This article is about the country. For its largest island, see Great Britain. For other uses, see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation).
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[show]
A flag featuring both cross and saltire in red, white and blue Coat of arms containing shield and crown in centre, flanked by lion and unicorn
Flag Royal coat of arms[nb 1]
Anthem: "God Save the Queen"[nb 2]
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Two islands to the north-west of continental Europe. Highlighted are the larger island and the north-eastern fifth of the smaller island to the west.
Location of the United Kingdom (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green)
Capital
and largest city London
51°30′N 0°7′W
Official language
and national language English
Recognised regional
languages[nb 3]
Scots Ulster Scots Welsh Cornish Scottish Gaelic Irish
Ethnic groups (2011)
87.1% White
7.0% Asian
3.0% Black
2.0% Mixed
0.9% others
Demonym
British Briton
Government Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister David Cameron
Legislature Parliament
• Upper house House of Lords
• Lower house House of Commons
Formation
• Wales annexed by England 1535 and 1542
• Union of the Crowns under James, King of Scots 24 March 1603
• Acts of Union of England and Scotland 1 May 1707
• Acts of Union of Great Britain and Ireland 1 January 1801
• Irish Free State Constitution Act 5 December 1922
Area
• Total 242,495 km2[3] (78th)
93,628 sq mi
• Water (%) 1.34
Population
• 2016 estimate 65,102,385[4] (22nd)
• 2011 census 63,181,775[5] (22nd)
• Density 255.6/km2 (51st)
661.9/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2015 estimate
• Total $2.679 trillion (9th)
• Per capita $41,159[6] (25th)
GDP (nominal) 2015 estimate
• Total $2.849 trillion (5th)
• Per capita $43,771[6] (13th)
Gini (2014) 31.6[7]
medium • 33rd
HDI (2014) Increase 0.907[8]
very high • 14th
Currency Pound sterling[nb 4] (GBP; £)
Time zone GMT[nb 5] (UTC)
• Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Date format dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on the left
Calling code +44
ISO 3166 code GB
Internet TLD .uk[nb 6]
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,[nb 7] is a sovereign state in Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, it includes the island of Great Britain (the name of which is also loosely applied to the whole country), the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands.[9] Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another state—the Republic of Ireland.[nb 8] 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 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants.[10] Together, this makes it the fourth most densely populated country in the European Union.[nb 9][11]
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance.[12][13] 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.[14] The current monarch—since 6 February 1952—is Queen Elizabeth II. The UK consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.[15] The latter three have devolved administrations,[16] each with varying powers,[17][18] 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.[19]
The relationships among the countries of the United Kingdom have changed over time. Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the country, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[nb 10] The UK has fourteen Overseas Territories.[20] These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture, and legal systems of many of its former colonies.
The United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. The UK is considered to have a high-income economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index, ranking 14th in the world. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.[21][22] The UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, and political influence internationally.[23][24] It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world.[25][26] The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a leading member state of the European Union (EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a nationwide referendum on the UK's membership of the EU resulted in a 51.9% vote for exit. The UK is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7 finance ministers, the G7 forum, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology and terminology
2 History
2.1 Before 1707
2.2 After the Acts of Union of 1707
2.3 Since 1945
3 Geography
3.1 Climate
3.2 Administrative divisions
4 Dependencies
5 Politics
5.1 Government
5.2 Devolved administrations
5.3 Law and criminal justice
5.4 Foreign relations
5.5 Military
6 Economy
6.1 Science and technology
6.2 Transport
6.3 Energy
6.4 Water supply and sanitation
7 Demographics
7.1 Ethnic groups
7.2 Languages
7.3 Religion
7.4 Migration
7.5 Education
7.6 Healthcare
8 Culture
8.1 Literature
8.2 Music
8.3 Visual art
8.4 Cinema
8.5 Media
8.6 Philosophy
8.7 Sport
8.8 Symbols
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Etymology and terminology
See also: Britain (place name) and Terminology of the British Isles
The 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain", though the new state is also referred to in the Acts as the "Kingdom of Great Britain", "United Kingdom of Great Britain" and "United Kingdom".[27][28][nb 11] However, the term "United Kingdom" is only found in informal use during the 18th century and the country was only occasionally referred to as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain"—its full official name, from 1707 to 1800, being merely Great Britain, without a "long form".[29][30][31][32][33] The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was adopted following the independence of the Irish Free State, and the partition of Ireland, in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the UK.[34]
Although the United Kingdom, as a sovereign state, is a country, England, Scotland, Wales, and to a lesser degree, Northern Ireland, are also regarded as countries, though they are not sovereign states.[35][36] Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government.[37][38] The British Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.[15] Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the UK, also refer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions".[39][40] Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province".[41][42] With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences."[43]
The term Britain is often used as synonym for the United Kingdom. The term Great Britain, by contrast, refers conventionally to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination.[44][45][46] However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.[47][48] 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 used by international organisations to refer to the United Kingdom. Additionally, the United Kingdom's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain" or "Team GB".[49][50]
The adjective British is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom. The term has no definite legal connotation, but is used in law to refer to UK citizenship and matters to do with nationality.[51] People of the United Kingdom use a number of different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being British; or as being English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, or Irish;[52] or as being both.[53]
In 2006, a new design of British passport was introduced. Its first page shows the long form name of the state in English, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.[54] 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,[55] however, it is usually abbreviated to "DU" for the mutated form "Y Deyrnas Unedig". In Scottish Gaelic, the long form is "Rìoghachd Aonaichte Bhreatainn is Èireann a Tuath" and the short form "Rìoghachd Aonaichte".
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