01 The United Kingdom

ECONOMY

• more economicly developped country

• highly developed social market and market-oriented

• sixth largest national economy measured by GDP

• one of most globalised economies

• London = second largest financial centre in the world

• very service oriented (80.2 % services, 19.2 % industry, 0.6 % agriculture)

• customer care & headquarters in UK – they speak English

• part of UN and G7, January 2020 left EU

• Margaret Thatcher

  • big economic reform in 1980s

  • 1960 and 1970 colonies fell apart, British were struggling – unable to send surplaces abroad, no money for them, couldn‘t recieve free natural resources

  • Huge decline

  • decided to restructuralize the economy and refresh it

  • moved away from agriculture (modernizing agriculture), moving away from heavy industry (end of mining, steelworks)

  • moving closer to modern technologies, investments into biotechnology

  • core: the City = part of London, financial heart – bank, Exchange

  • 2019 – 2020 best city to start your new business

  • reform huge impact – energetic powerty = they do not heat up much – too expensive, many houses not insulated = would lose heat quickly

• huge financial differences

  • divided to clases

  • the rich and the poor

  • „classless society“ = you, no polite adressing as in czech vykání

  • glass ceiling = if you are born poor – limited access to good education, can’t get to higher places in companies, difficult to reach

• division north and south

  • south – agriculture

  • north – used to be industrial, now not that much

  • MT killed manufacture… - north is decimated – three times bigger chance to be pregnant as a teenarge, people experiment with heavy drugs – comparable to south Europe

• Rolls Roys, Innocent, Tesco, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer, Salisbury

NATURAL RESOURCES

• used to be forested

• in 17th century trees used for ships, MT’s reforms – no more trees

• agriculture is intensive and highly mechanized

• large coal, natural gas and oil reserves

• land use:

  • arable land (land capable of being used to grow crops): 25 %

  • permanent pastures: 46 %

  • forests and woodland: 10 %

GEOGRAPHY

• capital: London

• the terrain is mostly flat

• highlands: north and west, lowlands: south and east

• Geological development

  • started under the Equator – Southern a northern part – hit each other – Southern part pushed Northern part – formed a mountain more than 10km high – rained down

    • Edinburgh volcano castle – dormant volcano – remnants from history

    • Northern rainforest – Yorkshire – coal

    • Southern area = desert – became red soil – most fertile (Devon)

  • fossils everywhere

  • Ice Age – almost completely under glaciers – reached to the middle of london – cavemen moved north – dates to thousand years back

  • melting snow = islands started going up – water into seas and ocean – land bridge disappeared – sea divided Ireland from GB