The economy of Great Britain: industry and agriculture, the major regions and industrial centres.



The United Kingdom has a mixed economy that is the fifth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is considered the second largest economy in Europe after Germany's [4]. Its GDP PPP per capita in 2007 is the 22nd highest in the world. The United Kingdom is one of the world's most globalised countries. The capital, London (see Economy of London), is a major financial centre of the world, in front of New York City, Hong Kong and Singapore according to a report compiled by the City of London.[5] The British economy is made up (in descending order of size) of the economies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK became a member state of the European Community, in 1973, and ratified the Maastricht Treaty making it a European Union state, at the inception of the EU in 1993. In the 1980s, under the Government of Margaret Thatcher, most state-owned enterprises in the industrial and service sectors, which since the 1940s had been nationalised, were privatised. The British Government now owns very few industries or businesses - Royal Mail is one example. Following the end of World War II, despite a largely prosperous period in the 1950s and 1960s, the British economy recorded weaker growth than other European nations and by the 1970s was referred to as the "sick man of Europe". However, the 1980s saw a new economic boom and in recent years Britain has seen the longest period of sustained economic growth for more than 150 years, having grown in every quarter since 1992. It is one of the strongest EU economies in terms of inflation, interest rates and unemployment, all of which remain relatively low. The United Kingdom, according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2007 had the ninth highest level of GDP per capita in the European Union in terms of purchasing power parity, after Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and Finland. However, in common with the economies of other English-speaking countries, it has higher levels of income inequality than many European countries. During August 2008 the IMF has warned that the UK economic outlook has worsened due to a twin shock: financial turmoil as well as rising commodity prices.[6] Both developments harm the UK more than most developed countries, as the UK obtains revenue from exporting financial services while recording deficits in finished goods and commodities, including food. The UK has the world's third largest current account deficit, despite significant oil revenues. This is mainly the result of a large deficit in the trade in manufacture goods. During May 2008, the IMF advised the UK government to broaden the scope of fiscal policy to promote external balance.[7] Although the UK's "labour productivity per person employed" has been progressing well over the last two decades and has overtaken productivity in the united Germany, it lags around 20% behind France's level, where workers have a 35-hour working week.[8] The UK's "labour productivity per hour worked" is currently on a par with the average for the "old" EU (15 countries).[9] The United Kingdom currently ranks 16th on the Human Development Index.

A general survey of the educational system of Great Britain: the public and private sectors, the main types of schools, further education. The main types of universities.

The educational system of G.B. is extreamely complex and bewildering. It is very difficult to generalise about particular types of schools as schools differ from one to the other. The departament of education and science is responsible for national educational policy,but it doesn't employe teacher or prescribe corricular or text books. Each school has it's own board of governers consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, members of local community, businessmen and sometimes pupils. According to the law only one subject is compulsary. Such as religious instruction. Schooling for children is compulsary from 5 to 16, though some provision is made for children under 5 and some pupils remain at school after 16 to prepare for higher education..The state school system is usually devided into 2 stages (secondary and primary).The majority of primary schools are mixed.They are subdevided into infant schools(ages 5 to 7),and junior schools(ages 7 to11). In junior schools pupils were often placed in A,B,C or D-streams, according to their abilities. Under the pressue of progressive parents and teachers the 11+ examination has now been abolished in most parts of the country. There are some types of schools in G.B.Grammar schools provided an academical cause for selected pupils from the age of 11 to 18. Only those children who have the best results are admitted to these schools. They give pupils a high level of academic education wich can lead to the university.Technical Schools offer a general education with a technical bias and serve those pupils who are more mecanically minded. The corricular includes more science and mathematics. Secondary modern schools were formed to provide a non-academic education for children of lesser attainment. The corricular includes more practical subjects. The comprehensive schools brings about a general improvement in the system of secondary education. After finishing secondary school or college you can apply to a university, polytechnic, college of education or you can continue to study in a college of further education.

Further education.The academic year in Britain's univercities, Polytechnics, Colleges of education is divided into 3 terms, which usually run from the beginning of October to the middle of December, the middle of January to the end of March, from the middle of April to the end of June or the beginning of July. There are 46 universities in Britain. The oldest and best-known universities are located in Oxford, Cambridge, London, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Southampton, Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham.Good A-level results in at least 2 subjects are necessary to get a place at a university. However, good exam passes alone are not enough. Universities choose their students after interviews. For all British citizens a place at a university brings with it a grant from their local education authority.English universities greatly differ from each other. They differ in date of foundation, size, history, tradition, general organization, methods of instruction, way of student life.After three years of study a university graduate will leave with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, etc. Later he may continue to take Master's Degree and then a Doctor's Degree. There's an interesting form of studies which is called the Open University. It's intended for people who study in their own free time and who 'attend' lectures by watching TV and listening to the radio. They keep ih touch by phone and letter with their tutors and attend summer schools. The Open University students have no formal qualifications and would be unable to enter ordinary universities. Some 80,000 overseas students study at British universities or further education colleges or train in nursing, law, banking or in industry

 

16.The government department overseeing transport is the Department for Transport.The growth in private car ownership in the latter half of the 20th century led to major road-building programmes. Important trunk roads built include the A1 Great North Road from London to Newcastle and Edinburgh, and the A580 "East Lancs." road between Liverpool and Manchester. The M6 motorway is the country's longest motorway running from Rugby through North West England to the Scottish border. Other major roads include the M1 motorway from London to Leeds up the east of the country, the M25 motorway which encircles London, the M60 motorway which encircles Manchester, the M4 motorway from London to South Wales, the M62 motorway from Liverpool to Manchester and Yorkshire, and the M5 motorway from Birmingham to Bristol and the South West.Most of the British National Rail network of 16,116 kilometres (10,014 mi) lies in England. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and other cities, including the Manchester Metrolink and the London Underground. The London Underground is the oldest and most extensive underground railway in the world, and as of 2007 consists of 407 km (253 mi) of line[141] and serves 275 stations.There are around 7,100 km (4,400 mi) of navigable waterways in England, of which roughly half is owned by British Waterways. An estimated 165 million journeys are made by people on Britain's waterways annually. The Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at the Port of Tilbury, one of the three major ports in the UK. Ports in the UK handled over 560 million tonnes of domestic and international freight in 2005.[142]London Heathrow Airport is England's largest airport, the largest airport by passenger volume in Europe and one of the world's busiest airports. London Gatwick Airport is England's second largest airport, followed by Manchester Airport. Other major airports include London Stansted Airport in Essex, about 50 kilometres (30 mi) north of London, Luton Airport and Birmingham International Airport.

17.PressTraditionally, British newspapers could be split into quality, serious-minded newspaper (usually referred to as "broadsheets" due to their large size) and the more populist, tabloid varieties. For convenience of reading, many traditional broadsheets have switched to a more compact-sized format, traditionally used by tabloids. The Sun has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the UK: 3.1 million, approximately a quarter of the market.[228] Its sister paper, the News of the World has the highest circulation in the Sunday newspaper market, and traditionally focuses on celebrity-led stories.[229] The Daily Telegraph, a right wing broadsheet paper, is the highest-selling of the "quality" newspapers.[228] The Guardian is a more liberal "quality" broadsheet and the Financial Times is the main business newspaper, printed on distinctive salmon-pink broadsheet paper.First printed in 1737, The News Letter from Belfast, is the oldest known English-language daily newspaper still in publication today. One of its fellow Northern Irish competitors, The Irish News, has been twice ranked as the best regional newspaper in the United Kingdom, in 2006 and 2007. Aside from newspapers, British magazines and journals have achieved worldwide circulation including The Economist and Nature.Scotland has a distinct tradition of newspaper readership (see list of newspapers in Scotland). The tabloid Daily Record has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper outselling the Scottish Sun by four to one while its sister paper, the Sunday Mail similarly leads the Sunday newspaper market. The leading "quality" daily newspaper in Scotland is The Herald, though it is the sister paper of The Scotsman, the Scotland on Sunday, that leads in the Sunday newspaper market TVThere are five major nationwide television channels in the UK: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Five - currently transmitted by analogue terrestrial, free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising. In Wales, S4C the Welsh Fourth Channel replaces Channel 4, carrying Welsh language programmes at peak times. It also transmits Channel 4 programmes at other times.The BBC is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world. It operates several television channels and radio stations in both the UK and abroad. The BBC's international television news service, BBC World News, is broadcast throughout the world and the BBC World Service radio network is broadcast in thirty-three languages globally, as well as services in Welsh on BBC Radio Cymru and programmes in Gaelic on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal in Scotland and Irish in Northern Ireland.

 


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