Chapter 15 Objectives
United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandanavia
England
Identify and Locate geographic features of England, including the North Sea, English Channel, London,
Thames River.
Explain how London became one of the World’s greatest shipping centers.
Describe how the Industrial Revolution changed and expanded economic activities, and the negative
impact it had on the environment.
Explain how the Chunnel has helped to overcome geographic challenges.
Identify natural resources that were important to the industrial revolution.
Scotland –Wales
Recognize major physical characteristics of the Scotland and Wales.
Identify new industries that have taken hold in Scotland and Wales.
Explain how the culture and religion of Scotland and Wales have remained independent from England,
even though they are united politically.
Identify the roots of Scottish Presbyterianism.
Ireland
Identify the two Irelands on a map.
Recognize how religious differences have divided the people of Ireland.
Explain the role religious extremists play in Ireland.
Differentiate between traditional and new uses of peat in Ireland.
Explain the cause and effect of the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840’s.
Recognize the impact of converting to the Euro has had on the economy of the Republic of Ireland.
Nordic Nations
Describe the geographic effects of glaciers on the Nordic region, and how that affects the lifestyle there.
Recognize a major energy source of Iceland.
Explain why the much of the climate of the Nordic Nations is mild.
Identify the major religion of Nordic peoples.
Recognize major economic activities in the mixed economies of Nordic Nations.
Section 2 Notes- Scotland and Wales
Scotland and Wales are both part of the United Kingdom along with Northern Ireland and England.
Scotland
Major Physical characteristics of the Scottish Highlands include lakes (or lochs) carved by glaciers,
mountains, moors- treeless rolling plains, and bogs- areas of wet spongy ground.
Fishing and sheepherding dominate the economy in Scotland. Scottish textiles are home based as
opposed to England’s manufacturing base.
Scotland was once a major shipbuilding center, allowing the UK to become a leading naval force in the
1800’s.
Now Scotland is slowly developing new industries to replace mining, steelmaking, and shipbuilding.
These include Oil from the North Sea, and Computer and Electronics businesses. The Computer and
Electronic businesses are centered between Clyde and Tweed Rivers, and is known as Silicon Glen(a
narrow valley), after California’s Silicon Valley.
Scotland kept important trade rights and political rights when in united with English Parliament in 1707,
including its right to religion. Scotland is predominantly Presbyterian which has its roots in Calvinism
which Spread to Scotland from Calvin’s student John Knox. This has allowed Scotland to retain its own
culture separate from Englands.
Wales
- A peninsula of Great Britain, and receives more rain than southern England due to its location
Language of the Welsh helps parts of Wales to keep its cultural identity separate from England.
20% of the people still use Welsh as their 1st language.
Historically Wales was a manufacturing nation using industry and coal mining to push its economy in the
late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Since manufacturing has slowed they have shifted to high tech industries
much like Scotland has.
Section 3- Two Irelands
Northern Ireland- part of the United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland- an independent nation since 1949
During the Reformation many people in England became Protestant, while most people in Ireland
remained Catholic. Many Protestant Landlords from England controlled land in Ireland. This divided
many of the people in Ireland, and pushed many of the Irish Catholics into poverty, creating cultural
divergence. Today a little over half of Northern Ireland is Protestant, and the rest are mostly Catholic
and would like reunification of Ireland. This causes turmoil among both Protestant and Catholic
extremists, such as terrorism, gun violence, and hunger strikes.
Traditionally people of Ireland have used peat as fuel for cooking and heating due to a lack of forests.
This spongy moss and plant material is now being used to provide ¼ of the nation’s energy in power
plants.
In America, we have many people of Irish heritage who immigrated here during the 1840’s due to a
potato famine caused by blight- which is plant disease, that destroyed crops year after year. Many
people blamed the British for not providing enough help to the Irish, and animosity grew even more
between Irish and British. Many went to the U.S. in search of land and jobs.
The Republic of Ireland is a part of the EU. The switch to the Euro as the currency caused inflation that
was triple the amount of most European nations, causing housing prices to go up, and created an
income gap between new jobs in telecommunications and traditional service industries.