It has become the international centre of music and drama and is famous for its annual festival – the Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama. Edinburgh is also famous for the engineering, printing and electronic industries. Glasgow, situated on the river Clyde, is known all over the world for its shipbuilding, and heavy steel manufactures although these industries have many problems now. Both the cities are situated in the Lowlands, the area which contains most of the industry and also pastures. Aberdeen is a historic royal town lying on the Scotland’s North Sea cost. Some of the oldest streets date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Now its a busy seaport, the main centre of Scottish fishing industry, and the commercial capital of north-east Scotland.
Scotland has its own law and education system. There are also special traditions in Scotland, such as playing bagpipes and wearing kilts, which are typical pleated knee-length tartan skirts. Some eating and drinking habits are different , too. There are special meals prepared only in Scotland. One of them is haggis, which is made of the heart , liver, and lungs of sheep, oatmeal, salt, onions, spices, packed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled. Scotland has many whisky distilleries with a long tradition and the Scottish whisky is world-famous.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland (known also as Ulster) occupies the northern fifth of Ireland. It is a part of Great Britain. Northern Ireland has a population of over 1 500 000 people. They speak English. Nearly half a million live in Belfast, the capital. There is the Queen’s University at Belfast which was founded in 1845. The city is the shopping, educational, commercial, entertainment, and service centre of Northern Ireland. It is also an important port. Chief exports of Northern Ireland are ships, aircraft, linen textiles, and also agricultural products and livestock as the country is largely agricultural. There are small farms producing pigs, cattle, milk and eggs. The principal crops are potatoes, barley, and oats.
Ireland has long been connected to Britain but the Irish Republic became independent in 1922 and Northern Ireland remained a part of Great Britain. The Irish Republic is also known as Eire. It is almost totally Catholic. Approximately two-thirds of the population of Northern Ireland is Protestant and the minority Roman Catholic. The life of people and the politics of Northern Ireland are dominated by religious and economic problems. Old hatreds between Protestants and Catholic are kept alive. In 1969 British troops were sent to keep order in Northern Ireland.