United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
	Flag of the United Kingdom Flag Coat of arms of the United Kingdom Coat of arms
	Motto: Dieu et mon droit (Royal motto); (French: God and my right)2
	Anthem: God Save the Queen3
Capital and largest city	London
Official languages	None; English de facto 4
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Establishment
• Water (%)	1.3%
Population
• July 2005 estimate	60,441,457 6 (22nd)
• 2001 census	58,789,194
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$1,825,837 million (6th)
• Per capita	$30,658 (15th)
Currency	British pound (£) (GBP)
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Calling code	44
ISO 3166 code	GB
Internet TLD	.uk7
	1In the UK, some other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous (regional) languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, the UK's official name is as follows: Welsh: Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon; Scottish Gaelic: An Rìoghachd Aonaichte na Breatainn Mhòr agus Eirinn a Tuath; Irish: Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Tuaisceart na hÉireann; Cornish: An Rywvaneth Unys a Vreten Veur hag Iwerdhon Glédh; Lowland Scots: Unitit Kinrick o Great Breetain an Northren Ireland; ; 2 The Royal motto in Scotland is Nemo Me Impune Lacessit (Latin: "No-one harms me with impunity").; 3 Unofficial.; 4 Officially recognised regional languages:; in Wales: Welsh; and in Scotland: Scottish Gaelic since 2004 Act.; 5 Formed as United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Name changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927.; 6 Official estimate provided by the UK Office for National Statistics. As of April 2005, the July 2004 estimates were not yet available.; 7 ISO 3166-1 is GB, but .gb is unused

"UK" redirects here. For other meanings, see UK (disambiguation) and United Kingdom (disambiguation)

For an explanation of often confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (Terminology).

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country located in western Europe. Its capital is London. It is a Commonwealth Realm, and a member of the European Union and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom or the UK, it is also often inaccurately called Great Britain, Britain or England (the most populous of the home nations). The UK is situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe, and has a land border with the Republic of Ireland, but is otherwise surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. The UK has four constituent parts, three of which — the ancient nations of England, Wales and Scotland — are located on the island of Great Britain. The fourth part is Northern Ireland, which is located on the island of Ireland.

The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is also a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK also has overseas territories throughout the world, and relationships with several Crown dependencies.

The United Kingdom was formed by Acts of Union which united the Kingdom of England (which included Wales as a principality) with the Kingdom of Scotland and later the Kingdom of Ireland as a single state under the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The modern "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was the result of the partition of Ireland in 1922 between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom. Until 1949, the British monarch was also The Monarch of Ireland.

Great Britain, or just Britain, is the geographical name of the largest of the British Isles (often also including its smaller neighbouring islands, though never Ireland). Politically, the term Great Britain refers collectively to the nations of England, Wales and Scotland (i.e., the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland). This political usage of "Great Britain" dates from the personal union of the Crowns of Scotland and England (including Wales) in 1603, with the term being used in the sense "all of Britain". In the early years of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain", formed by the Act of Union of 1707, it was customary to refer officially to Scotland and to England and Wales as, respectively, "North Britain" and "South Britain", though the usage never really caught on. It should be noted that the use of "(Great) Britain" as shorthand for the United Kingdom is not accurate, since the former refers only to a geographical entity, which does not include Northern Ireland. It may cause offence, especially to unionists (in Northern Ireland) to use this incorrect term to refer to the country of the United Kingdom as a whole.

The British Isles is a term frequently used to refer to the archipelago which includes the mainland of Great Britain, the mainland of Ireland, and the smaller islands associated with these two, such as the Channel Islands, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, Orkney, the Shetland Islands, etc. The term is, however, often avoided, especially in Ireland, by those who are conscious that it is sometimes misunderstood internationally to mean "the islands belonging to Britain (i.e. the United Kingdom)", a description out of date in the case of Ireland since 1922. An alternative, the Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA) has been proposed, but is little used outside diplomatic circles.

History

Main article: History of the United Kingdom

Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Act of Union 1536. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. This occurred at a time when Scotland was on the brink of economic ruin and was deeply unpopular with the broader Scottish population.

The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This was also an unpopular decision, taking place just after the unsuccessful United Irishmen Rebellion of 1798 (see also Society of the United Irishmen). The timing, when further Napoleonic intervention or an invasion was feared, was predominantly due to security concerns. In 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the name United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland being adopted.

The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation.

The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not yet chosen to adopt the euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions. Some British economists demand that the European Central Bank be reformed to mirror the Bank of England before the UK joins the Euro, a demand which, given the German economic difficulties following adoption of the Euro, would seem to be possible in the future.

Constitutional reform is also a current issue in the UK. The House of Lords has been subjected to ongoing reforms, Scotland elected its own parliament in 1999 and in the same year, devolved assemblies were created in Wales and Northern Ireland. According to opinion polls, the monarchy remains generally popular in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British Republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [1]. Despite the country's liberal heritage, the Government's Information Commissioner stated in 2004 that the country is currently in danger of becoming a surveillance society.

The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations (successor organisation to the former British Empire) and NATO. It is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council and holds a veto power. It is one of the few (no more than ten) nuclear powers on the planet.

Government and Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom

File:Ac.thequeen.jpg

H.M. Queen Elizabeth II

File:BlairL.jpg

The Prime Minister, Tony Blair

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised by the government (executive) drawn from Parliament headed by the Prime Minister. It is the only major country in the world that does not possess a codified constitution. The Prime Minister appoints other Ministers of State from Parliament who together form the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the head of government. Formally, sovereignty is vested fully in the monarch, who is Head of State, but under Britain's constitutional monarchy Her (His) Majesty's Government is answerable and accountable to the House of Commons, which is the lower and only directly-elected house in Britain's bicameral Parliament. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past. Nations that follow British-style parliamentarism, with an executive drawn from and accountable to the legislature, are said to operate under the Westminster system of governance.

In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Foreign policy and criminal justice are implemented in Her Majesty's name, but the monarch has no real control over either. The Queen also confers titles and honours, on the advice of the Prime Minister in most instances. Her Majesty has access to all Cabinet papers and is briefed weekly by the Prime Minister, usually on Tuesdays. Constitutional writer Walter Bagehot asserted that the monarch has three rights: to be consulted, to advise and to warn. Those rights are exercised rarely but may be important at key times—such as when there is a "hung parliament". Each year, the monarch officially opens Parliament, and makes a speech announcing what the government plans to do during the next year. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong with 23% wanting a republic (according to a recent poll by the Daily Telegraph). The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. The British monarch also reigns in 15 other sovereign countries that are known as the Commonwealth Realms. Although the UK has no political or executive power over those independent nations, it retains influence through long-standing close relations. In some Commonwealth Realms the Privy Council remains the highest Court of Appeal.

Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, whose unelected members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is more powerful than the House of Lords, and may ultimately pass legislation that the Lords has rejected by invoking the Parliament Act. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 unelected members. They are all either hereditary peers, life peers, or bishops of the Church of England. Historically, the House of Lords was composed of members of the Peerage, holding seats by nature of birthright, although now members are appointed for life. Furthermore, the House of Lords Act 1999 severely curtailed the number of the hereditary peers who could sit in the upper House - only 92 out of several hundred retain the right, through being elected by their fellow peers or by holding either of the royal offices of Earl Marshal or Lord Great Chamberlain. The proposals to reform the House of Lords initially called for all hereditary peers to lose their voting rights, however a compromise was reached that allowed them gradually to be phased out.

By constitutional convention, Ministers of State are chosen largely from among members of the Commons with a small number chosen from the House of Lords. Ministers of State exercise both legislative powers and prerogative (deriving from royal prerogative) powers. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the majority of seats in the House of Commons and is formally appointed by the monarch. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997.

The Palace of Westminster, on the banks of the River Thames in Westminster, London, is the home of the House of Commons and the House of Lords

The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two party system, but in the the last twenty years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party, winning 22.0% of the vote at the last election, translating into 9.6% of the seats in Parliament. The electoral system used for general elections is First Past the Post. The nature of this system means that Labour were elected in the 2005 election with only 35.2% of the national vote, but still won a majority of seats in Parliament.

The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country and on the rule of law. The United Kingdom has been a centralised, unitary state for much of its history.

There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late nineteenth century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. Home rule was given to Northern Ireland in 1920: it was eventually abolished by London in 1972, after much civil strife. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referendums for devolution to Scotland and Wales failed to pass in 1979, but were successfully passed in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002. In Cornwall, there is a movement that calls for devolution [2] (Cornish nationalism), and an academic debate over the Cornish identity and constitutional status of Cornwall. Regional Assemblies were proposed for North England, but after a referendum in the 'North East' region where 78% voted against the scheme, the plans for regional governments were abandoned. Because of the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, all the devolved assemblies and parliaments could be legally abolished by Parliament, but this is unlikely to happen.

See also:

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is divided into four constituent parts: Template:United Kingdom

The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:

The Regions and Administrative counties of England
The Council areas of Scotland
The Counties and county boroughs of Wales
The Districts of Northern Ireland

The Act of Union 1536 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes.

Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others; so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions - North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern, London, South East, South West. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plans' future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the first-scheduled North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum.

Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts.

Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

Military

Main article: Military of the United Kingdom

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The Tri-service badge of Her Majesty's Armed Forces. The anchor representing the Royal Navy, the crossed swords the Army, and the Eagle the Royal Air Force

The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence.

The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting Britain's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations.

The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident missile submarines, while the Royal Marines provide commando units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range.

Along with France and Russia, Britain fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in Europe. The Royal Navy is the largest navy in Europe. Despite Britain's wide ranging capabilities, recent defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982.

The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.

Geography

A United States CIA World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom

Main article: Geography of the United Kingdom

Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Trent & Ouse feeding the Humber Estuary; major cities include London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Bristol, Nottingham, Leicester, and Newcastle upon Tyne. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000m or greater.

Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon, at 1,085 m above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in the south of Wales. The other metropolitan areas include Swansea, Newport, and Wrexham.

Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain (1343 m). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, as is the uninhabited islet of Rockall, although this claim is disputed. Main cities are Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee.

Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast and Londonderry. The Province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, The Giants Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feet high.

In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the United Kingdom

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One-pound coin

The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State.

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state.

Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world.

The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.

Society

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the United Kingdom

The primary language spoken is English. Other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, mostly famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep.

Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Jamaican Creole.

Also see: Languages in the United Kingdom

Culture

Main article: Culture of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom contains two of the world's most famous universities, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford, and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Paul Dirac and Isambard Kingdom Brunel amongst others; the nation is credited with the invention of the steam engine, locomotive, 3-piece suit, vaccination, lead crystal, television, radio, the telephone, submarine, hovercraft, and both the internal combustion and jet engines.

Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in world history; other well-known writers include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, J. K. Rowling, Agatha Christie, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, William Blake and Dylan Thomas. (see main article: British literature).

Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, and John Tavener in the 19th and 20th.

The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous pop stars, including the Beatles, Sir Cliff Richard, Queen, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Coldplay and Supergrass gain international fame. Developing on from this success, British bands, notably Franz Ferdinand, have in 2004 burst onto to the world scene as a part of the indie movement, with the UK largely seen as the home of such music. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. (see main article: Music of the United Kingdom).

A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including association football (soccer), golf, cricket, squash, boxing, rugby, billiards, and rounders, the forerunner of baseball. England won the 1966 FIFA World Cup and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar.

The national sport of the UK is association football (known simply as "football"), but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique 4 team arrangement that the UK does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games, despite having invented the game. A similar arrangement applies to Rugby Union as well, except that a single team represents all of Ireland – the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland – although from time to time the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries.