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|national_anthem"God Save the Queen No law was passed making God Save the Queenthe official anthem; however in the British tradition such laws are not necessary. Proclamation and usage are sufficient to make it the official national anthem. God Save the Queenalso serves as the Honors music for several other countries.
|official_languagesEnglish language ([[de facto]]English is established by de facto usage. In Wales the Welsh Language Board is legally tasked with ensuring that, "in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice, the English and Welsh language should be treated on a basis of equality". Bòrd na Gàidhlig is tasked with "securing the status of the Scottish Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language" lt;/ref>
|regional_languagesIrish language Ulster Scots Scottish Gaelic , Scots language Welsh language Cornish language lt;ref group"note">Under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish language Irish language Ulster Scots and Scots language are officially recognised as Regional language or Minority language by the United Kingdom Government ( See also Languages of the United Kingdom
|ethnic_groups92.1% White people lt;br/> 4.0% South Asia
2.0% Black people lt;br/> 1.2% British Mixed-Race lt;br/> 0.4% British Chinese lt;br/> 0.4% United Kingdom Census 2001 |ethnic_groups_yearUnited Kingdom Census 2001 lt;br/> See: Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom#2001 Census ethnicity results lt;/small>lt;/ref> |demonymBritish people or British people |capitalLondon |latd51 |latm30 |latNSN |longd0 |longm7 |longEWW |largest_cityLondon |government_typeUnitary state parliamentary system and constitutional monarchy |leader_title1Monarchy of the United Kingdom |leader_name1Elizabeth II |leader_title2Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |leader_name2 David Cameron Parliament of the United Kingdom |sovereignty_typeHistory of the United Kingdom |legislatureParliament of the United Kingdom |upper_houseHouse of Lords |lower_houseHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom |state_religionAnglicanism |sovereignty_note |established_event1Acts of Union 1707 |established_date11 May 1707 |established_event2Act of Union (1800) |established_date21 January 1801 |established_event3Anglo-Irish Treaty |established_date312 April 1922 |accessionEUdate1 January 1973 |religionChurch of England |EUseats 78 |area_rank 79th |area_magnitude 1 E11 |area_km2 243610 |area_sq_mi |percent_water 1.34 |population_estimate 62,041,708lt;/ref> |population_estimate_year 2010 |population_estimate_rank 22nd |population_census 58,789,194http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pop2001/united_kingdom.asp Population Estimates] National Statistics Office |population_census_year 2001 |population_density_km2 254.7 |population_density_sq_mi 659.6 |population_density_rank 51st |GDP_PPP_year2009 |GDP_PPP$2.139 trillionlt;/ref> |GDP_PPP_rank |GDP_PPP_per_capita$35,082 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank |GDP_nominal_year2009 |GDP_nominal_per_capita$35,720 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank |GDP_nominal$2.183 trillion |HDI_year2007 |HDI0.947http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf Human Development Report 2009] United Nations. Retrieved 5 October 2009. |HDI_rank21st |HDI_categoryvery high |Gini34 |Gini_year2005 |Gini_rank |currencyPound sterling lt;ref group"note">The Euro is accepted in many payphones and some larger shops. |currency_codeGBP |country_codeGBR |time_zoneGreenwich Mean Time |utc_offset+0 |time_zone_DSTWestern European Summer Time |date_format dd/mm/yyyy (Anno Domini |utc_offset_DST+1 |drives_onleftBritish dependencies drive on the left except for British Indian Ocean Territory and Gibraltar |cctld.uk lt;ref group"note">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 states that this should be Great Britain and .gb was initially used by the Government, but registration has been suppressed in favour of .uk The .eu domain is shared with other European Union member states. |calling_codeTelephone numbers in the United Kingdom }} The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland lt;ref group"note">In the United Kingdom and Dependencies, Languages of the United Kingdom have been officially recognised as legitimate Indigenous language regional language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages In each of these, the UKs official name is as follows: * * * * *lt;/ref> (commonly known as the United Kingdom the UK or Britain lt;ref>Office for National Statistics, (2001), Britain 2001: The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom, p. vii) is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe It is an island country lt;/ref>lt;/ref> spanning an archipelago including Great Britain the northeastern part of the island of Ireland and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border lt;ref group"note">Excluding the British Overseas Territory border of Gibraltar with Andalusia Spain and the Akrotiri and Dhekelia bordering Cyprus lt;/ref> with another sovereign state, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland lt;/ref>lt;/ref> Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean the North Sea the English Channel and the Irish Sea Great Britain is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of Countries of the United Kingdom England Northern Ireland Scotland and Wales lt;/ref> It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London the capital (political) but with three devolution national administrations of varying powershttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7859034.stm Fall in UK university students] BBC News, 29 January 2009http://www.transport-research.info/web/countryprofiles/uk.cfm Country Profiles] Transport Research Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 28 March 2010. in Belfast Cardiff and Edinburgh the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. The Channel Islands bailiwick of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man are Crown Dependencies which means they are constitutionally tied to the British monarch but are not part of the UK.lt;/ref> The UK has fourteen British overseas territories that are not constitutionally part of the UK.lt;/ref> These territories are remnants of the British Empire which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the worlds land surface, the List of largest empires#All empires at their greatest extent British influence can still be observed in the English language Culture of the United Kingdom and Common law of many of its former colonies. The UK is a developed country with the worlds List of countries by GDP (nominal) by nominal Gross domestic product and the List of countries by GDP (PPP) by purchasing power parity It was the worlds first Industrialisation countryP. Mathias, The First Industrial Nation: the Economic History of Britain, 1700-1914(London: Routledge, 2nd edn., 2001), ISBN 0-415-26672-6 and the worlds power in international relations during the 19th and early 20th centuries,lt;/ref> but the economic and social 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 great power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty List of states with nuclear weapons while its List of countries by military expenditures in the world, depending on the method of calculation.lt;/ref> It is a Member State of the European Union of the European Union a United Nations Security Council#Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council a member of the Commonwealth of Nations G8 G20 major economies North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade OrganizationPrint
Traditionally, List of newspapers in the United Kingdom could be split into quality serious-minded newspaper (usually referred to as "broadsheet " because of their large size) and the more populist, [[tabloid]]varieties. For convenience of reading, many traditional broadsheets have switched to a more compact (newspaper) sized format, traditionally used by tabloid . [[The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun]]has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the UK: 3.1 million, approximately a quarter of the market.lt;/ref> Its sister paper, the [[News of the World]]has the highest circulation in the Sunday newspaper market, and traditionally focuses on celebrity-led stories. [[The Daily Telegraph]] a centre-right broadsheet paper, is the highest-selling of the "quality" newspapers. [[The Guardian]]is a more Liberalism in the United Kingdom "quality" broadsheet and the [[Financial Times]]is the main business newspaper, printed on distinctive salmon-pink broadsheet paper. First printed in 1737, [[The News Letter]]from Belfast, is the oldest known English-language daily newspaper still in publication today. One of its fellow Northern Irish competitors, [[The Irish News]] has been twice ranked as the best regional newspaper in the United Kingdom, in 2006 and 2007.lt;/ref> Aside from newspapers, British magazines and journals have achieved worldwide circulation including [[The Economist]]and [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] Scotland has a distinct tradition of newspaper readership (see list of newspapers in Scotland . The tabloid [[Daily Record (Scotland)|Daily Record]]has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper outselling [[The Scottish Sun]]by four to one while its sister paper, the [[Sunday Mail (Scotland)|Sunday Mail]]similarly leads the Sunday newspaper market. The leading "quality" daily newspaper in Scotland is [[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] though it is the sister paper of [[The Scotsman]] the [[Scotland on Sunday]] that leads in the Sunday newspaper market.http://www.business7.co.uk/business-news/breaking-business-news/2008/02/11/scottish-newspaper-readership-falls-97298-20316075/ Scottish newspaper readership falls] Business7, 11 February 2008
2.0% Black people lt;br/> 1.2% British Mixed-Race lt;br/> 0.4% British Chinese lt;br/> 0.4% United Kingdom Census 2001 |ethnic_groups_yearUnited Kingdom Census 2001 lt;br/> See: Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom#2001 Census ethnicity results lt;/small>lt;/ref> |demonymBritish people or British people |capitalLondon |latd51 |latm30 |latNSN |longd0 |longm7 |longEWW |largest_cityLondon |government_typeUnitary state parliamentary system and constitutional monarchy |leader_title1Monarchy of the United Kingdom |leader_name1Elizabeth II |leader_title2Prime Minister of the United Kingdom |leader_name2 David Cameron Parliament of the United Kingdom |sovereignty_typeHistory of the United Kingdom |legislatureParliament of the United Kingdom |upper_houseHouse of Lords |lower_houseHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom |state_religionAnglicanism |sovereignty_note |established_event1Acts of Union 1707 |established_date11 May 1707 |established_event2Act of Union (1800) |established_date21 January 1801 |established_event3Anglo-Irish Treaty |established_date312 April 1922 |accessionEUdate1 January 1973 |religionChurch of England |EUseats 78 |area_rank 79th |area_magnitude 1 E11 |area_km2 243610 |area_sq_mi |percent_water 1.34 |population_estimate 62,041,708lt;/ref> |population_estimate_year 2010 |population_estimate_rank 22nd |population_census 58,789,194http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pop2001/united_kingdom.asp Population Estimates] National Statistics Office |population_census_year 2001 |population_density_km2 254.7 |population_density_sq_mi 659.6 |population_density_rank 51st |GDP_PPP_year2009 |GDP_PPP$2.139 trillionlt;/ref> |GDP_PPP_rank |GDP_PPP_per_capita$35,082 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank |GDP_nominal_year2009 |GDP_nominal_per_capita$35,720 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank |GDP_nominal$2.183 trillion |HDI_year2007 |HDI0.947http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf Human Development Report 2009] United Nations. Retrieved 5 October 2009. |HDI_rank21st |HDI_categoryvery high |Gini34 |Gini_year2005 |Gini_rank |currencyPound sterling lt;ref group"note">The Euro is accepted in many payphones and some larger shops. |currency_codeGBP |country_codeGBR |time_zoneGreenwich Mean Time |utc_offset+0 |time_zone_DSTWestern European Summer Time |date_format dd/mm/yyyy (Anno Domini |utc_offset_DST+1 |drives_onleftBritish dependencies drive on the left except for British Indian Ocean Territory and Gibraltar |cctld.uk lt;ref group"note">ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 states that this should be Great Britain and .gb was initially used by the Government, but registration has been suppressed in favour of .uk The .eu domain is shared with other European Union member states. |calling_codeTelephone numbers in the United Kingdom }} The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland lt;ref group"note">In the United Kingdom and Dependencies, Languages of the United Kingdom have been officially recognised as legitimate Indigenous language regional language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages In each of these, the UKs official name is as follows: * * * * *lt;/ref> (commonly known as the United Kingdom the UK or Britain lt;ref>Office for National Statistics, (2001), Britain 2001: The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom, p. vii) is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe It is an island country lt;/ref>lt;/ref> spanning an archipelago including Great Britain the northeastern part of the island of Ireland and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK Republic of Ireland – United Kingdom border lt;ref group"note">Excluding the British Overseas Territory border of Gibraltar with Andalusia Spain and the Akrotiri and Dhekelia bordering Cyprus lt;/ref> with another sovereign state, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland lt;/ref>lt;/ref> Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean the North Sea the English Channel and the Irish Sea Great Britain is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of Countries of the United Kingdom England Northern Ireland Scotland and Wales lt;/ref> It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in London the capital (political) but with three devolution national administrations of varying powershttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7859034.stm Fall in UK university students] BBC News, 29 January 2009http://www.transport-research.info/web/countryprofiles/uk.cfm Country Profiles] Transport Research Knowledge Centre. Retrieved 28 March 2010. in Belfast Cardiff and Edinburgh the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. The Channel Islands bailiwick of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man are Crown Dependencies which means they are constitutionally tied to the British monarch but are not part of the UK.lt;/ref> The UK has fourteen British overseas territories that are not constitutionally part of the UK.lt;/ref> These territories are remnants of the British Empire which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the worlds land surface, the List of largest empires#All empires at their greatest extent British influence can still be observed in the English language Culture of the United Kingdom and Common law of many of its former colonies. The UK is a developed country with the worlds List of countries by GDP (nominal) by nominal Gross domestic product and the List of countries by GDP (PPP) by purchasing power parity It was the worlds first Industrialisation countryP. Mathias, The First Industrial Nation: the Economic History of Britain, 1700-1914(London: Routledge, 2nd edn., 2001), ISBN 0-415-26672-6 and the worlds power in international relations during the 19th and early 20th centuries,lt;/ref> but the economic and social 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 great power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty List of states with nuclear weapons while its List of countries by military expenditures in the world, depending on the method of calculation.lt;/ref> It is a Member State of the European Union of the European Union a United Nations Security Council#Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council a member of the Commonwealth of Nations G8 G20 major economies North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Trade Organization
History
File:Sadler, Battle of Waterloo.jpg marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the start of Pax Britannica ]] The United Kingdom was created out of the existing historic kingdoms of Kingdom of England (including Wales , Kingdom of Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland D. Ross, Chronology of Scottish History(Glasgow: Geddes & Grosset, 2002), ISBN 1855343800, p. 56.J. Hearn, Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture(Edinburgh; Edinburgh University Press, 2002), ISBN 1902930169, p. 104. Between the 17th and 19th centuries a series of political events brought these countries into a close political union. England, Ireland and Scotland were brought into a personal union by the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James I of England inherited the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and moved his court (royal) from Edinburgh to London, although all three kingdoms retained their separate political institutions. On 1 May 1707, the United Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland lt;/ref>lt;/ref> This event was the result of the Treaty of Union that was agreed on 22 July 1706, and then ratified by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland each passing an Acts of Union 1707 in 1707.lt;/ref> Almost a century later, the Kingdom of Ireland merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with the passing of the Act of Union (1800) lt;/ref> Disputes within Ireland over the terms of Irish Home Rule led eventually to the Partition of Ireland in 1921,SR&O 1921, No. 533 of 3 May 1921 with Dominion status for the Irish Free State in 1922 and Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK.lt;/ref> As a result, in 1927, the formal title of the UK Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 to its current form, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.P. Cottrell, The Irish Civil War 1922-23(London: Osprey, 2008), ISBN 1846032709, p. 85. [[File:The British Empire.png|thumb|300px|right|alt=Map of the world. Canada, the eastern [[United States]], countries in east Africa, India, most of Australasia, and some other countries are highlighted in pink.|Territories that were at one time part of the [[British Empire]]. Current [[British Overseas Territories]] are underlined in red.]] In its first century, the United Kingdom played an important role in developing [[Western world|Western]] ideas of the [[parliamentary system]] as well as making significant contributions to literature, the arts, and science.{{cite book|last=Ferguson|first=Niall|authorlink=Niall Ferguson|year=2003|title=Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=0465023282}} The UK-led [[Industrial Revolution]] transformed the country and fuelled the growing [[British Empire]]. During this time the UK, like other [[great power]]s, was involved in [[colonialism|colonial]] exploitation, including the [[Atlantic slave trade]], although with the passing of the [[Slave Trade Act 1807|Slave Trade Act]] in 1807 the UK took a leading role in combating the [[History of slavery|trade in slaves]].[http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery] By Jo Loosemore, BBC Devon After the defeat of [[France]] in the [[French revolutionary wars|Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1792–1815), the UK emerged as the principal naval and economic power of the 19th century (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830 to 1930)L.-N. Tellier, rban World History: an Economic and Geographical Perspective (Quebec, QC: PUQ, 2009), ISBN 2760515885, p. 463. and remained a [[superpower|foremost power]] into the mid 20th century.L. Sondhaus, avies in Modern World History (London: Reaktion Books, 2004), ISBN 1861892020, p. 9. Beside Russia, France and (after 1917) the USA, the British were one of the major powers opposing Germany and its allies in World War I (1914–18).J. Turner, ritain and the First World War (Abingdon: Routledge, 1988), ISBN 0044451091, pp. 22-35. Engaged in much of its empire, several regions in Europe and increasingly taking a major role on the [[Western front]], the armed forces grew to over five million people. The nation suffered an estimated two and a half million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt.I. Westwell and D. Cove, eds, istory of World War I, Volume 3 (London: Marshall Cavendish, 2002), ISBN 0761472312, pp. 698 and 705. After the war the United Kingdom received the [[League of Nations]] mandate over former German and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] colonies and the [[British Empire]] had expanded to its greatest extent, covering a fifth of the worlds land surface and a quarter of its population.J. Turner, Britain and the First World War (Abingdon: Routledge, 1988), ISBN 0044451091, pp. 41. The [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|Great Depression]] (1929–32) broke out at a time when the UK was still far from having recovered from the effects of the war and led to hardship and political and social unrest.W. D. Rubinstein, apitalism, Culture, and Decline in Britain, 1750-1990 (Abingdon: Routledge, 1994), ISBN 0415037190, p. 11. [[File:Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916.jpg|thumb|250px|left|alt=Black and white photo of two dozen men in military uniforms and metal helmets sitting or standing in a muddy trench.|Infantry of the [[Royal Ulster Rifles|Royal Irish Rifles]] during the [[Battle of the Somme]]. More than 885,000 British soldiers lost their lives on the battlefields of [[World War I]].]] The United Kingdom was one of the three main [[Allies of World War II]]. Following the defeat of its European allies in the first year of the war, the United Kingdom continued the fight against Germany in the aerial campaign known as the [[Battle of Britain]]. After the victory, the UK was one of the Big Three powers that met to plan the postwar world. [[World War II]] left the United Kingdom financially damaged. However, [[Marshall Plan|Marshall Aid]] and [[loan]]s taken from both the United States and Canada helped the UK on the road to recovery."[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/business/worldbusiness/28iht-nazi.4042453.html Britain to make its final payment on World War II loan from U.S.]" The New York Times, 28 December 2006 The immediate post-war years saw the establishment of the [[Welfare State]], including among the worlds first and most comprehensive public [[National Health Service|health services]]. Changes in government policy also [[Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922|brought people]] from all over the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] to create a [[multiethnic society|multiethnic]] Britain. Although the new postwar limits of Britain Decolonization role were confirmed by the Suez Crisis of 1956, the international spread of the English language meant the continuing influence of its British literature and Culture of the United Kingdom while from the 1960s its popular culture also found influence abroad. Following a period of global economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, the 1980s saw the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues and economic growth. The premiership of Margaret Thatcher marked a significant change of direction from the post-war political and economic consensus. The United Kingdom was one of the 12 founding members of the European Union at its launch in 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty Prior to that, it had been a member of the EUs forerunner, the European Economic Community (EEC), from 1973. The end of the 20th century saw major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of devolution national administrations for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales following pre-legislative Referendums in the United Kingdom lt;/ref>
Government and politics
File:Elizabeth II greets NASA GSFC employees, May 8, 2007 edit.jpg Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms ] The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy Monarchy of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II is head of state of the UK as well as of fifteen other Commonwealth realm putting the UK in a personal union with those other states. The Crown has sovereignty over the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey which are not part of the United Kingdom though the UK government manages their foreign affairs and defence and the UK Parliament has the authority to legislate on their behalf. The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution lt;/ref> as do only three other countries in the world.New Zealand Israel and San Marino lt;/ref> The Constitution of the United Kingdom thus consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statute , judge-made case law and international treaties. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law," the Parliament of the United Kingdom can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Act of Parliament and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.lt;/ref> The UK has a parliamentary system based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the world—a legacy of the British Empire The Parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses: an elected House of Commons of the United Kingdom and an appointed House of Lords and any Bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom since the devolved parliament in Scottish Parliament and devolved assemblies in Northern Ireland Assembly and National Assembly for Wales are not sovereign bodies and could be abolished by the UK parliament despite being established following public approval as expressed in referendum The position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom the UKs head of government lt;/ref> belongs to the Member of Parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons, usually the current leader of the largest political party in that chamber. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are formally appointed by the Monarch to form Her Majesty's Government though the Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention HM The Queen respects the Prime Ministers choices.lt;/ref> The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Ministers party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which responsible government Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all of whom are sworn into Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council and become Minister of the Crown The Rt. Hon. David Cameron leader of the Conservative Party (UK) has been Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service since 11 May 2010.lt;/ref> File:Westminster palace.jpg seat of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom ] For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is currently divided into United Kingdom constituencies Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament by plurality voting system General elections are called by the Monarch when the Prime Minister so advises. Though there is no minimum term for a Parliament, the Parliament Act 1911 requires that a new election must be called within five years of the previous general election. The UKs three List of political parties in the United Kingdom#Major parties in the House of Commons are the Conservative Party (UK) the Labour Party (UK) and the Liberal Democrats who won between them 622 out of 650 seats available in the House of Commons: 621 seats at the United Kingdom general election, 2010 lt;ref>lt;/ref> and 1 more at the delayed by-election in Thirsk and Malton.lt;/ref> Most of the remaining seats were won by minor parties that only contest elections in one part of the UK such as the Scottish National Party (Scotland only), Plaid Cymru (Wales only), and the Democratic Unionist Party Social Democratic and Labour Party Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland only, though Sinn Féin also contests elections in Republic of Ireland . In accordance with party policy, no elected Sinn Féin Member of Parliament has ever attended the House of Commons to speak in the House on behalf of their constituents as Members of Parliament are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Monarch. However, the current five Sinn Féin MPs have since 2002 made use of the offices and other facilities available at Westminster.lt;/ref> For elections to the European Parliament the UK currently has Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom 2009–2014 elected in 12 multi-member constituencies.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/euro/09/html/ukregion_999999.stm European Election: United Kingdom Result] BBC News, 8 June 2009 Questions over sovereignty have been brought forward because of the UKs membership of the European Union lt;/ref>
Devolved national administrations
File:Edinburgh Scottish Parliament01 2006-04-29.jpg in Holyrood, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Parliament ] Northern Ireland Scotland and Wales each has its own Executive (government) led by a First Minister and a Devolution unicameralism legislature. England, the largest country of the United Kingdom, has no devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the UK government and parliament on all issues. This situation has given rise to the so-called West Lothian question which concerns the fact that MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can vote, sometimes decisively,lt;/ref> on matters affecting England that are handled by devolved legislatures for their own constituencies.lt;/ref> The Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament have wide ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically reserved matters to the UK parliament, including education in Scotland NHS Scotland Scots law and local government in Scotland lt;/ref> Following their victory at the Scottish Parliament election, 2007 the Scottish independence Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a minority Government of the 3rd Scottish Parliament with its leader, Alex Salmond becoming First Minister of Scotland lt;/ref> The pro-union parties responded to the electoral success of the SNP by creating a Commission on Scottish Devolution lt;ref>lt;/ref> which reported in 2009, recommending that additional powers should be devolved, including control of half the income tax raised in Scotland.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8099634.stm Radical Holyrood powers urged] BBC News, 15 June 2009 The Welsh Assembly Government and the National Assembly for Wales have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland,lt;/ref> although following the passing of the Government of Wales Act 2006 the Assembly can now legislate in some areas through Measure of the National Assembly for Wales passed within clearly defined areas based upon, Legislative Competence Order which can be granted on a case by case basis.lt;/ref> The current Welsh Assembly Government was formed several weeks after the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 following a brief period of minority administration, when Plaid Cymru joined Labour Party (UK) in a coalition Government of the 3rd National Assembly for Wales under the leadership of First Minister Rhodri Morgan until December 2009,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/wales_politics/8283538.stm "Morgan is stepping down as leader"], BBC News, 1 October 2009. after which Carwyn Jones became First Minister.lt;/ref> The Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly have powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland. The Northern Ireland Executive is led by a diarchy currently First Minister and deputy First Minister Peter Robinson (politician) (Democratic Unionist Party and First Minister and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin .lt;/ref>
Local government
File:Map of the administrative geography of the United Kingdom.png The administrative geography of the United Kingdom is complex, multi-layered and non-uniform as each country of the United Kingdom has its own system of administrative and geographic demarcation with origins that pre-date the United Kingdom itself. Consequently, there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".lt;/ref> Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but since then there has been a constant evolution of role and function.Barlow, I., Metropolitan Government (1991) Change did not occur in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in a uniform manner, and the devolution of power over local government to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland means that future changes are unlikely to be uniform either. The organisation of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the UK parliament and the Her Majesty's Government because England does not have a devolved parliament. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine Regions of England or European Union government office regions.lt;/ref> One region, Greater London Authority has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a Greater London Authority referendum, 1998 lt;/ref> It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected Regional Assemblies in England but a rejection by a Northern England devolution referendums, 2004 of a proposed assembly in the North East England region stopped this idea in its tracks."The Government is now expected to tear up its twelve-year-old plan to create eight or nine regional assemblies in England to mirror devolution in Scotland and Wales."lt;/ref> Below the region level, London consists of 32 London borough and the rest of England has either metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and district councils or unitary authorities Councillors are elected by Plurality voting system in single member wards or by the Plurality-at-large voting in multi-member wards.lt;/ref> Local government in Northern Ireland has, since 1973, been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote with powers limited to services like collecting waste, controlling dogs, and maintaining parks and cemeteries.lt;/ref> However, on 13 March 2008, the Executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils to replace the present systemlt;/ref> and the next local elections will be postponed until 2011 to facilitate this.lt;/ref> Local government in Scotland is divided on a basis of subdivisions of Scotland with wide variation in both size and population. The cities of Glasgow Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas as also is Politics of the Highland council area which includes a third of Scotlands area but just over 200,000 people. The power invested in local authorities is administered by elected councillors, of which there are currently 1,222Dead link|dateJuly 2009}} who are each paid a part-time salary. Elections are conducted by single transferable vote in multi-member wards that elect either three or four councillors. Each council elects a Provost (civil) or Chairman to chair meetings of the council and to act as a figurehead for the area. Councillor are subject to a Ethical code enforced by the Standards Commission for Scotland Ethical Standards in Public Life framework: lt;/ref> The representative association of Scotlands local authorities is the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).lt;/ref> Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities, including the cities of Cardiff Swansea and Newport which are separate unitary authorities in their own right.lt;/ref> Elections are held every four years by Plurality voting system lt;ref>lt;/ref> with the most recent elections being in May 2008. The Welsh Local Government Association represents the interests of local authorities in Wales.lt;/ref>
British overseas territories
File:Location of the BOTs.svg The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself.http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagenameOpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&cPage&cid1013618138295 The 14 Territories] They are the remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories. The fourteen territories are Anguilla Bermuda the British Antarctic Territory the British Indian Ocean Territory the British Virgin Islands the Cayman Islands the Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha the Turks and Caicos Islands the Pitcairn Islands South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the Akrotiri and Dhekelia http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080205132101/www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front%3fpagenameOpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&cPage&cid1013618138295 Claims in Antarctica, including that of Britain, are not recognised by all nations.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html Collectively Britains overseas territories encompass an approximate land area of and a population of approximately 260,000 people.http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/
Foreign relations and armed forces
File:David Cameron and Barack Obama at the G20 Summit in Toronto.jpg and the President of the United States, Barack Obama during the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit ]] The United Kingdom is a United Nations Security Council#Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council a member of the Commonwealth of Nations G8 G7 G-20 major economies North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development World Trade Organisation Council of Europe Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and a Member state of the European Union of the European Union The UKs most notable alliance is its "Special Relationship with the United States Britains close allies include European Union and NATO members, Commonwealth nations and others such as Japan Britains global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, official development assistance and its armed forces, which maintain approximately eighty military installations and other deployments around the globe.lt;/ref> The British Army Royal Navy and Royal Air Force are collectively known as the British Armed Forces and officially as British Armed Forces The three forces are managed by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) and controlled by the Defence Council of the United Kingdom chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence The United Kingdom fields one of the most technologically advanced and best trained armed forces in the world. According to various sources, including the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) the UK has the third or fourth highest List of countries by military expenditures in the world, despite only having the 25th largest military in terms of List of countries by number of troops Total defence spending currently accounts for 2.5% of total national Gross domestic product lt;/ref> The UK maintains the largest air force and navy in the EU and second largest in NATO. The Royal Navy is a blue-water navy currently one of only three, along with the French Navy and the United States Navy lt;/ref> The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth £3.2bn to build two new supercarrier sized Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carrier on 3 July 2008.lt;/ref> File:BritishPatrolHelmand01.jpg as a part of the International Security Assistance Force ] The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its British overseas territories promoting the United Kingdoms global security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO including the Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps as well as the Five Power Defence Arrangements RIMPAC and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained at Ascension Island Military of Belize Military Forces based in Brunei British Army Training Unit Suffield Diego Garcia the Military of the Falkland Islands British Forces Germany British Forces Gibraltar Kenya Sovereign Base Areas and Qatar lt;/ref> In 2009, the British Army had a reported strength of 146,100, the Royal Air Force had 45,210 personnel and the Navy 39,320. The United Kingdom Special Forces such as the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service provide troops trained for quick, mobile, military responses in counter-terrorism land, maritime and amphibious warfare often where secrecy or covert tactics are required. There are reserve forces supporting the Active military. These include the Territorial Army (United Kingdom) the Royal Naval Reserve Royal Marines Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force This puts total active and reserve duty military personnel at approximately 435,500. Despite the United Kingdoms military capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" would be undertaken as part of a coalition.Office for National Statistics UK 2005: The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland p. 89 Setting aside the Operation Palliser operations in Bosnian War Kosovo War Afghanistan and Operation Telic may all be taken as precedent. Indeed the last war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which they were victorious.
Law and criminal justice
The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system since it was created by the political union of previously independent countries, with Article 19 of the Treaty of Union guaranteeing the continued existence of Scotlands separate legal system.lt;/ref> Today the UK has three distinct Legal systems of the world English law Courts of Northern Ireland and Scots law Recent constitutional changes saw a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom come into being in October 2009 to take on the appellate functions of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8283939.stm UK Supreme Court judges sworn in] BBC News, 1 October 2009 Department for Constitutional Affairs. Retrieved on 22 May 2006 The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council including the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.England, Wales and Northern Ireland
File:Royal courts of justice.jpg of England and Wales ]] Both English law which applies in England and Wales and Courts of Northern Ireland are based on common law principles. The essence of common law is that, subject to statute, the law is developed by judge in court applying statute, precedent and common sense to the facts before them, to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases ([[stare decisis]]. The courts of England and Wales are headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales consisting of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land for both criminal and civil appeal cases in England Wales and Northern Ireland and any decision it makes is binding on every other court in the same jurisdiction, and often has persuasive effect in its other jurisdictions. On appeal, a court may overrule the decisions of its inferior courts, such as county courts (civil) and magistrates courts (criminal). The High Court may also quash on judicial review both administrative decisions of the Government and delegated legislation. The courts of Northern Ireland are headed by the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland, consisting of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal, the Northern Ireland High Court of Justice and the Northern Ireland Crown Court. Below that are county courts and magistrates courts. Crime in England and Wales increased in the period between 1981 and 1995, though since that peak there has been an overall fall of 48% in crime from 1995 to 2007/08,lt;/ref> according to Crime statistics in the United Kingdom The prison population of England and Wales has almost doubled over the same period, to over 80,000, giving England and Wales the highest rate of incarceration in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000.lt;/ref> Her Majesty's Prison Service which reports to the Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) manages most of the prison within England and Wales.
Scotland
File:High Court of Justiciary.jpg the College of Justice criminal justice of Scotland ]] Scots law a hybrid system based on both common-law and civil law (legal system) principles, applies in Scotland The chief courts are the Court of Session (Scotland) for civil cases,lt;/ref> and the High Court of Justiciary for criminal cases.lt;/ref> The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom serves as the highest court of appeal for civil cases under Scots law, with leave to appeal from the Court of Session not required as a general rule.lt;/ref> Sheriff Court deal with most civil and criminal cases including conducting criminal trial (law) with a jury, known as sheriff solemn court, or with a sheriff and no jury, known as sheriff summary Court. The sheriff courts provide a local court service with 49 sheriff courts organised across six sheriffdom .lt;/ref> The Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdict for a criminal trial: "guilt (law) , "acquittal and "[[not proven]]. Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal with no possibility of Trial (law) lt;/ref> The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is the member of the Scottish Government responsible for the List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom#Scotland the Courts of Scotland and Scottish criminal law and the Scottish Prison Service which manages the prisons in Scotland.lt;/ref> Though the level of recorded crime in 2007/08 has fallen to the lowest for 25 years,lt;/ref> the prison population, at over 8,000,lt;/ref> is hitting record levels and is well above design capacity.lt;/ref>
Geography
File:Uk topo en.jpg The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately lt;ref namefactbook>lt;/ref> consisting of the island of Great Britain, the northeastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland) and smaller islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, coming within of the northwest coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel Great Britain lies between latitudes 49° and 59° N (the Shetland Islands reach to nearly 61° N), and longitudes 8° W to 2° E. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich in London, is the defining point of the Prime Meridian When measured directly north-south, Great Britain is a little over in length and is a fraction under at its widest, but the greatest distance between two points is between Land's End in Cornwall (near Penzance and John o' Groats in Caithness (near Thurso . Northern Ireland shares a land boundary with the Republic of Ireland The United Kingdom has a temperate climate with plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons but seldom drops below or rises above The prevailing wind is from the southwest, bearing frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean. Eastern parts are most sheltered from this wind and are therefore the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream bring mild winters, especially in the west, where winters are wet, especially over high ground. Summers are warmest in the south east of England, being closest to the European mainland, and coolest in the north. Snowfall can occur in winter and early spring, though it rarely settles to great depth away from high ground. Geography of England accounts for just over half of the total area of the UK, covering Most of the country consists of lowland terrain, with mountainous terrain north-west of the Tees-Exe line including the Lake District of the Lake District, the Pennines and limestone hills of the Peak District Exmoor and Dartmoor The main rivers and estuaries are the River Thames River Severn and the Humber Englands highest mountain is Scafell Pike (, which is in the Lake District England has a number of large towns and cities, including six of the top 50 Larger Urban Zones in the European Union. File:BenNevis2005.jpg in Scotland, is the highest point in the British Isles ] Geography of Scotland accounts for just under a third of the total area of the UK, covering lt;/ref> including nearly eight hundred List of islands of Scotland http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/the-complete-guide-to--scottish-islands-754070.html The complete guide to Scottish Islands] The Independent, 19 May 2001 predominantly west and north of the mainland, notably the Hebrides Orkney and Shetland The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault ndash}} a Fault (geology) ndash}} which traverses the Scottish mainland from Helensburgh to Stonehaven The faultline separates two distinctively different regions; namely the Scottish Highlands to the north and west and the Scottish Lowlands to the south and east. The more rugged Highland region contains the majority of Scotlands mountainous land, including Ben Nevis which at is the highest point in the British Isles lt;/ref> Lowland areas, especially the narrow waist of land between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth known as the Central Lowlands are flatter and home to most of the population including Glasgow Scotlands largest city, and Edinburgh the capital and political centre of the country. geography of Wales accounts for less than a tenth of the total area of the UK, covering Wales is mostly mountainous, though South Wales is less mountainous than North Wales 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. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia and include Snowdon (, which, at 1,085 m (3,560 ft) is the highest peak in Wales. The 14 (or possibly 15) Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s Wales has over 1,200 km (750 miles) of coastline. There are several island off the Welsh mainland, the largest of which is Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn in the northwest. Geography of Ireland accounts for just and is mostly hilly. It includes Lough Neagh at the largest body of water in the UK and Ireland lt;/ref> The highest peak in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard at in the Mourne Mountains
Cities and conurbations
The capitals of the individual countries of the UK are: Belfast (Northern Ireland), Cardiff (Wales), Edinburgh (Scotland) and London (England); the latter is also the capital of the UK as a whole. The largest conurbations are: *Greater London Urban Area – 8.5 million *West Midlands conurbation – 2.3 million *Greater Manchester Urban Area – 2.2 million *West Yorkshire Urban Area – 1.5 millionDemography
A Census in the United Kingdom occurs simultaneously in all parts of the UK every ten years.lt;/ref> The Office for National Statistics is responsible for collecting data for England and Wales with the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency each being responsible for censuses in their respective countries.lt;/ref>Population
At the most recent United Kingdom Census 2001 the total population of the United Kingdom was 58,789,194, the third largest in the European Union the fifth largest in the Commonwealth of Nations and the twenty-first largest in the world. By mid-2009, this was estimated to have grown to 61,792,000.lt;/ref> In 2008, natural population growth overtook net migration as the main contributor to population growth for the first time since 1998.lt;/ref> Between 2001 and 2008, the population increased by an average annual rate of 0.5 per cent. This compares to 0.3 per cent per year in the period 1991 to 2001, and 0.2 per cent in the decade 1981 to 1991. Published in 2008, the mid-2007 population estimates revealed that, for the first time, the UK was home to more people of pensionable age than children under the age of 16.lt;/ref> Englands population in mid-2008 was estimated to be 51.44 million. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with 383 people resident per square kilometre in mid-2003,lt;/ref> with a particular concentration in London and the South East.lt;/ref> The mid-2008 estimates put Scotlands population at 5.17 million, Wales at 2.99 million and Northern Ireland at 1.78 million, with much lower population densities than England. Compared to Englands the corresponding figures were for Wales, for Northern Ireland and just for Scotland in mid-2003. Northern Ireland had the fastest growing population in percentage terms of all of the four constituent countries of the UK in each of the four years to mid-2008. In 2008, the average total fertility rate (TFR) across the UK was 1.96 children per woman.lt;/ref> While a rising birth rate is contributing to current population growth, it remains considerably below the baby boom peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964,lt;/ref> below the replacement rate of 2.1, but higher than the 2001 record low of 1.63. Scotland had the lowest fertility at only 1.8 children per woman, while Northern Ireland had the highest at 2.11 children in 2008.Migration
File:United Kingdom foreign born population by country of birth.png Britain has a long history of immigration. Jewish immigrants were encouraged settle there by William the Conqueror and African migrants have been present since the Middle Ages In the twentieth century, significant immigration from the British Empire occurred, driven largely by post-Second World War labour shortages. Many of these migrants came from the West Indies and from the Indian subcontinent lt;/ref> The proportion of foreign-born people in the UK remains slightly below that of some other European countries,lt;/ref> although immigration is now contributing to a rising population,http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23542455-details/Immigration+and+births+to+non-British+mothers+pushes+British+population+to+record+high/article.do Immigration and births to non-British mothers pushes British population to record high], This is London, 22 August 2008 accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of Office for National Statistics data shows that 2.3 million net migrants moved to the UK in the period 1991 to 2006,http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1023512/Third-World-migrants-2-3m-population-boom.html Third World migrants behind our 2.3m population boom], Daily Mail, 3 June 2008http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23575160-details/Tories+get+tough+on+immigration+after+Labours+U-turn/article.do Tories call for tougher control of immigration], This is London, 20 October 2008 84 per cent of them from outside Europe.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3230463/Immigration-Phil-Woolas-admits-Labour-responsible-for-string-of-failures.html Immigration: Phil Woolas admits Labour responsible for string of failures], Telegraph, 21 October 2008 In 2008 it was predicted that migration would add 7 million to the UK population by 2031,http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7602526.stm Minister rejects migrant cap plan] BBC News, 8 September 2008 though these figures are disputed.lt;/ref> The latest provisional official figures show that in 2009, 567,000 people arrived to live in the UK whilst 371,000 left, meaning that net inward migration was 196,000.lt;/ref>lt;/ref> File:British expats countrymap.svg At least 5.5 million British-born people are living abroad,lt;/ref>lt;/ref>lt;/ref> with Australia Spain the United States and Canada being the top four destinations.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm "Brits Abroad: Country-by-country"] BBC News, 11 December 2006 Citizens of the European Union have the right to live and work in any member state, including the UK.http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l33152.htm Right of Union citizens and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States] European Commission. Retrieved 6 November 2008. Transitional arrangements apply to Romanians and Bulgarians whose countries joined the EU in January 2007.lt;/ref> Research conducted by the Migration Policy Institute for the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that, between May 2004 and September 2009, 1.5 million workers migrated from the new EU member states to the UK, with two-thirds being Polish, but that many have returned home, with the result that the number of nationals of the new member states in the UK increased by some 700,000 over the same period.lt;/ref>lt;/ref> The late-2000s recession in the UK reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK,http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23575019-details/Packing+up+for+home:+Poles+hit+by+UKs+economic+downturn/article.do Packing up for home: Poles hit by UKs economic downturn] This is London, 20 October 2008 with the migration becoming temporary and circular.lt;/ref> In 2009, for the first time since the enlargement, more nationals of the eight Central and Eastern European states that joined the EU in 2004 left the UK than arrived.lt;/ref> The UK government is currently introducing a Points-based immigration system (United Kingdom) for immigration from outside of the European Economic Area that will replace existing schemes, including the Scottish Governments Fresh Talent Initiative In June 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government brought in a temporary cap on immigration of those entering the UK from outside the EU, with the limit set as 24,100, in order to stop an expected rush of applications before a permanent cap is imposed in April 2011.
Ethnic groups
Historically, indigenous British people were thought to be Genetic history of the British Isles that settled there before the 11th century; the Celts Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the Normans However, recent genetic analysis indicates that "about 75 per cent of the traceable ancestors of the modern British population had arrived in the British isles by about 6,200 years ago, at the start of the British Neolithic or Stone Age", and that the British broadly share a common ancestry with the Basque people [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0719_050719_britishgene.html Review of "The Tribes of Britain"]James Owen, [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]19 July 2005Stephen Oppenheimer, http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id7817 Myths of British ancestry] [[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]] October 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2006.lt;/ref> Britain has a long history of non-white immigration, with Liverpool having the oldest Black population in the country, dating back to at least the 1730s,lt;/ref> and the oldest British Chinese community in Europe, dating to the arrival of Chinese seamen in the nineteenth century.lt;/ref> Since 1945, 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 Europe and Eastern Europe since 2004 has resulted in growth in these population groups, but, as of 2008, the trend is reversing and many of these migrants are returning home, leaving the size of these groups unknown.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7374683.stm Why I left UK to return to Poland], BBC News As of United Kingdom Census 2001 92.1% of the population identified themselves as White, leaving 7.9%lt;/ref> of the UK population identifying themselves as mixed race or minority group | class"wikitable sortable" style"text-align:right;" |- ! style"width:200px;"|Ethnic group !! Population !! % of total* |- |align"left"|White British#Great Britain and Ireland ||92.1% |- |align"left"|Black British ||2.0% |- |align"left"|Multiracial ||1.2% |- |align"left"|British Indian ||1.8% |- |align"left"|British Pakistanis ||1.3% |- |align"left"|British Bangladeshi ||0.5% |- |align"left"|Other South Asians in the United Kingdom ||0.4% |- |align"left"|British Chinese ||0.4% |- |align"left"|Other|||0.4% |- | colspan"4" style"text-align:left;"| |} Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. 30.4% of Londons populationlt;/ref> and 37.4% of Leicester slt;/ref> was estimated to be non-white as of June 2005, whereas less than 5% of the populations of North East England Wales and the South West England were from ethnic minorities according to the 2001 census.lt;/ref> As of 2007, 22% of primary school and 17.7% of secondary school pupils at state school in England were from ethnic minority families.lt;/ref>lt;/ref>Languages
File:Anglospeak(800px)Countries.png Countries in dark blue have a majority of native speakers. Countries in light blue have English as an official language, de jureor de facto English is also one of the Languages of the European Union lt;/ref>]] The UK does not [[de facto|de jure]]have an official language but the predominant spoken language is English language a West Germanic languages descended from Old English which features a large number of borrowings from Old Norse Norman language French language and Latin Largely because of the British Empire, the English language has spread across the world, and become International English as well as the most widely taught English as a foreign or second language lt;/ref> Scots language a language descended from early northern Middle English is recognised at European level.lt;/ref> There are also four Celtic languages in use in the UK: Welsh language Irish language Scottish Gaelic and Cornish language In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh,http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID447&Pos6&ColRank1&Rank192 National Statistics Online - Welsh Language] at National Statistics Office an increase from the 1991 Census (18%).lt;/ref> In addition, it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England.http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/welsh.shtml Welsh today by Prof. Peter Wynn Thomas] BBC - Voices The 2001 census in Northern Ireland showed that 167,487 (10.4%) people "had some knowledge of Irish" (see Irish language in Northern Ireland , almost exclusively in the Catholic/nationalist population. Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/news2005/scotlands-census-2001-gaelic-report.html Scotlands Census 2001 - Gaelic Report] General Register Office for Scotland - Retrieved 15 October 2008 The number of schoolchildren being taught in Welsh, Gaelic and Irish is increasing.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7885493.stm Local UK languages taking off] BBC News, 12 February 2009 Welsh and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken by small groups around the globe with some Canadian Gaelic still spoken in Nova Scotia Canada (especially Cape Breton Island , and Welsh in Patagonia Argentina Across the United Kingdom, it is generally compulsory for pupils to study a second language to some extent: up to the age of 14 in England,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3983713.stm Fall in compulsory language lessons] BNC News 4 November 2004 and up to age 16 in Scotland. French language and German language are the two most commonly taught second languages in England and Scotland. In Wales, all pupils up to age 16 are either taught in Welsh or taught Welsh as a second language.http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/schoolgate/aboutschool/content/inwelsh.shtml The School Gate for parents in Wales] BBC Wales. Retrieved 11 October 2008.Countries.png.aspx){kind=link}
Religion
}} The Treaty of Union that led to the formation of the United Kingdom ensured that there would be a Protestantism succession as well as a link between Separation of church and state that still remains. Christianity is the largest religion, followed by Islam Hinduism Sikhism and then Judaism in terms of number of adherents. In the 2001 Census 71.6% of respondents said that Christianity was their religion,lt;/ref> although surveys that employ a "harder" question tend to find lower proportions, such as the 2007 Tearfund Survey which revealed that 53% identified themselves as Christianlt;/ref> and the 2007 British Social Attitudes Survey, which found that it was almost 47.5%.http://www.britsocat.com/BodySecure.aspx?controlBritsocatMarginals&varRELIGION&SurveyID221 Religion by year] British Social Attitudes Survey, 2007, Retrieved on 29 November 2009 However, the Tearfund survey showed only one in ten Britons actually attend church weekly.http://news.adventist.org/2007/04/uite-kigom-ew-report-fis-oly-oe-i-10-atte-church.html "Research published this week by the British Charity, Tearfund, makes somber reading for church leaders. It found only one in 10 people in the United Kingdom attend church on a weekly basis even though 53 percent of the British population identify themselves as Christian"] The 2007 British Social Attitudes Survey which covers England, Wales and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland, indicated that 20.87% were part of the Church of England 10.25% non-denominational Christian, 9.01% Roman Catholic 2.81% Presbyterian Church of Scotland 1.88% Methodist 0.88% Baptist other Protestant 1.29, URC/Congregational 0.32%, 0.08% Free Presbyterian, Brethren 0.05% and 0.37% other Christian. Among other religions, 3.30% were Islam 1.37% Hindu 0.43% Jewish 0.37% Sikh and others 0.35%. A large proportion had no religion at 45.67%. 0.50% did not answer or N/A. In the 2001 census, 9.1 million (15% of the UK population) claimed irreligion with a further 4.3 million (7% of the UK population) not stating a religious preference.http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk6590 Religion: 2001 Census] National Statistics website. There is a disparity between the figures for those identifying themselves with a particular religion and for those proclaiming a belief in a God: a Eurobarometer poll conducted in 2005 showed that 38% of the respondents believed that "there is a God", 40% believed that "there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 20% said "I dont believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force".Page 9, European Commission; Retrieved on 7 December 2006Christianity
File:Westminster abbey west.jpg is used for the coronation of Monarchy of the United Kingdom ] The largest religion in England is Christianity, with the Church of England (Anglicanism the State religion http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/history/ The History of the Church of England] The Church of England. Retrieved 23 November 2008. the church retains a Lords Spiritual in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Monarchy of the United Kingdom is a member of the church (required under Article 2 of the Treaty of Union as well as its Supreme Governor of the Church of England lt;/ref> The Church of England also retains the right to draft legislative measures (related to religious administration) through the General Synod of the Church of England that can then be passed into law by Parliament.lt;/ref> The Roman Catholicism in England and Wales is the second largest Christian church with around five million members, mainly in England.http://www.catholicchurch.org.uk/Catholic-Church/The-Church-in-England-and-Wales The Church in England and Wales] The Catholic Church of England and Wales. Retrieved 27 November 2008. There are also growing Orthodoxy Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism churches, with Pentecostal churches in England now third after the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in terms of church attendance.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article757934.ece Fringe Church winning the believers] Times Online, 19 December 2006 Among the Pentecostal churches are Elim Pentecostal Church and Assemblies of God in the United Kingdom lt;/ref> Other Christian groups include The Salvation Army lt;/ref> United Reformed Church lt;/ref> Assemblies of God lt;/ref> Plymouth Brethren lt;/ref> Baptist Union of Great Britain lt;/ref> Methodism lt;/ref> Congregational church lt;ref>lt;/ref> and Newfrontiers lt;/ref> The largest religion in Scotland is also Christianity, though the presbyterianism Church of Scotland (known informally as The Kirk , is recognised as the State religion lt;/ref> It is not subject to state control and the British monarch is an ordinary member, required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government" upon his or her accession.lt;/ref> The Roman Catholicism in Scotland is Scotlands second largest Christian church, representing a sixth of the population.http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20757/53570 Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census: Summary Report] Scottish Executive - Retrieved 6 December 2008 The Scottish Episcopal Church which is part of the Anglican Communion,lt;/ref> dates from the final establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland in 1690, when it split from the Church of Scotland and is not a daughter church of the Church of England. Further splits in the Church of Scotland, especially in the nineteenth century, led to the creation of various other Presbyterian churches in Scotland, including the Free Church of Scotland (post-1900) In the 1920s, the Church in Wales became independent from the Church of England and became Disestablishmentarianism but remains in the Anglican Communion Baptist Union of Wales Methodism and the Presbyterian Church of Wales are present in Wales as well. The main Religion in Northern Ireland are organised on an all-Ireland basis.lt;/ref> Though Protestants and Anglicans are in the overall majority,http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id980 Communities in Northern Ireland] Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 October 2008. the Roman Catholicism in Ireland is the largest single church. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland closely linked to the Church of Scotland in terms of theology and history, is the second largest church followed by the Church of Ireland (Anglican) which was disestablished in the nineteenth century. Between 2004 and 2008, the Office for National Statistics reported that the number of Christians in Great Britain (rather than the UK as a whole) fell by more than 2 million.lt;/ref> The single largest age-cohort in the Christian population is in those over 70 years of age.
Other religions
File:London Temple.jpg is the largest Hindu Temple outside India and was featured in the 2000 Guinness World Records“Biggest Hindu Temple Outside India” – http://www.mandir.org/awards&opinions/Buildings%20and%20structures.htm.]] At the 2001 census, there were 1,536,015 Islam in England and Wales,http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk8288 KS07 Religion: Key Statistics for urban areas, results by population size of urban area] Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 6 December 2008. forming 3% of the population. Islam in Scotland numbered 42,557 representing 0.84% of the population.http://web.archive.org/web/20080506102959/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00398-02.asp Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census: Summary Report] Scottish Executive. Retrieved 6 December 2008. There were a further 1,943 Muslims in Northern Ireland.http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/Census/Census2001Output/KeyStatistics/keystats.html Northern Ireland Census 2001 Key Statistics] Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency The biggest groups of Muslims are of British Pakistanis British Bangladeshi and British Indian origin.lt;/ref> According to a Labour Force Survey estimate, the total number of Muslims in Great Britain in 2008 was 2,422,000, around 4% of the total population. Between 2004 and 2008, the Muslim population grew by more than 500,000. The largest age-bracket within the British Muslim population were those under the age of 4, at 301,000 in September 2008. Over 1 million people follow Indian religions 560,000 Hindus, 340,000 Sikhs with about 150,000 practising Buddhism lt;/ref> One Non-governmental organisation estimates that there are 800,000 Hindus in the UK.lt;/ref> Leicester houses one of the worlds few Jainism temples that are outside of India.http://www.jaincentre.com/ The Jain Centre, Leicester]. Retrieved 29 October 2008. Today British Jews number around 300,000 with the UK having the Jewish population#By country http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-03-17-london-jewish-museum_N.htm Londons Jewish Museum reopens after major facelift], [[USA Today]]Retrieved 20 August 2010
Economy
File:City of London.jpg in the world alongside New York City Dead link|dateMay 2010}}http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/15/economic-growth-gdp-biz-cx_jz_0715powercities.html "Worlds Most Economically Powerful Cities"] Forbes.com, 15 July 2008lt;/ref>]] The United Kingdoms economy is made up (in descending order of size) of the economies of Economy of England Economy of Scotland Economy of Wales and Economy of Northern Ireland The UK has a partially regulated free market economy somewhere between the US and continental Europe. Based on market exchange rate , the UK is today the sixth largest economy in the world and the third largest in Europe after Germany and France after having fallen behind France in 2008 for the first time in over a decade.lt;/ref> The Industrial Revolution started in the UK with an initial concentration on heavy industries such as shipbuilding coal mining steel production, and textile . The empire created an overseas market for British products, allowing the UK to dominate international trade in the 19th century. However, as other nations industrialised, coupled with economic decline after two world wars, the United Kingdom began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. Manufacturing remains a significant part of the economy, but accounted for only one-sixth of national output in 2003.lt;/ref> The Automotive industry in the United Kingdom is a significant part of this sector, although it has diminished with the collapse of the MG Rover Group and most of the industry is foreign owned. Civil and defence aircraft production is led by BAE Systems the second largest defence contractor in the world,lt;/ref> and the continental European firm EADS the owner of Airbus Rolls-Royce plc holds a major share of the global aerospace engines market. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is strong in the UK, with the worlds second and sixth largest pharmaceutical firms (GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca respectively)lt;/ref> being based in the UK. The UK Tertiary sector of the economy however, has grown substantially, and now makes up about 73% of GDP.lt;/ref> The service sector is dominated by financial services especially in banking and insurance. London is the worlds largest financial centre with the London Stock Exchange the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange and the Lloyd's of London insurance market all based in the City of London London is also a major legal centre, with four of the six largest law firms in the world headquartered there.lt;/ref> London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is the leader of the three "command centres" for International trade (along with New York City and Tokyo .lt;/ref> London has the largest concentration of foreign bank branches in the world. In the past decade, a rival financial centre in London has grown in the London Docklands area, with the HSBC the worlds largest bank,http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/18/biz_2000global08_The-Global-2000_Rank.html "Special Report - The Global 2000"] Forbes 2 April 2008http://www.hsbc.com/1/2/newsroom/news/news-archive-2008/hsbc-tops-forbes-2000-list-of-world-s-largest-companies "HSBC tops Forbes 2000 list of worlds largest companies,"] HSBC website, 4 April 2008 and Barclays relocating their head offices there. Many multinational companies that are not primarily UK-based have chosen to site their European or rest-of-world headquarters in London: an example is the US financial services firm Citigroup The Scottish capital, Edinburgh, has one of the large financial centres of Europe lt;ref>lt;/ref> and is the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group one of the worlds largest banks. File:Oil platform in the North SeaPros.jpg have supplied much of the UKs energy needs in recent decades, but the country now increasingly depends on imported fossil fuels.]] Tourism in the United Kingdom is very important to the British economy. With over 27 million tourists arriving in 2004, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world.UNWTO Tourism Highlights, Edition 2005 Page 12, World Tourism Organisation, Retrieved on 24 May 2006 London, by a considerable margin, is the most visited city in the world with 15.6 million visitors in 2006, ahead of 2nd placed Bangkok (10.4 million visitors) and 3rd placed Paris (9.7 million).lt;/ref> The creative industries accounted for 7% GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6% per annum between 1997 and 2005.lt;/ref> The UK has a small coal reserve along with significant, yet continuously declininglt;/ref> natural gas and oil reserves Over 400 million tonnes of proven coal reserves have been identified in the UK.lt;/ref> In 2004, total UK coal consumption (including imports) was 61 million tonnes,lt;/ref> allowing the UK to be self sufficient in coal for just over 6.5 years, although at present extraction rates it would take 20 years to mine. An alternative to Coal#Coal as fuel electricity generation is Underground coal gasification UCG involves injecting steam and oxygen down a borehole, which extracts gas from the coal and draws the mixture to the surface—a potentially very low carbon method of exploiting coal. Identified onshore areas that have the potential for UGC amount to between 7 billion tonnes and 16 billion tonnes.lt;/ref> Based on current UK coal consumption, these volumes represent reserves that could last the UK between 200 and 400 years.lt;/ref> Government involvement throughout the economy is exercised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (currently George Osborne who heads HM Treasury but the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (currently David Cameron , is First Lord of the Treasury the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the Second Lord of the Treasury. In recent years, the UK economy has been managed in accordance with principles of market liberalisation and low taxation and regulation. Since 1997, the Bank of England s Monetary Policy Committee headed by the Governor of the Bank of England has been responsible for setting official bank rate at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Chancellor each year.http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/more_about.htm More About the Bank] Bank of England - Retrieved 8 August 2008 The Scottish Government, subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament, has the power to vary the basic rate of income tax payable in Scotland by plus or minus 3 pence in the pound, though this power has not yet been exercised. In July 2007, the UK had government debt at 35.5% of gross domestic product "http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/mar/01/government-borrowing-economy1 Britains public debt since 1974]" The Guardian, 1 March 2009 This figure rose to 56.8% of GDP by July 2009."http://news.scotsman.com/politics/Britain-owes-801000000000.5575539.jp Britain owes £801,000,000,000]" The Scotsman, 21 August 2009 File:London.bankofengland.arp.jpg the central bank of the United Kingdom.]] The currency of the UK is the pound sterling represented by the symbol [[Pound sign|£]] The Bank of England is the central bank responsible for issuing currency. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover the issue. Pound sterling is also used as a reserve currency by other governments and institutions, and is the third-largest after the U.S. dollar and the euro lt;/ref> The UK chose not to join the euro at the currencys launch. In 2007, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown ruled out membership for the foreseeable future, saying that the decision not to join had been right for Britain and for Europe.lt;/ref> The government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair had pledged to hold a public referendum for deciding membership should "five economic tests be met. In 2005, more than half (55%) of the UK were against adopting the currency, while 30% were in favour.lt;/ref> On 23 January 2009, Government figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK was officially in Late-2000s recession for the first time since 1991.lt;/ref> It entered a recession in the final quarter of 2008, accompanied by rising unemployment which increased from 5.2% in May 2008 to 7.6% in May 2009. The unemployment rate among 18 to 24-year-olds has risen from 11.9% to 17.3%.http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id14062327&fsrcrss No way to start out in life] The Economist, 16 July 2009 The poverty line in the UK is commonly defined as being 60% of the median household income.In 2007-2008, this was calculated to be £115 per week for single adults with no dependent children; £199 per week for couples with no dependent children; £195 per week for single adults with two dependent children under 14; and £279 per week for couples with two dependent children under 14 In 2007-2008, 13.5 million people, or 22% of the population, lived below this line. This is a higher level of relative poverty than all but four other EU members.lt;/ref> In the same year, 4.0 million children, 31% of the total, lived in households below the poverty line, after housing costs were taken into account. This is a decrease of 400,000 children since 1998-1999.lt;/ref>
Education
File:KingsCollegeChapelWest.jpg part of the University of Cambridge ] Education in the United Kingdom is a devolution with each country having a separate education system. Education in England is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education though the day to day administration and funding of state schools is the responsibility of Local Education Authority (previously named Local Education Authorities).lt;/ref> Universal state education in England and Wales was introduced for primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900.lt;/ref> Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August). The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. State schools which are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to the most selective private schools: out of the top ten performing schools in terms of GCSE results in 2006 two were state-run grammar school . Despite a fall in actual numbers, the proportion of children in England attending private school has risen to over 7%.lt;/ref> However over half of students at the leading universities of University of Cambridge and University of Oxford had attended state schools.lt;/ref> England has some of the top universities in the world; University of Cambridge University of Oxford Imperial College London and University College London are ranked in the global top 10 in the 2008 THE–QS World University Rankings lt;/ref> Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS rated pupils in England 7th in the world for Maths, and 6th for Science. The results put Englands pupils ahead of other European countries, including Germany and Scandinavia countries.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7773081.stm Englands pupils in global top 10] BBC News, 10 December 2008 File:QUB.jpg built in 1849 and one of the oldest higher education institutions in the United KingdomF. Davenport, C. Beech, T. Downs and D. Hannigan, Ireland(Lonely planet, 7th edn., 2006), ISBN 1-74059-968-3, p. 564.]] Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning with day to day administration and funding of state schools the responsibility of Local Authorities. Two Scottish public bodies have key roles in Scottish education: the Scottish Qualifications Authority is responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees which are delivered at secondary schools, Tertiary education colleges of further education and other centres;http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/5656.html About SQA] Scottish Qualifications Authority. Retrieved 7 October 2008. and Learning and Teaching Scotland provides advice, resources and staff development to the education community to promote curriculum development and create a culture of innovation, ambition and excellence.http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/aboutlts/index.asp About Learning and Teaching Scotland] Learning and Teaching Scotland. Retrieved 7 October 2008. Scotland first legislated for compulsory education in 1496.http://www.scotland.org/about/innovation-and-creativity/features/education/e_brain_drain.html Brain drain in reverse] Scotland Online Gateway - Retrieved 7 October 2008. The proportion of children in Scotland attending private schools is just over 4%, although it has been rising slowly in recent years.lt;/ref> Scottish students who attend Scottish universities pay neither tuition fees nor graduate endowment charges as the fees were abolished in 2001 and the graduate endowment scheme was abolished in 2008.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7268101.stm MSPs vote to scrap endowment fee] BBC News, 28 February 2008 Education in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department of Education (Northern Ireland) and the Department for Employment and Learning although responsibility at a local level is administered by five education and library boards, covering different geographical areas. The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is the body responsible for advising the Northern Ireland Executive on what should be taught in Northern Irelands schools, monitoring standards and awarding qualifications.http://www.ccea.org.uk/ About Us - What we do] Council for the Curriculum Examinations & Assessment - Retrieved 7 October 2008 The Welsh Assembly Government has responsibility for education in Wales A significant number of Welsh students are taught either wholly or largely in the Welsh language lessons in Welsh are compulsory for all until the age of 16.http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/parents/helpchildwelsh/whatchildlearn/;jsessionidLtdrLbCM21w0dlcTH1Crdy0J4H7Yg7XdqD1yVvpV2sHG8PX1BGZl!686978193?langen What will your child learn?] The Welsh Assembly Government - Retrieved 22 January 2010 There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh Medium schools as part of the policy of having a fully bilingual Wales.
Healthcare
File:Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital.jpg is a specialist children's hospital part of NHS Scotland ]] Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolution England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each has its own system of private and publicly funded healthcare together with alternative medicine holistic and complementary treatments. Public healthcare is provided to all British nationality law and is free at the point of need being paid for from general taxation. Taken together, the World Health Organisation in 2000, ranked the provision of healthcare in the United Kingdom as fifteenth best in Europe and eighteenth in the world.lt;/ref>lt;/ref> Regulatory bodies are organised on a UK-wide basis such as the General Medical Council the Nursing and Midwifery Council and non-governmental-based, such as Royal College . However, political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national executive (government) healthcare in England is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government healthcare in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government and healthcare in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government Each National Health Service has different policies and priorities, resulting in contrasts.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7586147.stm Huge contrasts in devolved NHS] BBC News, 28 August 2008http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7149423.stm NHS now four different systems] BBC News 2 January 2008 Since 1979, expenditure on healthcare has been increased significantly to bring it closer to the European Union average.lt;/ref> The UK spends around 8.4 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, which is 0.5 per cent below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average and about one per cent below the average of the European Union.http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/4/38980557.pdf OECD Health Data 2009- How Does the United Kingdom Compare] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Transport
File:London Heathrow T5 AB1.JPG London Heathrow Airport has the world's busiest airports by international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.lt;/ref>lt;/ref>]] The Highways Agency is the executive agency responsible for trunk roads and motorways in England apart from the privately owned and operated M6 Toll http://www.m6toll.co.uk/faqs/default.asp?mainmenuid6 M6Toll Frequently asked questions] M6 Toll. Retrieved 13 July 2008. The Department for Transport states that traffic congestion is one of the most serious transport problems and that it could cost England an extra £22 billion in wasted time by 2025 if left unchecked.lt;/ref> According to the government-sponsored Eddington Transport Study of 2006, congestion is in danger of harming the economy, unless tackled by road pricing and expansion of the transport network.lt;/ref>lt;/ref> The Scottish transport network is the responsibility of the Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department (Scotland) with Transport Scotland being the Executive agencies of the Scottish Government that is accountable to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth for Scotlands trunk roads and rail networks.http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/ Transport Scotland - Keeping Scotland moving] Transport Scotland. Retrieved 1 July 2008. Scotlands rail network has around 340 railway stations and 3,000 kilometres of track with over 62 million passenger journeys made each year.http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/rail Transport Scotland - Rail] Transport Scotland. Retrieved 10 July 2008. In 2008, the Scottish Government set out investment plans for the next 20 years, with priorities to include a new Forth Road Bridge and electrification of the rail network.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7775936.stm Transport blueprint at-a-glance] BBC News, 10 December 2008 File:Bb-forthrailbridge.jpg Scotland, is an iconic feature of the Network Rail ]] Across the UK, there is a radial road network of of main roads with a motorway network of There are a further of paved roads. The Network Rail of 16,116 km (10,072 miles) in Great Britain and 303 route km (189 route mi) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger trains and 1,000 freight trains daily. Urban rail networks are well developed in London and other cities. There was once over 48,000 route km (30,000 route mi) of rail network in the UK, however most of this was reduced over a time period from 1955 to 1975, much of it after a report by a government advisor Richard Beeching in the mid 1960s (known as the Beeching Axe . Plans are now being considered to build new high speed lines by 2025.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7467203.stm Major new rail lines considered] BBC News, 21 June 2008 London Heathrow Airport located 15 miles (24 km) west of the capital, is the UKs busiest airport and has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world. It is the hub for the flag carrier British Airways as well as Virgin Atlantic and BMI (airline) lt;/ref>
Sport
Major sport including association football rugby league rugby union rowing boxing badminton cricket tennis and golf originated, or were substantially developed, in the United Kingdom and the states that preceded it. A 2006 poll found that football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom Dead link|dateJuly 2009}} In international competitions, separate teams represent England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland in most team sports, as well as at the Commonwealth Games (In sporting contexts, these teams can be referred to collectively as the Home Nations ) However, there are occasions where a single sports team represents the United Kingdom, including at the Olympic Games where the UK is represented by the Great Britain at the OlympicsFootball
File:Wembley Stadium closeup.jpg It is one of the most expensive stadia ever built.lt;/ref>]] Each of the Home Nations has its own football association, national team and league system though a few clubs play outside their countrys respective systems for a variety of historical and logistical reasons. England national football team Scotland national football team Wales national football team and Northern Ireland national football team compete as separate countries in international competition and, as a consequence, the UK does not compete as a single team in football events at the Olympic Games There are United Kingdom national football team take part in the 2012 Summer Olympics but the Scottish Football Association Football Association of Wales and Irish Football Association football associations have declined to participate, fearing that it would undermine their independent status—a fear confirmed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.lt;/ref> England has been the most successful of the home nations, winning the FIFA World Cup 1966 FIFA World Cup although there has historically been a close-fought England and Scotland football rivalry The English football league system includes hundreds of inter-linked leagues, consisting of thousands of clubs. The Premier League at the top, is the most-watched football league in the worldhttp://www.watch-football.net/articles/premier_league.html Premier and Champions League history] watch-football.net. Retrieved 1 October 2008. and is particularly popular in Asia lt;/ref> Below this, The Football League has three divisions and then the Football Conference has a national division and two feeder regional leagues. Thereafter the structure becomes increasing regional. English teams have been successful in European Competitions including some who have become European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners: Liverpool F.C. (five times), Manchester United F.C. (three times), Nottingham Forest F.C. (twice) and Aston Villa F.C. More clubs from England have won the European Cup than any other country (four compared to three from Italy Germany and the Netherlands . Moreover, England ranks third in the all time list of European club trophies won with 36, one behind Italys 37 and two behind Spains 38.The European Cup competition itself came about as the result of the success of another English club, Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. against top European sideslt;/ref> in the 1950s. The 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium is Englands principal sporting stadium, replacing the Wembley Stadium (1923) which took that title previously. File:Hampden Stadium.jpg Glasgow Scotlands national football stadium]] The Scottish football league system has two national leagues: the Scottish Premier League the top division, and the Scottish Football League which has three divisions. Below this, but not connected to the national leagues, are three regional leagues; the Highland Football League the East of Scotland Football League and the South of Scotland Football League One English club, Berwick Rangers F.C. plays in the Scottish system. Scotland is home to two world-renowned football clubs in the Old Firm of Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C. Scottish teams that have been successful in European Competitions include Celtic (1966–67 European Cup , Rangers F.C. (UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1971–72 and Aberdeen F.C. (UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1982–83 and 1983 European Super Cup . Celtic were the first British club to win the European Champion Clubs' Cup Hampden Park is the principal stadium and home of the Scottish FA. The Welsh football league system includes the Welsh Premier League and regional leagues. Welsh Premiership club The New Saints F.C. play their home matches on the English side of the border in Oswestry The Welsh clubs of Cardiff City F.C. Colwyn Bay F.C. Merthyr Tydfil F.C. Newport County A.F.C. Swansea City A.F.C. and Wrexham F.C. play in the English system. Cardiffs 76,250 seater Millennium Stadium is the principal sporting stadium of Wales. The Northern Ireland football league system includes the IFA Premiership One Northern Irish club, Derry City F.C. plays its football outside of the UK in the League of Ireland Windsor Park Linfield F.C. s 20,332-seater stadium, is also the home stadium of the Northern Ireland national football team
Cricket
Cricket is claimed to have been invented in England and the England cricket team controlled by the England and Wales Cricket Board http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/ About ECB] England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 August 2008. is the only national team in the UK with Test cricket Team members are drawn from the main county sides, and include both English and Welsh players. Cricket is distinct from football and rugby where Wales and England field separate national teams, although Wales had fielded its own team in the past. Sport in Ireland and Cricket in Scotland players have played for England because neither Scotland national cricket team nor Ireland cricket team have Test status and have only recently started to play in One Day International . Scotland, England (and Wales), and Ireland (including Northern Ireland) have competed at the Cricket World Cup with England reaching the Final three times. There is a professional County Championship in which clubs representing 17 English counties and 1 Welsh county compete.Rugby league
Rugby league is played as a developing sport throughout the UK, except for Northern England, it is the main sport in many areas, particularly in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire in towns such as Wigan St Helens, Merseyside and Leeds It also has a substantial presence in London and throughout parts of Wales. It originates in Huddersfield, and is generally played in Northern England and a single Great Britain Lions team had competed in the Rugby League World Cup and Test match games, but this changed slightly in 2008 when England national rugby league team Scotland national rugby league team and Ireland national rugby league team competed as separate nations.lt;/ref> Great Britain is still being retained as the full national team for Ashes tours against, Australia, New Zealand and France. In 2013, The United Kingdom will host the Rugby League World Cup for the 5th time.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/8172440.stm UK to host Rugby League World Cup] BBC News, 28 July 2009 The highest form of professional rugby league in the UK and Europe is Super League where there are 11 teams from Northern England, 1 from London, 1 from Wales and 1 from France.Rugby union
File:Inside the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.jpg Rugby union is organised on a separate basis for Rugby union in England Rugby union in Scotland Rugby union in Wales and Rugby union in Ireland and each have a top ranked international team and were collectively known as the Home Nations The Six Nations Championship played between the Home Nations, Italy and France is the premier international tournament in the northern hemisphere. The Triple Crown (rugby union) is awarded to any of the Home Nations who beats the other three in that tournament. Welsh, Irish and Scottish regional sides play in the Magners League which includes two Italian regional sides. English Clubs play in the English Premiership (rugby union) Rugby union is a minority sport in the UK as a whole, but has a number of heartlands, notably South Wales the Scottish Borders the English West Country London and the Midlands. It also has a substantial presence in Northern Ireland (where RU is organised on an all-Ireland basis), London, Leicester etc. While England national rugby union team has won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, Wales national rugby union team has achieved a best of third place and Scotland national rugby union team a best of fourth place. Ireland national rugby union team has not progressed beyond the quarter finals. England (1991) and Wales(1999) have both hosted the Rugby World Cup in conjunction with the other Home Nations. In 2015, England will host the Rugby World Cup, however some games will be played in Wales.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8170488.stm England will host 2015 World Cup], BBC Sport, 28 July 2009
Other sports
File:Wimbledon Grojean 2004 RJL.JPG Championships, a Grand Slam (tennis) tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June/July]] The game of tennis first originated from the city of Birmingham between 1859 and 1865. The Championships, Wimbledon are international tennis events held in Wimbledon, London in south London every summer and are regarded as the most prestigious event of the global tennis calendar. Thoroughbred horse race which originated under Charles II of England as the "sport of kings", is popular throughout the UK with world-famous races including the Grand National the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot The town of Newmarket, Suffolk is considered the centre of English racing, largely because of the famous Newmarket Racecourse The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in rowing (sport) It is widely considered that the sports most successful rower is Steve Redgrave who won five gold medals and one bronze medal at five consecutive Olympic Games as well as numerous wins at the World Rowing Championships and Henley Royal Regatta File:Royal & Ancient Clubhouse.jpg generally regarded as the worlds "Home of Golf"]] Golf is the sixth most popular sport, by participation, in the UK. Although The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland, is the sports home course,Dead link|dateJuly 2009}} the worlds oldest golf course is actually Musselburgh Links Old Golf Course.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7949045.stm Links plays into the record books] BBC News, 17 March 2009 Snooker is also one of the UKs sporting exports. The world championships are held annually in Sheffield while the sport continues to expand worldwide, with huge growth in China. Shinty (or camanachd is popular in the Scottish Highlands sometimes attracting crowds numbering thousands in the most sparsely populated region of the UK, especially to watch the final of its premier tournament, the Camanachd Cup http://www.scottishsport.co.uk/othersports/shinty.htm Shinty] Scottish Sport. Retrieved 2 October 2008. In Northern Ireland, Gaelic football and hurling are popular team sports, both in terms of participation and spectating. Irish expatriates throughout the UK also play them. The UK is closely associated with motorsport Many teams and drivers in Formula One (F1) are based in the UK and drivers from Britain have won more world titles than any other country. The UK hosted the very first F1 Grand Prix in 1950 at Silverstone Circuit the current location of the British Grand Prix held each year in July. The country also hosts legs of the World Rally Championship and has its own touring car racing championship, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).
Culture
The culture of the United Kingdom British culture— may be described as informed by its History of the United Kingdom as a developed country island country major power, and also as a political union of four countries, with each preserving elements of distinctive traditions, customs and symbolism. As a result of the British Empire British influence can be observed in the English language Culture of the United Kingdom and Common law of many of its former colonies such as Canada Australia India and the United StatesCinema
The United Kingdom has been influential in the development of cinema, with the Ealing Studios claiming to be the oldest studios in the world.lt;/ref> Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry is characterised by an ongoing debate about its identity, and the influences of American and European cinema. Particularly between British and American film, many films are often co-produced or share actors with many British actors now featuring regularly in Hollywood films. Many Hollywood films based on British people, British literature or events, such as RMS Titanic [[Harry Potter]]and [[The Lord of the Rings]] have had enormous worldwide commercial success, and further British influence can be seen with the List of Disney theatrical animated features#Walt Disney Animation Studios of Disney animated films which feature [[Alice in Wonderland]] [[Peter Pan]] [[The Jungle Book]] [[Robin Hood]] [[The Hundred and One Dalmatians]] [[The Sword in the Stone]] [[The Rescuers]]and [[Winnie the Pooh]]http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article600292.ece/Barry-Ronges-Classic-DVD---Alice-in-Wonderland Barry Ronges Classic DVD : Alice in Wonderland], [[The Times (South Africa)|The Times]]Retrieved 20 August 2010 The BFI Top 100 British films is a poll conducted by the British Film Institute which ranks what they consider to be the 100 greatest British films of all time.Literature
File:Shakespeare.jpg believed to depict William Shakespeare ] British literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well as to literature from England, Wales and Scotland prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. Most British literature is in the English language The UK publishes some 206,000 books each year, making it the books published per country per year in the world.Goldfarb, Jeff. "http://www.redorbit.com/news/entertainment/499053/bookish_britain_overtakes_america_as_top_publisher/ Bookish Britain overtakes America as top publisher]", Reuters Entertainment 10 May 2006 The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist of all time.lt;/ref>lt;/ref>lt;/ref> Among the earliest English writers are Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century), Thomas Malory (15th century), Thomas More (16th century), and John Milton (17th century). In the 18th century, Samuel Richardson is often credited with inventing the modern novel. In the 19th century, there followed further innovation by Jane Austen the gothic novelist Mary Shelley childrens writer Lewis Carroll the Brontë the social campaigner Charles Dickens the naturalism (literature) Thomas Hardy the realism (arts) of George Eliot the visionary poet William Blake and romantic poet William Wordsworth Twentieth century writers include the science fiction novelist H. G. Wells writers of childrens classics Rudyard Kipling A. A. Milne the controversial D. H. Lawrence the modernism Virginia Woolf the satirist Evelyn Waugh the prophetic novelist George Orwell the popular novelist Graham Greene crime novelist Agatha Christie and the poets Ted Hughes and John Betjeman Most recently, the childrens fantasy Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling has recalled the popularity of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis Roald Dahl offers children a more grotesque, comic vision. Scottish literature includes the detective writer Arthur Conan Doyle romantic literature by Walter Scott childrens writer J. M. Barrie and the epic adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson It has also produced the celebrated poet Robert Burns as well as William McGonagall regarded by many as one of the worlds worst.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/31/AR2007073101696.html How to Celebrate The Worlds Worst Poet?] Washington Post, 1 August 2007 More recently, the modernist and nationalist Hugh MacDiarmid and Neil M. Gunn contributed to the Scottish Renaissance A more grim outlook is found in Ian Rankin s stories and the psychological horror-comedy of Iain Banks Scotlands capital, Edinburgh, is UNESCOs first worldwide City of Literature http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID27852&URL_DODO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION201.html Edinburgh, UK appointed first UNESCO City of Literature] UNESCO. Retrieved 20 August 2008. File:Dickens by Watkins detail.jpg novelist Charles Dickens ] The oldest known poem from the area now known as Scotland, [[Y Gododdin]] was composed in Cumbric language or Old Welsh in the late sixth century and contains the earliest known reference to King Arthur A great role in the development of King Arthur and early English historians in the Middle Ages was played by Geoffrey of Monmouth The greatest Welsh poet of all time is generally held to be Dafydd ap Gwilym Owing to the dominance of the Welsh language in Wales until the late nineteenth century, the majority of Welsh literature was in Welsh, and much of the prose was religious in character; Daniel Owen is credited as the first Welsh-language novelist, publishing Rhys Lewis in 1885. In the twentieth century, the poets R. S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas became well known for their English-language poetry. Leading Welsh novelists include Richard Llewellyn and Kate Roberts (author) Authors from other nationalities, particularly from Ireland, or from Commonwealth of Nations countries, have lived and worked in the UK. Significant examples through the centuries include Jonathan Swift Oscar Wilde Bram Stoker George Bernard Shaw Joseph Conrad T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound and more recently British authors born abroad such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Salman Rushdie In theatre, Shakespeares contemporaries Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson added depth. More recently Alan Ayckbourn Harold Pinter Michael Frayn Tom Stoppard and David Edgar (playwright) have combined elements of surrealism, realism and radicalism.
Media
The prominence of the English language gives the UK media a widespread international dimension.Broadcasting
File:BBC Television Centre.JPG The BBC is the largest and oldest broadcaster in the world.lt;/ref> ]] There are five major nationwide television channels in the UK: BBC One BBC Two ITV Channel 4 and Five (TV channel) currently transmitted by analogue and digital terrestrial, free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising. In Wales, S4C the Welsh Fourth Channel, replaces Channel 4, carrying Welsh language programmes at peak times. It also transmits Channel 4 programmes at other times. The BBC founded in 1922, is the UKs publicly funded radio television and internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world.lt;/ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4375652.stm Discussion of BBC Empire Service history in Analysis: BBCs voice in Europe] Jan Repa, BBC News Online: 25 October 2005 It operates several BBC Television and BBC Radio stations in both the UK and abroad. The BBCs international television news service, BBC World News is broadcast throughout the world and the BBC World Service radio network is broadcast in thirty-three languages globally, as well as services in Welsh on BBC Radio Cymru and programmes in Gaelic on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal in Scotland and Irish in Northern Ireland. The domestic services of the BBC are funded by the television licence The international targeted BBC World Service Radio is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the international television broadcast services are operated by BBC Worldwide on a commercial subscription basis over cable and satellite services. It is this commercial arm of the BBC that forms half of UKTV along with Virgin Media File:Channel 4 Building - Horseferry Road - London - 310504.jpg building.]] The UK now has a large number of digital terrestrial channels including a further six from the BBC, five from ITV and three from Channel 4, and one from S4C which is solely in Welsh, among a variety of others. The vast majority of digital cable television services are provided by Virgin Media with satellite television available from Freesat or British Sky Broadcasting and free-to-air digital terrestrial television by Freeview (UK) The entire UK Digit Al by 2012. Radio in the United Kingdom is dominated by BBC Radio which operates ten national networks and over forty local radio stations. The most popular radio station, by number of listeners, is BBC Radio 2 closely followed by BBC Radio 1 There are hundreds of mainly local commercial radio stations across the country, offering a variety of music or talk formats.
Internet
The Internet country code top-level domain (Country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom is .uk The most popular ".uk" website is the British version of Google followed by BBC Online lt;/ref>Music
File:The Fabs.JPG are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of classical music traditions selling over a billion records internationally.lt;/ref>lt;/ref>lt;/ref>]] Various styles of music are popular in the UK, from the indigenous folk music of England Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, to heavy metal music Notable composers of classical music from the United Kingdom and the countries that preceded it include William Byrd Henry Purcell Edward Elgar Gustav Holst Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist W. S. Gilbert , Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten pioneer of modern British opera Peter Maxwell Davies is one of the foremost living composers and current Master of the Queen's Music The UK is also home to world-renowned symphonic orchestras and choruses such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Chorus Notable conducting include Simon Rattle John Barbirolli and Malcolm Sargent Some of the notable film score composer include John Barry (composer) Clint Mansell Mike Oldfield John Powell Craig Armstrong (composer) David Arnold John Murphy (composer) Monty Norman and Harry Gregson-Williams George Frideric Handel although born German, was a Naturalization British nationality law lt;ref name"Handel">lt;/ref> and some of his best works, such as [[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]] were written in the English language lt;/ref> A prolific composer of musical theatre whose works have dominated Londons West End Theatre for a number of years and have travelled to Broadway theatre in New York, Andrew Lloyd Webber has achieved enormous worldwide commercial success.http://books.google.com/books?idAWaZ1LAFAZEC&dqlloyd+webber+%22the+most+commercially+successful+composer+in+history.%22&sourcegbs_navlinks_s Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: the new musical] Retrieved 20 August 2010 Prominent British contributors to have influenced popular music over the last 50 years include The Beatles Queen (band) Cliff Richard Elton John Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones all of whom have world wide record sales of 200 million or more.lt;/ref>lt;/ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3897823.ece Resurrecting Church will be greatest miracle] Times Online, 9 May 2008http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2305273/Sir-Elton-John-honoured-in-Ben-and-Jerry-ice-cream.html Sir Elton John honoured in Ben and Jerry ice cream] The Telegraph, 17 July 2008lt;/ref> lt;/ref>lt;/ref> The Beatles have international record sales of more than one billion. According to research by Guinness World Records eight of the ten acts with the most UK chart singles are British: Status Quo Queen, The Rolling Stones, UB40 Depeche Mode the Bee Gees the Pet Shop Boys and the Manic Street Preachers lt;/ref> More recent UK music acts that have had international success include Coldplay Radiohead Oasis (band) Spice Girls Amy Winehouse and Gorillaz A number of UK cities are known for their music scenes. Acts from Liverpool have had more UK chart number one hit singles per capita (54) than any other city worldwide.lt;/ref> Glasgow s contribution to the music scene was recognised in 2008 when it was named a UNESCO Creative Cities Network one of only three cities in the world to have this honour.lt;/ref>
Philosophy
The United Kingdom is famous for the tradition of "British Empiricism", a branch of the philosophy of knowledge that states that only knowledge verified by experience is valid, and "Scottish Philosophy", sometimes referred to as the Scottish School of Common Sense . The most famous philosophers of British Empiricism are John Locke George Berkeley and David Hume while Dugald Stewart Thomas Reid and Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet were major exponents of the Scottish "common sense" school. Britain is also notable for a theory of moral philosophy, Utilitarianism first used by Jeremy Bentham and later by John Stuart Mill in his short work [[Utilitarianism (book)|Utilitarianism]] Other eminent philosophers from the UK and the states that preceded it include Duns Scotus John Lilburne Mary Wollstonecraft Sir Francis Bacon Adam Smith Thomas Hobbes William of Ockham Bertrand Russell and Alfred Jules Ayer Foreign-born philosophers who settled in the UK include Isaiah Berlin Karl Marx Karl Popper and Ludwig WittgensteinScience, engineering and innovation
File:GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg ] File:Charles Darwin aged 51.jpg ] The United Kingdom led the Industrial Revolution and has produced scientists and engineers credited with important advances, including; *The Newton's laws of motion and illumination of gravitation by physicist mathematician astronomy natural philosophy alchemy and theology Isaac Newton *The unification of electromagnetism by James Clerk Maxwell *The discovery of hydrogen by Henry Cavendish *The steam locomotive by Richard Trevithick and Andrew Vivian *The theory of aerodynamics by George Cayley *The worlds first working television system, and color television by John Logie Baird lt;ref>lt;/ref>http://www.bairdtelevision.com/colour.html The Worlds First High Definition Colour Television System] McLean, p. 196 *The invention of the jet engine by Frank Whittle *Evolution by natural selection by Charles Darwin *The Turing machine by Alan Turing the basis of the modern computer http://205.188.238.181/time/time100/scientist/profile/turing.html Alan Turing – Time 100 People of the Century] [[Time Magazine]]Retrieved 30 July 2010 *The invention of the hovercraft by Christopher Cockerell *The electric motor by Michael Faraday who largely made electricity viable for use in technology *First practical telephone by Alexander Graham Bell lt;/ref> *The structure of DNA by Francis Crick and others *The modern safety bicycle by John Kemp Starley in 1885 *The invention of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee http://205.188.238.181/time/time100/scientist/profile/bernerslee.html Tim Berners Lee - Time 100 People of the Century] [[Time Magazine]]Retrieved 30 July 2010. *The first commercial electrical telegraph co-invented by William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone Hubbard, Geoffrey (1965) Cooke and Wheatstone and the Invention of the Electric Telegraph,Routledge & Kegan Paul, London p. 78http://www.connected-earth.com/Daysout/BTArchives/Profile/index.htm The electric telegraph, forerunner of the internet, celebrates 170 years] BT Group Connected Earth Online Museum - Retrieved March 2010 *The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Joseph Swan *The creation of postage stamp and modern postal service by Rowland Hill (postal reformer) *The discovery of penicillin by biologist and pharmacology Alexander Fleming lt;/ref> Notable civil engineering projects, whose pioneers included Isambard Kingdom Brunel contributed to the worlds first national railway transport system. Other advances pioneered in the UK include the marine chronometer the jet engine modern bicycle Lamp (electrical component) steam turbine electromagnet Stereophonic sound sound, Eadweard Muybridge the propeller the internal combustion engine military radar electronic computer George Cayley Soft drink IVF nursing antiseptic surgery, vaccination antibiotic . Scientific journals produced in the UK include [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] the [[BMJ|British Medical Journal]]and [[The Lancet]] In 2006, it was reported that the UK provided 9 percent of the worlds scientific research papers and a 12 per cent share of citations, the second highest in the world after the US.lt;/ref>
Visual art
The Royal Academy is located in London. Other major schools of art include the Slade School of Fine Art the six-school University of the Arts London which includes the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Chelsea College of Art and Design the Glasgow School of Art and Goldsmiths, University of London This commercial venture is one of Britains foremost visual arts organisations. Major British artists include Joshua Reynolds Thomas Gainsborough John Constable William Blake J. M. W. Turner William Morris L. S. Lowry Francis Bacon Lucian Freud David Hockney Gilbert and George Richard Hamilton (artist) Peter Blake (artist) Howard Hodgkin Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor During the late 1980s and 1990s, the Saatchi Gallery in London brought to public attention a group of multigenre artists who would become known as the Young British Artists Damien Hirst Chris Ofili Rachel Whiteread Tracey Emin Mark Wallinger Steve McQueen (artist) Sam Taylor-Wood and the Jake and Dinos Chapman are among the better known members of this loosely affiliated movement.Symbols
File:Britannia-Statue.jpg in Plymouth Britannia is a national personification of the UK.]] The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack). It was created by the superimposition of the Flag of England the Flag of Scotland and Saint Patrick's Flag in 1801. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. However, the possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales has not been completely ruled out.lt;/ref> The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen , with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman. Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom, originating from Roman Britain lt;/ref> Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon s three-pronged trident and a shield bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding the back of a lion. At and since the height of the British Empire, Britannia has often associated with maritime dominance, as in the patriotic song [[Rule, Britannia!]] The lion symbol is depicted behind Britannia on the Fifty pence (British decimal coin) and one is shown crowned on the back of the Ten pence (British decimal coin) It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of the United Kingdom and has been associated with Winston Churchill s defiance of Nazi Germany.lt;/ref>
International rankings
| class"wikitable" |- ! Organisation ! Survey ! Ranking |- | United Nations Development Programme | Human Development Index | 21 out of 182 |- | Transparency International | Corruption Perceptions Index | 17 out of 180 |- | World Economic Forum | Global Competitiveness Report | 13 out of 133 |}See also
*Outline of the United KingdomNotes
References
External links
; Government *http://www.royal.gov.uk/ Official website of the British Monarchy] *http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm Official website of HM Government] *https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-u/united-kingdom.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members] *http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk5703 Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom] statistics ; General information * *http://dataranking.com/country.cgi?LGe&CO29 Economic and Social Data Ranking] *http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/british.htm United Kingdom] from UCB Libraries GovPubs * * ; Travel *http://www.visitbritain.com/ Official tourist guide to Britain] * eographic locale |list [[Geographic coordinate system|Lat. and Long.]] {{Coord|51|30|N|0|7|W|display=inline}} (London) }} }} }} }} Category:United Kingdom lt;!-- An article should be at the top of its own category, so please do not remove the space. Thank you.--> Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean Category:Northern Europe Category:Western Europe Category:Constitutional monarchies Category:English-speaking countries and territories Category:G8 nations Category:G20 nations Category:Island countries Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean Category:Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization af:Verenigde Koninkryk als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland am:ዩናይትድ ኪንግደም ang:Geāned Cynerīce ab:Британиа Ду ar:المملكة المتحدة an:Reino Unito arc:ܡܠܟܘܬܐ ܡܚܝܕܬܐ roa-rup:Britania Mari frp:Royômo-Uni ast:Reinu Xuníu az:Böyük Britaniya bn:যুক্তরাজ্য zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ba:Бөйөк Британия be:Вялікабрытанія be-x-old:Вялікабрытанія bcl:Reyno Unido bi:United Kingdom bar:Vaeinigts Kinireich bo:དབྱིན་ཇི་མཉམ་འབྲེལ། bs:Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo Velike Britanije i Sjeverne Irske br:Rouantelezh-Unanet bg:Обединено кралство Великобритания и Северна Ирландия ca:Regne Unit cv:Аслă Британи ceb:Hiniusang Gingharian cs:Spojené království cbk-zam:Reinos Unidos de Gran Britania y Norte Irelandia co:Regnu Unitu cy:Y Deyrnas Unedig da:Storbritannien de:Vereinigtes Königreich dv:ޔުނައިޓެޑް ކިންގްޑަމް nv:Tó Táʼ Dinéʼiʼ Bikéyah dsb:Wjelika Britaniska dz:ཡུ་ནའི་ཊེཊ་ཀིང་ཌམ et:Suurbritannia el:Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο es:Reino Unido eo:Unuiĝinta Reĝlando ext:Réinu Uniu eu:Erresuma Batua ee:United Kingdom fa:بریتانیا hif:United Kingdom fo:Stóra Bretland fr:Royaume-Uni fy:Grut-Brittanje fur:Ream Unît ga:An Ríocht Aontaithe gv:Reeriaght Unnaneysit gd:An Rìoghachd Aonaichte gl:Reino Unido - United Kingdom gan:英國 gu:યુનાઇટેડ કિંગડમ hak:Yîn-koet xal:Ик Бритишин болн Ар Гәәлгүдин Ниицәтә Нутг ko:영국 ha:Birtaniya hy:Միացյալ Թագավորություն hi:संयुक्त राजशाही (ब्रिटेन) hsb:Zjednoćene kralestwo hr:Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo io:Unionita Rejio ig:Njikota Ochíchíeze ilo:Reino Unido ti Gran Bretaña ken ti Irlanda del Norte bpy:তিলপারাজ্য id:Britania Raya ia:Regno Unite ie:Reyatu Unit os:Стыр Британи is:Bretland it:Regno Unito he:הממלכה המאוחדת jv:Britania Raya kl:Tuluit Nunaat kn:ಯುನೈಟೆಡ್ ಕಿಂಗ್ಡಮ್ pam:United Kingdom krc:Уллу Британия ka:გაერთიანებული სამეფო csb:Wiôlgô Britanijô kk:Құрама Патшалық kw:Ruwvaneth Unys rw:Ubwongereza ky:Улуу Британия жана Түндүк Ирландия sw:Ufalme wa Muungano kv:Ыджыд Британия kg:Royaume-Uni ht:Wayòm Ini ku:Keyaniya Yekbûyî ya Brîtaniya Mezin û Bakurê Îrlandê lad:Reyno Unido la:Britanniarum Regnum lv:Apvienotā Karaliste lb:Groussbritannien an Nordirland lt:Jungtinė Karalystė lij:Regno Unïo li:Vereineg Keuninkriek ln:Ingɛlɛ́tɛlɛ jbo:ritygu'e lmo:Regn Ünì hu:Egyesült Királyság mk:Обединето Кралство ml:യുണൈറ്റഡ് കിങ്ഡം mt:Renju Unit mi:Kīngitanga Kotahi mr:युनायटेड किंग्डम arz:المملكه المتحده mzn:بریتانیا ms:United Kingdom cdo:Ĭng-guók mn:Нэгдсэн Вант Улс nah:Tlacetilīlli Huēyitlahtohcāyōtl nl:Verenigd Koninkrijk nds-nl:Verienigd Keuninkriek ne:संयुक्त अधिराज्य ja:イギリス nap:Gran Vretagna ce:Великобритани pih:Yunitid Kingdum no:Storbritannia nn:Storbritannia nrm:Rouoyaume Unni nov:Unionati Regia oc:Reialme Unit mhr:Кугу Британий uz:Birlashgan Qirollik pa:ਯੂਨਾਈਟਡ ਕਿੰਗਡਮ pnb:برطانیہ ps:بریتانیه km:រាជាណាចក្ររួម pcd:Roéyôme-uni pms:Regn Unì tpi:Yunaitet Kingdom nds:Vereenigt Königriek vun Grootbritannien un Noordirland pl:Wielka Brytania pt:Reino Unido crh:Büyük Britaniya ty:Paratāne ksh:Jrußbritannie ro:Regatul Unit al Marii Britanii și al Irlandei de Nord rmy:Phandlo Thagaripen la Bare Britaniyako thai le Nordutne Irlandesko rm:Reginavel Unì qu:Hukllachasqa Qhapaq Suyu ru:Великобритания sah:Холбоhуктаах Хоруоллук sc:Rennu Auniadu sco:Unitit Kinrick stq:Fereeniged Köönichriek fon Groot-Britannien un Noudirlound sq:Britania e Madhe scn:Regnu Unitu simple:United Kingdom sk:Spojené kráľovstvo cu:Вєли́ка Британі́ꙗ sl:Združeno kraljestvo Velike Britanije in Severne Irske szl:Wjelgo Brytańijo so:Ingiriiska sr:Уједињено Краљевство sh:Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo su:Britania fi:Yhdistynyt kuningaskunta sv:Storbritannien tl:Nagkakaisang Kaharian ta:ஐக்கிய இராச்சியம் kab:Legliz tt:Бөек Британия te:యునైటెడ్ కింగ్డమ్ tet:Reinu Naklibur th:สหราชอาณาจักร tg:Подшоҳии Муттаҳида tr:Birleşik Krallık udm:Великобритания bug:United Kingdom uk:Велика Британія ur:برطانیہ ug:بۈيۈك بېرىتانىيە za:Yinghgoz vec:Regno Unìo vi:Vương quốc Liên hiệp Anh và Bắc Ireland vo:Regän Pebalöl fiu-vro:Ütiskuningriik zh-classical:英國 vls:Verênigd Keunienkryk war:Reino Unido wo:Nguur-Yu-Bennoo wuu:英国 yi:פאראייניגטע קעניגרייך yo:Ilẹ̀ọba Aparapọ̀ zh-yue:英國 diq:Britanya Gırdı zea:Vereênigd Konienkriek bat-smg:Jongtėnė Karalīstė zh:英国
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