United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Flag Royal coat of arms
Anthem:  "God Save the Queen"[nb 1]
Location of  United Kingdom  (dark green) – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  —  [Legend]
Capital (and largest city)		London 51°30′N 0°7′W / 51.5°N 0.117°W / 51.5; -0.117
Official language(s)		English[1][2]
Recognised regional languages		Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Ulster Scots, Welsh, Cornish[nb 2]
Ethnic groups (2001 See: UK ethnic groups list[4])		92.1% White 4.0% South Asian 2.0% Black 1.2% Mixed 0.4% Chinese 0.4% Other
Demonym		British or Briton
Government		Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	Elizabeth II
-	Prime Minister	David Cameron MP
Legislature		Parliament
-	Upper house	House of Lords
-	Lower house	House of Commons
Formation
-	Acts of Union 1707	1 May 1707
-	Acts of Union 1800	1 January 1801
-	Anglo-Irish Treaty	12 April 1922
Area
-	Total	243,610 km2 (80th) 94,060 sq mi
-	Water (%)	1.34
Population
-	Mid-2010 estimate	62,262,000[5] (22nd)
-	2001 census	58,789,194[6]
-	Density	255.6/km2 (51st) 661.9/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$2.260 trillion[7]
-	Per capita	$36,089[7]
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$2.417 trillion[7]
-	Per capita	$38,592[7]
Gini (2008–09)		41[8]
HDI (2011)		0.863[9] (very high) (28th)
Currency		Pound sterling (GBP)
Time zone		GMT (UTC+0)
-	Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Date formats		dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on the		left[nb 3]
ISO 3166 code		GB
Internet TLD		.uk[nb 4]
Calling code		44
1	A second coat of arms is used in Scotland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland^{[nb 5]} (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—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 United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right^[10] and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers,^[11][12] based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies.^[13] The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories.^[14] These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.

The UK is a developed country and has the world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and eighth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialised country^[15] and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.^[16] The UK remains a great power with leading economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence.^[17] It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth in the world.^[18]

The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a member of the European Union and its predecessor the European Economic Community since 1973. It is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G8, the G20, NATO, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization.

Etymology and terminology[link]

The name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was introduced in 1927 by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act to reflect the reality that the de facto independence of the Irish Free State, created by the partitioning of Ireland in 1922, left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland still within the UK.^[19] Prior to this, the Acts of Union 1800, that united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801, had given the new state the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain before 1801 is occasionally referred to as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain".^{[20][21][22][23]} However, Section 1 of both of the 1707 Acts of Union declare that England and Scotland are "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain".^{[24][25][nb 6]} The term united kingdom is found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the new state but only became official with the union with Ireland in 1801.^[26]

Although the United Kingdom, as a sovereign state, is a country, England, Scotland, Wales and (more controversially) Northern Ireland are also referred to as countries, although they are not sovereign states and only Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government.^[27][28] The British Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.^[10] With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences."^[29] Other terms used for Northern Ireland include "region" and "province".^[30][31]

The United Kingdom is often referred to as Britain. British government sources frequently use the term as a short form for the United Kingdom, whilst media style guides generally allow its use but point out that the longer term Great Britain refers only to England, Scotland and Wales.^[32][33][34] However, some foreign usage, particularly in the United States, uses Great Britain as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom.^[35][36] Also, the United Kingdom's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain" or "Team GB".^[37][38] GB and GBR are the standard country codes for the United Kingdom (see ISO 3166-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3) and are consequently commonly used by international organisations to refer to the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, a new design of British passport entered into use. Its first page shows the long form name of the state in English, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.^[39] In Welsh, the long form name of the state is "Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon" with "Teyrnas Unedig" being used as a short form name on government websites.^[40] In Scottish Gaelic, the long form is "Rìoghachd Aonaichte na Breatainne Mòire is Èireann a Tuath".

The adjective British is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom. Although the term has no definite legal connotation, it is used in legislation to refer to United Kingdom citizenship.^[41] However, British people use a number of different terms to describe their national identity. Some may identify themselves as British only, or British and English, Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish. Others may identify themselves as only English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish and not British. In Northern Ireland, some describe themselves as only Irish.^[42][43][44]

History[link]

Before 1707[link]

Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.

Settlement by anatomically modern humans of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago.^[45] By the end of the region's prehistoric period, the population is thought to have belonged, in the main, to a culture termed Insular Celtic, comprising Brythonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland.^[46] The Roman conquest, beginning in 43 AD, and the 400-year rule of southern Britain, was followed by an invasion by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers, reducing the Brythonic area mainly to what was to become Wales.^[47] The region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.^[48] Meanwhile, Gaelic-speakers in north west Britain (with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in the 5th century)^[49][50] united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century.^[51]

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings and the events leading to it.

In 1066, the Normans invaded England and after its conquest, seized large parts of Wales, conquered much of Ireland and settled in Scotland bringing to each country feudalism on the Northern French model and Norman-French culture.^[52] The Norman elites greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, each of the local cultures.^[53] Subsequent medieval English kings completed the conquest of Wales and made an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to annex Scotland. Thereafter, Scotland maintained its independence, albeit in near-constant conflict with England. The English monarchs, through inheritance of substantial territories in France and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the Hundred Years War.^[54]

The early modern period saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country.^[55] Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England,^[56] and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.^[57] In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and land given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.^[58] In 1603, the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a personal union when James VI, King of Scots, inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political institutions.^[59][60] In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms were involved in a series of connected wars (including the English Civil War) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the short-lived unitary republic of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.^[61][62] Although the monarchy was restored, it ensured (with the Glorious Revolution of 1688) that, unlike much of the rest of Europe, royal absolutism would not prevail. The British constitution would develop on the basis of constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary system.^[63] During this period, particularly in England, the development of naval power (and the interest in voyages of discovery) led to the acquisition and settlement of overseas colonies, particularly in North America.^[64][65]

Since the Acts of Union of 1707[link]

The Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.

On 1 May 1707 a new kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland in accordance with the Treaty of Union, negotiated the previous year and ratified by the English and Scottish Parliaments passing Acts of Union.^[66][67][68]

In the 18th century, the country played an important role in developing Western ideas of the parliamentary system and in making significant contributions to literature, the arts, and science.^[16] The British-led Industrial Revolution transformed the country and fuelled the growing British Empire. During this time Britain, like other great powers, was involved in colonial exploitation, including the Atlantic slave trade, although with the passing of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 the UK took a leading role in battling the trade in slaves.^[69] The colonies in North America had been the main focus of British colonial activity. With their loss in the American War of Independence, imperial ambition turned elsewhere, particularly to India.^[70]

In 1800, while the wars with France still raged, the Parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland each passed an Act of Union, uniting the two kingdoms and creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which came into being on 1 January 1801.^[71]

The Battle of Waterloo marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the start of Pax Britannica.

After the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815), the UK emerged as the principal naval and economic power of the 19th century (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830)^[72] Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as the Pax Britannica.^[73][74] It was also a period of rapid economic, colonial, and industrial growth. Britain was described as the "workshop of the world",^[75] and the British Empire grew to include India, large parts of Africa, and many other territories. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina and Siam.^[76][77] Domestically, there was a shift to free trade and laissez-faire policies and a very significant widening of the voting franchise. The country experienced a huge population increase during the century, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, causing significant social and economic stresses.^[78] By the end of the century, other states began to challenge Britain's industrial dominance.^[79]

Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme. More than 885,000 British soldiers died on the battlefields of World War I.

The UK, along with Russia, France and (after 1917) the USA, was one of the major powers opposing the German Empire and its allies in World War I (1914–18).^[80] The UK armed forces grew to over five million people^[81] engaged across much of its empire and several regions of Europe, and increasingly took a major role on the Western front. The nation suffered some two and a half million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt.^[81] After the war the United Kingdom received the League of Nations mandate over former German and Ottoman colonies, and the British Empire had expanded to its greatest extent, covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population.^[82] The rise of Irish Nationalism and disputes within Ireland over the terms of Irish Home Rule led eventually to the partition of the island in 1921,^[83] and the Irish Free State became independent with Dominion status in 1922, while Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.^[84] The Great Depression (1929–32) occurred when the UK had not recovered from the effects of the war, and led to hardship as well as political and social unrest.^[85]

The United Kingdom was one of the Allies of World War II and an original signatory to the Declaration of the United Nations. Following the defeat of its European allies in the first year of the war, the United Kingdom continued the fight against Germany, notably in the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic. After the victory, the UK was one of the Big Three powers that met to plan the postwar world. The war left the country financially damaged. Marshall Aid and loans from both the United States and Canada helped the UK on the road to recovery.^[86]

Territories that were at one time part of the British Empire. Current British Overseas Territories are underlined in red.

The Labour government in the immediate post-war years initiated a radical programme of changes, with a significant impact on British society in the following decades.^[87] Domestically, major industries and public utilities were nationalised, a Welfare State was established, and a comprehensive publicly funded healthcare system, the National Health Service, was created.^[88] In response to the rise of local nationalism, the Labour government's own ideological sympathies and Britain's now diminished economic position, a policy of decolonisation was initiated, starting with the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.^[89] Over the next three decades, most territories of the Empire gained independence and became sovereign members of the Commonwealth of Nations.^{[citation needed]}

Although the new postwar limits of Britain's political role were illustrated by the Suez Crisis of 1956, the UK nevertheless became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and was the third country to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal (with its first atomic bomb test in 1952). The international spread of the English language also ensured the continuing international influence of its literature and culture, while from the 1960s its popular culture also found influence abroad. As a result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s, the British Government encouraged immigration from Commonwealth countries, thereby transforming Britain into a multi-ethnic society in the following decades.^[90] In 1973, the UK joined the European Economic Community (EEC), and when the EEC became the European Union (EU) in 1992, it was one of the 12 founding members. From the late 1960s Northern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary violence (sometimes affecting other parts of the UK and also the Republic of Ireland) conventionally known as the Troubles. It is usually considered to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998.^[91][92][93]

Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, the Conservative Government of the 1980s initiated a radical policy of deregulation, particularly of the financial sector, flexible labour markets, the sale of state-owned companies (privatisation), and the withdrawal of subsidies to others.^[94] Aided, from 1984, by the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues, the UK experienced a period of significant economic growth.^[95] Around the end of the 20th century there were major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of devolved national administrations for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales following pre-legislative referendums,^[96] and the statutory incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Domestic controversy surrounded some of Britain's overseas military deployments in the 2000s (decade), particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.^[97]

Geography[link]

The topography of the UK

The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 243,610 square kilometres (94,060 sq mi). The country occupies the major part of the British Isles^[98] archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with the south-east coast coming within 35 kilometres (22 mi) of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the English Channel.^[99] As of 1993^[update] 10% of the UK was forested, 46% used for pastures and 25% used for agriculture.^[100] The Royal Greenwich Observatory in London is the defining point of the Prime Meridian.^{[citation needed]}

The United Kingdom lies between latitudes 49° to 61° N, and longitudes 9° W to 2° E. Northern Ireland shares a 360-kilometre (224 mi) land boundary with the Republic of Ireland.^[99] The coastline of Great Britain is 17,820 kilometres (11,073 mi) long.^[101] It is connected to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel, which at 50 kilometres (31 mi) (38 kilometres (24 mi) underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world.^[102]

England accounts for just over half of the total area of the UK, covering 130,395 square kilometres (50,350 sq mi).^[103] Most of the country consists of lowland terrain,^[100] with mountainous terrain north-west of the Tees-Exe line; including the Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District, the Pennines and limestone hills of the Peak District, Exmoor and Dartmoor. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber. England's highest mountain is Scafell Pike (978 metres (3,209 ft)) in the Lake District. Its principal rivers are the Severn, Thames, Humber, Tees, Tyne, Tweed, Avon, Exe and Mersey.^[100]

Ben Nevis, in Scotland, is the highest point in the British Isles

Scotland accounts for just under a third of the total area of the UK, covering 78,772 square kilometres (30,410 sq mi)^[104] and including nearly eight hundred islands,^[105] predominantly west and north of the mainland; notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault—a geological rock fracture—which traverses Scotland from Arran in the west to Stonehaven in the east.^[106] The faultline separates two distinctively different regions; namely the Highlands to the north and west and the lowlands to the south and east. The more rugged Highland region contains the majority of Scotland's mountainous land, including Ben Nevis which at 1,343 metres (4,406 ft) is the highest point in the British Isles.^[107] Lowland areas, especially the narrow waist of land between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth known as the Central Belt, are flatter and home to most of the population including Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, and Edinburgh, its capital and political centre.^{[citation needed]}

Wales accounts for less than a tenth of the total area of the UK, covering 20,779 square kilometres (8,020 sq mi).^[108] Wales is mostly mountainous, though South Wales is less mountainous than North and mid Wales. The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the coastal cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and the South Wales Valleys to their north. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia and include Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa) which, at 1,085 metres (3,560 ft), is the highest peak in Wales.^[100] The 14, or possibly 15, Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s. Wales has over 1,200 km (750 miles) of coastline. There are several islands off the Welsh mainland, the largest of which is Anglesey (Ynys Môn) in the northwest.

Northern Ireland accounts for just 14,160 square kilometres (5,470 sq mi) and is mostly hilly. It includes Lough Neagh which, at 388 square kilometres (150 sq mi), is the largest lake in the British Isles by area.^[109] The highest peak in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard in the Mourne Mountains at 852 metres (2,795 ft).^[100]