United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign state in the European Union. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, it includes the island of "Great Britain" (a term also applied loosely to refer to the whole country), 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 state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-southwest. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 93,800 square miles (243,000 km²), the UK is the 80th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also is the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 64.5 million inhabitants.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. Its capital city is London, an important global city and financial centre with an urban population of 10,310,000, the fourth-largest in Europe and second-largest in the European Union. The current monarch—since 6 February 1952—is Queen Elizabeth II. The UK consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The latter three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, respectively. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the United Kingdom, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation.

United Kingdom (disambiguation)

The United Kingdom is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe.

United Kingdom may also refer to:

United Kingdom (album)

United Kingdom is the fourth album by American Music Club. It was recorded primarily for the UK, where the band had a larger following than in their native USA, and consists of a mixture of studio and live tracks. The LP was produced by Tom Mallon who also produced the band's previous three LPs, The Restless Stranger, Engine and California. United Kingdom contained the song "Kathleen", the most obvious of many that Mark Eitzel has composed about his long-term muse, Kathleen Burns.

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Eitzel.

Personnel

Flying the Flag (For You)

"Flying the Flag (For You)" is a song performed by British pop/bubblegum dance group Scooch.

The song was entered and won the British national selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up in 2007, and subsequently represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki, Finland. The song came joint 22nd with a total of 19 points, the same score as France.

Song information

Scooch had reformed in hope of performing at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, and the song was specifically written for the Contest; Eurovision rules state that the song must be an original composition and released no more than seven months before the contest. Russ, as the captain, opens and closes the song with captain's announcements. Natalie and Caroline sing the vocals of the song, as David offers passengers confectioneries. The lyrics are heavily based on actual experiences of flying. The song contains a liberal amount of sexual innuendo, the most overt being "...and blow into the mouthpiece" and "Would you like something to suck on for landing, sir?" (the latter was omitted or changed for some tea-time television performances). The camp style was both praised and criticised - The Guardian noted that the song was, in terms of Eurovision, outdated and similar to Buck's Fizz's winning entry in 1981, while Tim Moore called the song "a fine song in Eurovision tradition".

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established on 1 January 1801 under the terms of the Acts of Union 1800, by which the nominally separate kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were united. In 1922, twenty-six of thirty-two counties of Ireland seceded to form the Irish Free State (later becoming the Republic of Ireland) and, to reflect the change in the United Kingdom's boundaries, the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 formally amended the name of the UK Parliament to the "Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

The period began with the newly formed United Kingdom defeating the French Empire in 1814 in the Napoleonic Wars. As a direct result of this, the British Empire became the foremost world power for the next century. Great Britain and the northeast of Ireland industrialised rapidly, whereas the rest of Ireland did not, deepening economic and social disparities between them. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the mid-19th century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland, and increased calls for Irish land reform and the devolution of executive power. During and after the Great War, the rise of Irish nationalism and physical force republicanism eventually culminated in the Irish War of Independence, and in 1922 the partition of Ireland between the newly founded Irish Free State and the northeast, which opted to remain part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland.

United Kingdom Pavilion at Epcot

The United Kingdom Pavilion is a United Kingdom-themed pavilion that is part of the World Showcase, within Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Its location is between the French and Canadian Pavilions.

Layout

The United Kingdom Pavilion, designed to look like a stereotypical British village, has English gardens including a hedge maze.

The shops sell British items, such as tea, toys, clothing, and Beatles merchandise.

A band called the British Revolution performed British rock music covers from acts such as the Police, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Blur, and Led Zeppelin.

A comedic group, known as the World Showcase Players, used to perform humorous and interactive versions of "King Arthur and the Holy Grail" and "Romeo and Juliet" (renamed "Romeo and Edna").

Attractions and services

Attraction

Dining

Wine from the United Kingdom

Wine from the United Kingdom is generally classified as either English wine or Welsh wine, with reference to England or Wales as its respective origin.

The term British wine is used for fermented grape juice or concentrate that can originate from anywhere in the world.

Traditionally seen as struggling with an unhelpfully cold climate, the English and Welsh wine industry has been helped by the warmer British summers over recent years and it is speculated that global warming may encourage major growth in the future.

The United Kingdom is a major consumer, but only a very minor producer of wine, with English and Welsh wine sales combined accounting for just 1% of the domestic market.

In recent years, English sparkling wine has started to emerge as the UK wine style receiving the most attention. Theale Vineyard Sparkling Chardonnay 2003 beat off stiff competition from fine Champagnes and top sparkling wines to make it into the world’s Top Ten Sparkling Wine at the world’s only dedicated sparkling wine competition, French-based Effervescents du Monde (sparkling wines of the world) 2007.