<P> The economic geography of the UK reflects not only its current position in the global economy, but its long history both as a trading nation and an imperial power . </P> <P> The UK led the industrial revolution and its highly urban character is a legacy of this, with all its major cities being current or former centres of various forms of manufacturing . However, this in turn was built on its exploitation of natural resources, especially coal and iron ore . </P> <P> The UK's primary industry was once dominated by the coal industry, heavily concentrated in the north, the Midlands and south Wales . This is all but gone and the major primary industry is North Sea oil . Its activity is concentrated on the UK Continental Shelf to the north - east of Scotland . </P> <P> The UK's heavy manufacturing drove the industrial revolution . A map of the major UK cities gives a good picture of where this activity occurred, in particular Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield . Today there is no heavy manufacturing industry in which UK - based firms can be considered world leaders . However, areas of the UK still have a notable manufacturing base, including the Midlands which remains a strong manufacturing centre, and the North West which accounts for 60% of the United Kingdom's manufacturing output . More recently, high technology firms have concentrated largely along the M4 motorway, partly because of access to Heathrow Airport, but also because of agglomeration economies . </P>

Describe the main features of the uks population