The United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and of Great Britain and

Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland

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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

• The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain, is a sovereign island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe which is consist of the four constituent countries; England, Scotland, Wales and Northern. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

• The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy with its seat of government in London, the capital. It is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II the head of state. The UK has fourteen overseas territories. As a direct result of the empire, British influence can be observed in the infrastructure, culture, sporting preferences and language of other leading countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and the United States of America as well as in less globally influential independent states. Queen Elizabeth II remains the head of the Commonwealth of Nations and head of state of the Commonwealth realms. The UK is a developed country, with the fifth or sixth largest economy depending on source.

History

• England and Scotland had existed as separate sovereign and independent states with their own monarchs and political structures since the 9th century. The once independent Principality of Wales fell under the control of English monarchs from the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Under the Acts of Union 1707, England (including Wales) and Scotland, which had been in personal union since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, agreed to a political union in the form of a unified Kingdom of Great Britain. 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 1541 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.

• Over the next century the United Kingdom played an important role in developing Western ideas of parliamentary democracy with significant contributions to literature, the arts and science. The UK-led Industrial Revolution transformed the country and fuelled the British Empire. During this time, like other Great Powers, the UK was involved in colonial exploitation, including the slave trade, though the passing of the 1807 Slave Trade Act made the UK the first country to prohibit trade in slaves.

• After the defeat of Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars, Britain became the principal naval power of the 19th century. At its peak the British Empire controlled large amounts of territory in Asia, Africa, Oceania and America.

• At the end of the Victorian era the United Kingdom lost its industrial leadership, particularly to the German Empire, which surpassed the UK in industrial production and trade in the 1890s, and to the United States. Britain remained an eminent power and its empire expanded to its maximum size by 1921, gaining the League of Nations mandate over former German and Ottoman colonies after World War I.

• Long simmering tensions in Ireland led to the partition of the island in 1920, followed by independence for the Irish Free State in 1922. Six of the nine counties of the province of Ulster remained within the UK, which then changed to the current name in 1927 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

• After World War I, the world's first large-scale international broadcasting network, the BBC, was created. In 1924 the country's Labour movement, which had been gaining strength since the late 1890s, formed the first Labour government. Britain fought Nazi Germany in World War II, with its Commonwealth allies including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India, later to be joined by further allies such as the United States. Wartime leader Winston Churchill and his peacetime successor Clement Atlee helped create the post-war world as part of the "Big Three". World War II left the United Kingdom financially damaged. Loans taken out during and after World War II from both Canada and the United States were economically costly but, along with post-war Marshall aid, the UK began the road to recovery.

• The immediate post-war years saw the establishment of the British Welfare State and one of the world's first and most comprehensive public health services, while the demands of a recovering economy brought people from the Commonwealth to create a multi-ethnic Britain. Although the new post-war limits of Britain's political role were confirmed by the Suez Crisis of 1956, the international spread of the language meant the continuing impact of its literature and culture, while at the same time from the 1960s its popular culture found influence abroad. Following a period of economic stagnation and industrial strife in the 1970s after a global economic downturn, the 1980s saw the inflow of substantial oil revenues, and the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, under whom there was a marked break with the post-war political and economic consensus. Her supporters credit her with economic success, but her critics blame her for greater social division. From 1997 onward, these trends of growth largely continued under the leadership of Tony Blair.

• The United Kingdom was one of the 12 founding members of the European Union at its launch in 1992 with the signing of the Treaty on European Union. Prior to that, it had been a member of the EU's forerunner, the European Economic Community (EEC), from 1973. The attitude of the present Labour government towards further integration with this organisation is mixed, with the Conservative Party favouring a return of some powers and competencies to the state, and the Liberal Democrats supportive of current engagement.

• The end of the 20th century witnessed a major change to the government of the United Kingdom with devolution to Scotland and Wales taking effect in 1999. The creation of the devolved Scottish parliament in particular, with powers to legislate over a wide range of issues, is beginning to add to differences between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom. It has brought to the fore the so-called West Lothian question which is a complaint that devolution for Scotland and Wales but not England has created a situation where MPs in the UK parliament can vote on matters affecting England alone but on those same matters Scotland and Wales can make their own decisions. In 2007, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the Scottish parliament elections and formed a minority government. New First Minister, Alex Salmond, hopes to hold a referendum on Scottish Independence before 2011, though the SNP may be unable to get a Bill to hold such a referendum approved by the Scottish parliament due to the minority position of the SNP government. If a referendum is held, an opinion poll in late 2007 suggested the result could be close as support for independence had reached 40% with just 44% supporting retention of the Union. The response of the unionist parties has been to call for the establishment of a Commission to examine further devolution of powers,a position that has the support of the Prime Minister.

Geography

• The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland comprises the island of Great Britain (most of England, Scotland and Wales) and the northeastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland), together with smaller islands. The mainland lies between latitudes 49° and 59° N (the Shetland Islands reach to nearly 61° N), and longitudes 8° W to 2° E. The Royal Greenwich Observatory, near London, is the defining point of the Prime Meridian. The United Kingdom has a total area of approximately 245,000 square kilometers (94,600 sq mi). The UK lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, and comes within 35 kilometers (22 mi) of the northwest coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. Northern Ireland shares a 360-kilometre (224 mi) land boundary with Ireland. The Channel Tunnel ("Chunnel") now links the UK with France beneath the English Channel.

• Most of England consists of lowland terrain, and mountainous terrain north-west of the Tees-Exe line. Mountain chains are found in the north-west (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District), north (the upland moors of the Pennines and limestone hills of the Peak District) and south-west (Exmoor and Dartmoor). Lower ranges include the limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds and Lincolnshire Wolds, and the chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. England's highest mountain is Scafell Pike, which is in the Lake District 978 meters (3,209 ft).

• Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at 1,344 meters (4,409 ft). There are long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. There are nearly eight hundred islands in Scotland, mainly west and north of the mainland, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. In total, it is estimated that the UK includes around one thousand islands.

• Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) at 1,085 meters (3,560 ft) above sea level, however South Wales is less mountainous than North and Mid Wales. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn).

• Northern Ireland, making up the northeastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. It includes Lough Neagh, at 388 square kilometers (150 sq mi), the largest body of water in the UK and Ireland. The highest peak is Slieve Donard at 849 meters (2,785 ft) in the province's Mourne Mountains.

• The greatest distance between two points on the UK mainland of Great Britain is 1,350 kilometers (840 mi) between Land's End in Cornwall (near Penzance) and John O'Groats in Caithness (near Thurso), a two day journey by car. When measured directly north-south it is a little over 1,100 kilometers (700 mi) in length and is a fraction under 500 kilometers (300 mi) at its widest.

Government and politics

• The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as head of state; the monarch of the UK serves as head of state of fifteen other Commonwealth countries, putting the UK in a personal union with those other states. The Crown has sovereignty over the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. Collectively, these three territories are known as the Crown dependencies, lands owned by the British monarch but not part of the United Kingdom. They are not part of the European Union. However, the Parliament of the United Kingdom has the authority to legislate for the dependencies, and the British government manages their foreign affairs and defense.

• The UK has a parliamentary government based on strong democratic traditions: the Westminster system has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the British Empire.

• The Parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster, is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom. Devolved parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, were established following public approval as expressed in referenda, but according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, these could be abolished by the UK parliament. The UK parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords. For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is divided into 646 constituencies, with 529 in England, 59 in Scotland, 40 in Wales and 18 in Northern Ireland. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament by simple plurality. General Elections are called by the Monarch when the Prime Minister so advises. Though there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the previous general election.

Cities• London is the capital of the UK

as a whole., its economic, political and cultural center. It is one of the world’s most important ports and one of the largest cities in the world. London with its suburbs has a population of about 11 million people.

• London has been a capital for nearly a thousand years. Many of its ancient buildings still stand. The most famous of them are the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Most visitors also want to see the Houses of Parliament and the many magnificent museums.

The capitals of the United Kingdom's constituent countries are:Belfast (Northern Ireland) Cardiff (Wales)

Edinburgh (Scotland) London (England)

Symbols of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United Kingdom

National Personification

Britannia John BullNational Animals

Coat of Arms

Constituent Countries:England

England

Patron Saint - St. George

National Flower - Tudor Rose

National Animal - lion

Coat of Arms of England

Motto is Dieu et mon droit (French)"God and my right"

Northern IrelandThere is no official National flag of Northern Ireland following the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 or any unofficial flag universally supported in Northern Ireland. The use of various flags in Northern Ireland is contentious. See Northern Ireland flags issue for more information.

Patron Saint - St. Patrick National Flower

Motto is "Londonderry Air" (de facto)

Flax Shamrock

Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland (obsolete)

Scotland

National Flwer National Animal

Nemo me impune lacessit(Latin)"No one provokes me with impunity"

Scotland

Patron Saint - St. GeorgeThistle

Unicorn

Coat of Arms of Scotland

Wales

National FlowerNational Animal

Motto is Cymru am byth (Welsh)"Wales Forever"

Wales

LeekDaffodil

Patron Saint - St. David

Red Dragon

Coat of Arms of Wales

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