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Scotland has few natural resources. One of Scotland's most valuable resources
in it's excellent fishing grounds off the East and North coasts. Off the North Sea coast there are large fields of natural
gas and petroleum, and there are small deposits of coal in the Central Lowlands. There is also plentiful water supplies in
the Highlands, and also many rivers have been dammed to produce electric power there. Scotland has the largest hydroelectric
plants in Great Britain. Also, the government is enlarging the small forests by carrying out a large reforestation program
in the Southern Uplands and Highlands.
Scotland's economy depends partially on manufacturing, which has been important
in Scotland since the Industrial Revolution began in Britain during the 1700s. Chemicals, electronic equipment, industrial
machinery, petroleum products, steel, textiles, and whisky are Scotland's chief manufactured products. The Central Lowlands
contains most of Scotland's factories. Glasgow is the center of Scotland's metal-making industry. A discovery of oil and gas
under the northern North Sea in the 1960s led to a rapid growth of the Petroleum industries in Scotland. Aberdeen is the headquarters
for businesses related to Petroleum production. Edinburgh is Scotland's publishing center and is also known for its breweries
and distilleries. About half of the computers made in Great Britain are produced by Scotland's electronic equipment
manufacturers. The Clydeside region, which is along the banks of River Clyde, was once the world's greatest shipbuilding
center before the industry started to decline in Scotland in the 1900s. Some famous ocean liners built in Clydeside are the
Quenn Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and the Queen Elizabeth 2.
Scotland has a good network of roads including a major highway system that links
Glasgow, Edinburgh and connects both cities with London. The British government owns the railways, and fast trains run
between major cities of Scotland and England. It also has two major airports, one in Glasgow, and the other in Aberdeen.
It's chief export is petroleum, but other exports include electronic equipment, machinery, Scotch whisky and textiles. Scotland's
main imports include food and raw materials.
About 80% of Scotland's land is used for agriculture and the rest is mostly covered
with forests. The Central Lowlands have some of the best agricultural land in Great Britain, and about 75% of Scotland's farm
production is accounted for by livestock products like meat, milk and wool. Much of crop land is used to produce livestock
feed. Barley and wheat are Scotland's main crops, but farmers also grow potatoes and oil seeds. Oil seeds are grown for
the oil they contain. Grazing sheep mainly use the mountainous plateaus of the Highlands. Most of the sheep are Scottish Blackface
sheep, which can stand the cold winters better than other breeds. Farmers developed many famous breed of beef and dairy cattle
like Ayrshire, Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, and Highland. They also developed the strong Clydesdale workhorse, the Shetland pony,
and tha famous sheepdog- the collie. Peterhead is the leading fishing port. Cod, haddock, and mackerel are the largest
catches brought in by fishing crews, and they also catch lobsters, herring and whiting.
 
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