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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state consisting of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and The UK is a developed country, with the world’s sixth largest economy by nominal GDP and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity.
It was the world’s first industrialized country and the world’s foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
General Information:
Capital: London
Coordinates: 51°30′N 0°7′W
Area: 243,610 km2 (79th)
Population: 2,041,708(2010 est.)
Currency: Pound sterling
Time zone: GMT (UTC+0)
Calling code: 44
Famous cities: London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Bradford, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Belfast.
Climate: Generally mild and temperate; weather is subject to frequent changes but too few extremes of temperature.
Nationality: British
Major languages: English, Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic.
The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 243,610 square kilometers (94,060 sq mi) comprising 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 35 kilometers (22 mi) of the northwest coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel.
History
The Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC and most of Britain’s subsequent incorporation into the Roman Empire stimulated development and brought more active contacts with the rest of Europe. As Rome’s strength declined, the country again was exposed to invasion–including the pivotal incursions of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in the fifth and sixth centuries AD–up to the Norman Conquest in 1066.
The United Kingdom was created out of the existing historic kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland. Between the 17th and 19th centuries a series of political events brought these constituent elements 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 VI, King of Scots inherited the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London, although all three kingdoms retained their separate political institutions.
People
The United Kingdom’s population in 2010 is 2,041,708–the third-largest in the European Union. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world and almost one-third of the population lives in England’s.
The United Kingdom’s high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900. Education is mandatory from ages 5 through 16.
The Church of England and the Church of Scotland are the official churches in their respective parts of the country, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom.
Languages
The UK does not have an official language but the predominant spoken language is English, a West Germanic language descended from Old English which features a large number of borrowings from Old Norse, Norman French and Latin. Largely because of the British Empire, the English language has spread across the world, and become the international language of business as well as the most widely taught second language.
In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh, an increase from the 1991 Census (18%).In addition, it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England.
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