Economic
situation in Great Britain and Latvia
1
Introduction
Great Britain officially the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northen Ireland.Technically, Great Britain comprises England,
Wales, Scotland, and Northen Ireland. There is constitutional monarchy.The
capital of Great Britain and its largest city is London.
Latvia is one of the Baltic states, along with Lithuania
and Estonia.Latvia is republic in northeastern Europe.It was a republic of the
USSR until 1991, when it regained its independence..Riiga is the capital and
largest city, as well as the chief port..
Population
Great
Britain is the fourth most populous country in Europe. The English constitute
more than 80% of the nation's inhabitants. The Scottish minority is nearly 10%
and there are smaller groups of Irish and Welsh descent. In addition, from the
1970s into the 1990s Great Britain continued a trend toward greater ethnic
diversity, as people from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Africa, China, and
other places immigrated; these groups accounted for some 2.7 million
inhabitants by the 1991 census. Moreover, population experts have estimated
that ethnic minorities will make up some 9% of Great Britain's population by
the middle of the 21st century.
English
is the universal language of Great Britain. In addition, about a quarter of the
inhabitants of Wales speak Welsh and there are about 60,000 speakers of the
Scottish form of Gaelic in Scotland.
Economic situation in Great Britain and
Latvia
2
In
Latvia at the begining of 1996, there were 2,496,981 inhabitants , 1,764,968
individuals, or 70.684% being citizens of Latvia.Latvia`s population is made up
of several ethic groups. In terms of ethnicity , whereas the last census data
before WWII listed Latvians as comprising 77% of the total population,
according to the State Statistics Comitee in April 1995, Latvians make up
56.65% of the population, Russians 30.33%, Belorussians 4.33%, Ukrainias 2.73%,
and Poles 2.58%.Other ethnic groups include Lithuanians, Jews, Gypsies,
Estonians and Germans.
Leading position
Great
Britain is one of the world's leading industrialized nations. It has achieved
this position despite the lack of most raw materials needed for industry. Great
Britain also must import about 40% of its food supplies. Thus the country's
prosperity is heavily dependent upon the export of manufactured goods in
exchange for raw materials and foodstuffs. The per capita national income in
1991 was $15,900. In the early 1990s, manufacturing industries accounted for
about a quarter of the gross domestic product, followed by financial
industries, trade, transportation and communications, services, construction,
mining and public utilities, and agriculture. Service industries employed about
60% of the workforce, while manufacturing accounted for just over 25%.
Within
the manufacturing sector itself, the largest industries include machine tools;
electric power, automation, and railroad equipment; ships; motor vehicles and
parts; aircraft; electronic and communications equipment; metals; chemicals;
petroleum; coal; food processing; paper and printing; textile; and clothing.
During the 1970s and 80s, nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs were lost.
However, over 3.5 million jobs were created in service-related industries.
Economic situation in Great Britain and
Latvia 3
This
trend reflects a shift in Great Britain's economic base, which has benefited
the southeast, southwest, and Midlands regions of Great Britain. Other areas,
such as northern England and Northern Ireland have been hard hit by the
changing economy. In the mid and late 1980s, the overall economy grew and
unemployment decreased, but economic conditions again worsened in the early
1990s, with unemployment rising to 9.4% by 1992.
Since
achieving independence Latvia has aspired to reintegrate with Europe. This
widely held goal allowed the country’s leaders to early on initiate economic
reforms intended to establish a market economy such as found in western
European nations
Today
the economy of Latvia is among the healthiest of the former Soviet republics.
The GDP was increasing in the mid-1990s. Inflation was contained and the
national currency was stable, both of which encouraged international trade and
economic growth.
Latvia’s
gross domestic product was $5.0 billion in 1996. Industry contributed 33
percent of GDP, a smaller proportion than in earlier years because of a sharp
drop in industrial production following Latvia’s independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991. Agriculture, fishing, and forestry contributed 9 percent of the
GDP, and the broad services sector, which includes trade and financial
activities, produced 58 percent.
Export and
Import
The
country's chief exports are manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals,
semifinished goods, and transport equipment. The chief imports are manufactured
goods, machinery, semifinished and consumer goods, and foodstuffs. Since the
early 1970s Great Britain's trade focus has shifted from
Economic
situation in Great Britain and Latvia
4
the
United States to the European Community, which now accounts for over 50% of
Britain's trade. In addition, Commonwealth nations account for 11% of Great
Britain's trade. Germany, the United States, France, and the Netherlands are
Britain's main export markets. The country accounts for 6% of the world's total
exports.
Latvia,
a country with few natural resources, must import all of its natural gas and
oil and one-half of its electricity. The imported electricity comes from
neighboring Lithuania and Estonia. Of that generated inside Latvia,
three-quarters is produced in hydroelectric plants and the remainder in
facilities burning fossil fuels.
Latvia’s
principal exports are forestry products, textiles, prepared foodstuffs, and
machinery and equipment. Leading imports are mineral products (notably fuels),
machinery and equipment, and textiles. Russia is the country’s chief trading partner,
buying nearly one-quarter of Latvia’s products and supplying one-fifth of its
imports. Other important trading relationships are with Germany, Lithuania,
Finland, the United Kingdom, and Estonia.
Industrial
and comercial areas
The
main industrial and commercial areas of Great Britain are the great
conurbations, where about one third of the country's population lives. The
administrative and financial center and most important port is Greater London,
which also has various manufacturing industries. London remains an important
international financial center, and is now Europe's foremost financial city.
Metal goods, vehicles, aircraft, synthetic fibers, and electronic equipment are
made in the West Midlands conurbation, which with the addition of Coventry roughly corresponds to the metropolitan
county of West Midlands.
Economic situation in Great Britain and
Latvia
5
Latvia
is very small country , so it can`t be competition to the UK, but anyway we
have some industries were we are strong,. We have very beatiful landscapes and
our fisshing industrie is improving.our
landscapes are forested about 46%, mainly with pine,spurce,birch, and
aspen.Latvia`s wide variety of birds includes black storks, herons,
nightingales,woodpeckers, owls, and partidges.
Agriculture
Almost
30% of Britain's land is arable, and almost half is suitable for meadows and
pastures. Its agriculture is highly mechanized and extremely productive, with
some of the highest crop yields of grains, sugar beets, fruits, and vegetables.
The widespread dairy industry makes the country self-sufficient in milk, and
nearly all the eggs needed are also home-produced. Beef cattle, large numbers
of sheep, poultry, and pigs are raised in large numbers throughout much of the
country. Barley, potatoes, rapeseed, and wheat are the main cereal crops.
The
coal, gas, electricity, railroad, and aviation industries and most of the steel
industries, which were mainly publicly owned until the late 1970s, have
undergone a process of privatization that began with the Thatcher government.
Nearly all of Latvia’s agricultural
land was gathered into collective or state-managed farms during Soviet rule.
Since independence a government privatization program is returning the farmland
to private ownership. Principal agricultural activity is dairy farming and pig
breeding. Leading crops include potatoes, barley, sugar beets, wheat, and
cabbages. The Latvian fishing fleet sails from Rîga and Liepâja to search the
Baltic Sea and Atlantic Ocean for mackerel and herring. Some 46 percent of
Latvia is forested, and timber cutting
Economic situation in Great Britain and Latvia
6
is a
significant economic activity. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing employed 19
percent of the workforce in 1995.
The
processing of raw materials from Latvia’s farms and forests accounts for much
of the country’s industrial production. The leading manufacturing branches are
food products, particularly goods made from milk and sugar refined from beets;
textiles and clothing, notably leather and rubber footwear; wood products, such
as plywood and paper; and transportation equipment, primarily buses. Industry,
including manufacturing, construction, mining, and power generation, accounted
for 25 percent of the workforce in 1995.
Conclusion
In this little description, you
can inspect some main things in Great
Britain and Latvia. It is now possible to compare one large and famous , and
impressive country with some small, not
very well known country for the
world.But to the truth I think that we are still growiing and after some 10
years we will reach our aim, but for Great Britain , in my opinion, there is no
interesting future.They are powerful now and they can`t be more stronger,
but anyway I think that the most
important thing is to keep in tuch with such countries as Great Britain ,
because there are many things which we can learn from them and improve
ourselves.
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