- published: 30 Jan 2011
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- author: CGPGrey
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- John Locke
- John Logie Baird
- John Milton
- John Powell
- John Stuart Mill
- Johnny Canuck
- Jonathan Swift
- Joseph Conrad
- Joseph Swan
- Joshua Reynolds
- Julie Andrews
- Karl Marx
- Karl Popper
- Kate Winslet
- Kazuo Ishiguro
- King Arthur
- Laurence Olivier
- Lewis Carroll
- Lucian Freud
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
- Malcolm Sargent
- Manx people
- Mark Wallinger
- Martin McGuinness
- Mary Shelley
- Mary Wollstonecraft
- María Clara
- Michael Caine
- Michael Faraday
- Michael Frayn
- Mike Oldfield
- Monty Norman
- Nigel Jenkins
- Normans
- Oscar Wilde
- Peter Maxwell Davies
- Peter Pan
- Peter Sellers
- Philip Larkin
- Picts
- Poles
- Rachel Whiteread
- Richard Burton
- Richard Llewellyn
- Richard Trevithick
- Ridley Scott
- Roald Dahl
- Robert Burns
- Robin Hood
- Rod Stewart
- Romanichal
- Rudyard Kipling
- Salman Rushdie
- Samuel Palmer
- Samuel Richardson
- Saskia Sassen
- Scottish people
- Sean Connery
- Sherlock Holmes
- Simon Rattle
- Stephen Hawking
- Ted Hughes
- Thomas Gainsborough
- Thomas Hardy
- Thomas Hobbes
- Thomas Malory
- Thomas More
- Thomas Reid
- Tom Stoppard
- Tracey Emin
- Ulster Scots people
- Vince Cable
- Virginia Woolf
- Vivien Leigh
- Walter Bagehot
- Walter Scott
- Welsh people
- William Blake
- William Byrd
- William Morris
- William of Ockham
- William Shakespeare
- William Wordsworth
- Winston Churchill
- Lyrics: play full screen play karaoke
- United Kingdom - American Music Club
- United Kingdom - ABC
Child keeps its toys hidden away
Till it wants to break them
Take your share and go away
Make sure you get the last word
Sit back out of harm's reach
Watch the little cup of poison
Chasing its own tail around and around
Until it's exhausted at its wits end
United Kingdom
I try my best I wait for you to nail me
Now I try and never do
Anything they tell me
'Cause waiting about an inch
Under human nature
Tragedies and comedies
And a touching sense of failure
United Kingdom
When you held me in your arms
At the limits of your patience
I knew I'd always lose
Every scene of violence
When you held me in your arms
Why didn't you want me
When you held me in your arms
Why didn't you touch me
Well I used to know how
To slip through your blind spot
And now I just watch myself
Set the alarms off
I'm happier now in my shame
And don't look to you for anything
There's a gang I've just joined
There's a gang I've just joined
Three million strong you'd agree
Four million strong you'd agree
Enrollment was easy, so easy
Getting out proves to be the difficulty
From land's end to john o'groats
From land's end to john o'groats
They are making ends meet
Mending holes in their coat
Fasting and feasting on bread and margarine
Burning dreams build upon buried hopes
United kingdom - you'd better ring them
You've a solution - you better bring them
United kingdom - united kingdom
You've a solution - you better bring them
Opportunity, I guess they all came and went
Finding it hard
Finding the rent you'll find it funny
With your finger running down
Situations vacant
In school he was an athlete
Now he's not so self-assured
"after all of these o-levels is this my reward? "
There's a silent majority, that's seen and
Never heard from charles i, charles ii
To charles iii
United kingdom - you'd better ring them
You've a solution - you better bring them
United kingdom - united kingdom
This busted, rusted, upper-crusted
Bankrupted done and dusted
No-man-to-be-trusted united kingdom
Proud to stand beneath the union jack?
Happy dealing up a no ace pack?
Polishing black boots
Priming the riot squad
There go I but for the grace of god
Covering up the agony with mindless entertainment
You'll be happy when they're ripping up the pavement
Bringing down the axe on steelworks and foundries
Someone said love knows no boundaries
Close your eyes and think of england
Lie back and think of her
United kingdom - you better ring them
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The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:15
- Updated: 09 May 2013
The United Kingdom vs Great Britain, England and much more. *T-Shirts for sale!* Help support more videos: http://goo.gl/1Wlnd Grey's blog: http://www.cgpgre...
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The United Kingdom vs Great Britain, England and much more. *T-Shirts for sale!* Help support more videos: http://goo.gl/1Wlnd Grey's blog: http://www.cgpgre...
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - "I Allow It" Clip - United Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:19
- Updated: 06 May 2013
Watch the ""I Allow It"" Clip from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. In IMAX, 3D and 2D cinemas everywhere across the UK May 9, 2013 http://www.startrekthemovie.co.uk...
http://wn.com/STAR_TREK_INTO_DARKNESS_I_Allow_It_Clip_United_Kingdom
Watch the ""I Allow It"" Clip from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. In IMAX, 3D and 2D cinemas everywhere across the UK May 9, 2013 http://www.startrekthemovie.co.uk...
- published: 29 Apr 2013
- views: 16382
- author: paramountintl
Star Trek: Into Darkness 3D - 09.05.13 - "Disruptions" - Spock - United Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:24
- Updated: 01 May 2013
You think your world is safe. It is an illusion. Enjoy these final moments of peace. These are the keys to your destruction. Star Trek: Into Darkness 3D - 09...
http://wn.com/Star_Trek_Into_Darkness_3D_090513_Disruptions_Spock_United_Kingdom
You think your world is safe. It is an illusion. Enjoy these final moments of peace. These are the keys to your destruction. Star Trek: Into Darkness 3D - 09...
- published: 25 Apr 2013
- views: 3634
- author: paramountintl
WORLD WAR Z - First Look Featurette - United Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:13
- Updated: 29 Apr 2013
Watch the First Look Featurette for WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt. Coming soon to cinemas http://www.worldwarz.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Wa...
http://wn.com/WORLD_WAR_Z_First_Look_Featurette_United_Kingdom
Watch the First Look Featurette for WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt. Coming soon to cinemas http://www.worldwarz.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Wa...
- published: 25 Apr 2013
- views: 680
- author: paramountintl
Remove Cheshire Police Authority scam (United Kingdom Police ransomware)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:53
- Updated: 29 Apr 2013
When you have your computer locked with PCEU scam (also known as fake Cheshire Police Authority warning or United Kingdom Police ransomware) the guide http:/...
http://wn.com/Remove_Cheshire_Police_Authority_scam_United_Kingdom_Police_ransomware
When you have your computer locked with PCEU scam (also known as fake Cheshire Police Authority warning or United Kingdom Police ransomware) the guide http:/...
- published: 27 Apr 2013
- views: 31
- author: Andrey Gvozd
BILDERBERG 2013 - WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM from JUNE 6-9. What will be this years AGENDA?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:58
- Updated: 30 Apr 2013
BILDERBERG 2013 - WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM from JUNE 6-9. What will be this years AGENDA? American Free Press received e-mail from Grove Hotel staffer, appare...
http://wn.com/BILDERBERG_2013_WATFORD,_UNITED_KINGDOM_from_JUNE_6-9_What_will_be_this_years_AGENDA?
BILDERBERG 2013 - WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM from JUNE 6-9. What will be this years AGENDA? American Free Press received e-mail from Grove Hotel staffer, appare...
- published: 25 Apr 2013
- views: 679
- author: 829speedy
Anonymous Message to UK United Kingdom Government 2013
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:52
- Updated: 28 Apr 2013
Like and subscribe to get all of the new anonymous messages! We are many Anonymous Message to UK United Kingdom Government 2013.
http://wn.com/Anonymous_Message_to_UK_United_Kingdom_Government_2013
Like and subscribe to get all of the new anonymous messages! We are many Anonymous Message to UK United Kingdom Government 2013.
- published: 24 Mar 2013
- views: 1210
- author: Spilly Hill
United Kingdom: Bonnie Tyler 'Believe in Me' - Eurovision Song Contest 2013 - BBC One
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:06
- Updated: 08 May 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision Bonnie Tyler will represent the United Kingdom with "Believe in Me" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmo, Sweden.
http://wn.com/United_Kingdom_Bonnie_Tyler_'Believe_in_Me'_Eurovision_Song_Contest_2013_BBC_One
http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision Bonnie Tyler will represent the United Kingdom with "Believe in Me" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmo, Sweden.
- published: 07 Mar 2013
- views: 951754
- author: BBC
Monarchy - A United Kingdom 05 (full documentary series)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 48:35
- Updated: 03 May 2013
BBC documentary about the history of the Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single indiv...
http://wn.com/Monarchy_A_United_Kingdom_05_full_documentary_series
BBC documentary about the history of the Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single indiv...
- published: 11 Feb 2013
- views: 2600
- author: TheUKMonarchy
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - International Trailer - United Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:34
- Updated: 08 May 2013
Watch the International Trailer from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. Coming soon to cinemas. http://www.startrekthemovie.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/pages/STAR-T...
http://wn.com/STAR_TREK_INTO_DARKNESS_International_Trailer_United_Kingdom
Watch the International Trailer from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. Coming soon to cinemas. http://www.startrekthemovie.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/pages/STAR-T...
- published: 21 Mar 2013
- views: 221865
- author: paramountintl
Bizarre Foods: United Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 43:26
- Updated: 06 May 2013
United Kingdom Haggis, neeps and tatties, cockles and whelks -- it's either the start of a unique nursery rhyme or a list of some of the more unusual foods A...
http://wn.com/Bizarre_Foods_United_Kingdom
United Kingdom Haggis, neeps and tatties, cockles and whelks -- it's either the start of a unique nursery rhyme or a list of some of the more unusual foods A...
- published: 14 Mar 2013
- views: 59760
- author: Ping Ping
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - "Disruptions" - Kirk - United Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:23
- Updated: 07 May 2013
Watch the Kirk ""Disruptions"" video from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. In IMAX, 3D and 2D cinemas everywhere across the UK May 9, 2013 http://www.startrekthemovi...
http://wn.com/STAR_TREK_INTO_DARKNESS_Disruptions_Kirk_United_Kingdom
Watch the Kirk ""Disruptions"" video from STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. In IMAX, 3D and 2D cinemas everywhere across the UK May 9, 2013 http://www.startrekthemovi...
- published: 23 Apr 2013
- views: 4232
- author: paramountintl
Travel United Kingdom: Oxford
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:07
- Updated: 04 May 2013
Sonia Gil travels to the oldest University in the United Kingdom, Oxford. Known for its Harry Potter influence, New College and Christ Church College were so...
http://wn.com/Travel_United_Kingdom_Oxford
Sonia Gil travels to the oldest University in the United Kingdom, Oxford. Known for its Harry Potter influence, New College and Christ Church College were so...
- published: 22 Mar 2013
- views: 5196
- author: soniastravels
Season 6: United Kingdom Knows The DJ
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:19
- Updated: 07 May 2013
http://www.weknowthedj.com/shop Check out the footage from our time in the U.K...the fans were amazing and the parties were epic...follow the success see you...
http://wn.com/Season_6_United_Kingdom_Knows_The_DJ
http://www.weknowthedj.com/shop Check out the footage from our time in the U.K...the fans were amazing and the parties were epic...follow the success see you...
- published: 22 Mar 2013
- views: 57363
- author: djtayjames
United Kingdom 1 - Nigerian Nollywood Movie
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 53:25
- Updated: 29 Apr 2013
Watch best of Nigerian Nollywood Movies and Ghanian movies Online. for Brand New Movies, Visit http://www.oGAMADAMtv.com.
http://wn.com/United_Kingdom_1_Nigerian_Nollywood_Movie
Watch best of Nigerian Nollywood Movies and Ghanian movies Online. for Brand New Movies, Visit http://www.oGAMADAMtv.com.
- published: 11 Apr 2013
- views: 1937
- author: NaijaMovieStar
The United Kingdom's Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) Program
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:14
- Updated: 22 Apr 2013
In 1998, the UK announced plans to commission the 2 largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. Known as the Future Aircraft Carrier, or CVF, project, th...
http://wn.com/The_United_Kingdom's_Future_Aircraft_Carrier_CVF_Program
In 1998, the UK announced plans to commission the 2 largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. Known as the Future Aircraft Carrier, or CVF, project, th...
- published: 22 Apr 2013
- views: 154
- author: Palantir
16x9 - Un-United Kingdom: Scottish independence referendum resembles Canada's past
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:22
- Updated: 03 May 2013
Almost five million Canadians trace their roots to Scotland. One man in particular has become chief of staff to a member of the Scottish National Party—the p...
http://wn.com/16x9_Un-United_Kingdom_Scottish_independence_referendum_resembles_Canada's_past
Almost five million Canadians trace their roots to Scotland. One man in particular has become chief of staff to a member of the Scottish National Party—the p...
- published: 30 Apr 2012
- views: 4093
- author: 16x9onglobal
The Cafe - The Dis-united Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 47:39
- Updated: 06 May 2013
Bradford is at the heart of the UK and it was once the wealthiest city in Britain, riding the wave of the industrial revolution, its mills churning out texti...
http://wn.com/The_Cafe_The_Dis-united_Kingdom
Bradford is at the heart of the UK and it was once the wealthiest city in Britain, riding the wave of the industrial revolution, its mills churning out texti...
- published: 04 Aug 2012
- views: 9646
- author: AlJazeeraEnglish
WORLD WAR Z - Trailer 2 - United Kingdom
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:37
- Updated: 05 May 2013
Watch the Main Trailer for WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt. Coming soon to cinemas http://www.worldwarz.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/WorldWarZ.UK.
http://wn.com/WORLD_WAR_Z_Trailer_2_United_Kingdom
Watch the Main Trailer for WORLD WAR Z starring Brad Pitt. Coming soon to cinemas http://www.worldwarz.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/WorldWarZ.UK.
- published: 25 Mar 2013
- views: 213652
- author: paramountintl
SOLAR ENERGY IN UNITED KINGDOM
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:12
- Updated: 28 Apr 2013
http://wn.com/SOLAR_ENERGY_IN_UNITED_KINGDOM
America vs United Kingdom | T-Time | tristopiaTV
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:29
- Updated: 28 Apr 2013
It's always amused me how many differences there are between the way British people speak and the way Americans speak. There are so many to list, I could mak...
http://wn.com/America_vs_United_Kingdom_|_T-Time_|_tristopiaTV
It's always amused me how many differences there are between the way British people speak and the way Americans speak. There are so many to list, I could mak...
- published: 11 Jan 2011
- views: 248548
- author: tristopiaTV
NEW 2013 Car & Truck Crash Compilation in United Kingdom part 1 Watch full HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:49
- Updated: 02 May 2013
NEW 2013 Car & Truck Crash Compilation in United Kingdom part 1 The UK has one of the best road safety records in the world, but more can be done to prevent ...
http://wn.com/NEW_2013_Car_Truck_Crash_Compilation_in_United_Kingdom_part_1_Watch_full_HD
NEW 2013 Car & Truck Crash Compilation in United Kingdom part 1 The UK has one of the best road safety records in the world, but more can be done to prevent ...
- published: 15 Feb 2013
- views: 11097
- author: BMWBeMyWife
Eurovision 2013 United Kingdom Bonnie Tyler - Believe In Me Lyrics
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:56
- Updated: 07 May 2013
The United Kingdoms entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden Bonnie Tyler - Believe In Me.
http://wn.com/Eurovision_2013_United_Kingdom_Bonnie_Tyler_Believe_In_Me_Lyrics
The United Kingdoms entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden Bonnie Tyler - Believe In Me.
- published: 07 Mar 2013
- views: 10850
- author: 728MJ
photo: AP / Family Handout courtesy WOIO-TV
08 May 2013
CLEVELAND - In the years after his friend's daughter vanished while walking home from school, Ariel Castro handed out fliers with the 14-year-old's photo and performed music at a fundraiser held in her honor. When neighbors gathered for a candlelight vigil just a year ago to remember the girl, Castro was there too, comforting the girl's mother ... He would not say who the father was ... The house was always locked, he said ... ....(size: 9.3Kb)
photo: AP / Julio Cortez
08 May 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "In America you have a right to be stupid-if you want to be. And you have a right to be disconnected to somebody else if you want to be." -Secretary of State John Kerry. It's hard not to become self-radicalized in the United States of America these days ... "Terrorista #1." ... For decades, the United States Government has either murdered or toppled dozens of foreign leaders it did not approve of....(size: 5.6Kb)
photo: AP / Francesco Pecoraro
08 May 2013
ROME (AP) — At least four people died after a cargo ship slammed into a control tower in the Italian port of Genoa, toppling it into the harbor, rescue officials said Wednesday. A half-dozen other people remained unaccounted for, including some feared trapped inside the submerged elevator of the control tower, officials said ... The crash occurred at around 11 p.m ... "The conditions were critical ... SpA Italian shipping line ... World news....(size: 2.3Kb)
photo: AP / Mark Duncan
07 May 2013
Amanda Berry, left, and Gina DeJesus right, both went missing as teens a decade ago. (Getty Images, APF / FBI). CLEVELAND — Three women who went missing separately about a decade ago, when they were in their teens or early 20s, had been tied up but were found alive Monday in a residential area just south of downtown, and three brothers were arrested, police said ... "Help me, I'm Amanda Berry ... I need police ... ... I'm Amanda Berry ... ....(size: 5.5Kb)
photo: AP / Yves Logghe
08 May 2013
. Share. 0. More than 30 suspects in a spectacular $50 million diamond heist have been rounded up in three countries and at least some of the precious stones have been recovered, Belgian and Swiss officials said today. The sweep operation started Tuesday with an arrest of a man in France and Swiss police arrested six other people said Anja Bijnens of the state prosecutor's office in Brussels ... The robbery was carried out on Feb ... ....(size: 4.5Kb)
PR Newswire
09 May 2013
Overall the scores for output (research performance and the production of an educated workforce which meets labour market needs) are highest for the United States followed by the United Kingdom and Canada ... CONNECTIVITY OUTPUT 1 Switzerland 100 1 United States 100 United 2 Australia 97 2 Kingdom 63 3 Singapore 94 3 Canada 60 4 Sweden 93 4 Sweden 57 5 ......(size: 10.1Kb)
noodls
09 May 2013
(Source. State Government of New South Wales) ... "Dr Raj is very keen and he will be welcomed here in Armidale. He has come to us from the United Kingdom and so will adjust to working in Australia very quickly ... Dr Raj finished his basic surgical training in India and moved to the United Kingdom in 2002 for higher surgical training ... distributed by ... (noodl....(size: 1.9Kb)
NZ Herald
09 May 2013
The United States is determined ... Those claims were made in a dossier compiled by Mr Dotcom's lawyers and released wile Mr Holder, the fourth-ranked member of President Obama's cabinet, was in Auckland to attend a meeting of his counterparts from the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, hosted by New Zealand's attorney general Chris Finlayson, QC....(size: 2.3Kb)
The Providence Journal
09 May 2013
Twenty-four million asthma sufferers live in the United States, 20 million each in India and China, and seven million in the United Kingdom ... ....(size: 1.1Kb)
Khaleej Times
09 May 2013
‘The prime minister’s visit underscores the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom that has been crucial in advancing our shared security and prosperity,’ a White House statement said ... It also follows a lavish welcome he got in the United States in March 2012, when he enjoyed a trip aboard Air Force ......(size: 2.0Kb)
PR Newswire
09 May 2013
The World Market for Dialysis Equipment and Services (United States, Japan, UK, Italy, India, China, Australia and Canada ) ... Detailed World Dialysis Market Review including specific reviews of the dialysis service, equipment and supplies market in the United States, Japan, UK, Italy, India, China and Australia and Canada ... United States ... United Kingdom ... United Kingdom ... Japan, Brazil, France, United Kingdom, Canada, ROW) 2005-2010....(size: 16.9Kb)
noodls
09 May 2013
The Attorneys-General of Canada, Australia, the United States, New Zealand and England and Wales resolved to work together more closely to fight sexual violence against women and children at yesterday's Quintet meeting of Attorneys-General in Auckland ... Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom are members of the G8, which made the perpetration of sexual violence against women in wartime a central issue within the G8....(size: 3.1Kb)
noodls
09 May 2013
(Source. Sun Life Financial Inc) News. May 08, 2013 Sun Life Financial Inc. announces intention to redeem Series 2008-2 Subordinated Unsecured 5.12% Fixed/Floating Debentures due 2018 ... Sun Life Financial and its partners have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda....(size: 2.2Kb)
Stuff
09 May 2013
Lawyer Austin Powell was putting the case for the Attorney-General who has sued the protesters on behalf of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) ... The dollar amount is yet to be fixed ... The protesters want a hearing where they can argue that they were acting in defence of Iraq and Afghanistan citizens being killed by United States and United Kingdom forces who received information intercepted by the Waihopai equipment ... ....(size: 3.1Kb)
noodls
09 May 2013
(Source. Sun Life Financial Inc) News. May 08, 2013 Réal Raymond elected to the Sun Life Financial Board of Directors ... (TSX. SLF) (NYSE ... Mr ... Mr ... Mr ... Mr ... Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda ... -30- ... (noodl....(size: 2.3Kb)
Forbes
09 May 2013
Starting a business can be a lonely proposition if you’re the sole one responsible for keeping the whole thing going ... In March 2011 I came up with a vision to improve the employment for people with disabilities through a staffing agency model ... I couldn’t find one, anywhere in the country ... There is a company called Reemploy in the United Kingdom that was started in 2007 to provide similar services as Opportunity Works provides today....(size: 2.1Kb)
Canada Newswire
09 May 2013
TORONTO, May 8, 2013 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX. SLF) (NYSE ... Nominees Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld William D ... G ... About Sun Life Financial ... Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda....(size: 2.2Kb)
noodls
09 May 2013
(Source. Sun Life Financial Inc) News. Sun Life Financial declares quarterly dividends on Common and Preferred Shares payable in Q2 2013 ... (TSX. SLF) (NYSE ... Sun Life Financial Inc ... Sun Life Financial and its partners have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda ... -30-....(size: 2.6Kb)
"UK" redirects here. For other uses, see UK (disambiguation).
This article is about the sovereign state. For other uses, see United Kingdom (disambiguation).
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||
Anthem:
 "God Save the Queen"[nb 1] |
||||||
 Location of United Kingdom (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey) |
||||||
| 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.
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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]
See also: History of the British Isles
Before 1707[link]
Main articles: History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, History of Ireland, and History of the formation of the United Kingdom
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]
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]
Main article: History of the United Kingdom
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]
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]
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]
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]
Main article: Geography of the United Kingdom
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]
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]
Climate[link]
Main article: Climate of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round.[99] The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below −11 °C (12 °F) or rising above 35 °C (95 °F).[110] The prevailing wind is from the south-west and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean,[99] although the eastern parts are mostly sheltered from this wind—as the majority of the rain falls over the western regions the eastern parts are therefore the driest.[citation needed] Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream, bring mild winters; especially in the west where winters are wet and even more so over high ground. Summers are warmest in the south-east of England, being closest to the European mainland, and coolest in the north. Heavy snowfall can occur in winter and early spring on high ground, and occasionally settles to great depth away from the hills.[111]
Administrative divisions[link]
Main article: Administrative geography of the United Kingdom
Each country of the United Kingdom has its own system of administrative and geographic demarcation, which often has origins that pre-date the formation of the United Kingdom itself. Consequently there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".[112] Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.[113] Change did not occur in a uniform manner and the devolution of power over local government to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland means that future changes are unlikely to be uniform either.[citation needed]
The organisation of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the UK parliament and the Government of the United Kingdom, as England does not have a devolved parliament. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine Government office regions or European Union government office regions.[114] One region, Greater London, has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a referendum.[115] It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected regional assemblies but the rejection of a proposed assembly in the North East region, by a referendum in 2004, stopped this idea in its tracks.[116] Below the region level England has either county councils and district councils or unitary authorities and London which consists of 32 London boroughs. Councillors are elected by the first-past-the-post system in single-member wards or by the multi-member plurality system in multi-member wards.[117]
Local government in Scotland is divided on a basis of 32 council areas, with wide variation in both size and population. The cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas as is the Highland Council which includes a third of Scotland's area but just over 200,000 people. The power invested in local authorities is administered by elected councillors, of which there are currently 1,222[118] and are each paid a part-time salary. Elections are conducted by single transferable vote in multi-member wards that elect either three or four councillors. Each council elects a Provost, or Convenor, to chair meetings of the council and to act as a figurehead for the area. Councillors are subject to a code of conduct enforced by the Standards Commission for Scotland.[119] The representative association of Scotland's local authorities is the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).[120]
Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities. These include the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport which are unitary authorities in their own right.[121] Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.[122] The most recent elections were held in May 2008. The Welsh Local Government Association represents the interests of local authorities in Wales.[123]
Local government in Northern Ireland has, since 1973, been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as collecting waste, controlling dogs, and maintaining parks and cemeteries.[124] On 13 March 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils and replace the present system.[125] The next local elections were postponed until 2011 to facilitate this.[126]
Dependencies[link]
Main articles: British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies
The United Kingdom has sovereignty over seventeen territories which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself: fourteen British Overseas Territories[127] and three Crown Dependencies.[citation needed]
The fourteen British Overseas Territories are: Anguilla; Bermuda; the British Antarctic Territory; the British Indian Ocean Territory; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; the Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; the Turks and Caicos Islands; the Pitcairn Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus.[128] British claims in Antarctica are not universally recognised.[129] Collectively Britain's overseas territories encompass an approximate land area of 667,018 square miles (1,727,570 km2) and a population of approximately 260,000 people.[130] They are the remnants of the British Empire and several have specifically voted to remain British territories (Bermuda in 1995 and Gibraltar in 2002).[citation needed]
The Crown Dependencies are British possessions of the Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the UK.[131] They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. Being independently administered jurisdictions they do not form part of the United Kingdom or of the European Union, although the UK government manages their foreign affairs and defence and the UK Parliament has the authority to legislate on their behalf. The power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with their own respective legislative assemblies, with the assent of the Crown (Privy Council or, in the case of the Isle of Man, in certain circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor).[132] Since 2005 each Crown dependency has had a Chief Minister as its head of government.[citation needed]
Politics[link]
Main articles: Politics of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, and Elections in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is a unitary state under a constitutional monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state of the UK as well as of fifteen other independent Commonwealth countries. The monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn".[133] The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution,[134] as do only three other countries in the world.[nb 7] The Constitution of the United Kingdom thus consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statutes, judge-made case law and international treaties, together with constitutional conventions. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law" the UK Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.[135]
Government[link]
The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that 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 has two houses; an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords.[citation needed] Any bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law.
The position of prime minister, the UK's head of government,[136] belongs to the member of parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons, usually the current leader of the largest political party in that chamber. The prime minister and cabinet are formally appointed by the monarch to form Her Majesty's Government, though the prime minister chooses the cabinet and, by convention, the Queen respects the prime minister's choices.[137]
The cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which they are responsible. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, and become Ministers of the Crown. The Rt. Hon. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, has been Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service since 11 May 2010.[138] For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is currently divided into 650 constituencies[139] with each electing a single member of parliament by simple plurality. General elections are called by the monarch when the prime minister so advises. The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 require that a new election must be called within five years of the previous general election.[140]
The UK's three major political parties are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. During the 2010 general election these three parties won 622 out of 650 seats available in the House of Commons; 621 seats at the 2010 general election[141] and 1 more at the delayed by-election in Thirsk and Malton.[142] Most of the remaining seats were won by minor parties that only contest elections in one part of the UK: the Scottish National Party (Scotland only); Plaid Cymru (Wales only); and the Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Ulster Unionist Party, and Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland only, though Sinn Féin also contests elections in the Republic of Ireland). In accordance with party policy no elected Sinn Féin member of parliament has ever attended the House of Commons to speak on behalf of their constituents – this is because members of parliament are required to take an oath of allegiance to the monarch. The current five Sinn Féin MPs have however, since 2002, made use of the offices and other facilities available at Westminster.[143] For elections to the European Parliament the UK currently has 72 MEPs, elected in 12 multi-member constituencies.[144]
Devolved administrations[link]
Main articles: Devolution in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland Executive, Scottish Government, and Welsh Government
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own government or executive, led by a First Minister (or, in the case of Northern Ireland, a diarchal First Minister and deputy First Minister), and a devolved unicameral legislature. England, the largest country of the United Kingdom, has no devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the UK government and parliament on all issues. This situation has given rise to the so-called West Lothian question which concerns the fact that MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can vote, sometimes decisively,[145] on matters affecting England that are handled by devolved legislatures for their own constituencies.[146]
The Scottish Government and Parliament have wide ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically 'reserved' to the UK parliament, including education, healthcare, Scots law and local government.[147] Following its victory at the 2007 elections the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a minority government with its leader, Alex Salmond, becoming First Minister of Scotland.[148] The pro-union parties responded to the electoral success of the SNP by creating a Commission on Scottish Devolution[149] which reported in 2009 and recommended that additional powers should be devolved, including control of half the income tax raised in Scotland.[150] At the 2011 elections the SNP won re-election and achieved an overall majority in the Scottish parliament.[151]
The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.[152] Following the passing of the Government of Wales Act 2006 the assembly was able to legislate in devolved areas through Assembly Measures once permission to legislate on that specific matter had been granted by Westminster through a Legislative Competence Order;[153] but since May 2011 the Assembly has been able to legislate on devolved matters through Acts of the Assembly, which require no prior consent. The current Welsh Government was formed after the 2011 elections, and is a minority Labour administration lead by Carwyn Jones, who had been First Minister of a Labour/Plaid Cymru administration since December 2009.[154]
The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly have powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland. The Executive is led by a diarchy representing unionist and nationalist members of the Assembly. Currently, Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) are First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively.[155] Devolution in Northern Ireland is subject to the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent British-Irish Agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Under those agreements, the participation of members of the Northern Ireland Executive in the North/South Ministerial Council, and co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on a number of devolved policy areas, are prerequisites of devolution in Northern Ireland. The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference was also established under the agreements, whereby "the Irish Government may put forward views and proposals" on non-devolved matters with respect to Northern Ireland. However, the United Kingdom government remains sovereign over Northern Ireland unless a majority of the people of Northern Ireland vote to form a united Ireland.[citation needed]
The United Kingdom does not have a codified constitution and constitutional matters are not among the powers devolved to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Under the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, the UK Parliament could, in theory, therefore, abolish the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Assembly.[156][157] Indeed, in 1972, the UK Parliament unilaterally prorogued the Parliament of Northern Ireland, setting a precedent relevant to contemporary devolved institutions.[158] In practice, the circumstances in which the UK Parliament would abolish devolution given the political constraints created by referendum decisions are unclear.[159] The political constraints placed upon the UK Parliament's power to interfere with devolution in Northern Ireland are greater than in relation to Scotland and Wales, given that devolution in Northern Ireland rests upon an international agreement with the Government of Ireland.[160]
Law and criminal justice[link]
Main article: Law of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system, as Article 19 of the 1706 Treaty of Union provided for the continuation of Scotland's separate legal system.[161] Today the UK has three distinct systems of law: English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law. A new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom came into being in October 2009 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.[162][163] The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, including the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown Dependencies.[citation needed]
Both English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law are based on common-law principles.[164] The essence of common law is that, subject to statute, the law is developed by judges in courts, applying statute, precedent and common sense to the facts before them to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases (stare decisis).[165] The courts of England and Wales are headed by the Senior Courts 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). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land for both criminal and civil appeal cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and any decision it makes is binding on every other court in the same jurisdiction, often having a persuasive effect in other jurisdictions.[166]
Scots law applies in Scotland, a hybrid system based on both common-law and civil-law principles. The chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases,[167] and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases.[168] The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom serves as the highest court of appeal for civil cases under Scots law.[169] Sheriff courts deal with most civil and criminal cases including conducting criminal trials with a jury, known as sheriff solemn court, or with a sheriff and no jury, known as sheriff summary Court.[170] The Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdicts for a criminal trial: "guilty", "not guilty" and "not proven". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal with no possibility of retrial.[171]
Crime in England and Wales increased in the period between 1981 and 1995, though since that peak there has been an overall fall of 48% in crime from 1995 to 2007/08,[172] according to crime statistics. The prison population of England and Wales has almost doubled over the same period, to over 80,000, giving England and Wales the highest rate of incarceration in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000.[173] Her Majesty's Prison Service, which reports to the Ministry of Justice, manages most of the prisons within England and Wales. Crime in Scotland fell to its lowest recorded level for 32 years in 2009/10, falling by ten percent.[174] At the same time Scotland's prison population, at over 8,000,[175] is at record levels and well above design capacity.[176] The Scottish Prison Service, which reports to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, manages Scotland's prisons. In 2006 a report by the Surveillance Studies Network found that the UK had the highest level of mass surveillance among industrialised western nations.[177]
Foreign relations[link]
Main article: Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G7, G8, G20, NATO, the OECD, the WTO, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, and is a member state of the European Union. The UK has a "Special Relationship" with the United States[178][179] and a close partnership with France – the "Entente cordiale" – and shares nuclear weapons technology with both countries. The UK is also closely allied with the Republic of Ireland; the two countries share a Common Travel Area and many Irish citizens serve in the British Army.[180] Other close allies include other European Union and NATO members, Commonwealth nations, and Japan. Britain's global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, foreign investments, official development assistance and armed forces.[181]
Military[link]
Main article: British Armed Forces
The British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy are collectively known as the British Armed Forces and officially as Her Majesty's Armed Forces. The three forces are managed by the Ministry of Defence and controlled by the Defence Council, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence.
The British Armed Forces are among the largest and most technologically sophisticated armed forces in the world, and as of as of 2008[update] maintained over 20 military deployments around the globe.[182][183][184] The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the UK and its overseas territories, promoting the UK's global security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO, including the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, as well as the Five Power Defence Arrangements, RIMPAC and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained in Ascension Island, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya and Qatar.[185]
According to various sources, including the Ministry of Defence, the UK has the third- or fourth-highest military expenditure in the world. Total defence spending currently accounts for around 2.3% – 2.5% of total national GDP.[186]
The Royal Navy is a prominent blue-water navy, currently one of only three world wide, with the French Navy and the United States Navy being the other two.[187] The Royal Navy is also responsible for delivering the UKs Nuclear Deterrent via the UK Trident programme and four Vanguard class submarines.
The United Kingdom Special Forces, such as the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service, provide troops trained for quick, mobile, military responses in counter-terrorism, land, maritime and amphibious operations, often where secrecy or covert tactics are required.
Recent defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" will be undertaken as part of a coalition.[188] Setting aside the intervention in Sierra Leone, UK military operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and, most recently, Libya, have followed this approach. The last war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which they were victorious.
Economy[link]
Main article: Economy of the United Kingdom
The UK has a partially regulated market economy.[189] Based on market exchange rates the UK is today the sixth-largest economy in the world and the third-largest in Europe after Germany and France, having fallen behind France for the first time in over a decade in 2008.[190] HM Treasury, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Bank of England is the UK's central bank and is responsible for issuing the nation's currency, the pound sterling. 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 their issue. Pound sterling is the world's third-largest reserve currency (after the U.S. Dollar and the Euro).[191] Since 1997 the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, headed by the Governor of the Bank of England, has been responsible for setting interest rates at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Chancellor each year.[192]
In the final quarter of 2008 the UK economy officially entered recession for the first time since 1991.[193] Unemployment increased from 5.2% in May 2008 to 7.6% in May 2009 and by January 2012 the unemployment rate among 18 to 24-year-olds had risen from 11.9% to 22.5%, the highest since current records began in 1992.[194][195] Total UK government debt rose from 44.5% of GDP in December 2007 to 76.1% of GDP in December 2010.[196][197]
The UK service sector makes up around 73% of GDP.[198] London is one of the three "command centres" of the global economy (alongside New York City and Tokyo),[199] is the world's largest financial centre alongside New York,[200][201][202] and has the largest city GDP in Europe.[203] Edinburgh is also one of the largest financial centres in Europe.[204] Tourism is very important to the British economy and, with over 27 million tourists arriving in 2004, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world[205] and London has the most international visitors of any city in the world.[206] The creative industries accounted for 7% GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6% per annum between 1997 and 2005.[207]
The Industrial Revolution started in the UK[208] with an initial concentration on the textile industry, followed by other heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining, and Steelmaking.[209][210] The empire created an overseas market for British products, allowing the UK to dominate international trade in the 19th century. As other nations industrialised, coupled with economic decline after two world wars, the United Kingdom began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. Manufacturing remains a significant part of the economy but accounted for only 16.7% of national output in 2003.[211]
The automotive industry is a significant part of the UK manufacturing sector and employs over 800,000 people, with a turnover of some £52 billion, generating £26.6 billion of exports.[212] The aerospace industry of the UK is the second- or third-largest national aerospace industry depending upon the method of measurement and has an annual turnover of around £20 billion.[213][214][215] The pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in the UK economy and the country has the third highest share of global pharmaceutical R&D expenditures (after the United States and Japan).[216][217]
The poverty line in the UK is commonly defined as being 60% of the median household income.[nb 8] In 2007–2008 13.5 million people, or 22% of the population, lived below this line. This is a higher level of relative poverty than all but four other EU members.[218] In the same year 4.0 million children, 31% of the total, lived in households below the poverty line after housing costs were taken into account. This is a decrease of 400,000 children since 1998–1999.[219] The UK imports 40% of its food supplies.[220]
Science and technology[link]
Main article: Science and technology in the United Kingdom
England and Scotland were leading centres of the Scientific Revolution from the 17th century[221] and the United Kingdom led the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century,[208] and has continued to produce scientists and engineers credited with important advances.[222] Major theorists from the 17th and 18th centuries include Isaac Newton, whose laws of motion and illumination of gravity have been seen as a keystone of modern science,[223] from the 19th century Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution by natural selection was fundamental to the development of modern biology, and James Clerk Maxwell, who formulated classical electromagnetic theory, and more recently Stephen Hawking, who has advanced major theories in the fields of cosmology, quantum gravity and the investigation of black holes.[224] Major scientific discoveries from the 18th century include hydrogen by Henry Cavendish,[225] from the 20th century penicillin by Alexander Fleming,[226] and the structure of DNA, by Francis Crick and others.[227] Major engineering projects and applications by people from the UK in the 18th century include the steam locomotive, developed by Richard Trevithick and Andrew Vivian,[228] from the 19th century the electric motor by Michael Faraday, the incandescent light bulb by Joseph Swan,[229] and the first practical telephone, patented by Alexander Graham Bell,[230] and in the 20th century the world's first working television system by John Logie Baird and others,[231] the jet engine by Frank Whittle, the basis of the modern computer by Alan Turing, and the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee.[232]
The modern UK plays a leading part in the aerospace industry, with companies including Rolls-Royce playing a leading role in the aero-engine market; BAE Systems acting as Britain's largest and the Pentagon's sixth largest defence supplier, and large companies including GKN acting as major suppliers to the Airbus project.[233] Two British-based companies, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, ranked in the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world by sales in 2009,[234] and UK companies have discovered and developed more leading medicines than any other country apart from the US.[235] The UK remains a leading centre of automotive design and production, particularly of engines, and has around 2,600 component manufacturers.[236] Scientific research and development remains important in British universities, with many establishing science parks to facilitate production and co-operation with industry.[237] Between 2004 and 2008 the UK produced 7% of the world's scientific research papers and had an 8% share of scientific citations, the third and second highest in the world (after the United States and China, and the United States, respectively).[238] Scientific journals produced in the UK include Nature, the British Medical Journal and The Lancet.[239]
Transport[link]
Main article: Transport in the United Kingdom
A radial road network totals 29,145 miles (46,904 km) of main roads, 2,173 miles (3,497 km) of motorways and 213,750 miles (344,000 km) of paved roads.[99] In 2009 there were a total of 34 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain.[242] The National Rail network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger and 1,000 freight trains daily.[99] Plans are now being considered to build new high-speed railway lines by 2025.[243]
In the year from October 2009 to September 2010 UK airports handled a total of 211.4 million passengers.[244] In that period the three largest airports were London Heathrow Airport (65.6 million passengers), Gatwick Airport (31.5 million passengers) and London Stansted Airport (18.9 million passengers).[244] London Heathrow Airport, located 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of the capital, has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world[240][241] and is the hub for the UK flag carrier British Airways, as well as BMI and Virgin Atlantic.[245]
Energy[link]
Main article: Energy in the United Kingdom
In 2006 the UK was the world's ninth-largest consumer of energy and the 15th largest producer.[246] In 2007 the UK had a total energy output of 9.5 quadrillion Btus, of which the composition was oil (38%), natural gas (36%), coal (13%), nuclear (11%) and other renewables (2%).[247] In 2009 the UK produced 1.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and consumed 1.7 million bbl/d.[248] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of oil since 2005.[248] As of 2010[update] the UK has around 3.1 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest of any EU member state.[248]
In 2009 the UK was the 13th largest producer of natural gas in the world and the largest producer in the EU.[249] Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004.[249] In 2009 the UK produced 19.7 million tons of coal and consumed 60.2 million tons.[247] In 2005 it had proven recoverable coal reserves of 171 million tons.[247] It has been estimated that identified onshore areas have the potential to produce between 7 billion tonnes and 16 billion tonnes of coal through underground coal gasification (UCG).[250] Based on current UK coal consumption, these volumes represent reserves that could last the UK between 200 and 400 years.[251] The UK is home to a number of large energy companies, including two of the six oil and gas "supermajors" – BP and Royal Dutch Shell – and BG Group.[252][253]
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demography of the United Kingdom
A Census occurs simultaneously in all parts of the UK every ten years.[254] The Office for National Statistics is responsible for collecting data for England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency each being responsible for censuses in their respective countries.[255] In the 2001 census the total population of the United Kingdom was 58,789,194, the third largest in the European Union, the fifth largest in the Commonwealth and the twenty-first largest in the world. By mid-2010 this was estimated to have grown to 62,262,000.[256] 2010 was the third successive year in which natural change contributed more to population growth than net long-term international migration.[256] Between 2001 and 2010 the population increased by an average annual rate of 0.6 per cent. This compares to 0.3 per cent per year in the period 1991 to 2001 and 0.2 per cent in the decade 1981 to 1991.[256] The mid-2007 population estimates revealed that, for the first time, the UK was home to more people of pensionable age than children under the age of 16.[257] It has been estimated that the number of people aged 100 or over will rise steeply to reach over 626,000 by 2080.[258]
England's population in mid-2010 was estimated to be 52.23 million.[256] It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 383 people resident per square kilometre in mid-2003,[259] with a particular concentration in London and the south-east.[260] The mid-2010 estimates put Scotland's population at 5.22 million, Wales at 3.01 million and Northern Ireland at 1.80 million,[256] with much lower population densities than England. Compared to England's 383 inhabitants per square kilometre (990 /sq mi), the corresponding figures were 142 /km2 (370 /sq mi) for Wales, 125 /km2 (320 /sq mi) for Northern Ireland and 65 /km2 (170 /sq mi) for Scotland in mid-2003.[259] In percentage terms Northern Ireland has had the fastest growing population of any country of the UK in each of the four years to mid-2008.[256]
In 2009 the average total fertility rate (TFR) across the UK was 1.94 children per woman.[261] While a rising birth rate is contributing to current population growth, it remains considerably below the 'baby boom' peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964,[262] below the replacement rate of 2.1, but higher than the 2001 record low of 1.63.[261] In 2010, Scotland had the lowest TFR at only 1.75, followed by Wales at 1.98, England at 2.00, and Northern Ireland at 2.06.[263]
Ethnic groups[link]
Main article: Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom
| Ethnic group | Population | % of total* |
|---|---|---|
| White British | 50,366,497 | 85.67% |
| White (other) | 3,096,169 | 5.27% |
| Indian | 1,053,411 | 1.8% |
| Pakistani | 977,285 | 1.6% |
| White Irish | 691,232 | 1.2% |
| Mixed race | 677,117 | 1.2% |
| Black Caribbean | &10000000000565876000000565,876 | 1.0% |
| Black African | 485,277 | 0.8% |
| Bangladeshi | 283,063 | 0.5% |
| Other Asian (non-Chinese) | 247,644 | 0.4% |
| Chinese | 247,403 | 0.4% |
| Other | 230,615 | 0.4% |
| Black (others) | 97,585 | 0.2% |
| * Percentage of total UK population, according to the 2001 Census | ||
Historically, indigenous British people were thought to be descended from the various ethnic groups that settled there before the 11th century: the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the Normans. Recent genetic studies have shown that more than 50 percent of England's gene pool contains Germanic Y chromosomes,[267] though other recent genetic analysis indicates that "about 75 per cent of the traceable ancestors of the modern British population had arrived in the British isles by about 6,200 years ago, at the start of the British Neolithic or Stone Age", and that the British broadly share a common ancestry with the Basque people.[268][269][270]
The UK has a history of small-scale non-white immigration, with Liverpool having the oldest Black population in the country dating back to at least the 1730s,[271] and the oldest Chinese community in Europe, dating to the arrival of Chinese seamen in the 19th century.[272] In 1950 there were probably fewer than 20,000 non-white residents in Britain, almost all born overseas.[273]
Since 1945 substantial immigration from Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia has been a legacy of ties forged by the British Empire. Migration from new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe since 2004 has resulted in growth in these population groups but, as of 2008[update], the trend is reversing and many of these migrants are returning home, leaving the size of these groups unknown.[274] As of 2001[update], 92.1% of the population identified themselves as White, leaving 7.9%[275] of the UK population identifying themselves as mixed race or of an ethnic minority.
Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. 30.4% of London's population[276] and 37.4% of Leicester's[277] was estimated to be non-white as of June 2005[update], whereas less than 5% of the populations of North East England, Wales and the South West were from ethnic minorities according to the 2001 census.[278] As of 2011[update], 26.5% of primary and 22.2% of secondary pupils at state schools in England are members of an ethnic minority.[279]
Languages[link]
Main article: Languages of the United Kingdom
The UK's de facto official language is English (British English),[1][2] a West Germanic language descended from Old English which features a large number of borrowings from Old Norse, Norman French, Greek and Latin. The English language has spread across the world, initially because of the British Empire and subsequently due to the dominance of the United States, and has become the main international language of business as well as the most widely taught second language.[282]
There are four Celtic languages in use in the UK: Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. The first three are recognised as regional or minority languages subject to specific measures of protection and promotion under relevant European law, while Cornish is recognised but not specifically protected. In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh,[283] an increase from the 1991 Census (18%).[284] In addition it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England.[285] In the same census in Northern Ireland 167,487 people (10.4%) stated that they had "some knowledge of Irish" (see Irish language in Northern Ireland), almost exclusively in the nationalist (mainly Catholic) population. Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides.[286] The number of schoolchildren being taught through Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish is increasing.[287] Among emigrant-descended populations some Scottish Gaelic is still spoken in Canada (principally Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island),[288] and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina.[289]
Scots, a language descended from early northern Middle English, has limited recognition alongside its regional variant, Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland, without specific commitments to protection and promotion.[290]
It is compulsory for pupils to study a second language up to the age of 14 in England,[291] and up to age 16 in Scotland. French and German are the two most commonly taught second languages in England and Scotland. In Wales, all pupils up to age 16 are taught Welsh as a second language, or taught in Welsh.[292]
Religion[link]
Main article: Religion in the United Kingdom
Forms of Christianity have dominated religious life in what is now the United Kingdom for over 1,400 years.[293] Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in many surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,[294] while immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of other faiths, most notably Islam.[295] This has led some commentators to variously describe the UK as a multi-faith,[296] secularised,[297] or post-Christian society.[298] In the 2001 census 71.6% of all respondents indicated that they were Christians, with the next largest faiths (by number of adherents) being Islam (2.8%), Hinduism (1.0%), Sikhism (0.6%), Judaism (0.5%), Buddhism (0.3%) and all other religions (0.3%).[299] 15% of respondents stated that they had no religion, with a further 7% not stating a religious preference.[300] A Tearfund survey in 2007 showed only one in ten Britons actually attend church weekly.[301]
The (Anglican) Church of England is the established church in England.[302] It retains a representation in the UK Parliament and the British monarch is its Supreme Governor.[303] In Scotland the Presbyterian Church of Scotland is recognised as the national church. It is not subject to state control, and the British monarch is an ordinary member, required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government" upon his or her accession.[304][305] The (Anglican) Church in Wales was disestablished in 1920 and, as the (Anglican) Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1870 before the partition of Ireland, there is no established church in Northern Ireland.[306] Although there are no UK-wide data in the 2001 census on adherence to individual Christian denominations, Ceri Peach has estimated that 62% of Christians are Anglican, 13.5% Roman Catholic, 6% Presbyterian, 3.4% Methodist with small numbers of other Protestant denominations and the Orthodox church.[307]
Migration[link]
Main article: Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922
The United Kingdom has experienced successive waves of migration. The Great Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants.[308] Over 120,000 Polish veterans settled in Britain after World War II, unable to return home.[309] In the 20th century there was significant immigration from the colonies and newly independent former colonies, driven largely by post-World War II labour shortages. Many of these migrants came from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent.[310]
In 2010, there were 7.0 million foreign-born residents in the UK, corresponding to 11.3% of the total population. Of these, 4.76 million (7.7%) were born outside the EU and 2.24 million (3.6%) were born in another EU Member State.[311] The proportion of foreign-born people in the UK remains slightly below that of many other European countries,[312] although immigration is now contributing to a rising population,[313] with arrivals and UK-born children of migrants accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of Office for National Statistics data shows that a net total of 2.3 million migrants moved to the UK in the 15 years from 1991 to 2006.[314][315] In 2008 it was predicted that migration would add 7 million to the UK population by 2031,[316] though these figures are disputed.[317] The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that net migration rose from 2009 to 2010 by 21 percent to 239,000.[318] In 2011 the net increase was 251,000: immigration was 589,000, while the number of people emigrating (for more than 12 months) was 338,000.[319][320]
195,046 foreign nationals became British citizens in 2010,[321] compared to 54,902 in 1999.[321][322] A record 241,192 people were granted permanent settlement rights in 2010, of whom 51 per cent were from Asia and 27 per cent from Africa.[323] 25.1 per cent of babies born in England and Wales in 2010 were born to mothers born outside the UK, according to official statistics released in 2011.[324]
At least 5.5 million British-born people are living abroad,[325][326][327] the top four destinations being Australia, Spain, the United States and Canada.[325][328] Emigration was an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930 around 11.4 million people emigrated from Britain and 7.3 million from Ireland. Estimates show that by the end of the 20th century some 300 million people of British and Irish descent were permanently settled around the globe.[329]
Citizens of the European Union, including those of the UK, have the right to live and work in any member state.[330] The UK applied temporary restrictions to citizens of Romania and Bulgaria which joined the EU in January 2007.[331] Research conducted by the Migration Policy Institute for the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that, between May 2004 and September 2009, 1.5 million workers migrated from the new EU member states to the UK, two-thirds of them Polish, but that many subsequently returned home, resulting in a net increase in the number of nationals of the new member states in the UK of some 700,000 over that period.[332][333] The late-2000s recession in the UK reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK,[334] with the migration becoming temporary and circular.[335] In 2009, for the first time since enlargement, more nationals of the eight central and eastern European states that had joined the EU in 2004 left the UK than arrived.[336] In 2011, citizens of the new EU member states made up 13% of the immigrants entering the country.[319]
The UK government has introduced a points-based immigration system for immigration from outside the European Economic Area to replace former schemes, including the Scottish Government's Fresh Talent Initiative.[337] In June 2010 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government introduced a temporary limit of 24,000 on immigration from outside the EU, aiming to discourage applications before a permanent cap was imposed in April 2011.[338] The cap has caused tension within the coalition: business secretary Vince Cable has argued that it is harming British businesses.[339]
Education[link]
Main article: Education in the United Kingdom
See also: Education in England, Education in Northern Ireland, Education in Scotland, and Education in Wales
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with each country having a separate education system.
Education in England is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education, though the day-to-day administration and funding of state schools is the responsibility of local authorities.[340] Universally free of charge state education was introduced piecemeal between 1870 and 1944, with education becoming compulsory for all 5 to 14 year-olds in 1921.[341][342] Education is now mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August). The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. State schools which are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to the most selective private schools: out of the top ten performing schools in terms of GCSE results in 2006 two were state-run grammar schools. Despite a fall in actual numbers the proportion of children in England attending private schools has risen to over 7%.[343] Over half of students at the leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford had attended state schools.[344] The universities of England include some of the top universities in the world; the University of Cambridge, University College London, the University of Oxford and Imperial College London are all ranked in the global top 10 in the 2010 QS World University Rankings, with Cambridge ranked first.[345] Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) rated pupils in England 7th in the world for maths and 6th for science. The results put England's pupils ahead of other European countries, including Germany and the Scandinavian countries.[346]
Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, with day-to-day administration and funding of state schools the responsibility of Local Authorities. Two non-departmental public bodies have key roles in Scottish education: the Scottish Qualifications Authority is responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees which are delivered at secondary schools, post-secondary colleges of further education and other centres;[348] and Learning and Teaching Scotland provides advice, resources and staff development to the education community to promote curriculum development and create a culture of innovation, ambition and excellence.[349] Scotland first legislated for compulsory education in 1496.[350] The proportion of children in Scotland attending private schools is just over 4%, although it has been rising slowly in recent years.[351] Scottish students who attend Scottish universities pay neither tuition fees nor graduate endowment charges, as fees were abolished in 2001 and the graduate endowment scheme was abolished in 2008.[352]
Education in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Minister of Education and the Minister for Employment and Learning, although responsibility at a local level is administered by five education and library boards covering different geographical areas. The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is the body responsible for advising the government on what should be taught in Northern Ireland's schools, monitoring standards and awarding qualifications.[353] The Welsh Government has responsibility for education in Wales. A significant number of Welsh students are taught either wholly or largely in the Welsh language; lessons in Welsh are compulsory for all until the age of 16.[354] There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh-medium schools as part of the policy of creating a fully bilingual Wales.
Healthcare[link]
Main article: Healthcare in the United Kingdom
Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter and each country has its own system of private and publicly funded health care, together with alternative, holistic and complementary treatments. Public healthcare is provided to all UK permanent residents and is free at the point of need, being paid for from general taxation. The World Health Organization, in 2000, ranked the provision of healthcare in the United Kingdom as fifteenth best in Europe and eighteenth in the world.[355][356]
Regulatory bodies are organised on a UK-wide basis such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and non-governmental-based, such as the Royal Colleges. However, political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national executives; healthcare in England is the responsibility of the UK Government; healthcare in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive; healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government; and healthcare in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government. Each National Health Service has different policies and priorities, resulting in contrasts.[357][358]
Since 1979 expenditure on healthcare has been increased significantly to bring it closer to the European Union average.[359] The UK spends around 8.4 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, which is 0.5 percentage points below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average and about one percentage point below the average of the European Union.[360]
Culture[link]
Main article: Culture of the United Kingdom
The culture of the United Kingdom has been influenced by many factors including: the nation's island status; its history as a western liberal democracy and a major power; as well as being a political union of four countries with each preserving elements of distinctive traditions, customs and symbolism. As a result of the British Empire, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies; including Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. The substantial cultural influence of the United Kingdom has led it to be described as a "cultural superpower."[361][362]
Literature[link]
Main article: British literature
'British literature' refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Most British literature is in the English language. In 2005, some 206,000 books were published in the United Kingdom and in 2006 it was the largest publisher of books in the world.[363]
The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist of all time,[364][365][366] and his contemporaries Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson have also been held in continuous high esteem. More recently the playwrights Alan Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter, Michael Frayn, Tom Stoppard and David Edgar have combined elements of surrealism, realism and radicalism.
Notable pre-modern and early-modern English writers include Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century), Thomas Malory (15th century), Sir Thomas More (16th century), and John Milton (17th century). In the 18th century Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe) and Samuel Richardson were pioneers of the modern novel. In the 19th century there followed further innovation by Jane Austen, the gothic novelist Mary Shelley, children's writer Lewis Carroll, the Brontë sisters, the social campaigner Charles Dickens, the naturalist Thomas Hardy, the realist George Eliot, the visionary poet William Blake and romantic poet William Wordsworth. 20th century English writers include: science-fiction novelist H. G. Wells; the writers of children's classics Rudyard Kipling, A. A. Milne (the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh), Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton; the controversial D. H. Lawrence; modernist Virginia Woolf; the satirist Evelyn Waugh; the prophetic novelist George Orwell; the popular novelists W. Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene; the crime writer Agatha Christie (the best-selling novelist of all time);[367] Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond); the poets T. S. Eliot, Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes; and the fantasy writers J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling.
Scotland's contributions include the detective writer Arthur Conan Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Holmes), romantic literature by Sir Walter Scott, children's writer J.M. Barrie, the epic adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson and the celebrated poet Robert Burns. More recently the modernist and nationalist Hugh MacDiarmid and Neil M. Gunn contributed to the Scottish Renaissance. A more grim outlook is found in Ian Rankin's stories and the psychological horror-comedy of Iain Banks. Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, was UNESCO's first worldwide City of Literature.[368]
Britain's oldest known poem, Y Gododdin, was composed in Yr Hen Ogledd (The Old North), most likely in the late 6th century. It was written in Cumbric or Old Welsh and contains the earliest known reference to King Arthur.[369] From around the seventh century, the connection between Wales and the Old North was lost, and the focus of Welsh-language culture shifted to Wales, where Arthurian legend was further developed by Geoffrey of Monmouth.[370] Wales's most celebrated medieval poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym (fl 1320–1370), composed poetry on themes including nature, religion and especially love. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest European poets of his age.[371] Until the late 19th century the majority of Welsh literature was in Welsh and much of the prose was religious in character. Daniel Owen is credited as the first Welsh-language novelist, publishing Rhys Lewis in 1885. The best-known of the Anglo-Welsh poets are both Thomases. Dylan Thomas became famous on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-20th century. The Swansea writer is remembered for his poetry – his "Do not go gentle into that good night; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." is one of the most quoted couplets of English language verse – and for his 'play for voices', Under Milk Wood. Influential Church in Wales 'poet-priest' and Welsh nationalist, R. S. Thomas, was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. Leading Welsh novelists of the twentieth century include Richard Llewellyn and Kate Roberts.[372][373]
Authors of other nationalities, particularly from Commonwealth countries, the Republic of Ireland and the United States, have lived and worked in the UK. Significant examples through the centuries include Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, George Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and more recently British authors born abroad such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Sir Salman Rushdie.[374][375]
Music[link]
Main article: Music of the United Kingdom
See also: British rock
Various styles of music are popular in the UK from the indigenous folk music of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to heavy metal. Notable composers of classical music from the United Kingdom and the countries that preceded it include William Byrd, Henry Purcell, Sir Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W.S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten, pioneer of modern British opera. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is one of the foremost living composers and current Master of the Queen's Music. The UK is also home to world-renowned symphonic orchestras and choruses such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Chorus. Notable conductors include Sir Simon Rattle, John Barbirolli and Sir Malcolm Sargent. Some of the notable film score composers include John Barry, Clint Mansell, Mike Oldfield, John Powell, Craig Armstrong, David Arnold, John Murphy, Monty Norman and Harry Gregson-Williams. George Frideric Handel, although born German, was a naturalised British citizen[379] and some of his best works, such as Messiah, were written in the English language.[380] Andrew Lloyd Webber has achieved enormous worldwide commercial success and is a prolific composer of musical theatre, works which have dominated London's West End for a number of years and have travelled to Broadway in New York.[381]
The Beatles have international sales of over one billion units and are the biggest-selling and most influential band in the history of popular music.[376][377][378][382] Other prominent British contributors to have influenced popular music over the last 50 years include; The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, the Bee Gees, and Elton John, all of whom have world wide record sales of 200 million or more.[383][384][385][386][387][388] The Brit Awards are the BPI's annual music awards, and some of the British recipients of the Outstanding Contribution to Music award include; The Who, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart and The Police.[389] More recent UK music acts that have had international success include Coldplay, Radiohead, Oasis, Muse, Spice Girls, Amy Winehouse and Adele.[390]
A number of UK cities are known for their music. Acts from Liverpool have had more UK chart number one hit singles per capita (54) than any other city worldwide.[391] Glasgow's contribution to music was recognised in 2008 when it was named a UNESCO City of Music, one of only three cities in the world to have this honour.[392]
Visual art[link]
Main article: Art of the United Kingdom
The history of British visual art forms part of western art history. Major British artists include: the Romantics William Blake, John Constable, Samuel Palmer and J.M.W. Turner; the portrait painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Lucian Freud; the landscape artists Thomas Gainsborough and L. S. Lowry; the pioneer of the Arts and Crafts Movement William Morris; the figurative painter Francis Bacon; the Pop artists Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton and David Hockney; the collaborative duo Gilbert and George; the abstract artist Howard Hodgkin; and the sculptors Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Henry Moore. During the late 1980s and 1990s the Saatchi Gallery in London helped to bring to public attention a group of multi-genre artists who would become known as the "Young British Artists": Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Rachel Whiteread, Tracey Emin, Mark Wallinger, Steve McQueen, Sam Taylor-Wood and the Chapman Brothers are among the better-known members of this loosely affiliated movement.
The Royal Academy in London is a key organisation for the promotion of the visual arts in the United Kingdom. Major schools of art in the UK include: the six-school University of the Arts London, which includes the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Chelsea College of Art and Design; Goldsmiths, University of London; the Slade School of Fine Art (part of University College London); the Glasgow School of Art; the Royal College of Art; and The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art (part of the University of Oxford). The Courtauld Institute of Art is a leading centre for the teaching of the history of art. Important art galleries in the United Kingdom include the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern (the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year).[393]
Cinema[link]
Main article: Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema. The British directors Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean are among the most critically acclaimed of all-time,[394] with other important directors including Charlie Chaplin, Michael Powell, Carol Reed and Ridley Scott.[395][396][397][398] Many British actors have achieved international fame and critical success, including: Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Michael Caine, Charlie Chaplin, Sean Connery, Vivien Leigh, David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers and Kate Winslet.[399][400][401][402][403][404][405][406][407][408] Some of the most commercially successful films of all time have been produced in the United Kingdom, including the two highest-grossing film franchises (Harry Potter and James Bond).[409] Ealing Studios has a claim to being the oldest continuously working film studio in the world.[410]
Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry has often been characterised by a debate about its identity and the level of American and European influence. Many British films are co-productions with American producers, often using both British and American actors, and British actors feature regularly in Hollywood films. Many successful Hollywood films have been based on British people, stories or events, including Titanic, The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the 'English Cycle' of Disney animated films which include, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Robin Hood.[411]
In 2009 British films grossed around $2 billion worldwide and achieved a market share of around 7% globally and 17% in the United Kingdom.[412] UK box-office takings totalled £944 million in 2009, with around 173 million admissions.[412] The British Film Institute has produced a poll ranking of what it considers to be the 100 greatest British films of all time, the BFI Top 100 British films.[413] The annual British Academy Film Awards, hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, are the British equivalent of the Oscars.[414]
Media[link]
Main article: Media of the United Kingdom
The BBC, founded in 1922, is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and Internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world. It operates numerous television and radio stations in the UK and abroad and its domestic services are funded by the television licence.[415][416] Other major players in the UK media include ITV plc, which operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network,[417] and News Corporation, which owns a number of national newspapers through News International such as the most popular tabloid The Sun and the longest-established daily "broadsheet" The Times,[418] as well as holding a large stake in satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting.[419] London dominates the media sector in the UK: national newspapers and television and radio are largely based there, although Manchester is also a significant national media centre. Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Cardiff, are important centres of newspaper and broadcasting production in Scotland and Wales respectively.[420] The UK publishing sector, including books, directories and databases, journals, magazines and business media, newspapers and news agencies, has a combined turnover of around £20 billion and employs around 167,000 people.[421]
In 2009 it was estimated that individuals viewed a mean of 3.75 hours of television per day and 2.81 hours of radio. In that year the main BBC public service broadcasting channels accounted for an estimated 28.4% of all television viewing; the three main independent channels accounted for 29.5% and the increasingly important other satellite and digital channels for the remaining 42.1%.[422] Sales of newspapers have fallen since the 1970s and in 2009 42% of people reported reading a daily national newspaper.[423] In 2010 82.5% of the UK population were Internet users, the highest proportion amongst the 20 countries with the largest total number of users in that year.[424]
Philosophy[link]
Main article: British philosophy
The United Kingdom is famous for the tradition of 'British Empiricism', a branch of the philosophy of knowledge that states that only knowledge verified by experience is valid, and 'Scottish Philosophy', sometimes referred to as the 'Scottish School of Common Sense'.[425] The most famous philosophers of British Empiricism are John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume; while Dugald Stewart, Thomas Reid and William Hamilton were major exponents of the Scottish "common sense" school. Two Britons are also notable for a theory of moral philosophy utilitarianism, first used by Jeremy Bentham and later by John Stuart Mill in his short work Utilitarianism.[426][427] Other eminent philosophers from the UK and the unions and countries that preceded it include Duns Scotus, John Lilburne, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sir Francis Bacon, Adam Smith, Thomas Hobbes, William of Ockham, Bertrand Russell and A.J. "Freddie" Ayer. Foreign-born philosophers who settled in the UK include Isaiah Berlin, Karl Marx, Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Sport[link]
Main article: Sport in the United Kingdom
Major sports, including association football, rugby league, rugby union, rowing, boxing, badminton, cricket, tennis, darts and golf, originated or were substantially developed in the United Kingdom and the states that preceded it. A 2003 poll found that football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom.[429] In most international competitions, separate teams represent England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland usually field a single team representing all of Ireland, with notable exceptions including at the Commonwealth Games and association football. (In sporting contexts, these teams can be referred to collectively as the Home Nations.) However there are occasions where a single sports team represents the United Kingdom, including at the Olympics where the UK is represented by the Great Britain team. London was the site of the 1908 and 1948 Olympic Games, and in 2012 will become the first city to play host for a third time.
Each of the Home Nations has its own football association, national team and league system, though a few clubs play outside their country's respective systems for a variety of historical and logistical reasons. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete as separate countries in international competition and, as a consequence, the UK does not compete as a team in football events at the Olympic Games.[430] There are proposals to have a UK team take part in the 2012 Summer Olympics but the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations have declined to participate, fearing that it would undermine their independent status – a fear confirmed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.[431] England has been the most successful of the home nations winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966, although there has historically been a close-fought rivalry between England and Scotland.
Cricket was invented in England. The England cricket team, controlled by the England and Wales Cricket Board,[432] is the only national team in the UK with Test status. Team members are drawn from the main county sides, and include both English and Welsh players. Cricket is distinct from football and rugby where Wales and England field separate national teams, although Wales had fielded its own team in the past. Irish and Scottish players have played for England because neither Scotland nor Ireland have Test status and have only recently started to play in One Day Internationals.[433][434] Scotland, England (and Wales), and Ireland (including Northern Ireland) have competed at the Cricket World Cup, with England reaching the finals on three occasions. There is a professional league championship in which clubs representing 17 English counties and 1 Welsh county compete.[435] Rugby league is a popular sport in some areas of the UK. It originates in Huddersfield and is generally played in Northern England.[436] A single 'Great Britain Lions' team had competed in the Rugby League World Cup and Test match games, but this changed in 2008 when England, Scotland and Ireland competed as separate nations.[437] Great Britain is still being retained as the full national team for Ashes tours against Australia, New Zealand and France. The highest form of professional rugby league in the UK and Europe is Super League where there are 11 teams from Northern England, 1 from London, 1 from Wales and 1 from France. Rugby union is organised on a separate basis for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, each has a top-ranked international team and were collectively known as the Home Nations. The Six Nations Championship, played between the Home Nations as well as Italy and France, is the premier international tournament in the northern hemisphere.[438] The Triple Crown is awarded to any of the Home Nations who beats the other three in that tournament.[439]
The game of lawn tennis first originated in the city of Birmingham between 1859 and 1865.[440] The Championships, Wimbledon are international tennis events held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are regarded as the most prestigious event of the global tennis calendar. Snooker is one of the UK's popular sporting exports, with the world championships held annually in Sheffield.[441] In Northern Ireland Gaelic football and hurling are popular team sports, both in terms of participation and spectating, and Irish expatriates throughout the UK and the US also play them.[442] Shinty (or camanachd) is popular in the Scottish Highlands.[443]
Thoroughbred racing, which originated under Charles II of England as the "sport of kings", is popular throughout the UK with world-famous races including the Grand National, the Epsom Derby, Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival (including the Cheltenham Gold Cup). The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in rowing. Golf is the sixth most popular sport, by participation, in the UK. Although The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course,[444] the world's oldest golf course is actually Musselburgh Links' Old Golf Course.[445]
The UK is closely associated with motorsport. Many teams and drivers in Formula One (F1) are based in the UK, and drivers from Britain have won more world titles than any other country. The UK hosted the very first F1 Grand Prix in 1950 at Silverstone, the current location of the British Grand Prix held each year in July. The country also hosts legs of the World Rally Championship and has its own touring car racing championship, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).[446]
Symbols[link]
The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack). It was first created in 1606 by the superimposition of the Flag of England on the Flag of Scotland and updated in 1801 with the addition of Saint Patrick's Flag. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom; the possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales has not been completely ruled out.[447] The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the King", with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman.
Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom, originating from Roman Britain.[448] 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 on the back of a lion. At and since the height of the British Empire, Britannia has often been associated with maritime dominance, as in the patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!". Up until 2008, the lion symbol is depicted behind Britannia on the British fifty pence coin and on the back of the British ten pence coin. It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of the United Kingdom and has been associated with Winston Churchill's defiance of Nazi Germany.[449]
See also[link]
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Book: United Kingdom |
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See more Wikipedia articles related to United Kingdom. |
Notes[link]
- ^ No law was passed making God Save the Queen the official anthem. In the British tradition, such laws are not necessary; proclamation and usage are sufficient to make it the official national anthem. God Save the Queen also serves as the Royal anthem for several other countries.
- ^ Under the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish, Scots and its regional variant Ulster Scots are officially recognised as regional or minority languages by the UK Government for the purposes of the Charter.[3] See also Languages of the United Kingdom.
- ^ British dependencies drive on the left except for BIOT and Gibraltar.
- ^ ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 states that this should be GB and .gb was initially used by the Government, but registration has been suppressed in favour of .uk. The .eu domain is shared with other European Union member states.
- ^ In the United Kingdom and Dependencies, 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:
- Cornish: Rywvaneth Unys Breten Veur ha Kledhbarth Iwerdhon;
- Irish: Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Thuaisceart Éireann;
- Scots: Unitit Kinrick o Great Breetain an Northren Irland;
- Ulster-Scots: Claught Kängrick o Docht Brätain an Norlin Airlann
or Unitet Kängdom o Great Brittain an Norlin Airlann;
- Ulster-Scots: Claught Kängrick o Docht Brätain an Norlin Airlann
- Scottish Gaelic: Rìoghachd Aonaichte na Breatainne Mòire is Èireann a Tuath;
- Welsh: Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon
- ^ Compare to section 1 of both of the 1800 Acts of Union which reads: the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall...be united into one Kingdom, by the Name of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland"
- ^ Namely: New Zealand, Israel, and San Marino
- ^ In 2007–2008, this was calculated to be £115 per week for single adults with no dependent children; £199 per week for couples with no dependent children; £195 per week for single adults with two dependent children under 14; and £279 per week for couples with two dependent children under 14.
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- ^ Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online Definition of Great Britain
- ^ New Oxford American Dictionary: "Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland considered as a unit. The name is also often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom.")
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| Bonnie Tyler | |
|---|---|
 Tyler live at La Cigale in 2005 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gaynor Hopkins |
| Also known as | Sherene Davis |
| Born | (1951-06-08) 8 June 1951 (age 61) Skewen, Wales |
| Genres | Rock, country rock, wagnerian rock, progressive rock, rock and roll, pop |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Labels | RCA, Chrysalis, CBS Records, Columbia, Hansa, Atlantic, East West Records, CMC Records, Sony, Stick Music |
| Website | Official Site |
Bonnie Tyler (born Gaynor Hopkins[1] on 8 June 1951) is a Welsh singer. She is most notable for having several hits in the 1970s and 80s, including "Lost in France", "It's a Heartache", "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Holding Out For A Hero" as well as her European 2004 hit "Si demain... (Turn Around)".
With a distinctively husky voice due to damaged vocal cords, Tyler is a three-time Grammy Award nominee and three-time Brit Award nominee,[2][3] and three-time Goldene Europa award winner. Tyler was also the first Welsh female artist to reach the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 music charts.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Tyler was born in Skewen, Neath, Wales to a family that included three sisters and two brothers. Her father, Glyn Hopkins, worked in a coal mine and her mother, Elsie Hopkins, (an opera lover) shared her love for music with her children, and was known to have been part of the local church choir. Tyler grew up listening to Motown music and female artists like Janis Joplin and Tina Turner.[4] She concluded her education in the sixties and began working in the local grocery shop, then as a supermarket cashier.
In 1970, aged 19, she entered a talent contest, singing the Mary Hopkin hit "Those Were the Days", and finished in second place, winning £1. She then was chosen to sing in a band with front man Bobby Wayne, known as Bobby Wayne & The Dixies. Two years later, she formed her own band called Imagination (not related to the 1980s British dance band of the same name) and performed with them in pubs and clubs all over southern Wales. It was then that she decided to adopt the stage name of "Sherene Davis",[5] taking the names from her niece's forename and favourite aunt's surname.[6] Despite the two name changes, her family and friends still know her as Gaynor.[7]
On July 4, 1973, she married Robert Sullivan, a real estate agent, Swansea night club manager and Olympic judoka.[8] In 1975, she was discovered by Roger Bell who arranged a recording contract for her with RCA Records. Before signing, she was asked to choose a different stage name and settled on Bonnie Tyler.[9]
Career[link]
The 1970s[link]
In 1976, Tyler was spotted in "The Townsman Club" in Swansea by the songwriting and producing team of Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, who became her managers, songwriters and producers.[10]
Tyler first began by recording a track entitled "My! My! Honeycomb", which did not receive any chart success, but did gain local airplay in Swansea.[11] The track was later released on the 2002 compilation, "Total Eclipse Anthology" and on a re-release of "The World Starts Tonight" in 2009, along with the rare track, "Baby I Remember You".[12]
Following the Top 10 success of her 1976 song "Lost in France", Tyler released her first album in 1977 entitled The World Starts Tonight. A further single from the album, "More Than a Lover", made the UK Top 30,[13] and the follow-up single, "Heaven", reached the Top 30 in Germany.[14]
In 1977, Tyler was diagnosed with nodules on her vocal cords that were so severe that she needed to undergo surgery to remove them. After the surgery, she was ordered not to speak for six weeks to aid the healing process, but she accidentally screamed out in frustration one day. This caused her voice to take on a raspy quality. At first she believed that her singing career was ruined;[15] but to her surprise her next single, "It's a Heartache," made her an international star. The song reached #4 in the UK, #3 in the US, #2 in Germany, and topped the charts in several countries (including France and Australia).[16] The song was originally released by Ronnie Spector and Juice Newton separately, but Tyler's version was the most recognised and credited recording of the song. Tyler's second album, Natural Force, was also retitled It's a Heartache for the U.S. market and certified Gold there. Tyler performed in the Long Miles Country Music Festival prior to the release of Natural Force alongside musicians such as Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. In 1978, Tyler was given a Bravo Otto award in Germany for her success in Europe.
Though further global success was elusive during this era, Tyler did have some regional hits: "Here Am I" made the German Top 20 in spring of 1978; "My Guns Are Loaded" peaked at number 3 in France in 1979; and she scored a minor UK Top 40 hit with "Married Men" in summer 1979 (the theme to the film The World Is Full of Married Men). Tyler released the albums Diamond Cut in 1979 and Goodbye to the Island in 1981. The track "Sitting on the Edge of the Ocean" was the Grand Prix winner of the 1979 Yamaha World Song Festival held in Tokyo.[17]
The 1980s[link]
Tyler released four albums for RCA Records from 1977 to 1981, but she became increasingly dissatisfied with Scott and Wolfe's management as they were trying to market her as a pop-country music artist.[10] When her contract with RCA expired, she signed with David Aspden Management and sought help from songwriter Jim Steinman, most familiar to audiences as Meat Loaf's primary collaborator, to give her music the rock style she wanted. She signed with Columbia Records in 1982.
Her next album, Faster Than the Speed of Night, was released in Spring 1983 and included the power-ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart", which was written by Steinman. The song was a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in the UK, Ireland, France, Australia, and in the United States where it remained at the top for four weeks. Her presence in the US chart was at a time when almost one third of the Billboard Hot 100 was filled by songs from UK based acts - a situation not seen since the 1960s British Invasion and Beatlemania.[18] Faster Than the Speed of Night entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1, and also became a Top Five bestseller in the US and Australia. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" also brought Tyler a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Also in 1983, Tyler was offered to sing the title song of the James Bond film, Never Say Never Again. Tyler disliked the song and turned down the offer,[19] and so the song was given to American singer Lani Hall instead. In 1984, Tyler performed "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at the Grammy Awards, and received another Grammy nomination as Best Rock Female Vocalist for "Here She Comes",[20] a song that was part of the soundtrack for the 1984 restoration of the film Metropolis. She also released the singles "A Rockin' Good Way", a duet with fellow Welsh artist Shakin' Stevens, which made #5 in the UK, and "Holding Out for a Hero", for the Footloose soundtrack, which made the U.S. Top 40 and later peaked at number 2 in UK in the summer of 1985. "Holding Out For A Hero" (written by Steinman and Dean Pitchford) was also used as the main theme for the 1984 US television series Cover Up, though the version heard on the TV series was not Tyler's original but performed by E.G. Daily.[21]
The following albums, Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire (1986) and Hide Your Heart (1988), achieved some success in France, Switzerland, Scandinavia, South Africa, Australia, but were not successful in the UK or the US. One of the single releases, "If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man)", became another Top 10 hit in France in 1986 and was certified Silver. In 1987, Tyler recorded a bilingual track with the Brazilian singer Fábio Junior entitled "Sem Limites Pra Sonhar" or "Reaching for the Infinite Heart" in English.[22] In the same year, she sang the title song for Mike Oldfield's album Islands. Tyler also sang backing vocals with Cher for the song "Perfection" on Cher's self-titled 1987 album, and "Emotional Fire" on Cher's 1989 album Heart Of Stone.
In 1988, Tyler performed at the Reading Festival, accompanying performers such as Meat Loaf and Jefferson Starship. Tyler was victim to violent abuse from an aggressive crowd hurling bottles at her on stage after the organiser's failed attempt to introduce pop music to the annual event. Tyler was credited for carrying on and completing her set despite the audience's treatment.[23] She even managed to get the audience to join in with "It's A Heartache" at the end of her set performance.[24]
The 1990s[link]
Throughout the 1990s, Tyler's success was limited to continental Europe. In the early 1990s, she switched to the German label Hansa and found a new producer in Dieter Bohlen. Her first album for the label was Bitterblue, released in late 1991, which saw her leaving the rock genre of the 1980s and establishing a more soft-pop sound. The album went quadruple-platinum in Norway, platinum in Austria, and gold in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. Following the success of this album, two volumes of compilation albums were released entitled 'The Very Best Of Bonnie Tyler'. The first disc sold over 600,000 copies.[25]
Tyler followed this up with the albums Angel Heart (1992) and Silhouette in Red in 1993. In light of her success in Germany, Tyler won Best International Female Vocalist at the RSH Gold Award, the "Goldene Europa" Award and the ECHO Award in 1994.
In April 1992, Tyler participated in a Greek ensemble CD with Sofia Arvaniti. The track was released on Arvaniti's 'Parafora' album on the EMI label, which was composed by Greek musician Michalis Rakintzis. It was named "The Desert Is In Your Heart", or "Petheno Stin Erimia" in Greek, and was a bilingual track (Greek and English). An instrumental version of the song was also released on Arvaniti's album.[26] The album reached Gold.
In 1993, the first volume of Tyler's compilation The Very Best of Bonnie Tyler was released. It received a strong backing of advertising support. The featured tracks were selections from the 1970s to 1991, in chronological order and included a biography of Tyler's career. Over 600,000 copies were sold in Germany, dominating the charts over artists such as Madonna, Cher and Tina Turner.[27] Later, in 1994, Columbia Records released Heaven & Hell, a Bonnie Tyler and Meat Loaf compilation album which featured tracks from both artists. The compilation became a Gold record in the UK.
After her three albums with producer Dieter Bohlen, Tyler wanted to have a more international sound on her next record. She switched labels to Warner Music in 1995 and recorded Free Spirit, an album on which she worked again with Jim Steinman as well as other prolific producers such as David Foster and Humberto Gatica. However, the album was only a minor success in continental Europe, though the single "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" (previously a hit for Air Supply in 1983) narrowly missed the UK Top 40. The single featured Tyler's mother's operatic vocals on the intro to the song. The album was re-released in 1996, now including the track "Limelight" which was used as the official song of the German Olympic Team.[28] Tyler continued to record, releasing the folk influenced All in One Voice in 1999, though this was even less successful. Also in 1999, Tyler was part of an ensemble vocal unit for Rick Wakeman's Return to the Centre of the Earth CD.[29] Tyler also recorded the track "Tyre Tracks And Broken Hearts" on the Jim Steinman and Andrew Lloyd Webber composed album Whistle Down The Wind.
The 2000s[link]
In 2003, Tyler was approached by her manager,David Aspen, to record an album that would consist of cover versions of Tyler's choice.David Aspden became the producer of the album. Tyler picked out 13 of her favourite songs, some of which are by U2, Richard Marx, Phil Collins and The Beatles. The tracks were recorded by City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, but Tyler requested for her band to feature on the tracks also.
Also in 2003, French vocalist Kareen Antonn sent Tyler a demo recording of Antonn singing a French arrangement of "Total Eclipse of the Heart", entitled "Si demain... (Turn Around)", requesting for a duet with her. Tyler, completely unaware of whether Antonn was famous or not, accepted immediately and began recording the track soon after, despite the discomfort of not knowing whether the song was suitable for a duet. Released in December 2003, it went to number 1 in France, holding that chart position for ten weeks, and 12 weeks in total, as well as Belgium and Poland, selling a total of two million copies. The follow-up, "Si tout s'arrête (It's A Heartache)", another French language remake with Antonn, also made the French Top 20. Both tracks were included on Tyler's 2004 album, "Simply Believe". Also on this album, Tyler worked with Stuart Emerson, who wrote several songs on Tyler's Free Spirit album in 1995, and who also worked with Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf in the 1980s. Emerson wrote and produced six tracks on this album, two of which were re-recordings from her 1995 album.
By 2005, Tyler had already been working on her sixteenth studio album, Wings. The sixteen-track album included 12 new tracks, two French re-recordings and two re-recordings of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "It's a Heartache". Tyler co-wrote most of the tracks, and was given two new tracks from Stuart Emerson, one of which was recorded as a duet between Tyler and her friend Lorraine Crosby. The track was "I'll Stand By You" and was based on the theme of friendship. Tyler's two singles from the album were "Louise" and "Celebrate", both of which received no chart success and nor did the album. In 2006, the album was re-released in the UK with 14 tracks, and called Celebrate. Again, this received little chart success. For Tyler's birthday in 2005, Tyler performed several tracks from her new album at La Cigale in Paris and Zaragoza in Spain. Extracts from the concerts were released on CD (Bonnie Tyler Live) and DVD (Bonnie on Tour) in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
In 2006, French record label Stick Music released Tyler's first live album, Bonnie Tyler Live, which featured songs from her 2005 album Wings as well as a handful of her greatest hits. In September 2006, Tyler made her first appearance on U.S. television in years, as she sang a duet of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with actress Lucy Lawless on the American show Celebrity Duets.
In 2007, a new Greatest Hits collection, From the Heart: Greatest Hits, was released. The compilation reached #2 in the Irish album charts and #31 in the UK. Also in 2007, Tyler featured on a charity album called "Over the Rainbow". The event was filmed and shown on British TV series Challenge Anneka. Anneka Rice was set the challenge to put together a thirteen-track compilation album made up of songs from musicals in five days and organise a promotional concert for the release of the CD. The proceeds went to the Chase Trust disabled children's charity. Tyler selected "I Don’t Know How to Love Him" from one of her favourite musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar.[30] In March 2007, Tyler appeared in the 20th season of the British TV show, "Never Mind The Buzzcocks".
In 2009, it was announced by Mal Pope that he had recruited Tyler to perform the title track to his self-written musical, Cappuccino Girls, which would tour in Wales in the following months. She mimed the title song on the closing night in the theater to celebrate its conclusion.[31] Tyler made a guest appearance in Hollyoaks Later (the late night edition of the British Channel 4 teen soap Hollyoaks) in which she sang her hit "Holding Out For a Hero" with one of the characters. She also recorded a new version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" with the Welsh male voice choir Only Men Aloud! for their second album Band of Brothers which was released in October 2009.
Sony re-released Tyler's first two albums, "The World Starts Tonight" and "Natural Force" in 2009 with the addition of two B-Sides, which were not featured on the albums in the original release in the 1970s.[32][33] This was to be the first official release of four of Tyler's co-written songs from the 1970s since the release of Total Eclipse Anthology in 2002.
On 1 November 2009, Tyler joined artists such as Escala, Joss Stone and Bananarama in a charity concert in support of breast cancer research. It was held at the Royal Albert Hall as a fundraiser for Pinktober.[34]
The 2010s[link]
In 2010, Tyler appeared in a television advertisement for MasterCard singing a parody of "Total Eclipse of the Heart".[35] Tyler performed in Australia for the first time in her career in the end of October, first as a supporting guest for Robin Gibb[36] and then performing her own shows in Australia and New Zeland.
In November, Albert Hammond released an album called Legend, which featured some of his most successful compositions, with many re-recorded as duets.[37] Hammond and Tyler recorded a version of Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".
In 2011, Tyler made a guest appearance in the music video "Newport State of Mind", a parody of the Jay Z and Alicia Keys song "Empire State of Mind" for the BBC's Comic Relief charity. Towards the end of 2011, Tyler dueted with the singer Laura Zen on "Amour Éternel", a new French/English version of The Bangles' 1989 hit "Eternal Flame". It was released to French radio stations on 29 August 2011.[38] It was then released as an MP3 download in France on 26 September 2011, and also included on Tyler's triple-disc Best Of 3 CD album on 3 October 2011. Also in 2011, Tyler won an award at the BMI London Awards for "It's A Heartache"[39] and appeared on Ukraine X Factor as one of the three British guests, alongside Kylie Minogue and Cher Lloyd, performing "It's A Heartache", "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" and "Holding Out For A Hero". In December 2011, a portrait of Tyler by Rolf Harris was sold by Cathy Sims for £50,000 on BBC's Antiques Roadshow.[40]
On 13 February 2012, news of the release of Tyler's new album was released on her website.[41] It claimed that Tyler has been working in Nashville to record a new country/rock album which will be available as a CD and online for digital download for an expected release in 2012. David Huff has been named the producer and songwriters for the tracks include Desmond Child and Frank J. Myers as well as a duet with country musician Vince Gill. On 16 April, an update on Tyler's website confirmed the duet (named "What You Need From Me"), and commented that Tyler had arrived in Los Angeles two days prior to the update to assist with mixing the recorded tracks. It was later announced on Tyler's website that it is due to receive a new design in conjunction to the upcoming album.[42]
In March 2012, a newly recorded track was released on SoundCloud entitled "Never Gonna Take No For An Answer". The song was written by Ed Poole and Martin Brown.[43]
In April 2012, the record label Rdeg re-released Goodbye to the Island, Angel Heart and Bitterblue digitally.[44][45]
Discography[link]
Main article: Bonnie Tyler discography
Studio albums[link]
|
Other albums[link]Soundtracks
Live albums
Compilation albums
|
Filmography[link]
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1979 | The World Is Full of Married Men | Herself | Performed title theme in opening credits |
| 1998 | Der König von St. Pauli | Herself | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | Nöjesmaskinen | Herself | Title translates to "Amusement Machine" |
| 1993 | The Mal Pope Show | Herself | Christmas special |
| 2000 | Smash! Rock Anthems | Herself | Documentary |
| 2005 | Zacisze gwiazd | Herself | Documentary, Polish TV |
| 2006 | James Bond's Greatest Hits | Herself | Documentary |
| 2007 | Challenge Anneka | Herself | Performed "I Don't Know How To Love Him" |
| 2009 | Hollyoaks Later | Herself | Performed "Holding Out For A Hero" in a dream sequence |
| 2011 | The X Factor (Ukraine) | Herself | Guest performer |
| Concerts | |||
| Year of Event | Title | Year of Release | Venue |
| 1993 | Live in Germany 1993 | 2011 | Frankfurt, Germany |
| 2005 | Bonnie on Tour | 2007 | La Cigale, Paris and Zaragosa, Spain |
Tours[link]
- 1988: Hide Your Heart Tour
- 1994: Silhouette in Red Tour
- 1996: Free Spirit Tour
- 2003: Heart Strings Tour
Personal life[link]
After global success in the 1980s, Tyler and her husband Robert Sullivan decided to try to have a baby when she was aged 39. Tyler miscarried and did not conceive again.[46]
Throughout her career, Tyler and her husband have owned a villa in Mumbles in Wales.[47] They also own a home in the Algarve (in Albufeira, south Portugal), after Tyler recorded one of her albums there in the late 1970s.[48] In 2005, Tyler was filmed for a short Polish entertainment TV show called Zacisze gwiazd, which explores the houses of actors and musicians.[49]
Some of Tyler's siblings have also been recognised to have a career in music. Her bother, Paul Hopkins, is lead singer of local Swansea band, Sunshine Cab Co.[50][51] He co-wrote most of Tyler's 1980s B-sides, including "Time" and "Gonna Get Better" as well as composing some tracks for her albums, such as "The Reason Why" from All in One Voice. Tyler's sister, Avis Hopkins, featured on Mal Pope's musical soundtrack of Cappuccino Girls, singing the track, "Today's My Birthday".[52] Avis Hopkins changed her name in the 1980s to Amanda Scott and released the track, "Lies" in 1988.[53][54]
Through her husband, Tyler is related to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and attended her wedding to Michael Douglas, performing "Total Eclipse of the Heart".[55]
Awards, nominations and accolades[link]
 |
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) |
Music awards and nominations[link]
Grammy Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | "Total Eclipse of the Heart" | Best Vocal Performance, Female | Nominated |
| "Faster Than the Speed of Night" | Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female | Nominated | |
| 1985 | "Here She Comes" | Best Rock Vocal Female | Nominated |
Brit Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Bonnie Tyler | Best British Female Newcomer | Nominated | [56] |
| 1984 | Bonnie Tyler | Best British Female | Nominated | |
| 1986 | Bonnie Tyler | Best British Female | Nominated |
Goldene Europa
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Bonnie Tyler | Best Singer | Won |
| 1983 | Bonnie Tyler | Comeback Of The Year | Won |
| 1993 | Bonnie Tyler | Best International Singer | Won |
Steiger Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Award | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Bonnie Tyler | Lifetime Award | Won |
|
|
MILLION-AIR AWARD SONGS Honorees have accumulated substantial performance totals—from three million—in U.S. radio and television. IT'S A HEARTACHE Ronnie Scott (PRS) Steve Wolfe (PRS) Lojo Music Ltd. (PRS) Bonnie Tyler
Honored for contribution to local communities since 1978. |
Other commercial achievements[link]
- Tyler was listed as second most famous celebrity from Wales in 2005 by the BBC.[60]
- Welsh singer Rhydian Roberts selected Tyler's track, "Faster Than The Speed Of Night", for the Tracks Of My Years segment of UK DJ Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 show on September 26, 2011.[61]
See also[link]
- List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (United States)
References[link]
- ^ Latest news about Bonnie Tyler, Fameball
- ^ Bonnie Tyler BRITs Profile BRIT Awards Ltd
- ^ Rock On The Net: Bonnie Tyler Rock On The Net
- ^ Bonnie Tyler Official Biography, written by Stephen Bowen Lawrence, updated 29 January 1998
- ^ BBC Wales - Music - Bonnie Tyler, Bonnie Tyler biography, Last updated 17 November 2008
- ^ Metro.co.uk, Bonnie Tyler by James Ellis, "Why change a perfectly good name like Gaynor Hopkins?"
- ^ Metro.co.uk, Bonnie Tyler by James Ellis, "Do people still call you Gaynor?"
- ^ Bonnie Tyler Biography, Sing365.com,Renegade Angel
- ^ Bonnie Tyler on TV.com, Bonnie Tyler biography
- ^ a b Bonnie Tyler Official Biography Retrieved 21 September 2009
- ^ Bonnie Tyler biography, International-Artists Holland
- ^ My! My! Honeycomb on Spotify
- ^ Bonnie Tyler Chart Stats, UK singles
- ^ Bonnie Tyler on Charts Surfer, German singles charts
- ^ Bonnie Tyler on her trademark husky voice, The Guardian, 10 May 2009
- ^ It's A Heartache on Songfacts
- ^ Bonnie Tyler - Rock House on Zimbio
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 448. CN 5585.
- ^ The Bat Segundo Show: Bonnie Tyler, an online interview, posted September 12, 2008
- ^ Rockonthenet.com
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086690/soundtrack
- ^ Sem Limites Pra Sonhar, Brazilian/English lyrics on vagalume.com
- ^ Worst Festival Sets - Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler, Reading Festival 1988, Virgin Media Music
- ^ UK Rock Festivals - Reading Festival, 1988, page created December 2008
- ^ THE DREAM BEGINS, Bonnie Tyler biography, Stephen Bowen Lawrence, 29 January 1998
- ^ Sofia Arvaniti - Parafora, Music Bazaar - Greek Music, Parafora (1992)
- ^ Booklet from The Very Best Of Bonnie Tyler 1994 Second volume release, Sony / Columbia Records
- ^ The Alan Parsons Project - 1996, Bonnie Tyler cover version of Limelight (from Stereotomy) was used as the official German Olympic Theme song
- ^ Wakeman CD
- ^ Bonnie Tyler warming up for comeback album in 2009, Today's Zaman, 1 July 2008
- ^ Bonnie Tyler performs Cappuccino Girls live, The Cappuccino Girls website, retrieved 7 April 2012
- ^ The World Starts Tonight on Spotify
- ^ Natural Force on Spotify
- ^ RECENT EVENTS - PINKTOBER PRESENTS WOMEN OF ROCK, concert on Sunday 1 November 2009
- ^ YouTube - Mastercard commercial (2010)
- ^ Robin Bigg, supported by Bonnie Tyler, Sandalford Estate, Swan Valley, october 31, 2009
- ^ "Albert Hammond Returns with "Legend"". http://www.legend-alberthammond.com/es-en/news/albert-hammond-returns-legend. Retrieved 2010-11-21.
- ^ Bonnie Tyler est de retour : elle reprend le hit "Eternal Flame"
- ^ BMI London Awards: Press Release and Winners List
- ^ Bonnie Tyler by Rolf Harris - a £50,000 painting is found, The Telegraph newspaper, 3 December 2011
- ^ Bonnie Tyler Official Site, LATEST NEWS, February 13, 2012
- ^ Bonnie Tyler updated news, Bonnie Tyler's official website, Retrieved April 19, 2012
- ^ Never Gonna Take No For An Answer - Featuring Bonnie Tyler on SoundCloud
- ^ Goodbye to the Island on Spotify
- ^ Bitterblue on Spotify
- ^ Bonnie Tyler's baby heartache, Belfast Telegraph, 25 July 2011
- ^ A Welsh wonder: From Katherine Jenkins to Bonnie Tyler Swansea’s coast now has star quality, The Daily Mail, 27 January 2012
- ^ I lost my heart in...The Algarve, The Guardian, 7 July 2001.
- ^ Virtual Poland, Zacisza Bonnie Tyler (Bonnie Tyler seclusion)
- ^ Sunshine Cab Co on Facebook
- ^ Sunshine Cab Co on MySpace
- ^ Today's My Birthday by Avis Hopkins on Spotify
- ^ "Lies" by Amanda Scott on Discogs
- ^ "Lies" by Amanda Scott on YouTube
- ^ Why Hollywood Couple Were Lost With Bonnie, WESTERN MAIL, Monday 27 December 1999. Information retrieved from Bonnie Tyler's website, 19 April 2012
- ^ "Bonnie Tyler: Brit Awards". Brit Awards (Brit Awards). N/A. http://www.brits.co.uk/artist/bonnie-tyler. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ a b "Echo Pop: Archiv". Echopop.de. http://www.echopop.de/no_cache/pop-suche/. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ a b c "BRAVO OTTO Sieger". Bravo-archiv.de. http://www.bravo-archiv.de/bravo_otto_sieger.php. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ "Queen, The Script and more honoured at 2011 BMI London Awards". AAAmusic. http://www.aaamusic.co.uk/2011/10/05/queen-the-script-and-more-honoured-at-2011-bmi-london-awards/. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ Welsh showbiz Hall of Fame, retrieved 19 April 2012
- ^ Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2, broadcast 26/09/2011
External links[link]
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tyler, Bonnie |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 8 June 1951 |
| Place of birth | Skewen, Wales, United Kingdom |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Bonnie_Tyler
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Tyler
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
