Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter is suspended due to bickering over the peace process.
Geography
United Kingdom
Location:
Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France
Geographic coordinates:
54 00 N, 2 00 W
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 244,820 sq km
water: 3,230 sq km
note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
land: 241,590 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries:
total: 360 km
border countries: Ireland 360 km
Coastline:
12,429 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries
Climate:
temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
Terrain:
mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: The Fens -4 m
highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m
continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move towards a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government aims to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and to recycle or compost at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015; between 1998-99 and 1999-2000, household recycling increased from 8.8% to 10.3%
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Geography - note:
lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
total: 38.99 years
male: 37.89 years
female: 40.13 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.28% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
10.78 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
10.18 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate:
2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 5.16 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
male: 5.76 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.38 years
male: 75.94 years
female: 80.96 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.66 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.2% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
51,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 500 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural)
adjective: British
Ethnic groups:
English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%
Religions:
Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, Sikh 0.6%, Jewish 0.5%, Buddhist 0.3%, other 0.3%, unaffiliated or none 23% (2001)
Languages:
English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
total population: 99% (2000 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
Government
United Kingdom
Country name:
conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales
conventional short form: United Kingdom
abbreviation: UK
Government type:
constitutional monarchy
Capital:
London
Administrative divisions:
England - 47 boroughs, 36 counties, 29 London boroughs, 12 cities and boroughs, 10 districts, 12 cities, 3 royal boroughs
: boroughs: Barnsley, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, Bury, Calderdale, Darlington, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Halton, Hartlepool, Kirklees, Knowsley, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, North Tyneside, Oldham, Poole, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland, Rochdale, Rotherham, Sandwell, Sefton, Slough, Solihull, Southend-on-Sea, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Swindon, Tameside, Thurrock, Torbay, Trafford, Walsall, Warrington, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton
: counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Worcestershire
: districts: Bath and North East Somerset, East Riding of Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Rutland, South Gloucestershire, Telford and Wrekin, West Berkshire, Wokingham
: cities: City of Bristol, Derby, City of Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, City of London, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, York
: cities and boroughs: Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Salford, Sheffield, Sunderland, Wakefield, Westminster
: London boroughs: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth
: royal boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Windsor and Maidenhead
: districts: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane
: cities and counties: Cardiff, Swansea
: counties: Isle of Anglesey, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys, The Vale of Glamorgan
: county boroughs: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Conwy, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen, Wrexham
: Wales - 11 county boroughs, 9 counties, 2 cities and counties
: Scotland - 32 council areas: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, The Scottish Borders, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), West Lothian;
: counties: County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry, County Tyrone
: cities: Belfast, Derry
: Northern Ireland - 24 districts, 2 cities, 6 counties
Dependent areas:
Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena and Ascension, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
Independence:
England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927
National holiday:
the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday
Constitution:
unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Legal system:
common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)
elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister
head of government: Prime Minister Anthony (Tony) BLAIR (since 2 May 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)
note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and has been suspended four times the latest occurring in October 2002); in 1999 there were elections for a new Scottish Parliament and a new Welsh Assembly
elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; pending further reforms, elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010)
election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labor 35.2%, Conservative 32.3%, Liberal Democrats 22%, other 10.5%; seats by party - Labor 356, Conservative 197, Liberal Democrat 62, other 31
Judicial branch:
House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary
Political parties and leaders:
Conservative and Unionist Party [Michael HOWARD]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) BLAIR]; Liberal Democrats [Charles KENNEDY]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd IWAN]; Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Mark DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [David TRIMBLE]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Trades Union Congress
chief of mission: Ambassador David G. MANNING
chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870
telephone: [1] (202) 588-6500
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
consulate(s): Dallas, Denver, Miami, and Seattle
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires David T. JOHNSON
embassy: 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE
mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040
telephone: [44] (0) 20 7499-9000
FAX: [44] (0) 20 7629-9124
consulate(s) general: Belfast, Edinburgh
Flag description:
blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, as well as British overseas territories
Anthem
United Kingdom
The
United Kingdom's National Anthem
"God
Save the Queen" (or "God Save the King", depending
on the gender of the ruling monarch) was a patriotic song
first publicly performed in London in 1745 after the king,
George II defeated the Jacobite claimant to the throne, "Bonnie
Prince Charlie. The song came to be referred to as the National
Anthem from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The words
and tune are anonymous, and may date back to the seventeenth
century. There is no authorised version of the National Anthem
as the words are a matter of tradition. The words used are
those sung in 1745, substituting 'Queen' for 'King' where
appropriate. On official occasions, only the first verse is
usually sung.
The British tune has since become one of the world's most
recognizable anthems, and has has been used in other countries
- as European visitors to Britain in the eighteenth century
noticed the advantage of a country possessing such a recognised
musical symbol - including Germany, Russia, Switzerland, the
United States (where use of the tune continued after independence),
and even today by Liechtenstein, as a revolutionary song in
New Caledonia, and as the royal anthem of Norway. (One might
say that because of this fact, that the United Kingdom was
the creator of the concept of a "national anthem".)
Some 140 composers, including Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms,
have used the tune in their compositions.
"God Save the Queen" also serves as the royal anthem
for most Commonwealth countries, such as Australia and Canada.
(Governor-generals of Commonwealth countries usually have
bits and pieces of the national anthem strung together played
as their anthem.)
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!
O lord God arise,
Scatter our enemies,
And make them fall!
Confound their knavish tricks,
Confuse their politics,
On you our hopes we fix,
God save the Queen!
Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world ov'er
From every latent foe,
From the assasins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign!
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!
Economy
United Kingdom
Economy - overview:
The UK, a leading
trading power and financial center, is one of the quartet of
trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. Over the past two
decades the government has greatly reduced public ownership
and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture
is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards,
producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor
force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves;
primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the
highest shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly
banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for
the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline
in importance. GDP growth slipped in 2001-03 as the global downturn,
the high value of the pound, and the bursting of the "new economy"
bubble hurt manufacturing and exports. Output recovered in 2004,
to 3.2% growth. The economy is one of the strongest in Europe;
inflation, interest rates, and unemployment remain low. The
relatively good economic performance has complicated the BLAIR
government's efforts to make a case for Britain to join the
European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Critics point out
that the economy is doing well outside of EMU, and they cite
public opinion polls that continue to show a majority of Britons
opposed to the euro. Meantime, the government has been speeding
up the improvement of education, transport, and health services,
at a cost in higher taxes.
GDP:
purchasing power
parity - $1.782 trillion (2004 est.)
British pounds
per US dollar - 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002),
0.6947 (2001), 0.6609 (2000)
Fiscal year:
6 April - 5 April
Communications
United Kingdom
Telephones -
main lines in use:
34.898 million
(2002)
Telephones -
mobile cellular:
49.677 million
(2002)
Telephone system:
general assessment:
technologically advanced domestic and international system domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio
relay, and fiber-optic systems international: country code - 44; 40 coaxial submarine
cables; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean
and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and
1 Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centers
Internet country
code:
.uk
Internet hosts:
3,398,708 (2004)
Internet Service
Providers (ISPs):
more than 400 (2000)
Internet users:
25 million (2002)
Transportation
United Kingdom
Railways:
total: 17,186
km standard gauge: 16,726 km 1.435-m gauge (5,243 km electrified)
broad gauge: 460 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)
(2003)
Highways:
total: 392,931
km paved: 392,931 km (including 3,431 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2003)
Waterways:
3,200 km (620 km
used for commerce) (2004)
Pipelines:
condensate 370
km; gas 21,446 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 6,420 km;
oil/gas/water 63 km; refined products 4,474 km (2004)
total: 429
ships (1,000 GRT or over) 9,181,284 GRT/9,566,275 DWT by type: bulk carrier 18, cargo 55, chemical tanker 48,
container 134, liquefied gas 11, passenger 12, passenger/cargo
64, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo 19, roll on/roll
off 25, vehicle carrier 3 foreign-owned: 202 (Australia 3, Canada 15, Denmark 38,
Finland 2, Germany 56, Greece 4, Ireland 1, Italy 9, Netherlands
12, Norway 28, South Africa 4, Sweden 15, Taiwan 7, United States
8) registered in other countries: 446 (2005)
Airports:
471 (2004 est.)
Heliports:
11 (2004 est.)
Transnational Issues
United Kingdom
Disputes - international:
in 2003, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to remain a British colony and against a "total shared sovereignty" arrangement while demanding participation in talks between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most Chagosians reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship but no right to patriation in the UK; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm
Illicit drugs:
producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center
The
United Kingdom Embassies of the Great Britain around the World
Embassies of the United Kingdom to Other Nations