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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country located off the northwestern coast of Europe, and is part of the European Union. The official name is normally shortened to United Kingdom (UK), Great Britain, or Britain. The main language is the English language. Citizens are called Britons or (informally) Brits. Britain created the British Empire in the 16th to 19th centuries, making London a major world capital.

The UK is a political union of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It controls only a few overseas territories, notably Gibraltar, Saint Helena and the Falkland Islands.

The UK is a member of the G8 as a highly developed country with the fifth largest gross domestic product in the world and a $1.833 trillion economy. It is the third most populous state in the European Union with a population of c60 million and is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) military alliance and the United Nations (UN), where it has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. The UK is also one of the world's major nuclear powers.

Geography

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Motto	Dieu et mon droit 'God and my right'
National anthem	God Save the Queen
Capital	London
Official language	English (de facto)
Government type	Constitutional monarchy; parliamentary democracy
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952)
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown (since June 2007)
Area	244,820 km² 94,526 mi²
Population	60,209,500 (22nd) (2007 estimate)
Population density	243/km² (48th) 629 mi²
HDI	0.940 (high) (18th) (2006)
Currency	Pound sterling (GBP)
Time zone	GMT Summer:BST (UTC+1)
Country codes	Internet TLD : uk Calling code : +44

The UK today comprises the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland - on the island of Ireland - and numerous smaller islands in the surrounding seas.

The UK is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and its ancillary bodies of water, including the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. On the island of Ireland, Northern Ireland has a land border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west.

History

The "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is the latest of several unions formed over the last 840 years. The Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland existed as separate states since the 9th century. The once independent Principality of Wales fell under the control of English monarchs in 1284, and was merged into the Kingdom of England in 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, England and Scotland, having been in a union of crowns under the same reigning monarch since 1603, agreed to a political union as the 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. Independence for the Republic of Ireland in 1922 followed the partition of the island of Ireland two years previously, with six of the nine counties of the province of Ulster remaining within the UK, which then changed to the current name in 1927.

The dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the UK is sometimes credited with being the nation that "created the modern world", by playing a leading role in developing Western ideas of property, capitalism, and parliamentary democracy as well as making significant contributions to literature, the arts, and science and technology. At its zenith, the British Empire covered one-quarter of the Earth's surface and a third of its population, making it the largest empire in history. The first half of the 20th century saw the Empire's strength depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern trading nation.

The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. The government has yet to choose whether to support the Euro currency, which could be adopted following a positive economic assessment and a future referendum; at present, the Euro is off the agenda.

Government and politics

See also: Government and politics of the United Kingdom

Organisation

The UK is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the monarch by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be 'supreme' (that is, able to legislate on any matter and is not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK does not have a single codified ('written') constitution, relying instead on custom and separate pieces of constitutional law.

The monarch is head of state but has virtually no power. The Prime Minister is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons, from which constitutional convention requires that the Prime Minister be chosen. Cabinet members are drawn from the House of Commons and the House of Lords, although the Prime Minister is legally free to appoint anybody as a minister.

The British system of government has been emulated around the world — a legacy of the British Empire — most notably in other Commonwealth Realms. The Member of Parliament (MP) who commands a majority in the House of Commons is normally appointed prime minister - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. Since June 2007, the Prime Minister has been Gordon Brown of the Labour Party.

However, the monarch is also the fount of honour and all Judges, Military and Police Officers swear allegiance to her personally. The exercise of the Royal Prerogative by the Prime Minister gives him the power to wage wars without formal reference to Parliament. The monarch is formally an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament becomes law when it has been signed by the monarch (known as Royal Assent); the last refusal of assent was by Queen Anne in 1708 .

The monarchy remains popular in the UK. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent. The current monarch is HM Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953.

Parliament is the national legislature of the UK. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the UK, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the House of Lords, whose members are now mostly appointed, but historically comprised mostly hereditary lords. The powers of the House of Lords are limited, with the Commons being the primary legislating body. The Commons houses 646 members, directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed), constituted of hereditary peers (Note: The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the inheritance of peerage and permitted just 92 hereditary peers to remain), life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England.

Party politics

Since the 1920s, the two largest political parties in British politics have been the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Although there have been occasional coalition and minority governments, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party to deliver a working majority in Parliament . The Liberal Democrats are the third largest party, and seek to reform the electoral system to address the dominance of the two-party system .

Internal political tensions

Independence for the Republic of Ireland in 1922 provided the major solution the 'Irish Question'. Competing demands for a united Ireland or continued union with the UK have brought civil strife and political instability most notably since 1969 when then Prime Minister Harold Wilson sent troops to Northern Ireland as peacekeepers, embroiling them in the so-called "Troubles" for the next thirty years. There has been a gradual decrease in violence since the late 1980s, though the situation remains tense, with the hard line parties, such as Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists, now holding the most parliamentary seats (see Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland) in the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. The Assembly had been suspended since October 2002 due to a lack of cross-community support, but was fully restored on 8th May, 2007.

Though 'nationalist' (as opposed to 'unionist') tendencies have shifted over time in Scotland and Wales, with the Scottish National Party founded in 1934 and Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales) in 1925, a serious political crisis threatening the integrity of the UK as a state has not occurred since the 1970s. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each possess a legislature and government alongside that of the UK. However, this increased autonomy and devolution of executive and legislative powers has not contributed to a reduction in support for independence from the UK.

There is currently little appetite for a devolved English parliament, although senior Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have voiced concerns in regard to the West Lothian Question . Proposals for English regional government have stalled, following a poorly received proposals for devolved government for the North East of England, hitherto considered the region most in favour of the idea. The proposal were rejected by referenda in the regions. England is therefore governed according to the balance of parties across the whole of the UK.

Signs of small-scale resurgence in Celtic, Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish culture, as well as 'regional' politics and development, have contributed to forces pulling against the unity of the state , there is little sign of any imminent 'crisis' (at the last General Election in 2005, both the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru saw their percentage of the overall vote drop, though the SNP gained two more seats and are the second largest party in the Scottish Parliament as well as official opposition). Nevertheless some in Scotland would like independence although most English do not.

Law

The UK has three distinct systems of law. English law, which applies in England and Wales; Northern Ireland law, which applies in Northern Ireland, and Scots Law in Scotland. The first two are based on common-law principles. Scots law, which applies only in Scotland, combines both common-law and civil-law principles. The Act of Union 1707 guarantees the continued existence of a separate law system for Scotland.

The Appelate Committee of the House of Lords (usually just referred to, confusingly, as "The House of Lords") is the highest court in the land for all criminal and civil cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and for all civil cases in Scots law. Recent constitutional changes will see the powers of the House of Lords transfer to a new Supreme Court of the UK.

In England and Wales, the court system is headed by the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). In Scotland, the chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases, and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases, while the sheriff court is the Scottish equivalent of the county court.

The "Judicial Committee of the Privy Council" is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.

Geography

Most of England consists of rolling lowland, divided east from west by mountains 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 Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the UK to France. The highest mountain in England is Scafell Pike in the Lake District, at 978m (3,208 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 1,343m (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. Scotland has nearly 800 islands, mainly west and north of the mainland, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The capital city is Edinburgh, the centre of which is a World Heritage Site. The largest city is Glasgow . The UK has about 1,000 islands, with 700 in Scotland alone .

Wales (Cymru in Welsh) is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) at 1,085m (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn). The largest city, Cardiff (Caerdydd), has been the Welsh capital since 1955. The greatest concentration of people live in the south, in the cities of Swansea and Newport, as well as Cardiff, and the South Wales Valleys. The largest town in North Wales is Wrexham.

Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The capital is Belfast ('Béal Feirste' in Irish), with other major cities being Londonderry/Derry ('Doire' in Irish) and Armagh. The province includes one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feet (12 m) high. Lough Neagh, the largest body of water in the British Isles (388 km² / 150 mi²), can be found in Northern Ireland. . The highest peak is Slieve Donard at 849m (2,786 ft) in the Mourne Mountains.

Climate

England has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round. The seasons are quite variable in temperature, but temperatures rarely fall below −5°C (23°F) or rise above 30°C (86°F). The prevailing wind is from the southwest, bringing mild and wet weather regularly from the Atlantic Ocean. It is driest in the east and warmest in the southeast. Snowfall can occur in Winter and early Spring, though it is uncommon away from high ground. The highest temperature recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on 10 August 2003 at Brogdale, near Faversham, in Kent. [1]. The lowest temperature recorded is −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 at Edgmond, near Newport, in Shropshire. [2]

Wales' climate is similar, with the highest temperature recorded at 35.2°C (95.4°F) in Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on 2 August 1990, and the lowest temperature at -23.3°C (-10°F) in Rhayader, Radnorshire on 21 January 1940. [1]

The climate of Scotland is temperate and oceanic, and tends to be very changeable. It is warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, and is much warmer than areas on similar latitudes, for example Oslo, Norway. However, temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the UK, with the coldest ever UK temperature of -27.2°C (-16.96°F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982 and also at Altnaharra, Highland, on 30 December 1995. Winter maximums average 6°C (42.8°F) in the lowlands, with summer maximums averaging 18°C (64.4°F). The highest temperature recorded was 32.9°C (91.22°F) at Greycrook, Scottish Borders on 9 August 2003.

Generally, western Scotland is warmer than the east because of the influence of the Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of the North Sea. Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides, is the sunniest place in Scotland: it had 300 days with sunshine in 1975. Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are the wettest place, with annual rainfall exceeding 3,000 mm (120 inches),while much of lowland Scotland receives less than 800 mm (31 inches) annually. Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Braemar has an average of 59 snow days per year, while coastal areas have an average of fewer than 10 days.

Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate, wetter in the west than the east, although cloud cover is persistent across the region. The weather is unpredictable at all times of the year, and the seasons are less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of North America. Average daytime maximums in Belfast are 6.5°C (43.7°F) in January and 17.5°C (63.5°F) in July. The damp climate and extensive deforestation in the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in much of the region being covered in rich green grassland. The highest maximum temperature was set at 30.8°C (87.4°F) at Knockarevan, near Belleek, County Fermanagh on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast on 12 July 1983, whilst the lowest minimum temperature recorded at -17.5°C (0.5°F) in Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on 1 January 1979. [16]

The UK, like the rest of Europe, has been in recent years, hit by many freak heatwaves during the summer. The heatwaves have been the reason for many deaths in the past years when temperatures easily soar past 30°C (86°F), nearing the 40°C (104°F) mark.

Cities

Due to differences between the administrative boundaries and metropolitan areas of cities, and because of merging of settlements into conurbations, there are many different statistics and debates on which cities are the UK's largest. The capitals of the UK's constituent countries are London (England), Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales) and Belfast (Northern Ireland). London is by far the UK's largest city, whilst Birmingham is considered, population-wise, the 'second city'.

Demographics

In the April 2001 UK Census, the UK population was 58,789,194, the third largest in the European Union (behind Germany and France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. This had been estimated up to 59,834,300 by the Office for National Statistics in 2004. Two years later it had increased to 60.2 million, largely from net immigration, but also because of a rising birth rate and increasing life expectancy.

Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. About a quarter of the population lives in the south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban, with an estimated 7,517,700 in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen.

The lands now constituting the UK have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. The Romans, however, left a minimal long-term impact on the culture. The Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse cultural traditions were blended under the Normans after this French-speaking group invaded and conquered England in 1066. Between the various constituent countries, there has been sufficient internal migration to mix the population.

Immigration has come through interaction with continental Europe and ties forged by the British Empire. Constant waves of immigration hit the UK, with Europe, Africa and South-East Asia being the biggest areas from where people emigrate. As of 2001, 7.9% of the UK's population identified themselves as an 'ethnic minority'. The UK has amongst the highest immigration rates in Europe, along with Italy and Spain it is now believed that the percentage of 'ethnic minorities' is some 9% of the total UK population. In some UK cities the percentage of 'minority groups' is large but is still less than half, for example; Birmingham (UK's 2nd largest city) has 29.6% , Leicester 36% . The latest figures (for 2004) show a record level of immigration, with net migration to the UK of 223,000. The latest wave of immigration began in May 2004 when the European Union was expanded. From May 2004 to June 2006, around 600,000 people from Central and Eastern Europe emigrated to the UK to work; this figure is for arrivals only and does not take account of people leaving, so net migration will be lower. . In 2004 net migration from EU states stood at 74,000. Along with this, there is a large number of Indians, mainly from northern India, which make up about 2% of the population.

Language

English is understood and used everyday by the vast majority of British people. Its continued use is therefore of some cultural importance; the British enjoy the prestige and status of being a major English-speaking nation whose language acts as a lingua franca for millions worldwide.

Various laws and procedures award some degree of recognition to other indigenous languages of the UK: for example, the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are devolved political bodies which have named Scots Gaelic and Welsh as official languages of their nations. European Union legislation designed to protect minority languages has also granted some legislative protection to such languages as Scots, Cornish and British Sign Language (BSL). In contrast, though English is recognised in Scotland and Wales, no legal document explicitly defines it as an official language of the whole UK, meaning that the tongue of the overwhelming majority is protected by its sheer number of speakers rather than any act of parliament.

The UK's native languages, aside from BSL, can be divided into two families: English and Scots are two closely-related Germanic languages, while Welsh, Scots Gaelic, Irish and Cornish are Celtic.

Romani is a language brought to the UK's shores through immigration, but in the UK the term immigrant languages is generally reserved for more recent arrivals. The open passport system in the Commonwealth enabled immigration from former colonies. The UK includes the largest groups of Hindi and Punjabi speakers outside Asia. Such groups may maintain ties with historic homelands while playing an active part in all aspects of British life.

Even more recently, the expansion of the European Union in 2004 to accommodate ten mainly Eastern European countries has led to increased, although predominantly temporary, immigration. In a typical British urban area, therefore, languages such as Polish may be heard alongside Urdu and Bengali; likewise, English as a first or second language will be common to most of these speakers.

Religion

The UK has one of the lowest levels of worship in the world; fewer than 8% of people attend any form of worship regularly. . The main religion is Christianity first introduced by the Romans. Although 72% of Britons identify themselves as 'Christian', relatively few attend public worship every week.

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and is the senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Originally established as part of the Roman Catholic Church in 597 CE by Augustine of Canterbury on behalf of Pope Gregory I, the Church split from Rome in 1534 during the reign of Henry VIII. The Church of England is a state church, and some of her bishops sit in the House of Lords. The British monarch must be a member of the Church of England and is the Supreme Governor. Roman Catholics are forbidden from becoming monarch. The Church of England is based at Canterbury Cathedral and the Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman.

The Church of Scotland (known informally as The Kirk) is the national church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterian church and is not subject to state control. The British monarch is an ordinary member, but is required to swear an oath to "defend the security" of the Church at their coronation. Splits in the Church since the Reformation have led to the creation of various other Presbyterian churches in Scotland including the Free Church of Scotland and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

In Wales, the Church in Wales was disestablished in the 1920s, although it remains in the Anglican communion. The Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished in the 19th century.

The Roman Catholic Church is the second largest denomination of Christianity in the UK. After the Reformation, strict laws were passed against Catholics; these were removed by the Catholic Emancipation laws in the 1850s. The Catholic hierarchy is separate in England and Wales, Scotland.

In Northern Ireland, the Catholic Church in Ireland is the largest denomination. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination and in theology and history is very closely linked to the Church of Scotland. Other large Christian groups are the Methodists and the Baptists.

As well as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism have many followers in the UK., Judaism and other religions have smaller numbers. Muslims are believed to number over 1.8 million, with many of them concentrated in urban areas including London, Birmingham, Bradford and Oldham. Mosques are a common sight in modern day Britain. The biggest groups of British Muslims are of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin.

The religions of Indian origin are also increasing, with over 500,000 Hindus and 320,000 Sikhs in the country.

Economy

After World War II, the Labour government nationalised leading sectors of the economy, such as coal, rail and steel. The Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher de-nationalized in the 1980s and promoted a policy of growth, liberalisation, deregulation, low taxation and free trade, which has been continued under the current 'New' Labour government. Based on market exchange rates, the UK is the fifth largest economy in the world; the second largest in Europe after Germany, and the sixth-largest overall by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates.

Great Britain created the Industrial Revolution in the late eighteenth century and was the world leader in industrialisation for over a century (until about 1900). Initially, it concentrated on heavy industries such as textiles, shipbuilding, coal mining, iron and steel production, and railways. The British Empire provided an overseas market for British products and engineering. Using the financial leadership of the City (London), Britain dominated international trade until World War I. Heavy industry declined throughout the twentieth century. The service sector, however, has grown substantially, and now makes up about 73% of GDP.

The service sector of the UK is dominated by financial services, especially in banking and insurance. London is one of the world's largest financial centres with the London Stock Exchange, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, and the Lloyd's of London insurance market all based in the city. It also has the largest concentration of foreign bank branches in the world. In the past decade, a rival financial centre in London has grown in the Docklands area, with HSBC, Citigroup, and Barclays Bank all relocating their head offices there. The Scottish capital, Edinburgh also has a large financial sector, the sixth largest in Europe .

Tourism is very important to the British economy. With over 27 million tourists a year, the UK is the sixth major tourist destination in the world.

The British manufacturing sector, however, has greatly diminished since World War II, and accounted for just one-sixth of national output in 2003.. The British motor industry is a significant part of this sector, although all large-volume producers are now foreign-owned. Civil and defence aircraft production is led by the United Kingdom's largest aerospace firm, BAE Systems, and the pan-European consortium known as Airbus. Rolls-Royce holds a major share of the global aerospace engines market. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is also strong in the UK, with the world's second and third largest pharmaceutical firms (GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively) being based in the UK.

The UK's agriculture sector is small by European standards, accounting for only 0.9% of GDP. The UK though has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves. Primary energy production accounts for about 10% of Gross domestic product (GDP), one of the highest shares of any industrial state.

The currency of the UK is pound sterling, represented by the symbol £. The Bank of England is the central bank and is responsible for issuing currency, although banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover the issue. The UK chose not to join the Euro on the currency's launch, although the government has pledged to hold a public referendum for deciding membership if "five economic tests" are met. Currently UK public opinion is against the notion.

Government involvement over the economy is exercised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (currently Alistair Darling) who heads the Treasury, but the Prime Minister (currently Gordon Brown), is First Lord of the Treasury (the Chancellor of the Exchequer being the Second Lord of the Treasury). However since 1997, the Bank of England has had control of interest rates and other monetary policy.

Administrative subdivisions

The UK is divided into four parts, commonly referred to as the home nations or constituent countries. Each nation is further subdivided for the purposes of local government. The Queen appoints a Lord-Lieutenant as her personal representative in lieutenancy areas across the UK; this is little more than a ceremonial role. The following table highlights the arrangements for local government, lieutenancy areas and cities across the home nations of the UK:

Flag	Country	Status	Population	Subdivisions	Cities
Template:Flagicon	England	Kingdom	50,431,700	Regions Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties Lieutenancy areas	English Cities
Template:Flagicon	Scotland	Kingdom	5,094,800	Council areas Lieutenancy areas	Scottish Cities
Template:Flagicon	Wales	Principality	2,958,600	Unitary authorities Lieutenancy areas	Welsh Cities
Template:Flagicon	Northern Ireland	Province	1,724,400	Districts Traditional counties	Northern Irish Cities

Historically, the four nations were divided into counties as areas for local government administration. Although these are still used to some extent for this purpose and as geographical areas, they are no longer the sole basis for local government administration.

In recent years, England has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. 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 elected regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum.

City status is governed by Royal Charter. There are currently 66 British cities (50 in England; 6 in Scotland; 5 in Wales; and 5 in Northern Ireland).

The Crown has sovereignty over the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, known collectively as the crown dependencies. These are lands historically owned by the British monarch, but are not part of the United Kingdom itself. They are also not in 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 defence.

The UK also has fourteen overseas territories around the world, the last remaining territories of the British Empire. The overseas territories are also not considered part of the UK, but in some cases the local populations have British citizenship and the right to abode in the UK.

Armed Forces

The armed forces of the UK are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, but officially Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the British monarch, HM The Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. The armed forces are controlled by the Defence Council currently headed by Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup.

The UK fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive armed forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Military. The UK has the 2nd highest military expenditure in the world after the USA.

The UK has a comprehensive nuclear arsenal, one of the few countries to do so, using the submarine-based Trident II ballistic missile system with nuclear warheads. These Vanguard class submarines were designed and built by VSEL (now BAE Systems Submarines) at Barrow-in-Furness.

The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the UK and its overseas territories, promoting the UK's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and other coalition operations.

One of the Royal Navy's Nuclear Submarines launches a Trident II Nuclear Missile.

The British Army had a reported strength of 102,440 in 2005 and the Royal Air Force a strength of 49,210. The 36,320-member Royal Navy operates the UK,s nuclear deterrent, which consists of four Trident missile-armed submarines, while the Royal Marines are the Royal Navy's Light Infantry units for amphibious operations and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 190,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries.

There are also reserve forces supporting the regular military. These include an army reserve, the Territorial Army (TA); the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF). About 9% of the regular armed forces are comprised of women, a figure that is higher for the reserve forces.

The United Kingdom Special Forces, principally the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS), but including others, provide troops trained for quick, mobile, military responses in Counter-Terrorism, land, maritime and amphibious operations; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the Western World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide-ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" 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 war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, with full-scale combat operations lasting almost three months.

Culture

Education and science

The UK has some of the world's leading universities , including the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. It has produced many great scholars, scientists and engineers including Isaac Newton, Adam Smith, The Lord Kelvin, Humphry Davy, Joseph John Thomson, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Alexander Fleming, Francis Crick, Joseph William Bazalgette and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with numerous inventions including the steam locomotive, vaccination, television, the modern railway, the lawn mower, electric lighting, the electric motor, the screw propeller, the internal combustion engine, the jet engine, the modern bicycle, the third mechanical and electronic computer, along with the later development of the World Wide Web.

In 2006, it was reported that the UK was the most productive source of research after the USA, producing 9% of the world's scientific research papers and attracting 12% of all citations.

Literature

The plays of William Shakespeare crowd the stage of English letters. Other major writers include Daniel Defoe, Sir Walter Scott, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Thomas Hardy, Joseph Conrad, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, T.S. Eliot, George Orwell and Graham Greene Contemporary British writers include Salman Rushdie and J. K. Rowling.

Important playwrights include Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and, more recently Alan Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. Important poets include Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, John Milton, William Blake, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, John Keats, Lord Tennyson, T. S. Eliot, R. S. Thomas, Wilfred Owen, John Betjeman, W. H. Auden, Dylan Thomas and Ted Hughes.

Design and architecture

The UK has produced a number of important architects, including Sir Christopher Wren, and Sir Norman Foster along with designers Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Jonathan Ive.

Music

George Frideric Handel, especially with his English oratorios (notably "Messiah"), is the most performed British composer. Others include Henry Purcell, Edward Elgar, Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten.

Britain was, with the USA, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the world's most famous rock bands including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock with bands like The Sex Pistols and The Clash, music in the 1970s as well as the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal. The late-1970s and 1980s saw the rise of New Wave. The so-called 'Second British Invasion' into the US popular music scene took place from 1982 to 1984 when UK bands flooded the US Billboard charts. In the mid to late-1990s, the Britpop phenomenon saw bands such as Oasis and Blur attain considerable national and international success. The 1990s also saw the rise of major Welsh bands such as The Stereophonics and Manic Street Preachers. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers helping this mainly underground genre to cross over into the mainstream (having originated in the early-90's with techno bands such as Orbital). Also British pop producers Stock Aitken Waterman - dominated the charts in the late-80's and early-90's with their instantly recognisable brand of pop from acts including today's pop superstar, Kylie Minogue. The 1990s charts were also dominated by the boy band phenomenon, with groups such as Take That thriving amongst countless others. Girl groups such as the Spice Girls also found considerable success. From 1997 onwards, so-called 'soft rock' bands have dominated the serious popular music scene including Coldplay, although after 2003 a high number of 'indie rock' bands emerged and have found considerable success.

Media

The UK has a large and diverse media, and the prominence of the English language gives it an international dimension.

The BBC is the UK's publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest broadcaster in the world. Funded by the compulsory television licence, the BBC operates several television channels and radio stations both in the UK and abroad. The BBC World Service radio channel is broadcast in 33 languages around the world. BBC News is also broadcast around the world. The main, free-to-air television channels in the UK are BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 (STV in scotland), Channel 4 and Five. The main satellite broadcaster is British Sky Broadcasting, the vast majority of digital cable services are provided by NTL:Telewest (created by the merger of NTL and Telewest in March 2006), and free-to-air digital terrestrial television by Freeview.

Radio in the UK is dominated by BBC Radio, which operates 10 national and 40 regional radio stations. The most popular radio station, by number of listeners, is BBC Radio 2 which specialises in popular music aimed at the 'middle aged' age bracket; it is closely followed by BBC Radio 1, aimed at the 15-24 aged bracket and the previous market leader. Commercial radio tends to be regionalised, although Virgin Radio, Classic FM and talkSPORT are broadcast nationally. Popular regional stations include Capital Radio in London; Heart in London and Midlands; Galaxy in Birmingham and the north of England; Magic in London and the north of England; and Radio Clyde in Glasgow.

Traditionally, British newspapers could be split into "quality", serious-minded newspapers (usually referred to as broadsheets because of their large size) and tabloid, popular newspapers. However, because of considerations of convenience of reading, many traditional broadsheets have both switched to a 'compact'-sized format, traditionally used by tabloids. The Sun has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the UK, with approximately a quarter of the market; its sister paper, The News of The World similarly leads the Sunday newspaper market , and traditionally focuses on celebrity-led stories. The The Daily Telegraph, a right-of-centre paper, is the highest selling of the qualities (former broadsheets), having overtaken The Times in circulation figures. The Guardian is a more liberal or left-wing former broadsheet. The Financial Times is the main business paper, printed on distinctive salmon-pink broadsheet paper.

Sport

A number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including association football (football, or soccer), rugby football (rugby), golf, cricket, tennis and boxing.

The most popular sport in the UK is association football (known as soccer in North America), commonly referred to as just "football". The UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which are to be hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. It is in this way that rugby football differs internationally to association football, as the England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (including Northern Ireland) teams do come together to form the British and Irish Lions, though they do all compete separately internationally for the most part.

The UK football clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. British teams are generally successful in European Competitions and several have become European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners: Liverpool (five times), Manchester United (twice), Nottingham Forest (twice), Aston Villa and Celtic.

By far the UK's most successful sport, if judged by the number of wins in the international arena, is rowing which holds a strong presence amongst other rowing nations such as Australia, Canada and Germany. It is widely considered that the UK's most successful sportsperson is Steven Redgrave who won five gold and one bronze medals at five consecutive Olympic Games as well as numerous wins at the World Rowing Championships and Henley Royal Regatta.

Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby league originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played predominantly in Wales, Northern Ireland and Southern England. Having supposedly originated from the actions of William Webb Ellis at the town of Rugby, it is considered the national sport of Wales. In rugby league the UK plays as one nation – Great Britain – though in union it is represented by four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (which consists of players from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). England is the current holder of the Rugby World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions tour either Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.

The Wimbledon Championships are international tennis events held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar.

Thoroughbred racing is also very popular in England. It originated under Charles II of England as the "Sport of Kings" and is a royal pastime to this day. World-famous horse races include the Grand National and the Epsom Derby.

Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK, and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course. Cricket is also popular; although the popularity of the game is dramatically greater in England than in other parts of the UK, all four constituent nations as of 2006 compete at the One-Day International level – Scotland independently, Wales as part of the English team, and Northern Ireland as part of All-Ireland.

Shinty or camanachd (a sport derived from the same root as the Irish hurling and similar to bandy) is popular in the Scottish Highlands, sometimes attracting crowds numbering thousands in the most sparsely populated region of the UK.

The country is closely associated with motorsport. Many teams and drivers in Formula One and the World Rally Championship are based in the UK. The country also hosts legs of the F1 and World Rallying Championship calendars and has its own Touring Car Racing championship, the BTCC.

British Formula One World Champions include Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill (twice), Jim Clark (twice), John Surtees (who was also successful on motorcycles), Jackie Stewart (three times), James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, and Graham Hill's son, Damon Hill. British drivers have not been as successful in the World Rally Championship, with only Colin McRae and the late Richard Burns winning the title.

Symbols

• The flag of the UK is the Union Flag (commonly known as the "Union Jack"), which is a superimposition of the flags of England (St George's Cross) and Scotland (Saint Andrew's Cross); the Saint Patrick's cross, representing Ireland, was added in 1801.

• The national anthem is God Save the Queen.

• Britannia is a personification of the UK, originating from the Roman occupation of southern and central Great Britain. Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon's three-pronged trident and a shield, bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding the back of a lion. In modern usage, Britannia is often associated with maritime dominance, as in the patriotic song Rule Britannia.

• The lion has also been used as a symbol of the UK; one is depicted behind Britannia on the 50 pence piece and one is shown crowned on the back of the 10 pence piece, it is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. Lions have been used as heraldic devices many times, including in the royal arms of both the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Kingdom of Gwynedd in Wales. The lion is featured on the emblem of the England national football team, giving rise to the popular football anthem Three Lions.

• The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of the Great Britain.

• Britain (especially England) is also personified as the character John Bull.

Miscellaneous data

• Cellular frequency: GSM 900, GSM 1800, UMTS 2100
• Cellular technology: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
• Date format: DD/MM/YY (example: 22/12/05) or 22 December 2005
• Time format: Generally 12-hour format when spoken or in writing (example: 5.15 pm), 24-hour format is used in some official documentation and in timetables (example: 17:15 or 1715).
• Decimal separator is a full stop: 123.45
• Thousands are separated (formal) by a comma: 10,000. (To avoid confusion with continental countries which use the comma as the decimal separator, a space may be used, e.g. 10 000.)
• Voltage: 230V (+10% / -6%), 50 Hz; Power connector: 3 rectangle pins

External links

• Official website of the British Monarchy
• Official website of the United Kingdom Government
• Official tourist guide to Britain
• Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom