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United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain)<ref>See British Isles (terminology) for further explanation of the usage of the term "Britain" in geographical and political contexts.</ref> is a country<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> and sovereign state that lies to the northwest of Continental Europe with the Republic of Ireland to the west.
The United Kingdom is a political union made up of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It occupies all of the island of Great Britain and the northeast part of the island of Ireland, sharing a land border with the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, and its ancillary bodies of water, including the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The United Kingdom is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel, which is located in the south-east of England.
The United Kingdom also has fourteen overseas territories, including Bermuda, Gibraltar, the Pitcairn Island group, British Indian Ocean Territory, the Falkland Islands, and British Antarctic Territory among others. The dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, formally possessions of the Crown, form a federacy with the United Kingdom collectively known as the British Islands.
The constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II is also the Queen and Head of State of 15 other Commonwealth Realms such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Jamaica.
Despite the decline of the British Empire, it remains a significant player in world diplomacy and a Great power. A member of the G8, the United Kingdom is a developed country with the fifth largest economy in the world and second largest in Europe, estimated at US$2.2 trillion. It is the third most populous state in the European Union with a population of 60.2 million<ref> European Union population figures, Eurostat/US Bureau of the Census. Retrieved 15 May 2006.</ref> and is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Template:Abbr) and the United Nations (Template:Abbr), where it holds permanent membership on the Security Council. The UK is a major military power and is an acknowledged nuclear power.
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[edit] History
The Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England had existed as separate states with their own monarchs and political structures since the 9th century. The once independent Principality of Wales fell under the control of English monarchs from the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, becoming itself part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542.<ref name = "Schools">"The Act of Union with Wales", Schools’ History, 7 November 2004. Retrieved 15 May 2006.</ref> With the Act of Union 1707, the independent states of England (including Wales) and Scotland, having been in personal union since 1603, agreed to a political union as the Kingdom of Great Britain.<ref>"The Treaty (or Act) of Union, 1707". Retrieved 15 May 2006.</ref>
The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1541 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.<ref>"The Act of Union", Act of Union Virtual Library. Retrieved 15 May 2006.</ref> Independence for the Republic of Ireland in 1922 followed the partition of the island of Ireland two years previously, with six of the nine counties of the province of Ulster remaining within the Template:Abbr, which then changed to the current name in 1927.<ref name = "CAIN">"The Anglo-Irish Treaty, 6 December 1921", CAIN. Retrieved 15 May 2006.</ref>
Eighteenth-century Britain was a key contributor to the Age of Enlightenment, with philosophical and scientific input and an influential literary and theatrical tradition. Over the next century the United Kingdom played a leading role in developing Western ideas of parliamentary democracy and capitalism with significant contributions to literature, the arts, science and technology.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The wealth of the early British Empire, like other Great Powers, was also partly generated by colonial exploitation, including the industrialisation after 1750 of the slave trade, with Britain's 18th century shipping fleet, the largest in the world, taking African slaves to the Americas as part of the infamous Triangular Trade.<ref>National Maritime Museum - the transatlantic slave trade provided the venture capital for the industrial revolution</ref> At the beginning of the nineteenth century, however, after campaigns by abolitionist politicians including William Wilberforce, Britain was the first nation to permanently prohibit trade in slaves. Image:Sadler, Battle of Waterloo.jpg After the Industrial Revolution and the defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars, Britain became the principal world power at the beginning of the 19th century. At its peak, the British Empire stretched to almost one-quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population, making it in terms of population and territory the largest empire in history.
During the nineteenth century the country played an important role in the development of parliamentary democracy, partly via a growing extension of suffrage through a series of significant electoral reforms, and towards the end of the century was the first nation to develop a public health infrastructure. Developments of science and the arts, building on an 18th century inheritance of figures such as Isaac Newton, and particularly its earlier tradition of literature, were influential.
At the end of the Victorian period, however, the United Kingdom lost its industrial leadership, particularly to the United States, which surpassed the UK in industrial production and trade in the 1890s, and to a lesser extent to the German Empire. As a result of gains of the late 1800s Britain nevertheless remained the pre-eminent superpower, and its empire expanded to its maximum size by 1921, gaining the League of Nations mandate over certain former German colonies after the First World War. However, from the close of World War I the United Kingdom's dominant role in international relations had begun to decline.
After emergence from the war, the creation of the world's first large-scale and international network of broadcasting , the BBC, its first experience of government by the growing Labour movement in expansion since the late 19th century, and recovery from the Great Depression in the late 1930s, Britain fought Nazi Germany in the Second World War, with its Commonwealth allies including Canada, Australia, New Zealand,South Africa and India, later to be joined by further allies. Wartime leader Winston Churchill and his successor Clement Atlee helped plan the postwar world as part of the Big Three. World War II, however, left the United Kingdom financially and physically damaged. Economically costly wartime loans, loans taken in 1945 from the United States and from Canada, combined with postwar Marshall Plan aid from the United States started the United Kingdom on the road to recovery.
1945 saw the emergence of the British Welfare State and one of the world's first and most comprehensive Health Services, while the demands of a recovering economy brought people from all over the Commonwealth to create a multiethnic Britain. Although the new postwar limits of Britain's political role were confirmed by the Suez Crisis of 1956, the international currency of its language meant the continuing impact of its literature and culture, while at the same time its popular culture found a global influence. The 1970s saw a period of economic stagnation following global economic downturn. During the 1980s, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reduced the power of the trade unions and this, together with a substantial inflow of North Sea oil royalties, added to economic recovery.
The United Kingdom has been a member of the European Union since 1973. The attitude of the present Labour government towards further integration with this organisation is mixed,<ref name = "Times">"Modest progress but always on back foot", Times Online, 21 December 2005. Retrieved 16 May 2006.</ref> with the Conservative Party favouring a return of some powers and competencies to the state,<ref name = "Conservatives">"European Constitution: bad for Britain, bad for Europe", Conservative Party. Retrieved 23 May 2006.</ref> and the Liberal Democrat party more positive toward the EU . A referendum on the issue is planned if and when five economic tests indicate that entry into the Eurozone would be beneficial.<ref name="fivetests"> "The UK's five tests", BBC News, 21 November 2002. Retrieved 16 May 2006.</ref>
[edit] Government and politics
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the monarch by the prime minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments.
The cabinet, including the prime minister, and other senior ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from, and are responsible to, Parliament - the legislative body which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The British system of government has been emulated around the world — a legacy of the British Empire's colonial past, most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms — however, the United Kingdom, along with New Zealand and Israel, form one of the three countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on traditional customs and separate pieces of constitutional law.<ref>"A Guide To the UK Legal System" Carter, Sarah (University of Kent at Canterbury), retrieved May 16 2006</ref>
While the monarch is head of state and technically holds all executive power, they must nominate a head of government (Prime Minister) that the Parliament agrees upon. The Prime Minister is nowadays always a member of the House of Commons, the last Lord to be Prime Minister was Lord Home in the 1960s. The Prime Minister must be someone who the Monarch believes will be able to form a government with the "confidence" of a majority of members of the Commons. This usually means the leader of the party with the largest number of Commons seats, because the "first past the post" electoral system for the Commons usually gives the largest party an absolute majority. If there were no party with an absolute majority, then the Prime Minister would be whoever could form a coalition with the support of a Commons majority. This would almost certainly be the leader of the largest party in the coalition, but (conceivably) not necessarily the leader of the largest party in the Commons.
Image:Location of the BOTs.PNG
The Prime Minister appoints ministers to government posts, usually from senior members of their own party. Most ministers are members of, and answerable to, the House of Commons (particularly at their Department's "Question Time"). The remaining ministers are usually from the House of Lords, Ministers do not legally have to come from Parliament, but that is the modern day custom, and a Prime Minister who wants to bring someone into the government from outside Parliament will usually first create them a Life Peer, i.e. give them a non-hereditary seat in the House of Lords. The chief advantage put forward for the Parliamentary system of Government is this direct accountability of cabinet members to Parliament. The counter-argument is that the majority of legislators (elected to hold government to account) are (because they are in the PM's party) actually looking to the Prime Minister for personal advancement — and that most politicians (at least in the early stages of their career) appear to view the being an MP not as an honourable and status-awarding end in itself but as the route to office.
The current prime minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. At the 2005 general election, the Labour Party had a majority of 66 seats. However, it is now a 64 seat majority due to a by-election loss to the Liberal Democrats in Scotland.
In the United Kingdom, the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his/her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial.<ref>Extract (Hansard, 23 July 1999, Col.1545) ("As the Queen's consent has not been obtained, this cannot be dealt with.") also see Military Action Against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill Retrieved 17 May 2006</ref> The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament"), and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the monarch (known as Royal Assent), although not one has refused assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in the United Kingdom. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent.<ref name = "Mori">"Polls Apart? The Public and the Monarchy", Market & Opinion Research International, 16 June 2000, Retrieved 14 May 2006.</ref> The monarch is HM Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953.
Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty (however, questions over sovereignty have been brought forward because of the Template:Abbr's entry in to the European Union<ref name = "Times20050914">Europe Wins The Power To Jail British Citizens The Times, September 14, 2005 </ref>). It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the most powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons houses 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has around 700 members (though the number is not fixed), constituted of life peers, hereditary peers, and bishops of the Church of England. (Note: The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic inheritance of seats in the Lords and permitted just 92 hereditary peers to remain. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>)
Since the 1920s, the two largest political parties in British politics have been the Labour Party and Conservative Party. Though coalition and minority governments have been an occasional feature of Parliamentary politics, the first-past-the-post electoral system used for general elections tends to maintain the dominance of these two parties, though each has in the past century relied upon a third party to deliver a working majority in Parliament.<ref name = "BBC2005">Template:Cite web</ref> The Liberal Democrats are the third largest party in the British parliament and actively seek a reform of the electoral system to address the dominance of the two-party system.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Though many in the United Kingdom consider themselves 'British' as well as 'English', 'Scottish', 'Welsh', or 'Irish' (and increasingly also 'Afro-Caribbean', 'Indian', or 'Pakistani'), there has long been a widespread sense of separate national identities in the nations of Scotland and Wales and amongst the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Scottish Independence Party website Retrieved on 16-05-2006</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Independence for the Republic of Ireland in 1922 provided only a partial solution to what had been termed in the 19th century the 'Irish Question', and competing demands for a united Ireland or continued union with Great Britain have brought civil strife and political instability up to the present day.
Though 'nationalist' (as opposed to 'unionist') tendencies have shifted over time in Scotland and Wales, with the Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales) in 1925 and Scottish National Party founded in 1934, a serious political crisis threatening the integrity of the United Kingdom as a state has not occurred since the 1970s. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each possess a legislature and government alongside that of the United Kingdom. However, this increased autonomy and devolution of executive and legislative powers has not contributed to a reduction in support for independence from the United Kingdom, with the rise of new pro-independence parties. For example, the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party have gained popularity in recent years but have not significantly dented the parliamentary dominance on the three main parties.
Image:Edinburgh Scottish Parliament01 2006-04-29.jpg
Image:Stormont Parliamentary Building 01.JPG
Tendencies to devolution with the wider United Kingdom have had only little resonance in England. There is little appetite for a devolved English parliament, although senior Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have voiced concerns in regard to the West Lothian Question,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which is raised where certain policies for England are set by MPs from all four constituent nations whereas similar policies for Scotland or Wales might be decided in the devolved assemblies by legislators from those countries alone. Alternative proposals for English regional government have stalled, following a poorly received referendum on devolved government for the North East of England, which had hitherto been considered the region most in favour of the idea. England is therefore governed according to the balance of parties across the whole of the United Kingdom.
The resurgence in Celtic language and identity, as well as 'regional' politics and development, has contributed to forces pulling against the unity of the state.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, there is at present little sign of any imminent 'crisis' (at the last General Election, both the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru saw their percentage of the overall vote drop, though the SNP did gain two more seats and are the second largest party in the Scottish Parliament as well as official opposition). Nevertheless, recent opinion polls have suggested that nationalism (i.e. a desire to break up the UK) is rising within Scotland and England. However, the polls have been known to be inaccurate in the past (for example, in the run up to the 1992 General Election). Moreover, polls carried out in the 1970s and the 1990s showed similar results, only to be debunked at elections. In early 2007 in line with reporting on English and Scottish attitudes towards the Act of Union, two polls, one for the Sunday Times of the 14th of January 2007 and another poll, shown on BBC News at Ten on the fifteenth of January both showed a vast majority in both countries favouring the retention of the union. Indeed, while support for breaking up the UK was strongest in Scotland, there was still a clear lead for unionism over nationalism.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Northern Ireland, there has been a significant decrease in violence over the last twenty years, though the situation remains tense, with the more hard-line parties such as Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists now holding the most parliamentary seats (see Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland).
[edit] Law
Image:Parliament House, Edinburgh.JPG
The United Kingdom has three distinct systems of law. English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law, which applies in Northern Ireland, are based on common-law principles. Scots law, which applies in Scotland, is a hybrid system based on both common-law and civil-law principles. The Act of Union 1707 guarantees the continued existence of a separate law system for Scotland.
The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (usually just referred to, as "The House of Lords") is the highest court in the land for all criminal and civil cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and for all civil cases in Scots law. Recent constitutional changes will see the powers of the House of Lords transfer to a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.<ref> "Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom", Department for Constitutional Affairs, Accessed 2006-05-22. Template:PDFlink </ref>
In England and Wales the court system is headed by the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). In Scotland the chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases, and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases, while the sheriff court is the Scottish equivalent of the county court.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the Template:Abbr overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.
[edit] Geography
[edit] Topography
Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire Wolds and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France.<ref> Geography of the United Kingdom CIA, Accessed 22 May 2006 </ref> There is no peak in England that is 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater, the highest mountain being Scafell Pike in England's Lake District, at some 978 metres (3,208 ft).
Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at 1,343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. Scotland has nearly 800 islands, mainly west and north of the mainland, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The capital city is Edinburgh, the centre of which is a World Heritage Site. The largest city is Glasgow.<ref> Geography of Scotland Heritage of Scotland, Accessed 22 May 2006 </ref> In total it is estimated that the Template:Abbr includes around 1,000 islands, with 700 in Scotland alone.<ref> Dialysis Scotland Accessed 22 May 2006 </ref>
Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) at 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey (Ynys Môn). The largest and capital city is Cardiff (Caerdydd); it has been the Welsh Capital city since 1955, located in South Wales.<ref> Geography of Wales BBC Wales, Accessed 22 May 2006 </ref> The greatest concentration of people live in the south, in the cities of Swansea (Abertawe) and Newport (Casnewydd), as well as Cardiff, and the South Wales Valleys. The largest town in North Wales is Wrexham (Wrecsam).
Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The capital is Belfast ('Béal Feirste' in Irish), with other major cities being Derry ('Doire' in Irish) and Newry ('Iúr Cinn Trá' in Irish). The province is home to one of the Template:Abbr’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feet (12 m) high. Lough Neagh, the largest body of water in the British Isles, by surface area (388 km² / 150 mi²), can be found in Northern Ireland.<ref> Geography of Northern Ireland University of Ulster Accessed May 22 2006 </ref> The highest peak is Slieve Donard at 849 metres (2,786 ft) in the province's Mourne Mountains.
[edit] Climate
England has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round, though the seasons are quite variable in temperature. However, temperatures rarely fall below −15 °C (5 °F) and will only rise above 34 °C (93.2 °F) in the height of the summer. The prevailing wind is from the south west, bringing mild and wet weather to England regularly, from the Atlantic Ocean. It is driest in the east and warmest in the south east, which is closest to the European mainland. Snowfall can occur in Winter and early Spring, though it is not that common away from high ground.
The highest temperature recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on 10 August 2003 at Brogdale, near Faversham, Kent. [1]. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 at Edgmond, near Newport, Shropshire. [2]
Wales' climate is alike in most regards to that of England, with the highest maximum temperature recorded at 35.2 °C (95.4 °F) in Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on 2 August 1990 and the lowest minimum temperature at -23.3 °C (-10 °F) in Rhayader, Radnorshire on 21 January 1940. [1]
The climate of Scotland is temperate and oceanic, and tends to be very changeable. It is warmed by the Gulf Stream from the Atlantic, and as such is much warmer than areas on similar latitudes, for example Oslo, Norway. However, temperatures are generally lower than in the rest of the Template:Abbr, with the coldest ever Template:Abbr temperature of -27.2 °C (-17.0 °F) recorded at Braemar in the Grampian Mountains, on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982 and also at Altnaharra, Highland, on 30 December 1995. Winter maximums average 6 °C (42.8 °F) in the lowlands, with summer maximums averaging 18 °C (64.4 °F). The highest temperature recorded was 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) at Greycrook, Scottish Borders on 9 August 2003.
Generally, western Scotland is warmer than the east because of the influence of the Atlantic ocean currents and the colder surface temperatures of the North Sea. Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides, is the sunniest place in Scotland: it had 300 days with sunshine in 1975. Rainfall varies widely across Scotland. The western highlands of Scotland are the wettest place, with annual rainfall exceeding 120 inches (3,000 mm). In comparison, much of lowland Scotland receives less than 31 inches (800 mm) annually. Heavy snowfall is not common in the lowlands, but becomes more common with altitude. Braemar experiences an average of 59 snow days per year, while coastal areas have an average of less than 10 days.
The whole of Northern Ireland has a temperate maritime climate, rather wetter in the west than the east, although cloud cover is persistent across the region. The weather is comparatively unpredictable at all times of the year, and although the seasons are distinct, they are considerably less pronounced than in interior Europe or the eastern seaboard of North America. Average daytime maximums in Belfast are 6.5 °C (43.7 °F) in January and 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) in July. The damp climate and extensive deforestation in the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in much of the region being covered in rich green grassland. The highest maximum temperature was set at 30.8 °C (87.4 °F) at Knockarevan, near Belleek, County Fermanagh on 30 June 1976 and at Belfast on 12 July 1983, whilst the lowest minimum temperature recorded at -17.5 °C (0.5 °F) at Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on 1 January 1979. [16]
The United Kingdom, along with the rest of Europe, has been hit by a heat wave during the summer months in recent years. The heat waves have been the cause of many deaths due to the temperatures nearing the 40 °C (104 °F) mark.
[edit] Cities
There are many different statistics and debates on which cities are the Template:Abbr's largest, due to differences between the administrative boundaries and metropolitan areas of cities, and because of merging of settlements into conurbations. The four capitals of the United Kingdom's constituent countries are London (England), Edinburgh (Scotland), Cardiff (Wales) and Belfast (Northern Ireland). London is by far the Template:Abbr's largest city, with a population of more than seven million. Birmingham is next with around one million, followed by Glasgow with nearly six hundred thousand.
[edit] Demographics
Image:Nelson's Column Looking Towards Westminster - Trafalgar Square - London - 240404.jpg
[edit] Population
At the April [[2001 UK Census|2001 Template:Abbr Census]], the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. This had been estimated up to 59,834,300<ref>"UK population approaches 60 million", Office for National Statistics, 25 August 2005; Retrieved 14 May 2006.</ref> by the Office for National Statistics in 2004. Two years later it had increased to 60.2 million, largely from net immigration, but also because of a rising birth rate and increasing life expectancy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. About a quarter of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east<ref>Census 2001: South East, Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 May 2006.</ref> and is predominantly urban and suburban, with an estimated 7,517,700 in the capital of London.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696, see Education in Scotland). Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August).
[edit] Migration and Ethnicity
Template:Main Located as they are on a group of islands close to Continental Europe, the lands now constituting the United Kingdom have historically been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent - including Roman occupation for several centuries. Present day Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France.
| Ethnic Group | Percentage of total UK population | Population |
|---|---|---|
| White British | 85.67% | 50,366,497 |
| White Other | 5.27% | 3,096,169 |
| Indian | 1.8% | 1,053,411 |
| Pakistani | 1.3% | 747,285 |
| Mixed race | 1.2% | 677,117 |
| White Irish | 1.2% | 691,232 |
| Black Caribbean | 1.0% | 565,876 |
| Black African | 0.8% | 485,277 |
| Bangladeshi | 0.5% | 283,063 |
| Other Asian | 0.4% | 247,644 |
| Chinese | 0.4% | 247,403 |
| Other | 0.4% | 230,615 |
| Black Other | 0.2% | 97,585 |
More recent immigration has come through interaction with continental Europe and international ties forged by the British Empire. Since World War Two the Template:Abbr has absorbed substantial immigration, with Europe, Africa and South Asia being the biggest areas from where people currently emigrate. As of 2001, 13.1% of the Template:Abbr's population identified themselves as an ethnic minority.<ref> [1] Commission for Racial Equality: Multi Ethnic Britain </ref> The United Kingdom has amongst the highest immigration rates in Europe, along with Italy and Spain.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In some Template:Abbr cities the percentage of 'minority groups' is large but is still less than half, for example; London 40.1%,<ref name="CRE London">Template:Cite web</ref> Birmingham (UK's 2nd largest city) 34.4%<ref name="CRE Birmingham">Template:Cite web</ref> and Leicester 39.5%.<ref name="CRE Leicester">Template:Cite web</ref> The latest official figures (for 2005) show net immigration to the Template:Abbr of 185,000 (down from a record high of 223,000 in 2004).<ref name="ONS">Office for National Statistics, International migration: Net inflow rose in 2004, 15 December 2005, accessed 22 November 2006</ref><ref>Office for National Statistics, International migration 2005: Net inflow 185,000, 2 November 2006, accessed 22 November 2006</ref> A report by a city forecaster, however, contends that these figures are unreliable and that net immigration for 2005 was circa 400,000.<ref>The Telegraph 5 January 2007 [2]</ref>
The most recent pattern of immigration to the Template:Abbr began in May 2004 when the European Union was expanded. From May 2004 to September 2006, around 500,000 people from Central and Eastern Europe immigrated to the Template:Abbr to work.<ref>Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs and Department for Communities and Local Government, Accession Monitoring Report: May 2004-September 2006, 21 November 2006, accessed 22 November 2006.</ref> This figure is for arrivals only and does not take account of people leaving, hence net migration is likely to be lower.<ref>'Nearly 600,000' new EU migrants, BBC, 22 August 2006. Retrieved 22 August 2006.</ref> In 2005 net migration from the new EU states stood at 64,000.<ref name="ONS"/>
The UK also has a high rate of emigration. A study<ref>Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah and Catherine Drew, Brits Abroad: Mapping the scale and nature of British emigration, London: Institute for Public Policy Research, 11 December 2006, accessed 20 January 2007 (see also www.bbc.co.uk/britsabroad).</ref> in 2006 found that at least 5.5 million British-born people live abroad. Another half a million now live or work abroad for part of the year, withAustralia and Spain as the main locations.[3] [4]
[edit] Language
Whilst the Template:Abbr does not have an official language, the predominant spoken language is English. This is a West Germanic language, descended from Old English, featuring a large number of borrowings from Old Norse and Norman. The other indigenous languages are Scots (which is closely related to English) and the Insular Celtic languages (which are not). The latter fall into two groups: the P-Celtic languages (Welsh and the Cornish language); and the Q-Celtic languages (Irish and Scottish Gaelic). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep.
The English language has spread to all corners of the world (essentially due to the British Empire in the 19th and early 20th century) and has thus become the business language of the world. Worldwide, it is taught as a second language more than any other.<ref> English-Language Dominance, Literature and Welfare Melitz, Jacques; Centre for Economic Policy Research; 1999; Accessed May 26 2006 </ref> The United Kingdom's Celtic languages are also spoken by small groups around the globe, mainly Gaelic in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina.
Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Urdu, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Turkish, Arabic, Cantonese, Lithuanian and Polish. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Urdu, Hindi , Bengali, and Punjabi speakers outside of Asia.
[edit] Religion
Christianity was first introduced to Britain by the Romans, and the UK remains an officially Christian country. This is reflected throughout British public life – for instance there is an established church in England and a national church in Scotland. The Head of State is a Christian monarch crowned by an Archbishop in Westminster Abbey. British society could be said to belong to the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and the majority of people in the UK, 72%, identify themselves as Christian,<ref name="Christians">"Census shows 72% identify as Christians", Office for National Statistics, Retrieved 14 May 2006</ref><ref name="Atheists">Eurobarometer poll conducted in 2005 European Commission, Retrieved 07 December 2006</ref>
Each of the four nations of the United Kingdom have distinctive church traditions.
Augustine of Canterbury was sent to England by Pope Gregory I in in 597AD; northern parts of Great Britain were evangelised by Celtic missionaries from Ireland, such as Columba and Aidan. The English Church split from Rome in 1534 during the reign of Henry VIII of England. Today the Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the 'mother' and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and some of her bishops sit in the House of Lords. The British monarch is required to be a member of the Church of England under the Act of Settlement 1701 and is the Supreme Governor. Roman Catholics are expressly forbidden from becoming monarch, stemming from conflict over the crown and whether Britain was in the past, Catholic or Protestant. The senior bishop of Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Church of Scotland (known informally as The Kirk), also has its roots in the Reformation, breaking with the Roman Catholic Church in 1560 (see Scottish Reformation). Today it is a Presbyterian church and, although recognised as the national church in Scotland, is not subject to state control in spiritual matters. The British monarch is an ordinary member, and is required to swear an oath to "defend the security" of the Church at the coronation. The Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican communion, dates from the final establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland in 1690. Although it is in full communion with the Church of England, it is not a 'daughter church' of the Church of England, as it is proud of its own distinct origins and history . Unlike the Church of England, the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church are nowadays elected by church members. Further splits in the Church of Scotland, especially in the 19th century, led to the creation of various other Presbyterian churches in Scotland including the Free Church of Scotland.
In the 1920s, the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and became disestablished, i.e. lost its "official" status as the state religion. However the Church in Wales remains in the Anglican Communion. Methodism and other independent churches are traditionally strong in Wales.
The Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished in the 19th century. It covers all of the island of Ireland, both the Province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland the Catholic Church in Ireland is the largest single denomination, although Protestants are in the majority overall. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination and is in terms of theology and history closely linked to the Church of Scotland
The Roman Catholic Church is the second largest denomination of Christianity in the Template:Abbr. After the Reformation, strict laws were passed against Catholics; these were removed by the Catholic Emancipation laws in the 1850s. There are separate Catholic hierarchies for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Other large Christian groups include the Methodists (founded by John Wesley in London) and the Baptists. There are also growing Evangelical or Pentecostal churches, many of which have flourished with immigration from around the Commonwealth of Nations and beyond.
Modern day Britain is very diverse in terms of religion. Christianity and Islam have many followers in the Template:Abbr; Sikhism, Hinduism, Judaism and other religions have smaller numbers. 14.6% of the population identify themselves as having no religious beliefs.
Muslims are believed to number over 1.8 million, with many of them living in towns and cities including London, Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester and Manchester.<ref> Template:Cite web </ref> Mosques are a common sight in some parts of modern day Britain. The biggest groups of British Muslims are of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian origin. More recently, smaller numbers of refugees from Somalia, Turkey, Balkan and the Arab countries have lightly increased Britain's Muslim population. The 2006 controversy over the burqa, brought up in comments by Jack Straw, reflects a split between some Britons questioning the extent to which traditionalist forms of Islam are compatible with British society, and others happier with the form of Islam in Britain.<ref> Template:Cite web </ref>
The other religions of Indian origin, like Hinduism and Sikhism also enjoy an increased following in Britain. As of the 2001 census, there are about 560,000 Hindus and 340,000 Sikhs.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> It is likely that since 2001 these figures have increased. One non-governmental organisation estimates the Hindu population is about 800,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The city of Leicester houses the world's only Jain temple outside India.
[edit] Economy
For over 25 years the British economy has been home to what became known in the 1980s as the Anglo-Saxon model, focusing on the principles of liberalisation, the free market, 'common law' relating to property, and low taxation and regulation. Based on market exchange rates, the United Kingdom is the fifth largest economy in the world,<ref>"Report for Selected Countries and Subjects", International Monetary Fund, 2005. Retrieved 15 May 2006.</ref> the second largest in Europe after Germany, and the fifth-largest overall by GDP (nominal).
The British were the first in the world to enter the Industrial Revolution, and, like most industrialising countries at the time, initially concentrated on heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining, steel production, and textiles. The empire created an overseas market for British products, allowing the United Kingdom to dominate international trade in the 19th century. However, as other nations industrialised and surplus labour from agriculture began to dry up, the United Kingdom began to lose its economic advantage. As a result, heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. The British service sector, however, has grown substantially, and now makes up about 73% of GDP.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The service sector of the United Kingdom is dominated by financial services, especially in banking and insurance. London is one of the world's largest financial centres 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. It also 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 Docklands area, with HSBC, Citigroup, and Barclays Bank all relocating their head offices there. The Scottish capital, Edinburgh also has one of the large financial centres of Europe.<ref>"Debate on Scottish financial services industry", Mark Lazarowicz Labour MP, 30 April 2003. Retrieved 16 May 2006.</ref>
Tourism is very important to the British economy. With over 27 million tourists a year, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The British manufacturing sector, however, has greatly diminished since World War II. It is still a significant part of the economy, but only accounted for one-sixth of national output in 2003.<ref>TUC Manufacturing Conference, Patricia Hewitt speech, Department for Trade and Industry, 15 July. Retrieved 16 May 2006.</ref> The British motor industry is a significant part of this sector, although all large-volume producers are now foreign-owned. Civil and defence aircraft production is led by the United Kingdom's largest aerospace firm, BAE Systems, and the pan-European consortium known as Airbus. Rolls-Royce holds a major share of the global aerospace engines market. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is also strong in the Template:Abbr, with the world's second and third largest pharmaceutical firms (GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively) being based in the Template:Abbr.Template:Fact Image:Bank Of England20.gif The United Kingdom's agriculture sector accounts for only 0.9% of the country's GDP.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Template:Abbr has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves, although the natural gas and oil reserves are diminishing. Primary energy production accounts for about 10% of Gross domestic product (GDP),Template:Fact one of the highest shares of any industrial state.
The currency of the Template:Abbr is the pound sterling, represented by the symbol £. 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. The Template:Abbr chose not to join the Euro at the currency's launch, although the government has pledged to hold a public referendum for deciding membership if "five economic tests" are met.<ref name="fivetests" /> Template:Abbr Public opinion is against the notion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Government involvement throughout the economy is exercised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Gordon Brown) who heads HM Treasury, but the Prime Minister (Tony Blair), is First Lord of the Treasury (the Chancellor of the Exchequer being the Second Lord of the Treasury). However since 1997, the Bank of England, headed by the Governor of the Bank of England, has control of interest rates and other monetary policy. The UK government has greatly increased public sector spending (i.e.: government spending of taxes) since 1995, and annual spending on investment in infrastructure has grown from £5.6bn in 1997 to £29bn in 2006.
[edit] Transport
Template:Main The transport system in the United Kingdom is well developed. A radial road network of 29,145 miles (46,632 km) of main roads is centred on London, Edinburgh and Belfast, whilst, in Great Britain, a motorway network of 2,173 miles (3,477 km) is centred on Manchester,Birmingham and London. There are a further 213,750 miles (342,000 km) of paved roads. The National Rail network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 route km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger and 1,000 freight trains daily. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities. Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport, and the UK has a considerable network of ports which received over 558 million tonnes of goods in 2003-04.
The government department overseeing transport is the Department for Transport.
[edit] Transport trends
Since 1952 (the earliest date for which comparable figures are available), the UK has seen a dramatic shift away from the use of public transport and towards the use of private transport, for both passengers and freight.
In 1952 just 27% of distance travelled was by car or taxi; with 42% being by bus or coach and 18% by rail. A further 11% was by bicycle and 3% by motorcycle. The distance travelled by air was negligible.
By 2003 85% of distance travelled was by car or taxi; with just 6% being by bus and 6% by rail. Air, pedal cycle and motorcycle accounted for roughly 1% each. In terms of journeys, slightly over a thousand million are made per annum by main line rail, 1.1 thousand million by London Underground and other metro systems, 4.5 thousand million by bus, and 21 million on domestic air flights.
Passenger transport has grown significantly in recent years. Figures from the DTI<ref>http://www.dtistats.net/energystats/ecuk2_2.xls Passenger kilometres by bus, rail, air, motorcycle, pedal cycle, 1970 to 2004, URN No: 06/453, DTI</ref> show that total passenger travel inside the UK has risen from 403 thousand million passenger kilometres in 1970 to 797 thousand million in 2004.
Freight transport has undergone similar changes, greatly increasing in volume and shifting from railways onto the road. In 1953 89 thousand million tonne kilometres of goods were moved, with rail accounting for 42%, road 36% and water 22%. By 2002 the volume of freight moved had almost trebled to 254 thousand million tonne kilometres, of which 7.5% was moved by rail, 26% by water, 4% by pipeline and 62% by road.
This shift from rail to road is both caused by, and a cause of, changes in the relative sizes of their networks; wheareas the rail network has halved from 31,336 km in 1950 to 16,116 km today, the motorway network, which today is 3476 km long, did not exist in 1950. It has also been caused by rising economic affluence, the move of the population away from city centres, and changes in industry.
[edit] Railways
- Main articles: Rail transport in Great Britain, Rail transport in Ireland
The rail network in the United Kingdom consists of two independent parts, that of Northern Ireland and that of Great Britain. Since 1994, the latter has been connected to mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel. The network of Northern Ireland is connected to that of the Republic of Ireland.
[edit] Great Britain
Image:390029 'City of Stoke-on-Trent' at Birmingham New Street.JPG
The rail network in Great Britain is the oldest such network in the world. The world's first intercity railway was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, designed by George Stephenson and opened by the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington on 15 September 1830.
Until 1996 the rail network in Britain, and the passenger and freight services on it, were owned, operated and maintained by British Rail, a government-owned monopoly. In 1994 and 1995 British Rail was split into infrastructure, maintenance, rolling stock, passenger and freight companies, which were privatised from 1996 to 1997. Privatisation has proved controversial and the rail network has not yet experienced the full improvements that had been hoped.
In Britain, the infrastructure (track, stations, depots and signalling chiefly) is owned and maintained by Network Rail, a not for profit company. Network Rail replaced Railtrack, which became bankrupt in 2002 following the Hatfield Accident in 2000. Passenger services are operated by train operating companies(TOCs), most of which are franchises awarded by the UK Government. Examples include First Group, GNER and Virgin Trains. Freight trains are operated by Freight Operating Companies, such as EWS, which are commercial operations unsupported by government. Most Train Operating Companies do not own the locomotives and coaches which they use to operate passenger services. Instead, they are required to lease these from the three ROSCOs, Rolling Stock Operating Companies, with train maintenance carried out by companies such as Bombardier.
In Great Britain there is 16,536 km of 1435 mm gauge track. 4,928 km of track is electrified and 12,591 km is double or multiple tracks. The maximum scheduled speed on the regular network has historically been around 125 miles per hour (200 km/h), on the Inter-City lines. On the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, linking London with the Channel Tunnel, trains are now able to go at the speeds of French TGVs.
[edit] Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) both owns the infrastructure and operates passenger rail services. The Northern Ireland rail network is one of the few networks in Europe that carry no freight. It is publicly owned. NIR was united in 1996 with Northern Ireland's two publicly owned bus operators — Ulsterbus and Metro (formally Citybus) — under the brand Translink.
In Northern Ireland there is 342 km of track at 1600 mm gauge. 190 km of it is multiple track.
[edit] Rapid transit
Four cities in the UK have rapid transit systems. Most well known is the London Underground (known as the Tube), the oldest and longest rapid transit system in the world. Also in London are the separate Docklands Light Railway (though this is integrated with the Underground in many ways), and the North London Line, operated by Silverlink (formerly by British Rail). Outside of London there is the Glasgow Subway, Tyne and Wear Metro and Merseyrail in Liverpool.
[edit] Trams and Light Rail
Tram systems were popular in the UK in the late 19th and early 20th century. However with the rise of the car they began to be widely dismantled in the 1950s. By 1962 only Blackpool tramway remained.