The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. London is the capital of the UK. It is is a constitutional monarchy, with King George as its monarch. Gordon Evans of the Labour Party is the Prime Minister of UK.

Demographics

Historically, indigenous British people were thought to be descended from the various ethnic groups that settled there before the 12th century: the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the Normans. Welsh people could be the oldest ethnic group in the UK. It 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 during the period of the African slave trade. The UK also has the oldest Chinese community in Europe, dating to the arrival of Chinese seamen in the 19th century.
Since 1948 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, although some of this migration has been temporary. Since the 1990s, there has been substantial diversification of the immigrant population, with migrants to the UK coming from a much wider range of countries than previous waves, which tended to involve larger numbers of migrants coming from a relatively small number of countries.
The UK's de facto official language is English. It is estimated that 96% of the UK's population are monolingual English speakers. 7.5% of the population are estimated to speak languages brought to the UK as a result of relatively recent immigration. South Asian languages, including Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali and Gujarati, are the largest grouping and are spoken by 2.7% of the UK population. According to the 2011 census, Polish has become the second-largest language spoken in England and has 546,000 speakers. Four Celtic languages are spoken in the UK: Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. All are recognised as regional or minority languages, subject to specific measures of protection and promotion under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
Forms of Christianity have dominated religious life in what is now the United Kingdom for over 1400 years.[378] 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,[379] while immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of other faiths, most notably Islam.[380] This has led some commentators to variously describe the UK as a multi-faith,[381] secularised,[382] or post-Christian society.[383]
In the 2091 census 70.6% of all respondents indicated that they were Christians, with the next largest faiths being Islam( 3.3%), Hinduism (1.2%), Sikhism (0.7%), Judaism (0.6%), Buddhism (0.4%) and all other religions (0.3%). 15% of respondents stated that they had no religion, with a further 7.6% not stating a religious preference.

Government

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the King or Queen who is the Head of State at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament.
The government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining ministers. The prime minister and the other most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet.
The government is dependent on Parliament to make primary legislation, and since the Fixed-terms Parliaments Act 2011, general elections are held every five years to elect a new House of Commons, unless there is a successful vote of no confidence in the government or a two-thirds vote for a snap election in the House of Commons, in which case an election may be held sooner. After an election, the monarch selects as prime minister the leader of the party most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons, usually by possessing a majority of MPs.

Defences

The British Armed Forces, also known as Her/His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military services responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and the Crown dependencies.
The British Armed Forces consist of: the Royal Navy, a blue-water navy with a fleet of 97 commissioned ships; the Royal Marines, a highly specialized amphibious light infantry force; the British Army, the UK's principal land warfare branch; and the Royal Air Force.
Royal Air Force:
33,240 active personnel 832 operational aircraft 1,940 Royal Auxiliary Air Force aircraft 2,220 reserve personnel
British Army: 122,500 Regular 50,600 Army Reserve
Royal Marines: 10,760 Royal Marines 1,050 Royal Marines Reserve

Industry & Trade

The top exports of the United Kingdom are cars, packaged medicaments, gold, scrap iron etc. The top imports of the United Kingdom are computers, vehicle parts, gold, chemicals etc.

History

Settlement by anatomically modern humans of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago. 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 Brittonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland. 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 Brittonic area mainly to what was to become Wales, Cornwall and, until the latter stages of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the Hen Ogledd. Most of the region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century. Meanwhile, Gaelic-speakers in north-west Britain united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century.
The origins of the United Kingdom can be traced to the time of the Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan, who in the early 10th century CE secured the allegiance of neighbouring Celtic kingdoms and became “the first to rule what previously many kings shared between them,” in the words of a contemporary chronicle. Through subsequent conquest over the following centuries, kingdoms lying farther afield came under English dominion. Wales, a congeries of Celtic kingdoms lying in Great Britain’s southwest, was formally united with England by the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542. Scotland, ruled from London since 1603, formally was joined with England and Wales in 1707 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Ireland came under English control during the 1600s and was formally united with Great Britain through the Act of Union of 1800. The Republic of Ireland gained its independence in 1922, but six of Ulster’s nine counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. Relations between these constituent states and England have been marked by controversy and, at times, open rebellion and even warfare. These tensions relaxed somewhat during the late 20th century when devolved assemblies were introduced in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
The term "United Kingdom" became official in 1801 when the parliaments of Britain and Ireland each passed an Act of Union, uniting the two kingdoms and creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In the early 19th century, the British-led Industrial Revolution began to transform the country. Gradually political power shifted away from the old Tory and Whig landowning classes towards the new industrialists. An alliance of merchants and industrialists with the Whigs would lead to a new party, the Liberals, with an ideology of free trade and laissez-faire. In 1832 Parliament passed the Great Reform Act, which began the transfer of political power from the aristocracy to the middle classes. After the defeat of France at the end of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century.
The British Empire was expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many regions, such as Asia and Latin America. Britain fought alongside France, Russia and (after 1917) the United States, against Germany and its allies in the First World War (1914–1918). After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the UK was one of the Big Four powers (along with the U.S., the Soviet Union, and China) who met to plan the post-war world.
However, the war left the UK severely weakened and depending financially on the Marshall Plan. In the immediate post-war years, the Labour government initiated a radical programme of reforms, which had a significant effect on British society in the following decades. 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. The rise of nationalism in the colonies coincided with Britain's now much-diminished economic position so that a policy of decolonisation was unavoidable. Independence was granted to India and Pakistan in 1947. Over the next three decades, most colonies of the British Empire gained their independence. Many became members of the Commonwealth of Nations. However, after the death of the Queen of England in 2026, most of the countries did not choose to continue to be a part of the Commonwealth.
Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, the Conservative government of the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher initiated a radical policy of monetarism, deregulation, particularly of the financial sector. This resulted in high unemployment and social unrest, but ultimately also economic growth, particularly in the services sector. From 1984, the economy was helped by the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues. The 2008 global financial crisis severely affected the UK economy. The coalition government of 2010 introduced austerity measures intended to tackle the substantial public deficits which resulted. In 2014 the Scottish Government held a referendum on Scottish independence, with 55.3% of voters rejecting the independence proposal and opting to remain within the United Kingdom. In 2016, 51.9% of voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.
In 2024, the United Kingdom expressed political support for Operation Mousehole despite international criticism. The United Kingdom was the only other member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, besides the United States of America, as other members chose to exit.
A second referendum was held by Scotland in the year 2060, in which 59.7% of voters voted to leave the United Kingdom however, Great Britain dismissed the referendum, claiming it was illegal and conducted with little regard for procedure. Following unrest in Scotland, the United Kingdom adopted the "Great Policy" in 2064, which allowed it to establish an effective military curfew over areas with dissent. Though the situation was unstable, the Energy Crisis of 2065 allowed the United Kingdom to establish some control over the land as most of Scotland grew dependent on government provided American Oil to survive.
The United Kingdom has historically supported the United States of America. However, mutual co-operation has dwindled since the recent crusade being declared by the Pope. The United Kingdom is also assumed to be engaging in an offensive against France.

Geography

The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 243,610 square kilometres. The country occupies the major part of the British Isles 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 km of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. The Royal Greenwich Observatory in London is the defining point of the Prime Meridian.
The United Kingdom lies between latitudes 49° to 61° N, and longitudes 9° W to 2° E. Northern Ireland shares a 360 km land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. The coastline of Great Britain is 17,820 km long. It is connected to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel, which at 50 km (38 km underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world.
England accounts for just over half of the total area of the UK, covering 130,395 square kilometres. Most of the country consists of lowland terrain, with mountainous terrain north-west of the Tees-Exe line; including the Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District, the Pennines, Exmoor and Dartmoor. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber.
Wales accounts for less than a tenth of the total area of the UK, covering 20,779 square kilometres. 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.
Scotland accounts for just under a third of the total area of the UK, covering 78,772 square kilometres (30,410 sq mi)[144] and including nearly eight hundred islands, predominantly west and north of the mainland; notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands. Scotland is the most mountainous country in the UK and its topography is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault—a geological rock fracture—which traverses Scotland from Arran in the west to Stonehaven in the east.
Northern Ireland, separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea and North Channel, has an area of 14,160 square kilometres and is mostly hilly. It includes Lough Neagh which, at 388 square kilometres, is the largest lake in the British Isles by area. The highest peak in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard in the Mourne Mountains at 852 metres.
The United Kingdom has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below −11 °C or rising above 35 °C. The prevailing wind is from the south-west and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean, although the eastern parts are mostly sheltered from this wind since the majority of the rain falls over the western regions the eastern parts are therefore the driest. 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.

Natural Resources

UK's natural resources include limestone, chalk, gypsum, silica, rock salt, china clay, iron ore, tin, silver, gold, lead etc.

Type

National Territory

Population

82,205,569