CHAPTER 15: THE BRITISH ISLES & NORDIC NATIONS HONORS WORLD GEOGRAPHY
PRE BELL W ithout looking it up in the text, what do you think the difference is between England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom? Answer in a 3-5 complete sentence paragraph!!
SECTION 1: ENGLAND British Isles- islands clustered off the northwest corner of Europe – Largest island is Great Britain Island of Great Britain is made up of three formally independent nations- Scotland, Wales, and England The above three, accompanied by Northern Ireland, comprise the United Kingdom – The core country of the United Kingdom is England (80% of the population lives here)
England is made up of three distinct regions: – Highlands- band of hills that run the length of England’s west coast; rocky and difficult to farm – Midlands- heavy coal and industrial region; highest population densities are in this region – Lowlands- located to the south and east; fertile farming area The English capital and most important port city is London.
Great Britain is historically important for many reasons, but one of the most significant is that the Industrial Revolution began there. This happened in GB for several key reasons: – Bountiful supply of resources – New technological developments – Skilled and educable labor force – Wealth available for investment – Population explosion/demand for goods increased – Stable government and strong military
Today, with much of the raw materials/resources depleted, Britain relies more on tertiary (service based) industries to fuel the economy. ASSIGNMENT!!! TO BE TURNED IN AT THE END OF CLASS!!! – HOW DID EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTE TO ENGLAND’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? ATLANTIC OCEAN, THAMES RIVER, PENNINE MOUNTAINS, LOWLANDS, MIDLANDS
SECT. 2: SCOTLAND AND WALES Scotland occupies about 1/3 of the United Kingdom land, but less than 10% of the UK population lives there. The rugged landscape is said to be the main reason why. Scotland is divided into three regions: – Northern highlands- high plateau with many lochs- lakes. Highlands are covered in moors- broad, treeless plains. The moors are dotted with bogs- areas of wet, spongy ground. The main economic activities here are fishing and sheep herding.
– Central Lowlands- long, lowland region where 75% of Scotland’s population lives. It was once a major industrial region. – Southern Uplands- closest area to the English border, so there is a greatly English influence here. This area is also primarily a sheep raising region. Wales is a peninsula of Great Britain. It is about the size of our state of Massachusetts and its land/terrain is very similar to that of Scotland.
One thing that helps Wales maintain somewhat of a unique identity is their Welsh language. Twenty percent (20%) of the population still speaks Welsh, not English, as their primary language. Today both Scotland and Wales are having great economic success in high tech industries like electronics.