United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,[note 1][19] is a sovereign country in north-western Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland.[20][21] The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles.[22] Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland. Otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The total area of the United Kingdom is 93,628 square miles (242,500 km2), with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people.[14]
The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.[note 2][23][24] The monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 1952.[25] The capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with a metropolitan area population of over 14 million. Other major cities include Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds.[26]The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.[27] Other than England, the constituent countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers.[28][29]
The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted that name in 1927.[note 3]
The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation.[30] There are also 14 British Overseas Territories,[31] the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.[32]
The United Kingdom has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the eighth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating, ranking 13th in the world. The UK became the world's first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.[34][35] Today the UK remains one of the world's great powers, with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, technological and political influence internationally.[36][37] It is a recognised nuclear state and is ranked fourth globally in military expenditure.[38] It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.
The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the United Nations, NATO, AUKUS, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Interpol, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was a member state of the European Communities (EC) and its successor, the European Union (EU), from its accession in 1973 until its withdrawal in 2020 following a referendum held in 2016.
Stonehenge in Wiltshire is a ring of stones, each about 4 m (13 ft) high, 2 m (7 ft) wide and 25 tonnes, erected 2400–2200 BC.
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
The Treaty of Union led to a united kingdom of all of Great Britain.
At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, a British-led coalition under the Duke of Wellington, supported by von Blücher's Prussian army, defeated the French, ending the Napoleonic Wars.
Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme. More than 885,000 British soldiers died on the battlefields of the First World War.
Territories once part of the British Empire, with the United Kingdom and its current Overseas Dependencies and Crown Dependencies underlined in red
Leaders of EU states in 2007. The UK entered the EEC in 1973. In a 1975 referendum 67% voted to stay in it;
[139] in 2016 52% voted to leave the EU.
[140] The United Kingdom showing hilly regions to north and west
Skye is one of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides and part of the Scottish Highlands.
Worm's Head in the Gower Peninsula
The Giant's Causeway in County Antrim
Köppen climate types of the UK
Elizabeth II, monarch since 1952
Boris Johnson, prime minister since 2019
The Palace of Westminster, seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Organisational chart of the UK political system
England
Scotland
Wales
NorthernIreland
The four countries of the United Kingdom
The Scottish Parliament Building in Holyrood is the seat of the Scottish Parliament.
The British-Irish Council comprises the UK Government, the Irish Government and the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Montserrat: Soufrière Hills volcano
Locations of UK dependencies (crown dependencies alphabetised, overseas territories numbered):
A Isle of Man;
B Guernsey;
C Jersey;
1 United Kingdom;
2 Gibraltar;
3 Akrotiri and Dhekelia;
4 Bermuda;
5 Turks and Caicos Islands;
6 British Virgin Islands;
7 Anguilla;
8 Cayman Islands;
9 Montserrat;
10 Pitcairn Islands;
11 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha;
12 British Indian Ocean Territory;
13 Falkland Islands;
14 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;
(15) British Antarctic Territory
The Royal Courts of Justice of England and Wales
The High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court of Scotland
HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, a pair of Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy
British soldier firing during an exercise.
The Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based
The Mini Electric is manufactured in the UK.
Engines and wings for the Airbus A380 are manufactured in the UK.
The City of London is one of two main financial centres.[300][301][302]
Canary Wharf is one of two main financial centres of the United Kingdom.
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), whose classical theory of electromagnetism helped usher in the era of modern physics
A Watt steam engine, which was fundamental in driving the Industrial Revolution
London St Pancras International is one of London's main domestic and international transport hubs, providing commuter and high-speed rail services across the UK and to Paris, Lille and Brussels.
Energy mix of the United Kingdom over time
Wind turbines overlooking Ardrossan, Scotland. The UK is one of the best sites in Europe for wind energy, and wind power production is its fastest-growing supply.
Map of population density in the UK as at the 2011 census
Percentage of the population not white according to the 2011 census
Estimated foreign-born population by country of birth from April 2007 to March 2008
Estimated number of British citizens living overseas by country in 2006
Christ Church, Oxford, is part of the University of Oxford, which traces its foundations back to c. 1096.
King's College (right) and Clare College (left), both part of the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1209
The Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, an NHS Scotland specialist children's hospital
The Chandos portrait, believed to depict William Shakespeare
A photograph of Victorian-era novelist Charles Dickens
The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in popular music, selling over a billion records.
[576][577][578] J. M. W. Turner self-portrait, oil on canvas, c. 1799
Alfred Hitchcock has been ranked as one of the greatest and most influential British filmmakers of all time.
[600] The Art Deco facade of Broadcasting House in London, headquarters of the BBC, the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world
[611][612][613] Wembley Stadium, London, home of the England national football team, is the fifth most expensive stadium ever built.
[629] The Millennium Stadium of Cardiff opened for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Wimbledon, the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June and July.
St Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf. The standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews in 1764.
[649] The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth. Britannia is a national personification of the UK.
