_#_Natural resources: coal, crude oil, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica

_#_Land use: arable land 29%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 48%; forest and woodland 9%; other 14%; includes irrigated 1%

_#_Environment: pollution control measures improving air, water quality; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

_#_Note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now being linked by tunnel under the English Channel

_*People #_Population: 57,515,307 (July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1991)