Britain became the world's first industrial nation in part because of its geography. Large coalfields in South Wales, the Midlands, the North of England and central Scotland provided abundant fuel; iron ore was often found nearby; deep, sheltered ports such as Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow and London linked factories to overseas markets; and a network of navigable rivers and, from the 1760s, canals moved bulk goods cheaply inland.
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A mild, damp climate suited cotton spinning and was important for the rise of the Lancashire textile industry. The Industrial Revolution itself is covered separately in the history chapter, but the geographical conditions that made it possible are part of the modern UK's self-understanding.
You may be asked which natural resource powered the Industrial Revolution (coal), or which English county was the centre of cotton spinning (Lancashire).
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