Вивчаємо Великобританію

Читаємо та перекладаємо

Lesson 3. SCOTLAND

Scotland forms the northern part of Great Britain,

including the islands of the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.

The Cheviot Hills mark the boundary between England and

Scotland. Apart from this land link with England, Scotland

is surrounded by sea. It is a very mountainous country;

three-fourths of the area of Scotland are occupied by

mountains with a great amount of moorland, in which few

people live.

Scotland is famous for its beautiful large lakes with

mountains round them. There are many rivers in Scotland,

but they are not long. The longest and the most important

Scottish river is the Clyde.

The country is divided into three main regions:

the Border or the Southern Upland (the frontier with

England), a pastoral area with low hills; the Lowlands, the

least picturesque region, containing most of its heavy

industries, minerals and agricultural wealth; and the Highlands with their

infertile soil, waning population, beautiful landscape and seascape — moors, fresh

water running in torrents, lying in lochs (lakes) and their damp climate.

Scotland is not densely populated: total Scottish population is little over 5 million

people. The most of population is concentrated in the Lowlands. Three quarters of the

whole population and all the towns of considerable size are situated in it. The largest

cities are Glasgow and Edinburgh. They are the centres of heavy industry. Edinburgh

has been the capital since the 15th century and now it is the cultural centre of

Scotland.

The Highlands of Scotland are among the oldest mountains in the world. They

reach their highest point in Ben Nevis (1,343 m). Many of the deep V-shaped valleys

between the hills are filled with lakes, called by the Gaelic names of lochs. The bestknown

is Loch Ness where some people think a large monster lives. The beautiful Loch

Lomond with its 30 odd islands is the largest. Only about a tenth of population of

Scotland lives beyond the Highland Line. The most important city here is Aberdeen. It

is the oil centre of Scotland.

Shipbuilding is one of Scotland's most important industries, others are iron and

steel, heavy and light engineering and coal-mining.

Scotland has no Parliament of its own, but has a number of seats in the United

Kingdom House of Commons.

Запиши всі нові слова до словника.