Britain was the first country to experience industrialization due to its abundant natural resources such as coal and iron, immense expansion across the world and subsequent growth economic force resulting from trade, and its governmental and financial policies. The Industrial Revolution was rapid and maintained strength in Britain, while other Western countries experienced industrialization much more gradually and with greater difficulty, due to political, social and economic instability. Britain's natural resources were an important factor in its early industrialisation. One of the main resources was the abundance of coal and iron. These two elements could easily be used in many different aspects of industrialization, and the quantity of each led innovators to use them in all aspects of production in order to reduce costs. Britain's imperialism and colonization of most of the world allowed the nation to access a variety of natural resources and raise revenue through taxes. It also greatly increased trade, as Britain opened up trade routes and took control of many commercial industries which greatly stimulated the economy. With a stronger economy and an increase in the flow of money, there was an increase in consumer goods, benefited by the fact that families had more money to spend on goods. Additionally, there were higher wages, which was an incentive for people to innovate and join the workforce. The economy also experienced a boost with the rapid population growth of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, which led to a larger workforce, allowing the innovations of the Industrial Revolution to become important tools of production and to create factories and assembly lines. This imperialism, and therefore the strengthening of the economy, led directly to the industrial revolution and allowed Britain to develop further