Great Britain

England, Wales and Scotland together form Great Britain. Scotland, lying in the northern part of Great Britain and bordering England on the south, is half the size of England and Wales, having an area of about 76 000 square kilometers. It is 400 km from the English border to John O' Groats at the northern tip of the mainland. Most of Northern Scotland is a mountainous region known as the Scottish Highlands. In the center of Scotland there are the Central Lowlands, and the South is an undulating, hilly region known as the Southern Uplands, which rise to 800 meters.

In Scotland the main rain bearing winds come from the Atlantic Ocean. The west part is wet with an average rain full of up to 200 cm while the east is drier with about 75 cm. The winters are cool or cold with an average January temperature of 40°F. The summers are cool or warm but rarely hot.

As to agriculture, the main cereal crops in Scotland are oats and barley. It is too cold and damp to grow much wheat. The oats are made into porridge, which the Scots eat for breakfast, and the chief use of barley is for making Scotch whisky, one of Britain's biggest exports. Climatically, farming in some regions is difficult. People raise and shear sheep. They weave wool into Scottish tweed, which also brings in much money in foreign trade.