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Compared with other European countries，the United Kingdom is the most richly endowed with some of the natural resources that are most important for industry.This is especially true for energy resources such as oil，gas and coal.Rich deposits of oil and gas were discovered in the North Sea off the eastern coast of Great Britain in 1969.Today，the United Kingdom is the eighth⁃largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world，and a net exporter of petroleum products.The country is also self⁃sufficient in non⁃metallic minerals like chalk，limestone，slate，and china clay.It also had a small deposit of iron ore in the past which was conveniently close to the country’s main coal deposit.This factor played a very important role in Britain’s Industrial Revolution.However，the iron ore has almost been exhausted，as have the deposits of other metallic minerals，so the country now has to import iron and other metals such as tin and copper.

Because of the abundance of rainfall and mild climate，Britain has an ideal environment for all kinds of plant to grow，and the country was once densely forested.However，only about 10％ of the land is still covered by trees today，the lowest rate of forest coverage among European nations.