United Kingdom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Flag Royal coat of arms
Anthem: "God Save the Queen"[note 1]


Capital
(and largest city) London
0°7′W / 51.5°N 0.117°W / 51.5; -0.117
Official language(s) English (de facto)[note 2]
Recognised regional languages Irish, Ulster Scots, Scottish Gaelic , Scots, Welsh, Cornish[note 3]
Ethnic groups (2001
See: UK ethnic groups list[1]) 92.1% White (mainly of British Isles descent, with minorities of other descent)
4.0% South Asian
2.0% Black
1.2% Mixed
0.4% Chinese
0.4% Other
Demonym British or Briton
Government Parliamentary democracy,
Constitutional monarchy,
Unitary state
 -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II
 -  Prime Minister Gordon Brown MP
Legislature Parliament
 -  Upper House House of Lords
 -  Lower House House of Commons
Formation
 -  Acts of Union 1707 1 May 1707 
 -  Act of Union 1800 1 January 1801 
 -  Anglo-Irish Treaty 12 April 1922 
EU accession 1 January 1973
Area
 -  Total 243,610 km² (79th)
94,060 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 1.34
Population
 -  2010 estimate 62,041,708[2] (22nd)
 -  2001 census 58,789,194[3] 
 -  Density 254.7/km² (51th)
659.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $2.165 trillion[4] (6th)
 -  Per capita $35,400[5] (24th)
GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $2.198 trillion[6] (6th)
 -  Per capita $36,000[7] (24th)
Gini (2005) 34[8] 
HDI (2007) 0.947[9] (very high) (21st)
Currency Pound sterling[note 4] (GBP)
Time zone GMT (UTC+0)
 -  Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Drives on the left[note 5]
Internet TLD .uk[note 6]
Calling code 44

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country,[10][11] spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland.[12][13] Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.[14] It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London, the capital, but with three devolved national administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. The Channel Island bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are Crown Dependencies, which means they are constitutionally tied to the British monarch but are not part of the UK.[15] The UK has fourteen overseas territories,[16] all remnants of the British Empire, which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface, the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies.

The UK is a developed country, with the world's sixth largest economy by nominal GDP[17] and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity.[18] It was the world's first industrialised country[19] and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries,[20] but the economic and social cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless remains a major power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and has the fourth highest defence spending in the world.^{[citation needed]} It is a Member State of the European Union, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, and the World Trade Organization.

History

On 1 May 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain[21][22] was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland. This event was the result of the Treaty of Union that was agreed on 22 July 1706,[23] and then ratified by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland each passing an Act of Union in 1707. Almost a century later, the Kingdom of Ireland, already under English control by 1691, merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom with the passing of the Act of Union 1800.[24] Although England and Scotland had been separate states prior to 1707, they had been in personal union since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI King of Scots had inherited the throne of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London.[25][26]