are other
large industrial cities, such as Birmingham,
Liverpool, and Manchester.
The most densely
populated are 818d34i as are in
London and the
south-east, the industrial cities in West Yorkshire (Leeds, Sheffield,
Bradford) and the north west (Liverpool, Manchester), the conurbation around
Birmingham in the West Midlands, the conurbations around the rivers Tyne and
Tees in
the north east (Newcastle upon Tyne,
Middlesborough) and along the south coast. Other very
interesting and famous cities are York, Chester, Oxford and Cambridge.
Chester is a very
important town in the north-west of England. It has about sixty
thousand inhabitants.
In the past it used
to be a Roman fort; its name comes from the Latin word castra, meaning "fortified camp".
Oxford is the
home of the oldest university in England. Most of the oldest
colleges are situated just a short walk from each other in the centre of town.
The most famous college is Christ
Church. It has a
great hall dating from the reign of Henry VIII and its chapel has become the
Cathedral of Oxford.
Cambridge is the
home of Britain's
second oldest University. It is situated on the river Cam
A beautiful way to visit it is from the river, hiring a punt and going under
its beautiful bridges.
York was the
capital of Northern England. It is one of the
best preserved
medieval cities in Europe. It
was built by the Romans, conquered by the Angle-Saxon and ruled by the Vikings.
If you are in York
you cannot miss the Shambles, a medieval street where the buildings are very
close together, and York Minster, the largest Gothic Cathedral north of the Alps.
Although England is a relatively highly
industrialised and populous area, there are still many unspoilt areas of
natural beauty. These include national parks, forest parks, conservation areas
as well as many historic buildings and gardens, safari and wild-life parks and
'theme' parks organized according to a historic or legendary theme.
ECONOMY
England is highly
industrialised and was, in fact, the first country to undergo an industrial
revolution, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Its economy is
traditionally based on coalmining, iron and steel manufacturing, heavy
machinery and textile industries, shipbuilding and trading.
More recent industries include pharmaceuticals,
artificial fibres, electrical equipment, car- manufacturing, and high
technology industries.
In London
and the south east, 75% of employees work in the service industries,
particularly those linked to business or finance.
Agriculture still plays an important role in
the economy, employing about l million people. Dairy products are more common
in the west while sheep and cattle are reared in the hilly areas of the north
and south west. In the south and east, arable farming, pigs, poultry and
horticulture dominate.
NATURAL RESOURCES
England has many coal-fields, which have recently been
privatised, as well as oil and gas reserves in the North Sea which saved Britain
from economic disaster during the oil crisis of the 1970s.
EXERCISES
1. Put the correct names by
the dots in the map below
2. Find out about the
economy of your country and write some comparative sentences
