Royal coat of arms
Capital: London
Official language: English (de facto)
Recognised regional languages: Irish, Ulster
Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Welsh,
Cornish
Ethnic groups: 92.1% White
4.0% South Asian
2.0% Black
1.2% Mixed
0.4% Chinese
0.4% Other
Government: Parliamentary democracy
and constitutional monarchy
Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Gordon Brown
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: 244,820 km2
Population:
2009 (estimate) 61,113,205
2001 consensus 58,789,194
Density: 246/km2
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom,
the UK, or as Britain) is a sovereign state located off
the north-western coast of continental Europe.
It is an island country spanning an archipelago including
Great Britain, the north-eastern part 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.
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. It is governed by a
parliamentary 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 and are often not
considered part of the UK, though they are
treated as part of it for many purposes
including nationality.
The UK has fourteen overseas territories 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 continue to 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 and the
seventh largest by purchasing power parity. It was
the world's first industrialised country and the
world's foremost power during the 19th and early
20th centuries, but the economic 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 nuclear power and has
the fourth highest defence spending in the world.
It is a Member State of the European Union,
holds a permanent seat on the United Nations
Security Council, and is a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations, G8, OECD, NATO,
and the World Trade Organization.
The physical geography of the UK varies greatly.
The geography of England consists of lowland
terrain, with mountainous terrain north-west of
the Tees – Exe line including the Cumbrian
Mountains of the Lake District, the Pennines and
limestone hills of the Peak District, Exmoor and
Dartmoor.
The geography of Scotland is distinguished by the
Highland Boundary Fault – a geological rock
fracture – which traverses the Scottish mainland
from Helensburgh to Stonehaven. The fault line
separates the two distinctively different regions
of the Highlands to the north and west and the
lowlands to the south and east.
The geography of Wales is mostly mountainous, though
south Wales is less mountainous than north and mid
Wales.
The geography of Ireland includes the Mourne Mountains
as well as Lough Neagh, at 388 square kilometres
(150 sq mi), the largest body of water in the UK and
Ireland.
The overall geomorphology of the UK was shaped by the
combined forces of tectonics and climate change, in
particular glaciations.
The exact centre of the island of Great Britain is disputed.
Depending upon how it is calculated it can be either
Haltwhistle in Northumberland, or Dunsop Bridge in
Lancashire.
The climate of the United Kingdom is classified as a midlatitude oceanic climate, with warm summers, cool winters and
plentiful precipitation throughout the year.
However a plausible argument can be made that some parts of
East & South-East England (for example, Essex) actually have
a semi-arid climate through virtue of having less than 500mm
average annual rainfall.
The principal factors that influence the country's climate include
its northerly latitude (which ranges from 50° to 60° N), the
close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, and the warming of the
surrounding waters by the Gulf Stream.
The weather can be notoriously changeable from one day to the
next but temperature variations throughout the year are
relatively small.
The boundary of convergence between the
warm tropical air and the cold polar air lies
over the United Kingdom. In this area, the
large temperature variation creates
instability and this is a major factor that
influences the often unsettled weather the
country experiences, where many types of
weather can be experienced in a single
day.
Regional climates in the United Kingdom are
influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and latitude.
Northern Ireland, Wales and western parts of
England and Scotland, being closest to the
Atlantic, are generally the mildest, wettest and
windiest regions of the UK, and temperature
ranges here are seldom extreme. Eastern areas
are drier, cooler, less windy and also experience
the greatest daily and seasonal temperature
variations. Northern areas are generally cooler,
wetter and have a smaller temperature range
than southern areas.
Though the UK is mostly under the influence of the
maritime tropical air mass from the south-west, different
regions are more susceptible than others when different
air masses affect the country: Northern Ireland and the
west of Scotland are the most exposed to the maritime
polar air mass which brings cool moist air; the east of
Scotland and north-east England are more exposed to
the continental polar air mass which brings cold dry air;
the south and south-east of England are more exposed
to the continental tropical air mass which brings warm
dry air; Wales and the south-west of England are the
most exposed to the maritime tropical air mass which
brings warm moist air.