United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has historically played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith in the 19th century, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw two World Wars seriously deplete the UK's strength and the Irish Republic withdraw from the union. 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 and a founding member of NATO and the Commonwealth of Nations, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1998.
The UK was an active member of the EU after its accession in 1973, although it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union. However, motivated in part by frustration at a remote bureaucracy in Brussels and massive migration into the country, UK citizens on 23 June 2016 voted by 52 to 48 percent to leave the EU. The UK became the first country to depart the EU on 31 January 2020, after prolonged negotiations on EU-UK economic and security relationships had been hammered out.
Demography and Population
67.081 million United Kingdom (June 2020 est.)
constituent countries by percentage of total population:
England 84.3%
Scotland 8.1%
Wales 4.7%
Northern Ireland 2.8%
Territories
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
Area
total: 243,610 sq km land: 241,930 sq km water: 1,680 sq km note 1: the percentage area breakdown of the four UK countries is: England 53%, Scotland 32%, Wales 9%, and Northern Ireland 6% note 2: includes Rockall and the Shetland Islands, which are part of ScotlandMilitary
British Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force (2021)
Military and security service personnel strengths
the British military has approximately 194,000 total active troops (120,500 Army, including about 4,000 Gurkhas; 40,500 Navy, including about 7,000 Royal Marines; 38,000 Air Force) (2021) note(s) - the total includes 149,000 Regular Forces and approximately 37,000 Volunteer Reserves (30,000 Army; 4,000 Navy; 3000 Air Force) and some 8,000 "Other Personnel" (4,500 Army; 2,500 Navy; 1,000 Air Force)Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the inventory of the British military is comprised of a mix of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems; the US is the leading supplier of armaments to the UK since 2010; the UK defense industry is capable of producing a wide variety of air, land, and sea weapons systems and is one of the world's top weapons suppliers (2021)Trade & Transport
National air transport system
number of registered air carriers: 20 (2020) inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 794 annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 165,388,610 (2018) annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 6,198,370,000 mt-km (2018)Ports and terminals
major seaport(s): Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Teesport (England Forth Ports (Scotland Milford Haven (Wales) oil terminal(s): Fawley Marine terminal, Liverpool Bay terminal (England Braefoot Bay terminal, Finnart oil terminal, Hound Point terminal (Scotland) container port(s) (TEUs): Felixstowe (3,584,000), London (2,790,000), Southampton (1,924,847) (2019) LNG terminal(s) (import): Isle of Grain, Milford Haven, Teesside Transportation - note begun in 1988 and completed in 1994, the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed the Chunnel) is a 50.5-km (31.4-mi) rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover that runs from Folkestone, Kent, England to Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais in northern France; it is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and mainland Europe
Type
Geopolitical, State
Capital
Alternative Names
UK
Demonym
Briton(s), British (collective plural)
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Currency
Pound Sterling (GBP)
Major Exports
cars, gas turbines, gold, crude petroleum, packaged medicines (2019)
Major Imports
gold, cars, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, broadcasting equipment (2019)
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Comments