes the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea and the Channel Islands, located in the English Channel off the coast of France, enjoying internal autonomy. British Isles(as Great Britain and Ireland are usually called) are washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. They are separated from mainland Europe only by the narrow straits of the Pas de Calais (in the UK - the Strait of Dover) and the English Channel (English Channel). The UK and France are connected by a tunnel 48 km long, of which 37 km runs under the English Channel. The coastline - 12,429 km - is heavily indented, replete with bays and bays - convenient parking for ships. The largest bays are Bristol, Cardigan, Solway Firth, Firth of Clyde, Moray Firth, Firth of Forth, Wash. Great Britain shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; its length is 360 km.

Most of the UK is characterized by rugged terrain. Mountainous terrain prevails in the north and west. In the northern part of the island, mountains rise from 840 to 1300 m above sea level (the most high peak- Ben Nevis - 1340 m). The North Scottish Highlands are separated from the South Scottish Highlands by the Mid-Scottish Lowland less than 100 km wide. Mountain ranges cover almost the entire western part of the island, especially Wales and Cornwall. The middle part of northern England is occupied by the Pennines, which separate the Lancashire lowlands in the west from the Yorkshire lowlands in the east. The southern half of Great Britain consists of plains separated by hills and uplands.

The UK has significant mineral reserves. Among them - oil, natural gas, coal, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, copper, silica. Offshore oil reserves are estimated at 1,430 million tons; most of them are located in the North Sea, east and northeast of Scotland and east of Shetland and Orkney; the largest offshore fields are Fortis and Brent, on the mainland - Witchfarm in Dorset. Natural gas reserves reach 1710 billion m3, the main deposits are located in the North Sea off the east coast of England. The main coal deposits (substantially depleted) are Yorkshire - Derby - Nottinghamshire Basin in the East Middland, Northumberland - Durham Basin in the northeast of England.

The soil cover of Great Britain is quite diverse. Brown forest, podzolic soils predominate. Carbonate, alluvial, acidic soils, peatlands are widespread.

The climate of Great Britain is temperate, humid, oceanic. Thanks to the North Atlantic Current and warm winds blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean, the UK tends to experience mild winters. But these same winds explain overcast weather, frequent rains and fogs. The average temperature in January is 3-7°С, in July 11-17°С, the amount of annual precipitation is 550-800 mm in the southeast, 3000 mm in the mountainous western and northern regions. Most precipitation falls from October to January, less - in February-March.

In the UK there is a large number of rivers and lakes. The longest river - Severn (328 km) - originates in the mountains of Wales and flows into Bristol Bay (west coast). The Lancashire lowlands are crossed by the Mersey, which flows into Liverpool Bay. The main river of the east coast - the Thames (336 km) - flows through the most densely populated areas of southeast England. The Mid-Scottish Lowlands are also rich in rivers. The longest of them is the Clyde (157 km), originating in the South Scottish Highlands and flowing into the Firth of Clyde (west coast), and the Forth, flowing into the Firth of Forth (east coast). There are many lakes in the north of the country. The largest is Loch Nih in Northern Ireland - 396 km2. The deepest is Loch Morir in the North Scottish Highlands (310 m).

The flora of Great Britain is diverse, 9% of the territory is covered with forests. Broad-leaved forests predominate - oak, beech, birch. There are many coniferous forests in Scotland - spruce, larch. Heathlands are widespread. In the south of the country there are evergreen Mediterranean plant species. Plants vegetate all year round.

In the UK there are approx. 30 thousand species of animals. Among them are foxes, hares, red squirrels, otters, black rats, mink, reptiles and amphibians. Of the 200 bird species, the most common are sparrows, finches, starlings, crows, kingfishers, robins, and tits. In rivers, lakes and coastal sea ​​waters numerous species of fish are found - cod, haddock, whiting, herring, salmon, trout.

UK population

Between 1981 and 2001 the population of the UK grew by only 6%, largely due to immigrants from developing countries and their children born in the UK. At the same time, emigration continued. According to official forecasts, by 2025 the country's population will reach 65 million people. The average population density is one of the highest in the world - 242 people. per 1 km2.

Birth rate 1.3‰, mortality 10.3‰, infant mortality 5.5 people. per 1000 births (2002). Average life expectancy - 78.0 years, incl. men 75.2, women 80.8 years. In 2000, there were 838,000 more women than men in the country.

One of the most important problems of the country is the aging of the population. In 2002, persons aged 65 and over made up 15.8% of the population. The 2001 census showed that for the first time the number of people over 60 exceeded the number of children under the age of 15.

Still in con. 19th century The UK has reached a high degree of urbanization. In 1999 the urban population was 89%.

In cities with a population of St. 100 thousand people almost half of the country's population lives. The largest cities in terms of the number of inhabitants: London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Bristol, Coventry, Cardiff, Belfast, Nottingham. Great Britain is a multinational country. The vast majority of the population are indigenous people: English (81.5%), Scots (9.6%), Irish (2.4%), Welsh (1.9%). 1960-80s characterized by a large influx of immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Caribbean countries, and the 1990s. - from African states (Kenya, Uganda, Malawi). People from these countries in 2001 accounted for 7.1% of the population.

Along with English ca. 26% of the population of Wales speak Welsh, 80 thousand people. in Scotland - Gaelic. The people of the Channel Islands - Guernsey and Jersey - use French.

Religiously, Great Britain is predominantly a Protestant country. The Anglican Church, which enjoys the status of a state church in England, has approx. 34 million followers. A similar position in Scotland is occupied by the Presbyterian Church - 800 thousand people. There are also other Protestant groups: Methodists - 760 thousand, Baptists. Approx. 6 million Catholics. Numerous groups of Hindus, Buddhists, followers of Judaism also live. The Muslim community is growing rapidly, in 2002 there were 1.5 million adherents of Islam.

History of Great Britain

The UK is a country with a rich history. In the 1st millennium BC. The territory of modern Great Britain was inhabited by the Celts. All R. 1 in. AD The British Isles experienced the invasion of the Romans, and after their departure in the 5th-6th centuries. were conquered by the Anglo-Saxons. By the 5th-11th centuries. include the first beginnings of statehood. The conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy in 1066 led to the fall of the Anglo-Saxon dynasties and the beginning of the rule of the Norman dynasty (11th-12th centuries). During this period, the process of feudalization, political unification and centralization was completed. state power.

The first noticeable reforms to strengthen royal power were carried out by Henry II of Anjou, the first of the Plantagenet dynasty (12-14 centuries). In 1215, King John Landless signed the Magna Carta - Magna Carta - a document that for the first time set out the basic principles of governing England and limited the power of the king in favor of chivalry, free peasantry and cities. The reign of the Plantagenets was also marked by the first convocation of Parliament, the accession of Wales. The Hundred Years War of 1337-1453 with France led to the loss of territories conquered in this country in the 12th century.

Further expansion of the rights of Parliament occurred under Henry IV - the first of the Lancaster dynasty. The development of commodity-money relations and the struggle of the peasants (the uprising of W. Tyler in 1381 and others) led to the 15th century. to almost complete elimination personal dependence of the peasants. During the War of the Scarlet and White Roses - the war between the Lancasters and Yorks (1455-87), the old feudal nobility was practically destroyed. A new middle and petty nobility, connected with the development of capitalism, the gentry, gradually began to come to power. The Yorks won the war, but they managed to stay on the throne only approx. 20 years. They were replaced by the kings of the Tudor dynasty (15th-17th centuries). Henry VII (1457-1509) laid the foundations of absolutism - the unlimited power of the monarch. In the reign of the next monarch of this dynasty, Henry VIII(1491-1547), the church was reformed: the king broke with the Roman Catholic Church and proclaimed himself the head of the Anglican (Protestant) church. Under the reign of his son Edward VI (1537-53), Protestantism was declared official religion in England. In 1536 the Act of Union of England and Wales was signed. In the 16th century the process of primitive accumulation of capital unfolded, the basis of which was the dispossession of the peasantry (fencing).

The last of the Tudor line was Elizabeth I (1533-1603). Without her own heirs, in 1603 she handed over the throne to the King of Scotland, James I Stuart, the son of Mary Stuart, who became the first king of England and Scotland. During the era of the Stuart dynasty (17-18 centuries), a war broke out between parliament and the monarch (1642-51). It ended with the execution in 1649 of King Charles I. In 1653-58 Oliver Cromwell ruled the country as Lord Protector. The English bourgeois revolution ensured the establishment of capitalism. In 1660 the monarchy was restored. In con. 17th century political parties took shape - the Tories and the Whigs (in the middle of the 19th century they were transformed into the conservative and liberal parties, respectively). In 1707, Scotland was annexed to the English crown - the Act of Union of England and Scotland was signed.

In the 18th century The Stuarts were replaced by the Hanoverian dynasty. The long war with France for commercial and colonial hegemony ended with the victory of Great Britain. Vast possessions in India were seized and North America. As a result of the War of Independence in North America (1775-83), 13 North American colonies separated from the mother country and formed an independent state - the United States. In 1801 the Act of Union of England and Ireland was signed. Great Britain is the organizer of a coalition against revolutionary and then Napoleonic France. In 1805, the English fleet defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar, which ensured the long-term dominance of Great Britain at sea. In this battle, the commander of the English fleet, Admiral G. Nelson, one of the outstanding naval commanders of that time, was mortally wounded. In 1815, the Anglo-Dutch troops under the command of A. Wellington, together with the Prussian troops, defeated the army of Napoleon I at Waterloo.

In con. 18-1st floor. 19th century the industrial revolution took place. In the 1830s the factory system of production was established. Great Britain becomes the most powerful industrial country in the world, its "workshop". In the 1830s-50s. the first mass movement of the proletariat, Chartism, unfolded. In 1868, the British Congress of Trade Unions was created. At 19 - beg. 20th century Great Britain was the largest colonial power in the world. She colonized Australia and New Zealand, conquered vast territories in Asia and Africa, completed the capture of India, Egypt, waged wars against China, Afghanistan, suppressed the national liberation movement in India (1857-59), uprisings in Ireland (1848, 1867 and etc.). The strengthening of the liberation movement in the colonies forced Great Britain to create dominions (the first was Canada, 1867). Colonial conquests are closely associated with the name of Queen Victoria (1819-1901), the last of the monarchs of the Hanoverian dynasty, who occupied the throne for 64 years. Since 1901, the Windsor dynasty has been in power (until 1917 it was called the Saxe-Coburg dynasty).

Already to the beginning 20th century Great Britain, which made the industrial revolution before others, lost its monopoly. In 1900, it was in 2nd place in terms of volume. industrial production after the United States, and in subsequent decades, in terms of GDP, it shared 2-3 places with Germany. The dominant position of the pound sterling in the international monetary system and the country's position as a world carrier were undermined.

Great Britain played an active role in the creation of the Entente - the union of Great Britain, France and Russia (1904-07) and in the preparation of the 1st World War, as a result of which it received a significant part of the former German possessions in Africa and most of the territories taken from Turkey (Ottoman empire). During the liberation war of the Irish people (1919-21), the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 was concluded granting Ireland (with the exception of Northern Ireland, which remained part of Great Britain) the status of a dominion.

In the 1930s Great Britain pursued a policy of "appeasement" Nazi Germany. The Munich Agreement signed on behalf of Great Britain by Prime Minister N. Chamberlain with A. Hitler and B. Mussolini (September 29-30, 1938) contributed to the outbreak of World War II, which Great Britain entered on September 3, 1939. In May-June 1940 to Great Britain English, parts of the French and Belgian troops were evacuated, blockaded by the German army in the area French city Dunkirk. On May 10, 1940, W. Churchill headed the government. After the German attack on the USSR, in the face of the immediate threat of the invasion of fascist troops in Great Britain and the continuous bombardment of British cities from the air, it entered into a military alliance with the USSR. Together with the USSR and the USA, Great Britain became one of the main participants in the anti-Hitler coalition. In 1942-43, the British 8th Army, under the command of Field Marshal Montgomery, defeated the Italo-German troops near El Alamein in North Africa. In July-August 1943, Anglo-American troops landed on the island of Sicily. In June-July 1944, British troops, together with American troops, landed in Normandy, which marked the opening of a second front. W. Churchill participated in the conferences of the three heads of powers - winners in World War II: Yalta (February 1945) and Potsdam (July-August 1945); at the end of the Potsdam Conference, he was replaced by the head of the Labor Party, K. Attlee, who won the election. These conferences determined the basic principles of the post-war order of the world.

State structure and political system of Great Britain

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. Unlike most countries of the world, in Great Britain there is no Constitution, which would be a single document, it consists of various parliamentary acts - statutes, judicial decisions and constitutional customs. The constitution may be amended by an act of parliament or by general agreement to change constitutional custom.

The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II (born April 21, 1926), who ascended the throne in February 1952. In the last century, there has been a tendency to transfer power directly to the government, but the queen continues to take part in the implementation of a number of important functions state power. She retained the right to convene and dissolve parliament, appoint the prime minister: the queen invites the leader of the political party that makes up the majority in the House of Commons to form a government. The Queen approves laws passed by Parliament. By law, she is the supreme commander and, on the proposal of the government, appoints the highest military commanders. As head of the judiciary appoints judges, and as head of the Church of England, bishops. In the field international relations the queen as head of state has the right to declare war and make peace, sign international treaties and agreements.

The UK includes 4 historical and geographical regions (historical provinces) - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (Ulster) - part of Ireland - 6 northeastern counties (according to the Treaty of 1921 included in the UK as an autonomy). Administratively, Great Britain is divided into counties, districts and cities. The UK includes independent administrative units - the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, as well as 15 dependent territories. Local authorities are responsible for housing, education, social security, police and fire service. They are financed by funds received from the collection of municipal taxes, local taxes and subsidies from the central government.

The highest body of legislative power is the parliament. It consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Parliament is engaged in legislative activity. Bills (bills) go through 3 readings. As a general rule, bills must be passed by both houses. Before laws can take effect, they must receive royal assent. In practice, this is a pure formality. In the absence of a written Constitution as a single document and under the provision of "parliamentary sovereignty", the Parliament can cancel acts of constitutional significance. Parliamentary committees play an important role in drafting laws. The leading role in the activities of Parliament belongs to the House of Commons. It is elected for a term of not more than 5 years and has 659 members - 1 representative from each of the 659 constituencies. Parliament is elected by majority system of relative majority by direct and secret ballot on the basis of universal suffrage.

All citizens of Great Britain, as well as other Commonwealth countries and the Republic of Ireland, over 18 years of age and permanently resident in the UK from 1945 to general elections 8 times won Conservative Party, 8 - Labor. As a result of the general parliamentary elections in June 2001, the majority in the House of Commons, as in the previous elections in 1997, was won by the Labor Party - 412 seats (40.7% of the votes received). The Conservatives - 166 seats (31.7%), the Liberal Democrats - 52 (18.3%), the Scottish National Party - 5 (1.8%), Cymru Plaid - 4 (0.75%), the Ulster Unionist party - 6 (0.8%), Democratic Unionist Party - 5 (0.7%), Sinn Fein - 4 (0.7%), others - 4 (0.8%).

The upper chamber - the House of Lords - consists of hereditary and life peers (who received the title for services to the country), archbishops and senior bishops of the Church of England, Lords of the Supreme Court of Appeal. Acts of Parliament of 1911 and 1949 significantly limited the rights of the House of Lords. Its main function is to consider and amend the drafts submitted by the House of Commons. Since 1949, the House of Lords retained only the right of a suspensive veto - a short-term postponement of bills adopted by the House of Commons. Bills of a Financial Character, Relating to Taxation and Public Expenditures, are passed by the House of Lords as they appear before the House of Commons. In 1999, the House of Lords Act was passed, under which the number of hereditary peers was reduced from over 750 to 92. It is intended to completely abolish the institution of hereditary peers. In 2001 was published White paper, providing that the majority of life peers would be appointed by an independent cross-party commission and on the recommendation of political parties in proportion to the size of factions in the House of Commons. The 120 members of the House of Lords will be elected.

The head of the executive branch is the monarch. The head of government is the prime minister. The government is formed by the leader of the party that won the majority or the largest number of seats in parliament in the elections (since 1997 - Labor MP Tony Blair). The government consists of cabinet members (c. 20), non-cabinet ministers and junior ministers (usually parliamentary deputy ministers). Most ministers are members of the House of Commons. At the disposal of the Prime Minister is the apparatus of civil servants.

The party system includes the following parties: The Conservative Party - organizationally took shape in 1867, has approx. 300 thousand members, leader - Ian Duncan Smith. After the 2nd World War, she was in power in 1951-64, 1970-74, 1979-97. The Labor Party was formed in 1890, unites collective (trade unions and cooperative societies) and individual members, has 260,000 members, and is led by Tony Blair. After the 2nd World War, he was in power in 1945-51, 1964-70, 1974-79. It has been the ruling party since 1997. The Liberal Democratic Party was formed in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal and Social Democratic parties, has approx. 82 thousand members, leader - Charles Kennedy. National parties are also represented in Parliament: Plaid Camry (founded in Wales in 1925, leader I. Vic Jones); Scottish National Party (founded in 1937, leader John Swinney); Ulster Unionist Party (founded in the early 20th century, leader David Trimble); Democratic Unionist Party (founded in 1971, leader Ian Paisley); The Social Democratic and Labor Party of Northern Ireland (founded in 1970, leader Mark Derken), Sinn Fein - the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA, formed at the end of the 1st World War, leader Jerry Adams), the party refused to take its seats in the House of Commons.

The interaction between government and business is carried out primarily through the unions of entrepreneurs. In 2001, there were 192 business organizations in the country. The most influential of them is the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Expresses the interests of approx. 200 thousand firms - from the largest TNCs to small companies. They employ 7.5 million people. The PCU includes most business unions and business associations. The most important task of the PBC is to promote the creation of an economic climate favorable for the activities of British business, increasing its competitiveness. Committees and experts of the KBP develop recommendations for the government, participate in the preparation of budget bills, and in the formation of foreign economic policy. Other major business organizations include the Association of British chambers of commerce. It provides services to more than 135,000 companies, assists in staff training, promotion of British firms' products on the foreign market, and access to information necessary for business. Institute of Directors, numbering approx. 53 thousand members, advises directors of companies on issues such as corporate governance, insolvency and bankruptcies, training. The Institute of Directors represents the interests of its members before the authorities in the UK and the EU. The Small Business Federation represents the interests of 160,000 small businesses and self-employed owners and provides them with information on taxation, employment, security, and insurance.

A feature of the British labor movement has always been a high percentage of unionized employees. Trade unions have gained enough strong positions both in relations with employers and in the socio-political life of the country as a whole. In 1979 there were 362 trade unions in the country, covering 54-55 percent of all wage laborers. With the help of tough anti-union laws, the conservatives managed to achieve a significant restriction of the rights and scope of the activities of trade unions. As a result, the number of trade unions decreased - 206 in 2001, the number of members of trade unions decreased - from 13.1 million in 1979 to 7.3 million in 2001, or 27% of the number of employees. The largest trade union association, the British Congress of Trade Unions (TUC), was founded in 1868. It includes 74 trade unions and 6.7 million members. At the annual congresses of the TCU, the most important problems of social and economic development countries. The BKT has traditionally supported and financed the Labor Party. After coming to power, the Laborites announced their intention to somewhat soften the legislation regulating the activities of trade unions. A feature of the British trade union movement is the existence of a widely ramified network of shop stewards (shop stewards) who are elected directly at their place of work. The main function is the daily protection of workers and employees in relations with the administration, the settlement of labor conflicts.

In fiscal year 2002/03, military spending was £24.2 billion. Art., in the financial year 2003/04 - 25.4 billion. In 2002 they were equal to 2.32% of GDP. In 2001, the strength of the Armed Forces was: fleet 42.9 thousand, land army 114.0 thousand, air force 54.0 thousand, regular reserves 234.7 thousand, volunteers 47.3 thousand. 111 were employed in the Armed Forces, 7 thousand civilians. Great Britain is a nuclear power. In 2002, 4 submarines equipped with 48 Trident-P ballistic missiles were in service. UK support nuclear arsenal approximately 185 warheads. Its role in building up the potential of NATO's rapid reaction forces is great. Great Britain is in favor of strengthening the European pillar of this organization. British military contingents are stationed in Cyprus, East Timor, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bosnia and Kosovo.

In domestic politics, the key to understanding many of the features of modern social political structure British society is given such features of its development as evolution, "traditionalism" and comparative stability political institutions. For centuries, British political culture has been characterized by moderation and the organic weaving of new elements into existing structures, the combination and fusion of traditional and modern values, the gradual mastery of the ruling elite skills and abilities of "coordination of interests" within the framework of democratic institutions. The stability of British society has always rested on a consensus about its fundamental goals and how to achieve them. Characteristic developed civil society in this country - law-abiding citizens. The importance of a tolerant political culture is especially important in the absence of a written constitution.

Since 1924, the Conservative and Labor parties have alternated in power. From the beginning 1970s Significant support began to receive "third" parties, primarily the Liberal Democratic (until 1988 - Liberal) and the Scottish Nationalists.

In 1979 the neo-conservatives led by M. Thatcher came to power. Among the value orientations of neoconservatism, a special place belonged to individualism, or anti-collectivism. Authoritarian tendencies in public administration intensified; the role of the executive power in the institutions of representation of interests has increased. At the same time, the most important direction of Tory policy was the transformation of the system of state social services, or the "welfare state": there was a partial denationalization of the health care system; the Conservatives implemented a number of measures aimed at implementing the principle of freedom of choice in schooling and encouraging various types of private insurance.

The Labor Party, which won elections in 1997 and 2001, is implementing a program of reforms designed to significantly update the country's political system. First of all, they started to implement the constitutional reform. One of the most important directions of this reform is the devolution (decentralization) of power. For many centuries, Great Britain was a unitary state, all major issues were resolved in London. However, in recent years the situation has changed. In 1998, the Assembly of Northern Ireland is elected, and in 1999 - the National Assembly of Wales and the Scottish Parliament. They are transferred a number of important functions of a socio-economic nature. At the same time, regional autonomy in England itself was developing. Only foreign policy, security issues and tax collection remained in the competence of the central authorities. Decentralization of the country's governance is taking place at a time when regional authorities are increasingly involved in the political system of the EU.

Other directions of the reform were the rejection of the hereditary principle of the formation of the House of Lords and the unambiguously majoritarian nature of the country's electoral system. The Bill of Rights was passed through Parliament, making it accepted by the world community legal acts part of British law, the Freedom of Information Act. The constitutional reform is carried out within the framework of the concept of the "third way" as a concept internal development Great Britain. If the first path is neoliberalism based on the principles of individualism and its British version - Thatcherism, and the second path is traditional socialism and social democracy oriented towards statehood, then the third path is the movement towards a just social order based on universal human values. The government seeks to develop various forms of participation of the population and its individual groups in solving social, economic and political issues of the development of society.

At the center of the domestic political life of the country are also the issues of modernizing the systems of healthcare, education, and public transport. British dissatisfaction with the state of these areas of the economy led to a significant defeat of the Labor Party in the local elections in May 2003. The problems associated with Britain's accession to the euro area are widely discussed. The Labor leadership is in favor of the country's entry into the EMU in the event of a positive outcome of the referendum on this issue. Dissatisfaction in the country was caused by the government's decision on the participation of Great Britain in the war in Iraq. A special place in the internal political life of the country is occupied by a peaceful settlement in Ulster. Despite attempts by London to resolve intercommunal differences in Northern Ireland, bloody clashes between extremist-minded representatives of the Catholic and Protestant populations could not be avoided. The political autonomy of Northern Ireland, established by the 1998 peace agreement, ceased to exist in October 2002, mainly due to the IRA's unwillingness to disarm.

In foreign policy at the beginning. 21st century Great Britain, undoubtedly, is included into the five of the leading developed countries along with the USA, France, Germany and Japan. Moreover, as one of the victorious countries in the 2nd World War, it has some advantages over the last two. Great Britain is a nuclear power and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. From the beginning 1970s it, along with France and Germany, plays a leading role in the EU, although its political influence in this organization is less, and at the same time maintains, albeit in a curtailed form, a "special relationship" with the United States. Great Britain still claims to be a mediator in relations between the Old and New Worlds. Great Britain has the most extensive "economic empire" abroad after the United States, and leads the Commonwealth.

At the same time, over the past decades, there has been a weakening of the UK's position in the world economy and politics, in the system of international relations. In the 1950-70s. The British colonial empire finally collapsed. Great Britain had to abandon the old doctrine, according to which it is able to successfully combine 3 roles: the leader of Western Europe, the head of the Commonwealth and the privileged partner of the United States. Britain's accession to the EU in 1973 was a turning point in the process of shifting to Western Europe the center of gravity of the whole complex of positions of this country abroad. Great Britain began to act integral part Western European center. At the same time, it continues to take a special position on many fundamental issues of EU development. The originality of the position of Great Britain reflects the specifics of the national political culture, legal thinking, traditions of foreign policy strategy, which for centuries have maintained a certain distance between the "island state" and continental Europe. In addition, the stake on European integration is combined with the continued special relations between Great Britain and the United States, which are largely determined by the common language, closeness of traditions and culture.

The Labor government that came to power in May 1997 emphasizes the key role of nation-states in modern Europe and rejects federalist ideals of integration. In all areas of EU policy, it places the principle of subsidiarity at the forefront and upholds the principle of a clear distinction between the three pillars of the EU. Recognizing the need for greater flexibility within the EU, Labor advocates maintaining the principle of unanimity and approving joint actions within the framework of cooperation. The government emphasizes the key role of NATO in ensuring the defense of Western Europe. The UK has contributed a large contingent of troops to the European Rapid Reaction Force.

In the 2nd floor. 1990s - early 2000s Anglo-American ties were significantly strengthened. Common approaches and coinciding interests prevailed in international affairs and in the field of security. This manifested itself during the Kosovo conflict and especially during the war in Iraq in March-April 2003, when London most consistently supported Washington's position. After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 in New York, the main activity of the government in the field of foreign policy and security policy was switched to the fight against terrorism and support for this fight by the Commonwealth countries.

In relations with the Russian Federation, the Blair government adhered to the line of constructive interaction. Using its special relationship with the US and its membership in the EU, the UK sought to play the role of some kind of link between the West and Russia. Relations between the two countries have been marred by Britain's stance on the UN's role in managing the Iraqi crisis.

Great Britain has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation; installed from the USSR on February 2, 1924.

UK Economy

The UK is one of the largest economically developed countries in the world. In 2000, the GDP was £859.1 billion. (in prices and PPP 1995), 5th in the world after the USA, Japan, Germany and France. UK share of world GDP 3.0% (2002). In the same year, its GDP per capita was £14,000. The share of the country in international trade in recent years is 4.5 - 5%. According to this indicator, it takes 4-5th place. The UK is in 2nd place after the USA in terms of accumulated foreign direct investments, in 3rd place - after the USA and Japan - in terms of the number of companies in the list of the 500 largest TNCs in the world and the market capitalization of shares. In terms of financial transactions, London is second only to New York. The capital of Great Britain ranks first in the world in terms of the number of foreign banks operating here. London is home to the world's third largest stock exchange (after Tokyo and New York) in terms of operations. Unlike the stock markets of other European countries, which are mainly nationally oriented, securities of St. 500 TNCs - more than half of the world trade in foreign shares. London is the largest foreign exchange market, the City carries out approx. 1/3 of foreign exchange transactions in the world. London's closest competitors - New York, Tokyo and Singapore - collectively have the same share.

Through London passes the largest volume of insurance operations and international reinsurance operations. The lion's share of the world exchange market of metals, oil and other strategic goods is concentrated in the capital of Great Britain. For a long time, the British currency - the pound sterling - dominated the world monetary system; using the leading role of the pound in international settlements, the UK covered the balance of payments deficit national currency. Then, for a number of decades, the pound shared with the dollar the position of one of the two key currencies of the world. Having lost the position of the country that operated as a key reserve currency, Great Britain for a long time claimed a special place in international monetary and credit relations. This was partly reflected in London's reluctance to enter the con. 1990s enter the eurozone and abandon the pound in favor of the euro.

Until con. 1980s The UK economy developed more slowly than its main competitors. In the 1990s the situation has improved. In 2002, the country's economy continued to rise, which began in 1993. In the 1990s - early. 2000s employment grew; by 2002, unemployment had fallen to 5.2% of the economically active population (the lowest since 1980). Despite the recovery in the economy and the reduction in unemployment, inflation remained low. In 2002, the consumer price index increased by only 2.1% - inflation was at its lowest level since 1976. At the turn of the century, due to the general deterioration in the world economic situation, the intensity of the rise decreased: in 2002, GDP growth was only 1.6%.

Noticeable changes are taking place in the sectoral structure of the British economy. The importance of the service sector is growing. In 2001, its share in GDP was 71.4%, in employment 75.5%. The share of the manufacturing industry is decreasing: in 2001 it accounted for 17.5% of GDP and 14.5% total number employed. In the mining industry, the importance of the coal industry has significantly decreased and the importance of the oil and gas industry has increased. Construction was developing at a pace below the average for the economy as a whole: in 2001 its contribution to GDP was 5.4%. In the 1990s the role of transport and communications increased markedly: in 2001 their share reached 8% of GDP. The share of agriculture and fisheries in GDP fell sharply - from 2.9% in 1973 to 0.9% in 2001.

In the structure of the manufacturing industry, the paper and printing industries (13.9%), food and tobacco (13.8%), mechanical engineering (35.5%), in which the electrical engineering industry and optical instrument making (12.9%) stand out, have the largest share. ) and the production of vehicles, as well as the chemical industry (10.7%) and metalworking (10.4%). Major shifts are taking place in the industry. The role of new science-intensive industries of chemical (primarily low-tonnage chemistry), electrical engineering and electronics, especially office equipment and computers, as well as communications, aerospace industry (production of civil and military aircraft, helicopters and equipment for space exploration), equipment for offshore oil production is growing. . British pharmaceutical industry is world famous. In terms of the level of development of biotechnology, the UK is second only to the United States. At the same time, the importance of traditional manufacturing industries, which determined the industrial image of the country in the beginning, sharply decreased. 20th century: textile, primarily cotton, steel industry (in 2001 only 12.5 million tons of steel were smelted in the country), civil shipbuilding. The fate of the coal industry is indicative. In 1913, approx. 1.1 million people, and coal production reached 287 million tons. In 2001, the corresponding figures were only 11 thousand people. and 32 million tons. In the 1970s. large deposits of oil and gas have been discovered in the North Sea. In 2001, the production of oil and liquefied gas amounted to 2.4 million barrels per day (about 320 thousand tons). According to this indicator, the UK ranked 10th in the world. The transformation of the UK into a major oil and gas producer has dramatically changed the energy mix - they account for 72% of energy consumption. The use of natural gas is growing rapidly - 37% of electricity generation. Nuclear power plants produce 22% of electricity. However, 33% of electricity is still generated at coal-fired stations.

Agriculture in the UK is highly mechanized and efficient, covering 63% of the country's food needs. OK. 40% of the 386 thousand farms are occupied mainly by animal husbandry - large-scale breeding cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens. In 2001, animal husbandry suffered great damage due to livestock diseases - first spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease"), and then foot and mouth disease. Wheat, barley, and oats are especially common among grain crops. In addition, rapeseed, flaxseed, and potatoes are grown. There are many orchards in the country. Agriculture enjoys great state support and receives subsidies from the EU budget.

The territory of Great Britain is covered by a dense network of roads and railways and is well served by maritime transport through many ports. The dominant role in domestic transportation is occupied by road transport - 85% of passenger traffic and 81% of freight traffic. In 2001, there were 23.9 million cars in personal use. The length of paved roads is 406.4 thousand km. The railway network is being reduced, its length is 16.9 thousand km, of which 4.9 thousand km have been electrified. The government is implementing various organizational measures to modernize this mode of transport. The importance of river transport is declining. The length of waterways is 3.2 thousand km. Air transport is developing rapidly. Since the 1980s air transportation of passengers and cargo has more than tripled. British Airways is a leading international airline. The country has approx. 450 civil airports - the largest of them is Heathrow. From Ser. 1970s the tonnage of the sea fleet has sharply decreased. On horseback In 2001, the British merchant marine fleet consisted of 594 ships, including 140 tankers and 454 bulk carriers, 37 passenger ships. Maritime transport accounts for approx. 95% of the country's foreign trade transportation. In the UK ca. 70 ports of commercial importance. The largest of them: Grimsby and Immingham, Tees and Hartlepool, London, Fort, Southampton, Milford Haven, Salo Voy, Liverpool, Dover, Felixstowe. The pipeline transport network is rapidly expanding; it is connected to gas pipelines coming from the fields of the North Sea; the total length of pipelines is 3.9 thousand km.

Communications is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. The country is almost completely telephoned; 97% of families have apartment phones, another 4% prefer mobile phones. Total per horse. 2001 there were 44.9 million mobile phones. 34.3 million users are connected to the Internet. 38% of firms have their own WEB-site, 48% carry out e-commerce. There is an intensive process of computerization of everyday life of the population, education, business. 11.7 million homes are connected to the Internet, 90% of medium-sized and approx. 1/4 primary schools, half of all companies.

Trade in recent years has been growing faster than the economy as a whole. In 2001, the share of wholesale and retail trade in GDP was 12.2%. There are 107 wholesale trade enterprises in the country, which employ 1.18 million people. The number of retail trade enterprises exceeds 192 thousand. They employ 2.87 million people. (11% of all employed in the country). The turnover of large trading companies with a wide network of shops and supermarkets is growing at the highest rate. The importance of trade, in which orders are made by mail and via the Internet, is increasing.

Financial, information and business services are developing at the highest rates. The financial sector accounts for 5% of GDP and employs more than 1 million people. The UK banking system is one of the most developed in the world. Financial institutions of the country provide a wide range of services - consulting, legal, accounting, management. Deregulation has strengthened the trend towards diversification of financial services provided by banks, universalization of their activities. Thus, commercial banks provide services that were previously provided by commercial banks, invade the insurance industry, and join companies specializing in issuing consumer loans. They actively compete with building companies in the mortgage loan market and have subsidiaries involved in leasing and factoring operations. In order to attract funds from depositors, banks diversify their services, in fact, turn into financial supermarkets. AT recent times the importance of the activities of such non-banking financial institutions as building societies, insurance and financial companies, and investment funds is growing. The activities of computer companies providing a variety of services are rapidly expanding. Among them, in the first place is consulting in the field of information technologies. Business services include market research, management services, and advertising.

The UK has a developed tourism industry. It employs 2.1 million people. 8% of small companies work in this area. In 2001, 22.8 million foreigners visited V. Its share in world tourism is 3.4%. According to this indicator, it is in 7th place in the world. The largest number of visitors from the USA, France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands.

Over the past decades, various options for regulating socio-economic policy have been tested in the UK. From con. 1940s it consisted in managing aggregate demand and ensuring full employment, primarily through expanding the role of the state in the socio-economic field. From con. In the 1970s, after the Conservative government came to power, the market began to be seen as the most efficient mechanism for organizing economic activity. The UK has pioneered large-scale privatization in the West. Many traditional values ​​and institutions have undergone significant erosion. The model of the socio-economic mechanism and the political structure of society has undergone significant changes. The state proceeded to reform property relations, its “spraying” (implementation of the theory of “democracy of owners”), to the transformation of the social services system - the introduction of market principles and competition into a “welfare state”, the creation of a “mixed” public-private system of health care, insurance, pension ensuring, spreading the principle of freedom of choice in school education.

The socio-economic policy of the Laborites, who came to power in 1997, on the one hand, is purely pragmatic and continues the course of its predecessors in a number of areas, on the other hand, reflects the principles of new laborism: a combination of the social values ​​of old laborism with the development market economy. On the whole, after the sharp delimitation of the two main parties along almost polar lines - Thatcherism and state socialism - the parties were increasingly rapprochement, but not so much on the social reformist basis that prevailed after World War II, but on the social liberal one. For Labour, it is softer, more regulated liberalism combined with unconventional market-oriented social reformism.

According to Labor leaders, the "old" Labor proclaimed its goal to ensure equality of income, the "new" - equality of opportunity: more and more Britons should join the middle class. The point of social reform is to turn the "welfare state" into a "social investment state": less public funds should be spent on social assistance and more on general and vocational education, advanced training and retraining, especially for young people. In its former meaning, the welfare state is preserved only for those who are unable to provide for themselves. An essential place in the activity of the Laborites is occupied by the creation of incentives for work. An indispensable condition for the effectiveness of this system is the development of medical care and other measures designed to ensure the physical and moral health of the nation. Labor Party for the first time determined the size of the minimum wages, introduced a tax credit for the lowest paid part of the population, repealed some anti-union laws of the conservatives.

From con. 1970s the mechanism of economic management has undergone significant changes. First of all, there was its significant decentralization. In con. 1990s Labor delegated a number of economic management functions to regional authorities. Market principles are being actively introduced into the activities of the public sector, privatization of public works and services is being carried out, and the participation of the private sector in solving social problems is expanding.

By 2000, approx. 100 state companies. As a result, its public sector shrank by 2/3. For 1979-2000, the proceeds from the sale of assets of state-owned enterprises amounted to approx. £80bn Art. Having privatized most utilities, the government continues to control their activities. The policy of denationalization has become a way to finance the budget deficit, allowing less borrowing. In addition, privatization was aimed at creating competing private firms in place of state monopolies.

The sale was widespread state property- demunicipalization. In an effort to involve the main categories of the working class and the "new middle strata" in the widely publicized "democracy of owners", the government carried out a sale for private use of municipal housing stock, and at preferential prices sanctioned from the center. An important direction in the introduction of market principles in the activities of the public sector has become contracting. The government and local authorities were instructed to place tenders for cleaning of the territory and premises, construction and repair work, restructuring of houses, and services of specialists. Since 1992, a program called "private financial initiative" has been implemented. The government invites private firms to compete on a competitive basis in projects that were previously carried out by the state itself. In 1997-2000, the cost of projects exceeded £22 billion. The enterprises that remain state-owned (the largest of them are the Post Office and the Civil Aviation Administration) operate as commercial enterprises. The emphasis has been shifted from industry policy to technology policy, from old to new industries; the criteria for granting financial assistance have been tightened. Finally, there has been a move away from direct subsidizing of business in favor of expanding its awareness of innovations in the field of engineering and technology.

An important direction of economic policy was the deregulation of the economy. In the 1980-90s. many administrative and legal restrictions on business activities were lifted; simplified regulatory procedures. Removed control over salary, prices and dividends; the labor market has undergone significant deregulation. This policy covered the banking, credit and currency spheres. In 1979, currency controls were abolished, which held back the movement of capital between Great Britain and other countries. In 1980, the "corset" was abolished - a scheme for additional special deposits at the Bank of England, which provided for the placement of excess bank liquidity in interest-free accounts to limit credit expansion. In October 1986, the London Stock Exchange was reorganized, called the “big bang” in the economic literature: the minimum fixed commissions were abolished, banks and foreign institutions were admitted to the exchange, members of the exchange were allowed to combine the functions of a broker and a jobber (principal). As a result, the UK economy has become one of the most deregulated in the world. According to such an indicator as the “index of economic freedom”, it is in 6th place out of 102 countries, behind only Singapore, New Zealand, the USA, Switzerland and Malaysia. However, deregulation does not mean that the government has given up control of the markets. The country has very strict laws that regulate many aspects of private business, primarily the behavior of economic entities in the market. They are aimed at preventing excessive concentration of economic power in individual companies, preserving and stimulating competition.

Based on the fact that economic growth is constrained by high inflation, the Conservatives have developed a medium-term financial strategy for 3-4 years, and the Labor Party is also implementing it. The goal is to limit the rate of price growth. The strategy consists of two components - monetary and budgetary. In the 1980s its main instrument was monetary regulation; financial policy was assigned a passive role of ensuring its effectiveness. However, with con. 1980s and especially during the current cycle, the government is actively resorting to budgetary measures of regulation.

In monetary policy, the emphasis was initially placed on targeting (i.e., setting targets) for money supply indicators. However, by the beginning 1990s the government found it extremely difficult to control its growth. The pound exchange rate, which was pegged to a stable German mark, was chosen as an instrument to fight inflation. This policy continued until September 1992, when the UK withdrew from the EMS exchange rate mechanism.

Since then, a key element of anti-inflationary policy has been a change in short-term interest rates. In 1993, the Bank of England was given the opportunity to independently set the time for the introduction of new rates, and in May 1997 the Labor Party gave it even greater independence - the Bank has the right to make decisions on changing interest rates. Since the UK is not a member of the euro area, the Bank of England is not included in the European System of Central Banks, continues to be an issuing center, and carries out its own monetary policy.

Under the Banking Act 1987, no lending institution is authorized to accept deposits without an appropriate license from the Bank of England. The Bank of England is not responsible for the consequences of bank failures and does not guarantee depositors full compensation for losses. At the same time, the Deposit Protection Fund was established, formed from the contributions of banks in proportion to the amount of their total deposits. Part of these losses is compensated at the expense of the Fund's resources in case of bank failures. In recent years, the government has seriously reformed and simplified the system of supervision over the activities of financial institutions and the regulation of the securities market. In 1997, the Financial Services Authority was created. He was given the powers of the central bank in the field of supervision over the activities of commercial banks. From now on, the Bank of England is responsible for providing general stability financial system.

The most important task of budget policy is to reduce the absolute and relative size of government spending with a parallel reduction in the deficit of the public sector of the economy, or the state's need for loans. Particular attention is paid to more effective use public funds both by the central government - 3/4 of all expenditures, and by local authorities - 1/4 of expenditures. The priorities are health care, education, and transport. Ministries and departments are invited to strictly adhere to the limit (ceiling) of expenditures set by the government for a three-year period.

Tax policy occupies a special place in the arsenal of means of state regulation of the economy. In order to stimulate economic growth, direct tax rates are being reduced, while the tax base is being expanded by reducing benefits. The most important part of the measures to encourage initiative and entrepreneurship was a significant reduction in the base income tax rate - from 33% in 1979 to 25% in 1995, 24% in 1996 and 22% in 2002. Since April 1999, a special rate of 10% has been applied, at which the first 1 £9k Art. income.

One of the main activities of the state remains the tax incentives for savings of the population as an important source of financing capital investments. Various preferential savings schemes have been developed and introduced, under which investments, primarily by small investors, are fully or partially exempt from taxes.

At the same time, the reduction in direct income tax rates was accompanied by an increase in indirect taxation. The standard value added tax rate was raised and in 2002 was 17.5%. The share of revenues from indirect taxes increased significantly - from 43% in the 1978/79 financial year to 54% in the 1997/98 financial year. The increase in indirect taxes was intended to some extent to compensate for the reduction in direct tax revenues and to promote the redistribution of resources in favor of investment.

A large place in the policy of the state is occupied by tax incentives for private investment. During their reign, the Conservatives reduced the corporate tax rate from 50% to 33%. In July 1997, Labor reduced it to 30%. Particular attention is paid to the tax incentives for small businesses - the tax rate for small companies (with an annual profit of up to £300,000) was reduced by the Conservatives from 50 to 23%. In 1997, Labor reduced it to 21%, in April 2002 the rate was reduced to 19%. Small companies (with an annual profit of up to £10,000) are exempt from income tax.

To increase the revenue base of the budget, Labor introduced a tax on the windfall profits of public utilities. The reduction in the corporate income tax rate is expected to be financed by eliminating offset tax credits. Such a measure should help increase the rate of return and increase the UK's attractiveness for long-term investment.

As a result of the government's financial policy, the share of its spending in GDP fell from 49.0% to 37.4% in the financial year 1975/76 and rose again to 39.0% in 2000/01. The budget has been in surplus since 1998/99, although it fell substantially in 2001/02, primarily due to lower corporate income tax revenues. Net public debt in relation to GDP in 1996/97 was 43.7%, in 2000/01 - 30.4% - the lowest level among the G7 countries.

The British model of socio-economic development differs markedly from the European continental one. Its structure is largely reminiscent of the American one (the similarity of the institutional environment, investment behavior of companies, forms of corporate governance, the nature of the labor market, etc.). In the economic literature, the Anglo-American model has been called "shareholder capitalism" in contrast to the continental model of "stakeholder capitalism".

The main goal of management activity in the British model is to maximize the income of shareholders. Representatives of labor (trade unions) and the state play a much smaller role in solving the most important issues of the management activities of firms than on the continent. Hence the orientation towards short-term development goals of firms (short-termism). This model is characterized by a much greater dispersion of shareholding than in other European countries. Here, its concentration in the hands of the largest owners is significantly lower. Corporate control is exercised to a large extent through the securities market. In the UK, the stock market is more developed, the capitalization of securities is much higher. Financial institutions and non-financial companies play a much smaller role in equity ownership here than on the European continent.

At the same time, the economic mechanism and socio-economic policy of the UK are increasingly transforming and changing in the direction of the requirements of EU membership. EU laws and directives in areas such as agricultural and regional policy, energy, finance and insurance, competition and consumer protection are of growing importance in the regulation of the economy. In June 1997 the UK signed the EU Social Charter. And although it was not included in the first group of eurozone countries, in recent years London has been actively implementing the measures necessary to introduce a single currency. We are talking about reducing the budget deficit and public debt, lowering interest rates and inflation.

AT recent decades the rise in the standard of living of the population occurred due to the growth of nominal and real incomes of the population. The average weekly wage in April 2001 was £356, and for full-time men it was £444. Art. The average hourly wage for men was £11.97, for women it was £9.76. Art. In April 1999, a minimum wage was established by law. Since October 2002 it has been £4.20. Art. for employees aged 22 years and over and 3.60l. Art. - for workers and employees aged 18-22 years. In the spring of 2002, the average working week for full-time employees at their main place of work was 38 hours (40 hours for men and 34 hours for women). The UK has adopted an EU directive regulating working hours. It entered into force in 1998: the maximum working week is 48 hours, the minimum paid vacation is 4 weeks, etc. Old-age pensions are paid to women from 60 years of age, to men from 65 years of age. In April 2002, the basic pension for a single pensioner was £75.50. Art. per week, couples - 120.70 pounds. Art. In the 1990s - early 2000s growth in nominal incomes of the population significantly exceeded the rate of inflation. As a result, real incomes increased: in 1991-2001 their average annual growth was 3.1%.

With the growth of household expenditures (they account for approximately 2/3 of GDP), their structure changes. The fastest growing consumer spending on durable goods, communications, leisure, clothing and footwear. The largest expenditure items for the population are housing (17.7% in 2001), transport (14.1%), and recreation. St. 2/3 British families own their own home. There are 34.3 million Internet users in the country. 86% of families have current bank accounts, 25% - shares, 15 million families - savings accounts of building societies. In recent years, savings are at a low level: 2001 - 6.2% of disposable income.

With a general increase in the living standards of the population, a significant polarization of income and wealth is observed in the country. The real incomes of the 20% of the richest families are 4 times higher than the incomes of the 20% of the poorest families. In 2000, 1/10 of the population owned 54% national wealth. Significantly lower standard of living in comparison with the indigenous population - among national minorities. Among them is the highest percentage of unemployed. Longstanding health problems such as long queues at hospitals and shortages of nursing staff continue to persist and even worsen. Classes in many schools are still overcrowded, the level of teacher training is insufficient, and the difference in the technical equipment of public and private schools is almost not decreasing.

The UK is deeply integrated into world economy, the importance of foreign economic relations is constantly growing. In 2001, 27% of goods and services produced in the country were exported; exports of goods amounted to 191.6 billion pounds. Art., services - 225.2 billion pounds. Art. Export per capita in the UK is greater than in the US and Japan. In 2001 imports of goods amounted to 225.2 billion pounds. Art., services - 65.7 billion pounds. Art. The UK tends to have a deficit in trade in goods and a surplus in trade in services. In 2001, investment income abroad exceeded UK foreign investment by £9.0bn. Art. The result was a current account deficit of £20.5 billion. Art. Much attention in the country is paid to attracting foreign capital; it is seen as a means of increasing labor productivity. In 2001, the inflow of foreign direct investment in the UK amounted to 43.8 billion pounds. Art. At the same time, direct investment exports amounted to 23.7 billion pounds. Art., which is significantly lower than the previous year, when it reached a record level of 168.6 billion pounds. Art., - a consequence of the high activity of British firms in the international market of mergers and acquisitions. Total per horse. 2001 UK assets abroad were £3,176 billion. Art., including direct investment - 645.2 billion. Foreign assets in this country - 3216 billion pounds. Art., incl. direct investment £347.5 billion Art.

Changes in the structure of the economy were accompanied by significant shifts in the structure of foreign trade. Up to the end. 1950s in the international specialization of the commodity exchange in Great Britain, the intersectoral direction prevailed. Large differences were observed in the structure of exports and imports: exports were dominated by manufactured products, while imports were dominated by raw materials and foodstuffs. From the beginning 1960s intra-industry exchange is developing rapidly. In 1971, finished and semi-finished products accounted for 84% of merchandise exports. In connection with the increase in the export of North Sea oil, this share in 1970-beginning. 80s decreased, but by 2001 it again reached 84%. In the same year, machinery and vehicles accounted for 56% of exports. The export of products of the aerospace, chemical and electronic industries is growing. At the same time, the share of textile exports is decreasing. The involvement in the international circulation of electronic computing equipment is very high: approx. 70% of the products of the electronic industry. For export is St. 70% of products chemical industry, more than half of the instrumentation products. Among the branches of general engineering with a very high export orientation are tractor building, the production of textile and mining equipment. Great Britain occupies one of the first places in the world in terms of arms exports. From the beginning 1960s importance in the import of food and raw materials is continuously falling. In 1971-2001, the share of foodstuffs decreased from 22 to 8%, and industrial raw materials - from 12 to 2%. At the same time, the share of finished products jumped from 7 to 60% (with semi-finished products - up to 85%).

At the same time, there were changes in the geographical distribution of foreign trade. In the beginning. 20th century Great Britain's foreign trade was focused on its colonial possessions; back in 1950, 40% of this country's exports went to dependent countries, from which approx. 40% of UK imports. To the beginning 21st century the situation has changed dramatically. In 2001, 85% of exports and 81% of imports were already in developed countries. In recent decades, there has been a "Europeanization" of the UK's trade relations: in 2001, 53% of its exports of goods and services (85% of exports of goods and 52% of imports) were accounted for by its EU partners.

UK science and culture

Great is the contribution of Great Britain to the treasury of world science, primarily to the development of the natural and technical sciences. Among the outstanding scientists - physicists, chemists, biologists - I. Newton, R. Boyle, R. Hooke, J. Joule, M. Faraday, J. Maxwell, C. Darwin, Cavendish, E. Rutherford. The works of British philosophers, sociologists, historians, economists - R. Bacon, T. More, Fr. Bacon, T. Hobbes, I. Bentham, W. Petty, A. Smith, D. Ricardo, J. Mill, R. Owen, T. R. Malthus, A. Marshall, J. M. Keynes, B. Russell. St. 70 British scientists have been awarded Nobel Prizes. The UK accounts for approximately 4.5% of the world's spending on science, 8% of all scientific publications. In 2000, R&D spending accounted for 1.8% of GDP, of which 85% went to civilian purposes, 15% to military ones. Sources of financing: business - 49%, state - 29%, foreign funds - 16%. Science in the government is in charge of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and in it - the Minister of Science.

In the UK, there is compulsory education for children aged 5 (in Northern Ireland - from 4) to 16 years. Approximately 94% of students attend public free schools, 6% study in private paid schools or at home. OK. 70% of school leavers continue their education. Approximately 1/3 of secondary school graduates enter universities and other higher educational institutions. There are 90 universities and 64 other higher education institutions in the country. The oldest universities are Oxford (founded in 1167) and Cambridge (1209). The duration of study for a bachelor's degree is 3 years (in Scotland - 4).

British writers, artists, architects, actors have had a significant impact on the development of world literature and art. Suffice it to name such poets and prose writers as J. Chaucer, W. Shakespeare, J. Swift, D. Defoe, G. Fielding, R. Burns, D. Byron, P. B. Shelley, W. Thackeray, W. Scott , R. Kipling, B. Shaw, A. Trollope, L. Stevenson, J. Galsworthy, G. Wells, A. Conan Doyle, A. Christie. World-famous works of artists W. Hogarth, D. Reynolds, T. Gainsborough, D. Constable, W. Turner, architects A. Jones, C. Wren, J. Wood, composers G. Purcell, E. Elgar, B. Britten , musicians of the Beatles group, the British stage was glorified by the actors D. Garrick, S. Siddon, W. Macready, D. Gielgud, L. Olivier, V. Lee, P. Scofield.

by geography

pupils of the 10th grade "4" of school No. 1840

Butler Olga

Theme: "Great Britain"

Moscow

year 2001

Characteristics of the EGP.

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.

Modern administrative divisions of Great Britain

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy

The UK form of government is a constitutional monarchy. Monarchy is the oldest form of government in existence today. Moreover, in the UK, the succession of royal power was violated only once in ten centuries of the existence of the state. The current Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, comes from the family of the Saxon king Egbert, who united England in 892, and Malcolm II, who ruled in Scotland from 1005 to 1034.

The monarch in Great Britain is the main person of the state. Legally, the monarch leads the executive branch, is the supreme commander of the British Army. But in fact, as a result of the changes that have taken place over many centuries, the monarchs have lost absolute power. The Queen rules the state with the consent of the Cabinet of Ministers, i.e. "reigns, does not rule."

The legislature is a bicameral Parliament, consisting of the Upper House - the House of Lords and the Lower House - the House of Commons. Meetings are held in the Houses of Parliament, which is one of the sights of London. The 650 members of the House of Commons are elected by British citizens once every five years, while membership in the House of Lords is hereditary in the families of hereditary nobles.

Thus, the queen represents the state in the international arena and is a symbol of power. Executive power belongs to the Cabinet of Ministers, which is formed by a parliamentary majority.

Among the variety of political parties in the UK, the leading role belongs to the two largest parties. These are the Conservatives (Tory) and the Labor Party (Whigs).

UK population

The population of the UK is over 58 million people. National composition: English - more than 80%, Scots - 10%, Welsh (indigenous people of Wales) - 2%, Irish - 2.5%.

A significant part of the population professes Protestantism. The exception is Northern Ireland, the majority of whose inhabitants are Catholics. Northern Ireland is a place of constant conflicts on religious and national grounds.

Since 1921, about 40% of the population has lived in the seven largest urban agglomerations centered on London (Greater London), Manchester (South East Lankshire), Birmingham and Wolverhampton (West Midlands), Glasgow (Central Clydeside), Leeds and Bradford (West Yorkshire). ), Liverpool (Merseyside) and Newcas-on-Tyne (Tyneside). The rate of urbanization in the UK is 91%. The proportion of the rural population is very small.

In recent years, there has been a significant influx of population from developing countries, mainly from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Industry

Great Britain is one of the four countries that determine the economic power of Europe. UK industry includes many industries, some of which have global importance. Midland is the main industrial region of Great Britain.

Metallurgy

Metallurgy in the UK is one of the most developed industries. It employs more than 582 thousand people. Moreover, the first place in terms of the number of employment belongs to the ferrous metallurgy (332 thousand people). The rest falls on non-ferrous metallurgy. The main centers of steel and iron production are Cardiff and Swansea (Wales), Leeds (England). Annual steel production is more than 15 million tons. Aluminum smelters are located mainly in Scotland and Wales.

The consumers of ferrous metallurgy products are mainly machine-building plants.

mechanical engineering

Engineering is one of the leading industries in the UK. It includes many directions, each of which is characterized by its location. So high-tech engineering (aeronautics, electronics) are located mainly around London. The machine tool industry is concentrated in the Birmingham area. Shipbuilding is a specialization of the Glasgow region, and textile engineering is developed mainly in the Manchester region.

Fuel and energy complex.

The main energy sources are coal and oil, and to a lesser extent natural gas. The coal mining industry is one of the oldest industries in the UK. At the beginning of the century, British coal dominated the world market, but now more than 80 million tons of coal are mined annually in the UK. The main areas of coal mining are Cardiff, South Wales and Central England (Sheffield). Oil is produced on the shelf of the North Sea off the east coast of England and Scotland. The annual production is more than 94 million tons. The main oil refineries are located in Southampton, Cheshire, Yorkshire. Income from oil exports reaches 150 million pounds. Gas production is 55 billion cubic meters. m. per year and grows annually. The electric power industry is based on thermal and hydroelectric power stations. Numerous hydroelectric power plants are located in the mountainous regions of Scotland and Wales, and thermal power plants are located in coal mining areas. The share of nuclear power plants is small, although in recent years there has been an increase in their construction.

Chemical industry

The chemical industry is concentrated mainly in Birmingham and Middlesbrough. This is mainly the production of plastics, detergents and disinfectants, dyes, fertilizers. The UK is one of the largest dye exporters in the world. High level development of the pharmaceutical industry. Demand for medicines manufactured in the UK is growing every year

Light industry

Light industry is one of the oldest industries in the UK. About 690 thousand people are employed in this area, more than half of them are women. The main areas for the development of light industry are Lancashire, Yorkshire, Liverpool, Manchester. On the Isle of Lewis, the production of woolen fabrics is concentrated, mainly the world-famous "plaid". The UK is one of the world leaders in the production of woolen fabrics. Knitwear production is developed mainly in Scotland and the Midlands. The production of linen fabrics is concentrated mainly in Northern Ireland. The UK has a long history of leather dressing and is a global exporter of leather products. Factories engaged in leather production are located everywhere, but a significant part of them are concentrated in Lancashire, Yorkshire, the Midlands, and around London. The UK is the world's third largest pop shoe manufacturer. More than 200 million pairs of shoes are sold annually. The UK clothing industry is the largest in Europe. The UK is a major clothing exporter. The main centers of the clothing industry are London, Leeds and Manchester.

food industry

The UK food industry employs over 860,000 people. The range of products produced is very diverse.

The consumption of bakery and confectionery products, chocolate and cocoa is very high in the UK. More than 2/3 of all bread is made in automated bakeries, where bread is baked, cut and packaged with little or no human intervention. Smaller bakeries produce a variety of biscuits, cakes and cupcakes, which are so popular among the British. British biscuits are known all over the world, and their export revenue is more than 12 million pounds. Britain exports about 30% of the world's chocolate. Income from the export of chocolate is annually up to 14 million pounds.

Also, the UK specializes in the production of fruit jams and ready-made fruit fillings for pies, which are widely exported to various countries of the world.

Every year the UK exports over 700 tons of frozen fruits and about 120 tons of frozen vegetables.

Among the meat products, the production of ham and bacon, traditional English products, predominates.

The production of alcoholic products is widespread. Scotch whiskey, gin, ale are world famous.

Agriculture

The UK is characterized by a temperate and rather humid climate with small temperature fluctuations throughout the year, which creates favorable conditions for the development of agriculture.

Most of the used rural land is occupied by pastures (about 80%). A smaller part of the territory is occupied by agricultural crops, which are mainly grown in East Anglia.

Potatoes are grown almost everywhere. One of the main crops is sugar beet, grown in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, where the main sugar refineries are located.

Important crops are also wheat, barley, oats grown in England, Northern Ireland and on the east coast of Scotland.

In the south of Britain, in the Dover region, there are a few orchards.

Dairy farming plays important role in UK agriculture. It should be noted that natural milk is more widely used than fermented milk products. The exception is Northern Ireland, where the main production of dairy products is concentrated. Dairy cattle are predominantly bred in the southwest of England. Great Britain is known all over the world for its breeds of beef and dairy cattle. Its livestock is about 11.6 million. In the hilly regions of Scotland, mainly black Welsh and Galloway breeds are bred, and on the plains - Aberdeen white and Hereford. In connection with epidemics of mad cow disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) and foot-and-mouth disease in recent years, dairy and beef animal husbandry is experiencing a severe crisis.

In Britain, there are all conditions for sheep breeding. Much attention is paid to the breeding of new breeds, both meat and fine-fleeced. In the mountains of Scotland, special breeds of mountain cattle are bred. Pig breeding is especially developed in the eastern regions of England. Up to 30% of pork is used to make bacon, and the rest goes to the production of meat products.

Since Great Britain has been a maritime power since ancient times, fishing is considered a traditional craft. The basis of the fishery is cod, flounder, herring, whitefish, trout, oysters and crabs. The share of fish is up to 80% of the total catch. The bulk of the fish is caught in the waters of the Celtic Sea, in the west and north of Scotland, and in the south of England. The main fishing ports are Kingston-on-Hull, Greensby, Fleetwood, North Shields, Aberdeen and others.

Transport

There are more than 300 seaports in Great Britain, the annual cargo turnover of which exceeds 140 million tons. The largest ports are: London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Southampton. The main navigable rivers are Thames, Severn, Dover, Trent. The creation of a high-speed railway under the English Channel simplified communication between Great Britain and the mainland. At the same time, the load on the ports of the south of the country decreased. Expressways stretching from north to south link different parts of the country. From major cities, freeways diverge in radial directions. So from London the highways diverge to Dover, Yorkshire, Cardiff, and from Birmingham - to Bristol, Manchester. The length of railways is 37.8, and automobile roads - 358 thousand kilometers.

Of great importance for the development of transport are bridges and tunnels, many of which are part of the highways.

Tourism

More than 12 million tourists from all over the world come to the UK every year, visiting major cultural and historical centers: London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol. No less popular are small world-famous museum cities, such as Stratford-upon-Avon, Windsor, the university centers of Cambridge and Oxford. Resorts in the UK are concentrated mainly on the south coast of England (Brighton). Fans of mountain tourism and mountaineering can enjoy the beauties of Scotland. Residents of cities like to spend the weekend in nature in the countryside.

RE FER A T on geography of a student of grade 10 "4" of school No. 1840 Dvoretskaya Olga Topic: "Great Britain" Moscow 2001 Characteristics of the EGP. UK (Ob

It is traditionally called (by the name of the largest island) Great Britain, and by the name of its main part - England. Officially, it is called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In fact, there are three historical and geographical regions: England, Wales and Scotland. The United Kingdom also includes Northern Ireland, which occupies the northeastern part of the island of Ireland. This is the fourth
region of the country.

British Isles- the largest archipelago in Europe. It includes two large islands - Great Britain and, separated by the Irish Sea, and another 5 thousand small ones, among which three groups of islands stand out on
North: Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and the Isle of Man, England, etc. Great Britain is an irregularly shaped archipelago with a very diverse landscape and nature. The latter is a consequence of the fact that the British Isles were once part of Europe, but were cut off from the mainland after the flooding of the lowlands, now the bottom and the strait. Northern Ireland, which is politically complementary to the United Kingdom, is located on Ireland's second largest and is the western extension of the Scottish mountains. These mountainous areas are separated from each other by a narrow Northern Canal. The western shores of the island of Great Britain are rocky and steep, the eastern ones are more gentle.

The area of ​​Great Britain is about 240,842 km2. Most of it is land, and the rest is lakes. The area of ​​England is 129634 km2, Wales - 20637 km2, Scotland - 77179 km2 and Northern Ireland - 13438 km2 Thus, England is much larger than other countries of the United Kingdom, and has the largest population. These factors explain the dominance of England in British history. The southern tip of the island of Great Britain, the Cornwall peninsula, is located at 50 ° N, and the northernmost part of the Shetland Islands archipelago is at 60 ° N.

Historically, the geographic features of Great Britain have influenced human settlement, armed conquest, and political union. They also determined the location and operation of industry, transport systems, the fishing industry, energy resources and communications. They continue to define British life today, and are also closely linked to public concerns about the environment and wildlife.

England(population - 48.2 million people) consists mainly of hilly or flat lowland terrain, diluted with a few mountainous areas in the north and southeast. But low hills stretch across most of the country, interspersed with lowlands and. The population is concentrated mainly around large cities: London and in general in the south-east of England, western Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield, north-western industrial Liverpool and Manchester and north-eastern Newcastle and Sunderland.

Wales(population - 2.9 million people) is a mountainous country with mountains stretching across the entire territory and
hills, often ending in deep valleys created by river beds. These mountains gradually decrease and turn into high hills in the east of England. The highest mountains in Wales are located in the northwest, where Mount Snowdon reaches
1085 m high.

The lowlands are bounded by narrow coastal belts and river valleys in south Wales, where two thirds of the Welsh population live. In the past, the highlands of Wales made war, agriculture and human settlement difficult.

(population - 5.1 million people) can be divided into three main parts. The first part is the northwestern and central mountains, along with a large number of islands on the western and northern coasts. These lands are sparsely populated, and make up half of the entire territory of Scotland. The second part is the central lowlands, which make up one
one-fifth of the entire Scottish territory and three-quarters of the entire population of Scotland, most of the industrial and commercial centers and cultivated land. The third part is the southern uplands, which include a series of hills extending to the border with England.

The highest mountain in Scotland is Ben Nevis (1342 m), which is also the highest mountain in the UK.

Northern Ireland(population - 1.6 million people) is only 21 km away from the Scottish coast, which caused peoples in the distant past. Since the partition of Ireland in 1921, it has bordered the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. In the north there is a mountainous coast, in the center, towards the south, a fertile valley, and mountains in the west,
northeast and southeast.

Great Britain (full name - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is located in the north-west of Europe. The United Kingdom is a wholly island nation consisting of four national territories: Northern Ireland (with Belfast as its capital), England (with London as its capital), Wales (with Cardiff as its capital) and Scotland (Edinburgh as its capital). The last three national regions are made up of Great Britain. The area of ​​the whole kingdom is more than 242 sq. km.

The territory of this state in the north consists of high mountain landscapes and beautiful valleys. This area was formed in the last glacial period when dense thick glaciers covered the earth.

In the south of England there is a wide rolling countryside. There are dozens of clear, cold lakes in northwestern England and the Scottish Highlands. They remained after the melting of glaciers. These lakes are quite long and narrow, and some of them are also very deep. Local myths tell that a giant monster named Nessie lives in Loch Ness in Scotland.

The population of the UK today is approaching 64 million.

The British are a nation created by invaders and migrants. Descendants of the Celts, Vikings, Roman military, Saxons and Normans, the British in our time are a fairly close-knit ethnic group. In the second half of the twentieth century, a strong migration of residents of Arab and African countries began to England. Also, among the migrants in the kingdom, a tangible number of Chinese and Japanese appeared.

About 5000 years ago, the central part of the island was covered with dense forests. And today, only 10% of the territory is occupied by forests, and the rest of the area is now occupied by farmlands.

The UK has 12,429 kilometers of coastline ranging from high cliffs to pleasant beaches and stretching swamps. A wide variety of local wildlife lives on the shores of the country, the main representatives of which are seabirds and seals.

In the UK, the system of government is represented by a constitutional monarchy. The current head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, although this position is essentially nominal and does not carry any power. The real administrative power in the state belongs to the bicameral parliament, headed by the prime minister. The upper house of Parliament is called the House of Lords. Until recently, seats in this chamber belonged to peers and were inherited by the highest nobility of this country. The lower house of parliament, the House of Commons, has always been elected by general suffrage.

Option 2

Geographically, Great Britain is a large island northwest of the continental part of Europe. Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Celtic Sea, the Pas de Calais and the English Channel. Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles, the largest island in Europe; ninth largest and third most populous island in the world. The population of the UK is over 60 million people. Politically, the UK belongs to the United Kingdom, which consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The capital of the state and the entire United Kingdom is London. The head of state is nominally the monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II). Others major cities and industrial centers are Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham.

The sights and heritage of Great Britain traditionally include Westminster Royal Palace in the capital, the oldest prestigious universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the castles of Edinburgh and Belfast, the stone building of Stonehenge.

The official languages ​​of Great Britain are English, as well as Welsh (Wales), Scottish (Scotland), Irish (Northern Ireland), Gaelic and Cornish.

Great Britain is the birthplace of such outstanding writers as Arthur Conan Doyle, William Shakespeare, James Barry, Walter Scott, Lewis Carroll, JK Rowling. Scientists Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin, members of the Beatles musical group were born here.

The national sport is football with a ball. Some of the most successful football teams in the world are located in the UK, namely in Manchester, London, Lierpool. Also, such sports as table tennis, badminton, cricket, tennis, golf are common here.

In the UK, they are engaged in breeding sheep and cows, coal mining, fishing, and the production of first-class cars.

In terms of the number of adherents, Christianity (Anglicanism, Protestantism) occupies the first place among religions here, Islam and Judaism are also common.

2, 3 class. The world.

The area is 245 thousand km2.

Population - 59.4 million people.

The capital is London (7.6 million people).

Geographical position. The country is located on the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and a group of neighboring small islands. The official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It consists of four main historical and geographical areas: England as the main core of the state and also joined to it by Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (Ulster).

It should be borne in mind that the names United Kingdom Great Britain and England are not synonymous. England is only one of the historical and geographical regions of the Kingdom of Great Britain (Great Britain) includes England, Wales and Scotland, while the United Kingdom - the name of the state - unites Northern Ireland in addition to Great Britain.

Among the islands of Great Britain, the largest are White and Maine, and from the island groups - the Hebrides, Orkney and Scottish Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and the Channel Islands in the English Channel. Possession of Great Britain: in Europe - Gibraltar, the West Indies - the islands of Montserrat, the Virgin, Cayman, Turks and Caicos; in the Atlantic Ocean - Bermuda, Falkland, Ascension, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Southern (George, Orkney, Scottish) in the Indian Ocean - the Chagos Islands; in the Pacific Ocean - Pitcairn Island. Between Great Britain and Argentina go for the possession of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands off the coast of South America. The island nation is separated from the mainland by the English Channel and the Pas de Calais.

On land, Great Britain borders only on the Republic of Ireland. The remaining borders are maritime: the western shores of Wales and Central England are washed by the Irish Sea; western Scotland and the northern shores of Ulster - by the Atlantic Ocean, in the south of England (between the United Kingdom and France) the border passes through the English Channel (English Channel), Pas de Calais (Strait of Dover), in the east Great Britain is washed by the waters of the North Sea.

The development of interstate relations led to the fact that Great Britain found itself at a busy crossroads of sea routes, and after the discovery of America - on the main highway of intercontinental shipping and trade.

In the era of the great geographical discoveries, Great Britain captured vast overseas territories and became the metropolis of the vast British Empire, where in the 19th century. about 40% of the world's population lived. The collapse of the colonial system in the XX century. led to new forms of political and economic association former colonial territories. They became the British Commonwealth, which on a civilized basis now includes about 50 countries and territories that once belonged to the British Empire. Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other territories independent and dependent on Great Britain are also members of the Commonwealth.

In the second half of the XX century. economic - geographical position of Great Britain has changed. The formation of the Common Market strengthened the advantage geographical location continental Europe. Great Britain found itself, to a certain extent, on the outskirts of the common European interests of the European Community.

The maximum length of the island of Great Britain from north to south extends for almost a thousand kilometers, and from east to west - less than 500 km. Northern Ireland has a maximum length of 120 km. - From north to south and about 200 km. - From east to west.

Natural resource potential. The UK climate is characterized by mild, wet winters and cool, wet summers. Only the south and southeast are suitable for growing all crops of the temperate zone.

Mineral resources in the country are very limited - there are deposits of coal, iron ore, and non-ferrous metal ores. In the 60s of the XX century. Large new oil and gas fields have been discovered on the North Sea continental shelf, which have propelled the United Kingdom to the forefront of Western Europe in terms of energy resources. The country has significant reserves of limestone.

About 20% of the territory of Great Britain is occupied by forests, highlands, swamps. The remaining surfaces are developed and used for agricultural land and under settlements, industrial zones, communications.

Population. The basis of the modern English nation is made up of the Anglo-Saxon tribes, who came from Europe and conquered the British Isles in the 5th-6th centuries, displacing the local population - the Celts. English today - 80%, Scots - 10%, Irish - 4%, Welsh (Welsh) - 2%, Indians - 1%, other nationalities (mainly immigrants from the Commonwealth countries) - 3%. More than 30 thousand Ukrainians live in England.

Christianity dominates among religions. The English are Anglican, the Irish are Catholic, and the Scots are Presbyterian. Islam is quite common, as well as other beliefs.

The Anglican Protestant Church is the official religion in the country. In Northern Ireland, confrontation continues on confessional grounds - Protestants with Roman Catholics, which often causes bloody clashes.

The UK has a long history of low population growth. So, in the first decades after the Second World War, it was 15.0 - 17.0% per year. Nowadays - 0.18%. The nation is aging. The population over 60 is 21.0% (2000). Life expectancy is 10 years longer than in the world as a whole, but somewhat lower than in other Western European countries - 74.5 years for men and 79.8 years for women.

The urban type of settlement prevails: 89% are city dwellers, and almost half of them live in large cities and urban agglomerations. The most urbanized is the southeastern and central parts of the country - between the cities of London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds. Outside these agglomerations there are three more large settlement centers: Newcastle, Glasgow and Belfast. In terms of population, the largest cities in the UK are London (7.6 million people), Birmingham (2271 thousand people), Manchester (2252 thousand), Leeds (1456 million people), Liverpool (877 thousand people).

Agricultural settlements in the UK are very diverse. Villages and individual farms are typical for South-East and South-West England, for Scotland - small villages. Crowded villages predominate in Wales and Ulster.

The average population density is 242 inhabitants/km2. This is the second place among Western European countries after Belgium (330 axles/km2).

political device. Great Britain is a unitary parliamentary monarchy. Formally, legislative power belongs to the monarch and parliament, which consists of the House of Commons (650 people), the House of Lords (about 1200 people). In fact - the Cabinet of Ministers, which is formed by the Prime Minister.

The main political parties are the Conservative and Labor. The Conservative Party was founded in 1867 and expresses the interests of monopoly capital, the landed aristocracy and part of the managerial staff. The Labor Party was founded in 1890 and is influenced by social reformist and trade union leaders.

In Great Britain there is also the Liberal Party, organizationally formalized in 1877. It defends the interests of medium and small proprietors and the intelligentsia. Currently, its influence on the political life of the country is negligible. There are other less influential political parties.

Traditionally great importance in state building have trade unions. The British Congress of Trade Unions unites more than 10 million people.

The UK is part of European Union and is a member of the North Atlantic bloc (NATO).

The modern structure of the economic complex. Great Britain belongs to the highly developed post-industrial countries of the world. Over the past two centuries, it has gone through a difficult path of development: from a wealthy colonial power of the world, the birthplace of an industrial society ("world workshop" and "world banker") with huge windfall profits, to the crisis of the 30s of the XX century, the post-war restoration of the economy, to a gradual lagging behind its main competitors - the USA, Japan, Germany and even France.

In the economic structure, in terms of GNP, the non-production sector dominates - 71.0%, industry accounts for 28.0%, and agriculture - 2.0% (1999).

In terms of gross national product - 1257 billion dollars (1999), Great Britain has shifted to fifth place in the world. But in the financial sector, London continues to securely occupy the second place in the world, second only to New York.

The post-war economic development of Great Britain was characterized by low rates of production in comparison with other highly developed countries. If in Western European countries the average annual growth rate of industry in 1961-1979 amounted to 5.9%, then in the UK - 2.9%. This trend continued in the 80s and improved somewhat in the 90s of the XX century.

The structure of the economy has changed noticeably. The most dynamically expanded service sector, especially banking. The share of processing industries, energy, and agriculture has decreased. Small business expanded. About 350,000 jobs were created annually in this sector in the 1980s. The development of small business stimulated the growth of the venture (risky) industry. The efficiency of the economy contributed to the improvement of the skill level of managerial personnel.

The growth of business activity in the early 90s of the XX century. contributed to an increase in world demand for British goods, and if in 1994 the growth rate of imports was 3.9% compared with 1990, then the growth of exports exceeded 8%. According to decreased trade deficit. The current structure of employment of the able-bodied population of Great Britain is as follows: the share in the service sector is 71.5%, in industry and construction 26.4% and in agriculture - 2.1%.

According to forecasts, economic growth in the UK will continue due to the increase in the personal income of the British, the growth of employment, the gradual increase in the wages of the main segments of the population.

Industry. Describing the industry as a whole, it should be said about the change in both its sectoral and territorial structure. For example, the coal industry has been winding down throughout the post-war period, despite even state support, while the oil and gas industry has been intensively developing for more than 20 years. The crisis has gripped ferrous metallurgy, shipbuilding, heavy engineering, and the textile industry. At the same time, the importance of high-tech industries is growing, namely: electrical engineering and telecommunications, aviation and aerospace industries, chemical industries (new materials, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals). New and emerging industries are characterized by high mobility. They are shifting from the central and southern regions of the country to the periphery. For example, the oil and gas industry, initially concentrated in East Anglia, has shifted sharply to the north due to the discovery of oil and gas in the North Sea.

In general, the distribution of industry in the postwar period has become more uniform.

Energy. In the development of the UK energy sector, tangible changes occurred in the 1970s, when intensive exploitation of oil and gas fields on the North Sea shelf began. Great Britain, since 1975, began to use energy carriers from its own deposits. In the early 1990s, it entered the top ten largest oil-producing countries in the world (more than 120 million tons are produced annually, or 2,735 thousand barrels of oil daily).

The UK oil refining industry was largely established after the war. Powerful factories are located at the mouth of the Thames (Shelhaven, Coryton), near Southampton, off the coast of Wales (Mildford - Haven, Pembroke, Mandarsea and Baghlan Bay), along the Manchester Canal (Stanlow), in Teesside (Teesport), in Scotland (Grangemouth) , near Immingham (Kimingholm).

The use of oil in the UK fuel and energy balance has led to a decrease in coal production. Over the past 25 years (1970-1995), production has decreased by almost 2.9 times and in 1995 it amounted to 51 million tons, and in 1997 - 48 million tons. much more coal than now. In 1913, for example, 292 million tons of it were mined. Labor productivity in modern mines in Great Britain is four times lower than in the highly developed countries of the world, in particular in the USA, from where some of the much cheaper coal is imported.

The largest reserves of thermal coal are concentrated in the Yorkshire coal basin. 60% of all coal is mined here, and its extraction is three times cheaper than in other basins of the country.

Northumberland - Durham Basin, providing no more than 10% of production, is distinguished by high-quality coking coal. However, the working conditions here are difficult due to the low thickness of the coal seams. Another coal basin - South Wales - is known for its anthracites.

Other basins - Mid-Scottish, Northeast, Lancashire, West Midland - are of secondary importance.

The main part of coal is used for thermal power plants, up to 10% - in ferrous metallurgy.

Natural gas is used not only as a fuel, but also as an important raw material for the chemical industry. In 1996, more than 90 billion m3 were produced.

The UK has been exploiting offshore gas fields in the North Sea since 1964. In terms of natural gas production, it is one of the four largest countries in the world. Gas pipelines from offshore fields are laid in East Anglia, and from there - to the main London-Lancashire gas pipeline and further to other parts of the country.

On the basis of its own and imported energy sources, Great Britain has a powerful electric power industry. In 1997, it produced 345 billion kW / h of electricity and ranked eighth in the world according to this indicator. The basis of the energy industry is thermal power plants. The share of nuclear power plants is 10%.

The steel industry in the UK has an important place in the iron and steel industry, which remains an important industry, although the production of iron and steel is declining. If in 1990 12.8 million tons of pig iron and 18.8 million tons of steel were smelted, then in 1997 - respectively 8.5 and 16.6 million tons. electrofusion methods. Like most developed countries of the world, the UK now specializes in the production of high-quality steel and complex types of rolled products.

The region is provided with its own coke, but in addition to manganese and alloying metals, it imports almost all the necessary iron ore.

In the UK, metal is traditionally smelted near the coal basins (South Wales, Northeast, Scottish, Lancashire) in the West Midlands and near iron ore deposits (Cumberland, Lincolshire, Northamptonshire). In recent decades, metallurgy has shifted to the sea coast due to the delivery of imported raw materials through the ports of the country.

In the structure of the industry, the importance of processing metallurgy, which is based on scrap metal, has significantly increased. Suffice it to say that steel production is almost 1.5 times higher than iron smelting.

Among the countries of Europe, Great Britain closes the top five largest producers of ferrous metals (after the Russian Federation, Germany, Italy, Ukraine), in the world it ranks eleventh (1996).

The main form of location of ferrous metallurgy in the UK is not isolated metallurgical centers, but metallurgical regions. The largest region is South Wales. Combination of hard coal mined in the South Wales Coal Basin with iron ore Central England, as well as the proximity of seaports (Port Talbot and Manvern near Newport) make the local iron and steel industry competitive in today's structural materials market.

Among other metallurgical enterprises, coastal cities stand out: Scunthorpe (near Humberside), Teesside (Lakenby - Redcar), Scotland (Ravenscraig). In the central part, another metallurgical region stands out - Sheffield, based on the use of coal from the Middle English coal basin and local iron ores, producing high-quality steel for the engineering industry.

In general, the ferrous metallurgy industry is the most monopolized. After all, 90% of steel and 75% of rolled steel is produced by British Steel, which occupies a leading position in the world in steel production.

Non-ferrous metallurgy in the UK is mainly focused on the processing of imported unrefined metals and scrap. Only tin and tungsten are mined from their own raw materials in small quantities.

Great Britain almost completely satisfies its own needs for tin. A significant part of it is used in the production of tinplate, concentrated in the south of Wales.

Aluminum production has grown over the past decades. In 1998, 500 thousand tons of it were smelted (90% of the demand). For the production of aluminum, the UK opens the second ten largest producers.

There are not enough other non-ferrous metals for the economic complex of the country. Thus, the country is provided with only 40% of its own refined copper and zinc. But it produces 350 thousand tons of lead (almost 6% of world production).

As in ferrous metallurgy, the production of non-ferrous metals tends to port cities, where raw materials are supplied, in particular to Liverpool, the ports of South Wales, the Port of London.