ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Great Britain is a highly developed industrial country.

Shipbuilding is one of the principal industries of Great Britain. For centuries Britain has been the leading shipbuilder in the world.

Coal is the main source for the development of British industry. The biggest centers of iron and steel industries are situated in the neighborhood of coal basins. They are Middleborough, Newcastle, Cardiff, Glasgow, and Sheffield. The district around Birmingham is a land of factories and mines.

Coal - mining, metallurgy, textile, shipbuilding are the older branches of industry. The new industries are the chemical, electrotechnical, automobile, aviation and electronics. The new industries have developed hand in hand with science and technology and are equipped to meet present technical demands.

Big cities and towns such as London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and Birmingham have enterprises of nearly all branches of industry, old and new. The main centres of industry are Leeds, Bradford and Manchester.    

London, Liverpool and Glasgow are the biggest English ports.

The products of Britain economy, for example, automobiles, textile, machinery, electronic equipment and many others, are exported to many countries of the world.

Agriculture is one of the largest and most important activities in Great Britain. The greater part of the land here is used for sheep-, cattle-, and dairy farming. Vegetables are grown in all parts of the country. The chief grain crops are wheat and barley.