Assembly line A process in which a series of workers or machines carries out consecutive stages in creating a finished product. Assembly lines improve the speed and efficiency of production as each machine part or worker is specialized or trained for the task they perform.

Automated industry An industry that uses special equipment such as robots to increase productivity. The electronics and car industries are heavily automated.

Coal A fuel formed over hundreds of millions of years as plants rot down into peat which is compressed into layers of rock. Coal is mined and burnt in power stations to help produce electricity or in furnaces to help produce iron and steel.

Construction industry The building of homes, factories, bridges, roads and other large structures. It is a secondary industry.

Cottage industry A small manufacturing business conducted from a home or small workshop. Cottage industries include potteries, glass-blowers and lace-makers.

Distillation The process of purifying a liquid by heating and cooling it. Crude oil from a well is sent to a refinery where it is separated into different substances by distillation. The oil is boiled in a fractionating tower. Vapours float upwards, cool and condense at different temperatures. Trays at different heights collect the liquids as they condense.

Exports Exports are products or services that are sold to other countries.

Fossil fuels Fuels including coal, oil and gas, formed from the remains of living things that died millions of years ago.

Fuel A source of heat or energy, including substances that burn, such as coal or petrol, as well as substances that can be made to produce a nuclear reaction to release energy.

Imports Imports are products or services that are purchased from another country.

Industry An activity that produces the goods or services that people need or want. There are many different kinds of industry, including mining, farming, fishing, manufacturing and the provision of services for people to use. Industries fall into three main groups: primary, the extraction of raw materials; secondary, the manufacture of goods; and tertiary, the provision of services.

Infrastructure The basic structures and networks needed for industries to operate in a country. Transport links are vital for moving products and raw materials; buildings are needed to house factories; electricity is needed to power machinery and provide light and heat for buildings; telecommunications links are vital for conducting business.

Manufacture The production of goods made from raw materials. Manufacturing industries produce goods such as clothing, cars, electronics and buildings.

Market A place where goods are bought and sold.

Mass production The production of large quantities of a product in a short time, using an assembly line and automated machinery. This reduces the cost of labour and enables parts to be bought in bulk for lower prices. The product can then be sold at affordable prices to a mass market.

Mining The process of digging out raw materials, such as precious stones, metals and fossil fuels, from under the ground. Those found near the surface are mined by the open-pit (open-cast) method, which cuts away the surface rock. Those found deep underground are dug out by drilling shafts, from which a network of tunnels lead to the rock face. Oil and gas are mined using wells drilled into the ground or the seabed.

Natural gas A flammable mixture of gases that formed at the same time as oil, millions of years ago. To extract natural gas, workers drill a well down to it and the gas rises up or is pumped to the surface through a well.

Oil A substance used as a fuel in power stations and transport, and an essential raw material for plastics. Oil formed over millions of years from dead sea plants and animals that were buried under sediments and gradually compressed into layers of rock. The heat action of bacteria changed the remains into oil and natural gases.

Oil well A shaft drilled into the ground through which oil is collected. The pressure of the oil may be enough to send it gushing to the surface. If not, it is pumped. Oil under the seabed is mined using drills mounted on offshore oil platforms (oil rigs).

Ore A rock that contains a metal.

Primary industry An industry that extracts or grows raw materials. Mining, farming and fishing are primary industries.

Quarry A deep pit from which aggregate (sand, gravel and crushed rock) or dimension stone (large, precisely cut stones used for construction) are excavated, or mined

Raw material The basic substance from which a product is made. Raw materials, such as wood, oil or grain, are all products of primary industries: logging, mining and farming, respectively.

Secondary industry An industry that turns raw materials into products, such as cars, buildings or processed food.

Smelting The process of extracting a metal from the rock, or ore, in which it is found. Smelting is achieved by heating the rock to a high temperature so that the metal melts and runs out.

Tertiary industry An industry that provides a service, such as banking, shops, education, leisure, tourism or transport. Tertiary industries, also known as service industries, do not extract or manufacture products but offer a service.

Trade The purchase and sale of products or services.

Consultant: Lloyd Jenkins