I. Introduction

People often confuse the names for this country, and frequently make mistakes in using them. United Kingdom, UK, and Britain are all proper terms for the entire nation, although the term Britain is also often used when talking about the island of Great Britain. The use of the term Great Britain to refer to the entire nation is now outdated; the term Great Britain, properly used, refers only to the island of Great Britain, which does not include Northern Ireland. The term England should never be used to describe Britain, because England is only one part of the island. It is always correct to call people from England, Scotland, or Wales British, although people from England may also properly be called English, people from Scotland Scottish, and people from Wales Welsh.

The United Kingdom is a small nation in physical size. At 244,110 sq km (94,251 sq mi), the United Kingdom is roughly the size of Oregon or Colorado, or twice the size of New York State. It is located as far north in latitude as Labrador in North America, but, like the rest of northern Europe, it is warmed by the Gulf Stream flowing out of the North Atlantic Ocean. The climate, in general, is mild, chilly, and often wet. Rain or overcast skies can be expected for up to 300 days per year. These conditions make Britain lush and green, with rolling plains in the south and east and rough hills and mountains to the west and north.

Despite its relatively small size, Britain is highly populated, with an estimated population density of 252 persons per sq km (652 per sq mi) in 2007. It is highly developed economically, preeminent in the arts and sciences, sophisticated in technology, and highly prosperous and peaceful. In general, British subjects belong to one of the more affluent states of Europe and enjoy a high standard of living compared to the rest of the world.

Many nations around the world have been influenced by British history and culture. With each passing year, English comes closer to being a world language for all educated people, as Latin once was. The prominence of English can be traced to the spread of the British Empire during the last three centuries. In the early 20th century, a quarter of the world’s people and a quarter of the world’s land surface were controlled in some way by Britain. Some parts of the world received substantial numbers of British emigrants and developed into what were called daughter nations. These colonies eventually became self-governing areas called dominions. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand fit this pattern. For a long time India was the most important colony in the British Empire, but after a long anticolonial struggle with Britain, independent India today is the world’s most populous democracy. The British Empire once included substantial portions of southern, western, and eastern Africa; important areas in Asia, such as Hong Kong; a few holdings in the Americas; and a large number of islands in the Pacific. Today most of these are independent nations, but many retain some British law, institutions, and customs.

Even parts of the world never included in the British Empire have adopted the British system of parliamentary government, often referred to as the Westminster model. Originally a vehicle for royal authority, this system gradually evolved into a representative government and finally became a means through which democracy could be exercised. Today legislative power comes from the lower house of Parliament, known as the House of Commons. The freely elected members of the House of Commons select the nation’s chief executive, the prime minister. He or she in turn appoints members of the House of Commons to the Cabinet, a body of advisers. Because the executive is not separated from the legislature, the government is efficient as well as responsive to the electorate.

Britain was a pioneer in economic matters. The first industrial revolution occurred in Britain in the 18th and early 19th centuries and led to the development of the world’s first society dominated by a middle class. Britain was the first nation to have more than half of its population living in urban areas. Rapid economic development and worldwide trade made Britain the richest nation in the world during the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th century. For a long time before and after the Industrial Revolution, London was the center of world capitalism, and today is still one of the world’s most important business and financial centers.

Britain has been important in the arts throughout modern times. Plays, novels, stories and, most recently, screenplays from Britain have been admired throughout the world. The output of English-language literature from Britain has far surpassed its output in art and music, fields dominated by other European nations. Nevertheless, Britain can claim several 20th-century artists and composers of note, including painter David Hockney and composer Sir Edward Elgar.

II. Land and Resources

A. Geographical Components and Borders

The United Kingdom is bordered on the south by the English Channel, which separates it from the continent of Europe. It is bordered on the east by the North Sea, and on the west by the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom’s only land border with another nation is between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

England is the largest, most populous, and wealthiest division of the United Kingdom. It makes up 130,410 sq km (50,352 sq mi) of the United Kingdom’s total 244,110 sq km (94,251 sq mi). The area of Scotland is 78,790 sq km (30,420 sq mi), the area of Wales is 20,760 sq km (8,020 sq mi), and the area of Northern Ireland is 14,160 sq km (5,470 sq mi). This means that England makes up 53.4 percent of the area of the United Kingdom, Scotland 32.3 percent, Wales 8.5 percent, and Northern Ireland 5.8 percent.

The United Kingdom contains a number of small islands. These include the Isle of Wight, which lies off of England’s southern coast; Anglesey, off the northwest coast of Wales; the Isles of Scilly in the English Channel; the Hebrides archipelago to the west of Scotland, consisting of the Inner and the Outer Hebrides; the Orkney Islands to the northeast of Scotland; and the Shetland Islands farther out into the North Sea from Scotland.

Several dependencies and dependent territories are associated with the United Kingdom. The dependencies, located close to Britain, are the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea and the Channel Islands off the northern coast of France. These dependencies, while not technically part of the United Kingdom, maintain a special relationship with it. The Channel Islands were once part of the Duchy of Normandy and retain much of their original French culture. The Isle of Man, controlled by Norway during the Middle Ages, came under English rule in the 14th century. Both dependencies are largely self-governing and have their own legislative assemblies and systems of law. Britain is responsible for their international relations and defense.

Britain’s dependent territories are scattered throughout the world and are the remains of the former British Empire. They are generally small in area and without many resources. Once considered colonies, they have opted to remain under British control for a variety of reasons. Today Britain assists the territories economically, with the understanding that they may become independent when they wish. Most are locally self-governing, although the queen appoints a governor for each territory who is responsible for external affairs and internal security, including the police and public service. The ultimate responsibility for their government rests with the foreign and commonwealth secretary, a minister in the British Cabinet. The United Kingdom has experienced difficulties with some of its territories—Argentina has made claims to the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and Spain has made claims to Gibraltar. China’s claim to the former dependent territory of Hong Kong was satisfied in July 1997 when Britain’s lease ran out and China assumed control of the area.

B. Natural Regions and Topography

The island of Great Britain can be divided into two major natural regions—the highland zone and the lowland zone. The highland zone is an area of high hills and mountains in the north and west. The lowland zone in the south and east consists mostly of rolling plains. The zones are divided by an imaginary line running through England from the River Exe on the southwest coast to the mouth of the River Tees on the northeast coast. The lowland zone has a milder climate and better soils for farming. Historically, most people in Britain have lived in the lowland zone rather than in the harsher highland zone.

B.1. The Highland Zone

The highland zone contains what is often called rough country, consisting to a large extent of rugged hills, mountains, and eroded areas frequently broken by valleys and plains. The highest elevations in the British Isles are in the highland zone; the highest point is Ben Nevis at 1,343 m (4,406 ft), located in the Highlands of Scotland. The highland zone is cooler than the lowland zone, and receives more rainfall and less sunlight. In many places farming is impossible. Even where it is feasible, the soil is often thin and stony, with a hard rock formation below. Rainwater often cannot escape readily, so many areas tend to be waterlogged.

Wales, Scotland, and parts of England are located in the highland zone. The parts of England in the highland zone include the Pennine Chain of mountains, extending down into northern England and into the southwestern peninsula. The Pennine Chain is sometimes called the backbone of England. It is a massive upland area extending 260 km (160 mi) north to south, starting at the Cheviot Hills on England’s border with Scotland and ending in the Midlands of central England. It is made up of several broad, rolling, windswept moorlands separated by deep river valleys. Many of England’s major industrial areas lie on the flanks of the Pennine Chain, where there are many coalfields. To the west of the northern Pennines are the Cumbrian Mountains, a mountainous dome of ancient rocks deeply eroded by glaciers. This region contains the Lake District, famous for its lakes and scenic beauty.

The part of the highland zone in England’s southwest peninsula is often referred to as the West Country. This peninsula, which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, contains the counties of Devon and Cornwall. It features hilly, rough areas, the moorland plateaus of Dartmoor and Exmoor, and many picturesque valleys. Its sheltered areas are noted for their mild climate.

North of the Cheviot Hills, in Scotland, are the Southern Uplands, an area of rounded hills and broad valleys. The maximum elevation here is 850 m (2,800 ft), and much of the area consists of moorlands used for grazing sheep. North of the Uplands is a broad valley known variously as the Central Lowlands, the Scottish Lowlands, or the Midland Valley. This valley is sandwiched between two areas of uplands and contains most of Scotland’s urban centers, industries, and mines.

Farther north are the Scottish Highlands, a rugged area of mountain ranges, bleak moorlands, and deep, narrow valleys known as glens. The Highlands contain sparsely populated areas of moors. These tracts of wasteland are mostly covered with coarse, low, bushy plants, including varieties of heath and heather, hardy evergreen shrubs most often found in cooler climates. The Grampian Mountains are the chief range in the Highlands, reaching as high as 1,343 m (4,406 ft) above sea level. The western portion of the Highlands contains most of Scotland’s famous lochs, or large lakes.

Northern Ireland consists of hilly highlands similar to those of Scotland. Most of Northern Ireland is situated in a large valley formed from an old lava plateau. In the center of the valley is Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the British Isles, which is 29 km (18 mi) long and 18 km (11 mi) wide. The highest part of Northern Ireland is the Mourne Mountains in the southeast, which reach a maximum elevation of 852 m (2,796 ft) above sea level. The narrowest point between the islands of Britain and Ireland is a distance of only 21 km (13 mi), between Tor on the coast of Northern Ireland to Mull of Kintyre on the Scottish coast.

The peninsula of Wales is almost entirely covered by mountains. The Cambrian Mountains extend roughly from northeast to southeast across the peninsula, forming an area of high, craggy peaks and bleak moorlands. They contain the highest peak in Wales, the huge mountain called Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa Fawr in Welsh), which rises to 1,085 m (3,560 ft) above sea level. In southern Wales lower and less rugged mountains, the Brecon Beacons, extend in a roughly east-west direction. A thin ribbon of lowland rims much of the Welsh coast, broadening out in the northwest to include the offshore island of Anglesey. It also broadens out in the southwest and southeast. Sometimes the lowland region of southeastern Wales is considered an extension of the lowland zone of Britain. This region contains the largest cities and industrial establishments in Wales. Coal mines in the mountains just to the north of this southern lowland were of great importance to the Welsh economy for many years. Hills running along the Welsh border with England continue into parts of a few English counties.

B.2. The Lowland Zone

In general the lowland zone is a great plain with a gentle, undulating surface and extensive areas of almost-level ground. It receives less rain and more sunshine than the highland zone and much of the soil in the zone is fertile. Most of the lowland region is less than 150 m (500 ft) above sea level, and the hills rarely reach more than 300 m (1,000 ft) above sea level. It has been extensively inhabited, farmed, and grazed for thousands of years. Most of Britain’s population lives densely packed into the lowland zone, which covers most of England. The metropolis of London and most of Britain’s large cities are located in the lowland zone.

The flattest lands in the lowland zone are in the east, particularly on the large, hump-shaped area called East Anglia. The inlet called the Wash is located off East Anglia’s northern coast. The Wash was once surrounded by the flat, swampy areas of the Fenlands, or the Fens, most of which has now been drained. The broad, rolling Midland Plain is south of the Pennine Chain. Northwest of this plain, on the western side of the Pennines, is the Lancashire-Cheshire plain. Another plain extends from the eastern slope of the Pennines to the sea. It is broken in the north by the Yorkshire Moors, a high wasteland overgrown with coarse plants.

Several chains of low hills break up the lowland plain. They are sometimes called scarplands or escarpments, meaning that they tend to drop steeply on one side and slope gently downward on the other side. One of these upland ridges, the South Downs, runs along the southern coast eastward from the Salisbury Plain. Running parallel to this ridge, south of the Thames valley, are the North Downs. In between the North Downs and the South Downs is a region called The Weald, an area of scenic, gentle hills. Another elevated chain is the Chiltern Hills, which stretch southwest from the central part of the lowland plain. The Cotswold Hills lie to the west near Wales. The Cotswolds and the plain’s northern hills have a limestone base, while the Downs have a chalk base.

C. Rivers and Lakes

Since Britain has a moist climate with much rainfall, rivers and lakes are numerous. Rivers in central and eastern Britain tend to flow slowly and steadily all year long because they are fed by the frequent rain. Many have been navigable, and from the earliest times they have served peoples interested in either commerce or invasion. The Highlands act as a divide and determine whether rivers flow west to the Irish Sea or east to the North Sea. Rivers and streams moving westward down from the Highlands tend to be swift and turbulent; rivers flowing eastward tend to be long, graceful, and gentle, with slowly moving waters.

The Thames and the Severn are the longest rivers in Britain and are almost equal in length. The Severn flows south out of the mountains of central Wales to the Bristol Channel at Bristol. It is 354 km (220 mi) long. The Thames, 338 km (210 mi) long, flows eastward out of the Cotswold Hills and weaves through the metropolis of London. The Thames provides water to the city of London and is used to carry commercial freight. Other important rivers in England are the Mersey, which enters the Irish Sea at Liverpool; the River Humber on the east coast, into which the Trent River and several other rivers flow; and the Tyne River in northern England, which flows past Newcastle upon Tyne to the North Sea.

In Scotland the important rivers are the Clyde and the Forth, which are joined by a canal. The River Clyde flows northwest, past Glasgow, and empties into the Atlantic at the Firth of Clyde. (Firth is the Scottish name for an arm of the sea that serves as the broad estuary of a river.) The River Forth flows eastward into the Firth of Forth, where Edinburgh rises on its south bank. The most important rivers in Northern Ireland are the Lagan, the Bann, and the Foyle.

Most of the large lakes in the United Kingdom are located in the upland areas of Scotland and northern England, although Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is the largest lake in the United Kingdom. Loch Lomond, on the southwestern edge of the Highlands of Scotland, is the largest on the island of Great Britain, measuring 37 km (23 mi) long and from 1.6 to 8 km (1 to 5 mi) wide. Lake Windermere is the largest of the 15 major lakes in the famous Lake District of northwestern England. It is about 1.6 km (1 mi) wide and more than 16 km (10 mi) long.

D. Coastline

Great Britain’s coastline is highly irregular, with many bays and inlets that provide harbors and shelters for ships and boats. Coastal trade involving ships sailing along the coast has been carried on since ancient times. The coastline is about 8,000 km (about 5,000 mi) long and affords some of the best scenery in Britain. The western coast is characterized by cliffs and rocky headlands, especially where the Highlands meet the sea in northwestern Scotland. On the more gentle southern and eastern coasts there are many sand or pebble beaches as well as tall limestone or chalk cliffs, the most famous of which are the White Cliffs of Dover in the southeast.

A few islands lie just off of Britain’s coast. The Hebrides, an archipelago of about 500 islands, cover a considerable area along the coast of western Scotland; the isle of Anglesey lies just off the coast of northwestern Wales; and the Isle of Wight is off England’s southern coast. Northern Ireland has a beautiful and rugged coastline and is the location of the famous and unique Giant’s Causeway, an expansive and curious formation of rocks shaped like giant cylinders.

E. Natural Resources

E.1. Soils

Britain’s soil quality varies greatly. In northern areas the soils are thin, lying right above rock formations, while the south possesses areas of rich loam and heavy clay soils. When handled carefully the soils of eastern and south central England are very productive. While about three-fourths of the land in Britain is suitable for agriculture, only 24 percent of this land is used to grow crops. Almost all of the rest is planted with grass or used as grazing land.

E.2. Forests and Woodlands

Trees grow well and quickly in the heavy soils of England, and for a long time prehistoric settlers did not have tools strong enough to cut down the heavy oak forests. Over the centuries the expanding human population cut back the forests, so that today only 11.8 percent of the United Kingdom is forested, roughly 3 million hectares (7 million acres). Only 7 percent of England is covered by forest, 15 percent of Scotland, 12 percent of Wales, and 5 percent of Northern Ireland. Efforts have been made in Britain to grow more trees and expand the managed forest areas. Local authorities have the power to protect trees and woodlands. It is an offense to cut down trees without permission, and when trees protected by the government die they must be replaced.

E.3. Mineral Resources

Britain’s mineral resources were historically important, but today most of these resources are either exhausted or produced in small quantities. Britain currently relies upon imports from larger, cheaper foreign supplies. Before and during the Roman occupation, about 2,000 years ago, Britain was noted for its tin mines, which were concentrated in Cornwall. The tin was mixed with copper to produce bronze, an important material in ancient times used for weapons and jewelry. Today nearly every tin mine in Britain has been exhausted and shut down.

Britain’s small deposits of iron ore were critically important to the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly because iron ore deposits were located close to rich deposits of coal. When iron ore and coal are heated together, they produce iron alloys, such as wrought iron. When iron ore is heated at high temperatures with coke, a derivative of coal, it produces pig iron, a cheaper, softer iron that is more easily purified into the iron and steel essential for constructing machines and railroads. During the Industrial Revolution towns and cities sprang up close to these resources, and they remain among Britain’s leading urban areas. Today Britain imports iron, along with most other minerals used for industrial production.

Raw materials for construction, particularly aggregates (minerals mechanically separated from ores), are still important, and many quarries continue to operate profitably. Limestone, sand, gravel, rock, sandstone, clay, chalk, salt, silica sands, gypsum, potash, and fluorspar are all quarried.

E.4. Energy Resources

Britain has the richest energy sources in the European Union (EU), and its resources of oil and natural gas are of vital importance to the British economy. Until the 1970s small amounts of oil were produced from onshore wells, but this amount was far less than Britain needed. In 1969 large supplies of oil and natural gas were discovered in the North Sea off the eastern coast of Britain, particularly off the coast of Scotland. Oil and natural gas production soared after supplies were brought ashore in 1975. Britain’s production of crude oil peaked in 1999 and began to decline in the early 2000s. However, Britain continues to export oil and natural gas.

For many years coal was mined extensively, providing the primary source of energy in Britain. It was also exported. Coal production reached its peak in 1913, when more than 300 million tons were mined. Today production is less than a tenth of that figure and coal is far less important to the British economy.

Britain also has a number of nuclear energy facilities. Britain meets 23 percent of its energy needs through nuclear energy. Recently much research has been devoted to developing biofuels—energy from wastes, landfill gas, and crops—as well as to developing solar energy, wind power, and waterpower.

F. Plant and Animal Life

F.1. Plant Life

The mild climate, ample rain, and long growing season in Britain support a great variety of plants, which grow exceptionally well. Sometimes plant growth is compared to the lush areas of the well-watered and mild coasts of the states of Washington and Oregon. Most of Britain was once covered with thick, deciduous forests in which oak trees predominated. (Deciduous trees are those that lose their leaves every year.) The impact of centuries of dense human population has massively altered the flora of Britain, and only tiny remnants of these forests remain today. Although 11.8 percent of Britain is still forested, most of this area consists of commercially planted, fast-growing coniferous forests in Wales and northeastern Scotland. (Coniferous trees are evergreen trees that have cones.)

Before they were affected by centuries of clearing and human use, the great oak forests spread over the best soils in Britain. Forests were unable to establish themselves in the poorer soils of the mountains, wetlands, heath, and moorlands. The plants common to these wilder areas are heather, gorse, peat moss, rowan, and bilberry. These regions have been altered by heavy grazing of livestock and by controlled burning. Controlled burning creates environments suitable for game birds, which feed on the shoots of the new plants that spring up after the older plants are burned away. Some wetland areas have been subjected to massive draining efforts for hundreds of years and are now covered by towns and farmland. The marginal wetlands that remain continue to be threatened by reclamation for farms and homes, and some wetland plant species now grow only in conservation areas.

F.2. Animal Life

An estimated 30,000 animal species live in Britain, although many have limited distribution and are on the endangered list. Britain has many smaller mammals, and the larger ones tend to be gentle. The only surviving large mammals are red deer, which live in the Scottish Highlands and in Exmoor in southwestern England, and roe deer, found in the woodlands of Scotland and southern England. Semiwild ponies also inhabit Exmoor (see Exmoor Pony) and the Shetland Islands. At one time wild boars and wolves roamed Britain, but they were hunted to extinction.

Many smaller mammals inhabit Britain, including badgers, foxes, otters, red squirrels, and wildcats. Wildcats are found only in parts of Scotland. Otters are found mainly in southwestern England and in the Shetland and Orkney islands. The red squirrel, driven out of most of its range by the imported gray squirrel, is now limited mainly to the Isle of Wight and Scotland. Other species introduced from elsewhere include rabbits, black rats, muntjac deer, wallabies, and mink. Britain has five species of frogs and toads and three species of snakes, of which only the adder is venomous. Northern Ireland has no snakes.

Birdwatching is a popular national pastime. Britain is home to a large variety of birds, due in large measure to its position as a focal point of a migratory network. About 200 species are regularly seen in Britain. The most common are birds that remain year-round, such as blackbirds, chaffinches, sparrows, and starlings. Other well-known resident birds include crows, kingfishers, robins, wrens, woodpeckers, and various tits. Cuckoos, swallows, and swifts are the best-known summer visitors, and in the winter many species of duck, geese, and other waterbirds reside in British estuaries and wetlands. Human population pressures have adversely affected the habitats of many species. One of the worst dangers for birds is the popularity of ordinary housecats, which prey upon many bird species.

Saltwater fish were once important to Britain’s economy. Cod, haddock, whiting, herring, plaice, sole, and mackerel are still caught off the coasts of Britain, although grave concerns about the depletion of stocks caused by overfishing have led to the imposition of quotas. Lobster, crab, and other shellfish are caught along inshore waters. Freshwater fish in Britain include game fish, salmon, and trout, while so-called coarse fish include perch, pike, and roach. Freshwater fishing is almost entirely recreational, rather than commercial, except for fish farms, which concentrate on Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. Shellfish farming specializes in mollusks such as clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops.

G. Climate

The Atlantic Ocean has a significant effect on Britain’s climate. Although the British Isles are as far north in latitude as Labrador in Canada, they have a mild climate throughout the year. This is due to the Gulf Stream, a current of warm water that flows up from the Caribbean past Britain. Prevailing southwesterly winds moving across this warmer water bring moisture and moderating temperatures to the British Isles. The surrounding waters moderate temperatures year-round, making the UK warmer in winter and cooler in summer than other areas at the same latitude. Great Britain’s western coast tends to be warmer than the eastern coast, and the southern regions tend to be warmer than the northern regions. The mean annual temperature in the far north of Scotland is 6°C (43°F), and in warmer southwestern England it is 11°C (52°F). In general, temperatures are ordinarily around 15°C (60°F) in the summer and around 5°C (40°F) in the winter. Temperatures rarely ever exceed 32°C (90°F) or drop below -10°C (14°F) anywhere in the British Isles. In many areas, frosts, when the temperature dips below 0°C (32°F), are rare.

Winds blowing off the Atlantic Ocean bring clouds and large amounts of moisture to the British Isles. Average annual precipitation is more than 1,000 mm (40 in), varying from the extremes of 5,000 mm (196 in) in the western Highlands of Scotland to less than 500 mm (20 in) in the driest parts of East Anglia in England. The western part of Britain receives much more moisture than the eastern areas. It rains year-round, and in the winter the rain may change to snow, particularly in the north. It snows infrequently in the south, and when it does it is likely to be wet, slushy, and short-lived.

The climate has affected settlement and development in Britain for thousands of years. The mild, wet climate ensured that thick forests rich in game, as well as rivers and streams abundant with fish, were available to prehistoric hunters and gatherers. Britain was regarded as a cold, remote, and distant part of the ancient Roman Empire in the first few centuries AD, so relatively few Romans were motivated to move there for trade, administrative, or military reasons. Preindustrial settlements clustered in southern England, where the climate was milder, the growing season longer, and the rich soil and steady rainfall produced bountiful harvests. Successive waves of invaders made the plains of southern England their primary objective. After the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, populations grew enormously in areas with rich resources beneath the ground, particularly coal, even though these resources were sometimes located in the colder, harsher northern regions of England or the western Lowlands of Scotland.

H. Environmental Issues

Environmental protection is an important issue in the United Kingdom because as a highly populated and technologically advanced nation grows the environment suffers. Compared to many other industrialized nations, the country has a relatively good record of protecting the environment. Much environmental activity involves ordinary citizens at the local level, while the national government provides leadership, goals, and direction, particularly through the secretary of state for the environment. The United Kingdom, along with other prospering nations, has contributed funds and expertise toward global efforts to preserve the environment. In 2004, 15.3 percent of the United Kingdom was protected by national parks, regional parks, and smaller protected areas.

As the world’s first industrialized society, Britain has a long history of dealing with environmental problems. Contamination from sewerage, impure water supplies, and filthy streets from massive horse traffic were all problems handled with success before World War I broke out in 1914. Air pollution from smoke remained a major problem until the Clean Air Act was passed in 1955, a measure that reduced industrial pollution by three-quarters. The increased substitution of gas and electricity for coal as a source of energy further reduced air pollution, both from industry and homes. In recent decades, however, the large increase in the number of motor vehicles has erased many of the gains achieved by the Clean Air Act. River pollution has been more difficult to deal with. This is partly because local sewerage authorities, which were among the worst polluters, were represented on the boards regulating pollution in the rivers. In 1989 a National Rivers Authority was created that has no connection with potential polluters, and Britain’s rivers are slowly improving.

Since the 1940s one of the most serious environmental problems has been disposal of radioactive waste, including the dismantling of nuclear power stations after they become obsolete. The country’s early nuclear industry disposed of radioactive waste by ocean dumping, leaving a legacy of contamination, particularly in the Irish Sea. Another serious environmental issue is the pressure to develop more land. To maintain productive agricultural land and viable agricultural communities, Britain has severely restricted urban and suburban development in some areas. As a result, land prices are extremely high.

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