INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE OF THE U.K.

In the past English industrial prosperity¹ rested on a few important products, such as textiles, coal and heavy machinery. Now the U.K. has a great variety² of industries, for example heavy and light industry, chemical, aircraft, electrical, automobile and many other industries. The United Kingdom is considered³ one of the world's major manufacturing⁴ nations. Now high technology industries are more developed than heavy engineering⁹. Heavy engineering and other traditional industries have experienced a certain decline.

Certain areas are traditionally noted for various types of industries. For instance, Newcastle is famous for coal industry, the county of Lancashire for its textile industry. The Midlands, or the central counties of England, are famous for the production of machinery, coal, motor cars and chemicals. In recent times regional industrial distinctions have become less clear as more and more new factories are built in the different parts of the country. Speaking about the cities of the United Kingdom the first mention should be made of London, the capital of the U.K. It is a big port on the River Thames, a major commercial, industrial centre.

Leeds is a centre of clothing industry⁵ producing woolen articles⁶. Glasgow is a major port on the River Clyde where shipbuilding industry is developed. Liverpool on the River Mersey is a flour milling⁷ and engineering⁸ centre. Birmingham is an iron and steel centre. Manchester is famous for textiles manufacturing.

Three-quarters of the United Kingdom's land is dedicated to agriculture. About two per cent of the population of the United Kingdom are engaged¹⁰ in agriculture, but the yields¹¹ of English farms and pastures¹² are very high. Wheat, barley, oats and potatoes are the most important crops grown. Sheep, cattle and pigs are the most numerous types of livestock¹³. Sheep is a source of both wool for textile industry and mutton for food industry. Mutton is the best liked English meat.

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ECONOMY OF THE U.S.A.

The United States of America is a highly developed industrialized country. Shipbuilding, electronics, automobile industry, aircraft industry, space research are highly developed in the States.

Each region of the United States has characteristics of its own due to¹ the differences in climate, landscape and geographical position.

Great Lakes, Atlantic Coast, Pennsylvania, New Jersy are biggest industrial regions of the country.

The United States has a lot of mineral deposits or resources such as coal, gold, silver, copper, lead and zink. The south, especially Texas is rich in oil. The coalfields of Pennsylvania are rich in coal. There are plenty of² coal mines.

Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska is the richest farming region of America and it is known as the Corn Belt⁴. The land is fertile⁵ and well watered. They grow mostly corn³ and wheat there. Much livestock is also raised⁶ here.

There is a lot of fruit raising area. For example, California oranges, grapefruit, lemons, as well as other fruits, wines and vegetables are shipped all over the States and to other parts of the world. The most important crops grown in the States are . also tobacco, soy-beans, peanuts , grapes and many others.

Many American residential areas tend to have a similar look. As to big cities their centres or downtowns look very much alike.

New York City is the first biggest city of the States. Its population is more than eight million people. It is a financial and advertising business centre. It is also a biggest seaport of the Hudson River. Industry of consumer goods⁷ is also developed here.

Chicago with a population of more than three and a half million is the second largest city in the U.S.A. It deals⁸ in wheat and other grains, cattle meat processing⁹ and manufacturing. Other big cities are Huston, an oil refining¹⁰ and NASA¹¹ space research centre, New Orleans, a cotton industry centre, Los Angeles with Hollywood, Philadelphia, a shipping commercial centre, Detroit, a world's leading motor car producer and many others.

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Industry in Ukraine

Ukraine possesses considerable potential in such sectors of the economy as machine engineering, aerospace, telecommunications, textile, clothing, footwear, and agriculture (due to its unique black soil).

Furthermore, Ukraine has a powerful defence industry, significant scientific potential and has shown considerable achievements in the field of designing brand¹ new technologies that meet international standard requirements².

Machine engineering and military industrial complexes have started to produce about 200 types of new products which had not been manufactured in Ukraine before. Among them are food-processing machinery, medical equipment, transportation vehicles, construction materials and equipment, small farming machines and home appliances³.

Ukraine’s major industrial area is in the south-east, namely the Donbas and the Prydniprovye region (Kryvyi Rih coal basin, Zaporizhia, and Dnepropetrovsk). Concentrated here are coal mines, iron and manganese ore deposits, metallurgical plants relating to the chemical, petrochemical and machine building plants and power stations.

Among the 150 branches of the national economy, one of the leading is ferrous metallurgy.

In the field of non-ferrous metallurgy⁴, Ukraine holds the monopoly in the CIS in the manufacture of metallic titanium which is of vital importance for the economy.

The Ukrainian chemical industry produces mineral fertilizers, soda, chemical fibres, plastics and other products.

The petrochemical industry of Ukraine is capable of refining 62 million tons of crude oil⁵ per year.

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GLIMPSES OF HISTORY¹ OF MONEY

At different periods of time and in different parts of the world many different commodities have served as money. These commodities² were: cattle, sheep, furs, leather, fish, tobacco, tea, salt, shells etc. The experts underline that to serve effectively as money, a commodity should be fairly durable, easily divisible, and portable. None of the above-mentioned³ commodities possessed all these qualities, and in time they were superseded by precious metals.

First they were superseded⁴ by silver and later by gold.

When a payment was made the metal was first weighed out. The next stage was the cutting of the metal into pieces of definite weight and so coins came into use. Paper money first came into use in the form of receipts given by goldsmiths in exchange for deposits of silver and gold coins. After goldsmiths became bankers their receipts became banknotes. That's how the first banknotes came into existence⁵. At first coins were worth⁶ their face value⁷ as metal. But later token coins⁸ of limited value as legal tender were issued. Now smaller denomination coins are made from bronze and are often referred to as coppers. Bigger denomination coins are made from cupronickel and are usually called silver.

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