What are Britain’s main imports and exports?
Despite having only one per cent of the world’s population, Britain is the fourth largest trading nation in the world. Machinery and transport, manufactures and chemicals are Britain’s largest export earners. Since the 1970s, oil has contributed significantly to Britain’s overseas trade, both in exports and a reduced need to import oil. British Petroleum (BP) is Britain’s biggest and Europe’s second biggest industrial company.
British pharmaceutical companies make three of the world’s best selling medicines:‘Zantac’(made by Glaxo Wellcome) for ulcer treatment;‘Tenormin’(ICI),a beta-blocker for high blood press-ure; and‘AZT’(Glaxo Wellcome), a drug used in the treatment of AIDS.
Britain is also a major supplier of plastics, aerospace products, electrical and electronic equipment. Britain is responsible for 10 per cent of the world’s export of services, including banking, insurance, stockbroking, consultancy and computer programming.
Britain imports six times as many manufactures as basic materials. EU countries account for seven of the 10 leading suppliers of goods to Britain and the United States is Britain’s biggest supplier of imports. Food, beverages and tabacco account for half of non-manufactured imports, whilst machinery and road vehicles account for two-thirds of finished imported manufactures. Other major imports include chemicals, fuels, clothing and footwear.
What does the Union Flag stand for and how
should it be flown?
The flag of Britain, commonly known as the Union Jack (which derives from the use of the Union Flag on the jack-staff of naval vessels), embodies the emblems of tree countries under one Sovereign. The emblems that appear on the Union Flag are the crosses of three patron saints:
the red cross of St. George, for England, On a white ground;
the white diagonal cross, or saltire, of St. Andrew, for Scotland, on a blue ground.
the red diagonal cross of St. Patrick, for Ireland, on a white ground.
The final version of the Union Flag, including the cross of St. Patrick, appeared in 1801, following the union of Great Britain with Ireland. The cross remains in the flag although now only Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.
Wales is not represented in the Union Flag because, when the first version of the flag appeared. Wales was already united with England. The national flag of Wales, a red dragon on a field of white and green, dates from the 15th century and is widely used throughout the Principality. The dragon as a symbol was probably introduced into Britain by the Roman legions. According to tradi-tion, the red dragon appeared on a crest borne by the legendary King Arthur, whose father, Uthr Pendragon, had seen a dragon in the sky predicting that he would be king.
The Union Flag should be flown with the broader diagonal band of white uppermost in the hoist (near the pole) and the narrower diagonal band of white uppermost in the fly (furthest from the pole).
SCOTLAND
Perhaps the most famous national costume in Britain is the Scottish kilt with its distinctive tartan pattern. The kilt is a length of woollen cloth, pleated except for sections at each end.
The kilt is worn around the waist, with the pleats at the back and the ends crossed over at the front and secured with a pin.
The kilt forms part of the tradition Highland dress, worn by Scottish clansmen and Scottish regiments. In addition to the kilt, a plaid or tartan cloak is worn over one shoulder, and a goatskin pouch or sporran is worn at the front of the kilt. Sometimes tartan trousers or trews are worn instead of a kilt. Women do not have their own distinctive national dress in Scotland, although tartan fabrics are widely used in clothing, and the kilt is also worn.
WALES
The national costume of Wales is based on the peasant costume of the 18th and 19th centuries. Because Wales was isolated geographically from the rest of Britain, many of the individual traits of costume and materials were retained in Welsh dress long after they had died out elsewhere.
Unlike Scotland, the distinctive folk costume of Wales was worn by the women, consisting of a long gown (betgwn) or skirt, worn with a petticoat (pais-the favoured colour was scarlet) and topped with a shawl folded diagonally to form a triangle and draped around the shoulders, with one corner hanging down and two others pinned in front. Aprons were universally worn, sometimes decorated with colourful embroidery.
The most distinctive part of the costume was the tall black ‘Welsh hat’or ‘beaver hat’, thought to have originated in France at the end of the 18th century. The hats had a tall crown, cylindrical or conical in shape with a wide brim, and were usually trimmed with a band of silk or crepe.