Download Region: an area of the earth`s surface which has certain common

NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Dolmányos P.
REGIONS
Region: an area of the earth’s surface which has certain common features throughout / an area
of the earth’s surface with one or more features or characteristics which give it a measure of
unity and make it differ from the areas surrounding it
Scotland
1/3 of the area of Great Britain, most sparsely populated region
Major population concentration: Lowlands (3/4 of the population). Western part: coal mining,
heavy industries, mixed crop and livestock farming; Eastern: arable farming, light industries.
Edinburgh – mainly light industry (brewing, printing, publishing); Glasgow – once a great
centre of traditional heavy industries (iron and steel production, shipbuilding, locomotives,
machine tools); decline of heavy industry, growth of services
Northwest Highlands: sheep herding, tourism. Dundee – textiles; Aberdeen – port;
shipbuilding, chemical industry, fishing, oil (since the opening of the North Sea oil fields)
North (North East)
Eastern part: major centre of heavy industry yet affected significantly by the decline of these
activities; the highest unemployment and inactivity rates and the lowest gross disposable
household income in England
Newcastle-upon-Tyne – port, metallurgy, shipbuilding, chemical industry; Sunderland,
Middlesbrough; Darlington, Stockton – locomotives; Barrow – metallurgy, military vehicles
Yorkshire and Humberside
Once a major centre of coal mining (2/5 of the production); still present in spite of the general
decline of the branch (coal still has a significant role in energy production)
North: Scunthorpe – steel. West Riding – wool production, machine tools; Leeds –
electronics, textiles; Bradford – wool and silk products, trading centre; Halifax; Huddersfield;
Wakefield
South: steel production (special alloys and products); Sheffield
North West
One of the cradles of the Industrial Revolution; local resources (coal, salts), cotton industry,
chemical industry, engineering, food processing
Greater Manchester; Manchester – trading centre, chemicals, engineering; Blackburn;
Bolton; Oldham; Preston; St Helens – glass production
Merseyside: Liverpool – port, mills, sugar production, oil refineries, rubber, leather,
shipbuilding
Sellafield – nuclear reprocessing plant
Wales
1/10 of the area, 5% of the population, mainly mountainous area
NBB AN205 G2 Regional Geography of the British Isles
Dolmányos P.
North: livestock rearing. South: coal mining, heavy industries, the leading area of metallurgy
in the UK. Cardiff – port, metallurgy, engineering, food processing; Port Talbot – iron and
steel production; Swansea – metallurgy, oil
West Midlands
The first industrial region of the world – Black Country, originally based on local resources,
the other cradle of the Industrial Revolution. Coal mining, metallurgy, engineering, chemical
industry; horticulture, dairy farming
Birmingham – about 1500 different kinds of industrial activities, major branch: engineering;
Stoke on Trent – centre of the ‘Pottery District’; Coventry – motor industry, airplanes
East Midlands
Heavy industry dominant in percentage, light industry and agriculture leading in terms of
significance. Nottingham – textiles, tobacco; Leicester – leather products, shoemaking; Derby
– silk, porcelain, motor industry (Rolls Royce), locomotives
South East
London and its surroundings, the major centre of development (EU etc), versatile agriculture
(arable farming, mixed crop and livestock farming, horticulture), diverse industrial activities
(from traditional light industry to electronics)
London – traditional branches in the East End, modern ones in the west and north
Cambridge – educational centre; Oxford – educational centre, motor industry; Southampton –
port, airplanes; Fawley – airplanes, chemical industry; Brighton – tourism
South West
Primarily agricultural region with light industry and food processing based on raw materials
from agriculture; dairy farming, horticulture, fishing
Bristol – earlier one of the leading ports, now: food processing, metallurgy, engineering,
chemical industry; Plymouth – port, airplanes
Northern Ireland
The most depressed region, highest unemployment rate, highest percentage of agricultural
workers. Agriculture: livestock rearing (cattle, sheep); industry: processing agricultural
products. Belfast – port, metallurgy, processing of imported raw materials (primarily food
products)
Ireland
Main difference: between the Southeast and the West
Southeast: more favourable physical conditions (climate, soils), better location. Dublin – 25
% of the population, beer and whisky, tobacco, food processing, shipbuilding; Cork –
engineering, metallurgy, oil refining; Waterford – glass production, food processing, paper,
fertilisers
West: hostile environment, small-scale industrial activities, tourism (special interest: the
Gaeltacht). Limerick – port; Galway – port (mainly exports)