United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Flag
Arms
Capital	London
Government	Constitutional Monarchy
Official Language	English
Head of State	Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Area	94,526 sq mi
Population (2007 estimate)	60,587,300
GDP (2006 estimate)	US$2.006 trillion
GDP per capita (2006 estimate)	US$35,051

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, generally called the United Kingdom or the UK, is a sovereign state north west of mainland Europe. It consists of the nations of England, Wales and Scotland, which occupy the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. It attained its current form in 1922 after most of Ireland was granted independence (although the current name 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was not adopted until 1927), but its origins can be traced back at least to 1603, when England and Scotland came to be ruled by a single monarch (James I of England and VI of Scotland). England and Scotland were formally united under a single parliament, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain, on 1 May 1707.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. Its current head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, and its head of government is Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Nationalist movements of significant importance exist in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, seeking to dissolve the United Kingdom and to win independence for their respective territories. At the present time, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own legislatures.

The United Kingdom has the fifth largest economy in the world, and is a member of the European Union, NATO and the United Nations. The UK's values, culture and institutions were spread throughout many parts of the world during the period of the British Empire, and the UK's contributions to world culture include the English language, the parliamentary form of government, the Anglican (or Episcopalian) Church, a tradition of personal liberty, and the common-law legal system.

United Kingdom, Great Britain, England

There is sometimes confusion over the nomenclature associated with the UK.

The United Kingdom is the shorter name of the state composed of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has existed since 1801, though in 1922 most of Ireland was granted independence, and its formal name changed accordingly. The official name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The adjective associated with the United Kingdom is "British".

• Great Britain is often used by Americans as a synonym for the UK, but it more properly refers to the largest island in the United Kingdom which contains England, Scotland and Wales. As a result this term can cause offence in Northern Ireland.
• Britain is used (without the adjective "Great") as a synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.
• England is the largest of the four components of the United Kingdom.

Anthem

The de facto national anthem of the UK is currently God Save the Queen. When Queen Elizabeth II dies or abdicates, her son Prince Charles will become King, and the anthem will become "God Save the King", with the other words remaining the same (apart from obvious changes in gender pronouns). This same melody is also sung by American schoolchildren (with different words) as "My Country, 'Tis of Thee".

The constituent nations of the UK have come to have their own anthems. In the case of Wales, this is Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (Land of My Fathers), and for Scotland it is Flower of Scotland. England does not have its own distinctive anthem in the same way, but at sporting events in which England is competing as a separate nation, Edward Elgar's patriotic song Land of Hope and Glory is sometimes used (although God Save the Queen is most commonly used). In Northern Ireland, the two opposing Protestant and Catholic communities respectively use God Save the Queen and Amhran na bhFiann, the Irish national anthem. Londonderry Air is often used as the anthem for Northern Ireland competitors in sporting events.

It should be noted that God Save the Queen/King is only the national anthem by long usage, since about 1745. It has never been declared so officially.

Currency

The currency of the United Kingdom is the Pound Sterling, commonly called Pound and written £ or GBP, divided into 100 New Pence (now commonly just called pence or 'p'). Traditionally the UK had a complicated triple currency structure of 20 shillings to the Pound and 12 "old pence" (represented by a "d") to the shilling, making a total of 240 pence to the Pound. This system was abandoned in 1971 due to difficulties with computerised accounting systems, in favour of the current decimal system.

The UK was one of the three European Union nations (along with Sweden and Denmark) not to join the Euro. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland are permitted to print their own banknotes, as long as they keep an equivalent amount of sterling in reserve.

Government

See also British politics

Form

The UK is a constitutional monarchy with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as constituent countries. Unlike some other constitutional monarchies, such as Spain, there is no written Constitution.

Crown

The Crown is the term for the executive branch of government. In name it is headed by Her Majesty the Queen, however since 1721 the Prime Minister of the UK has been de facto ruler in the name of the King/Queen. The monarch and royal family have ceremonial duties, but very little influence in the day-to-day affairs of government.

The current Prime Minister is Gordon Brown.

Legislature

The legislature of the UK consists of Parliament, separated into two divisions: The House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Members of the House of Commons are known as Members of Parliament or MPs, and are elected democratically in a single-member constituency system. Elections must be held at least every five years (the exact date is at the discretion of the Prime Minister, although recent tradition has meant that elections are normally held every four years.

Seats in the Lords are appointed by the government, are inherited as ancestral seats, or are assigned to bishops and archbishops of the Church of England. The House of Commons recently voted to replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber, but no date has been set for this change. The Lords themselves voted for a wholly appointed chamber. The Lords has fewer powers than the Commons, and acts largely as a revising chamber.

This bicameral style of parliament has been adopted by most former British colonies, including those that formed themselves into federations such as Canada and Australia.

European Union

The Conservative government of Sir Edward Heath took the UK into the European Union in 1973. The Labour Party under Harold Wilson won the 1974 general elections and due to splits within the party, called the only national referendum asking the people if they wanted to stay in the Union. The "yes" vote won by a margin of approximately two to one. The Labour and Conservative parties have since had deep divisions over Union membership. Labour's 1983 manifesto promised to leave the Union, and whilst the Conservative party have never pledged to leave the Union, a growing band of "Eurosceptics" threatened to tear the party apart in the 1990s. All three major parties wish to stay in the Union although disagree over the level of integration, but smaller parties such as the UK Independence Party and the Referendum Party campaigned on the single issue of sovereignty being lost to the Union.^{[Citation Needed]}

History

The component nations had at various times been politically independent or unified with each other (peacefully or by invasion) before settling into the current arrangement. The nations share a monarchy, currency, and until the late 20th century, a single parliament (the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, in which practical power lies with the parliament, but the monarchy retain certain powers and a role in the function of the country). Queen Elizabeth II is the current Head of State of the UK. She is also the Queen of the Commonwealth Realms, which include among others, Australia, Canada, Jamaica, and New Zealand.

In the late 20th century, the formation of the Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly, and Scottish Parliament returned some political independence to the nations which composed the Union, although the main Parliament is still responsible for most decision-making. Other independences exist between the various nations: for example Scotland has long had its own legal system, and Wales and parts of Scotland are bilingual.

There is an ongoing debate about the role of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. Before the early 20th Century, Ireland as a whole was part of the United Kingdom, until a war for independence created the separate Republic of Ireland, with Northern Ireland continuing to be part of the UK. See the articles on Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Ireland for more information.

Crown Dependencies

A number of the smaller British Isles, most importantly Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are 'British Crown Dependencies' and not members of the UK. Their governments are independent of that of the UK other than foreign and defence policy (the UK government retains the legal power to overrule the governments of the Dependencies, but this power has not been exercised since 1967), and they are not members of the European Union.

Sport

Many of the most popular sports in the world today were developed or codified in the UK. These include soccer, cricket, rugby, tennis and golf. The UK is represented in international competitions by the individual nations (such as in soccer, cricket and rugby) and by the whole of the UK in other sports (such as athletics, golf and tennis). While not possessing the recent sporting success of countries such as Australia, the UK remains a major sporting force both in competition and the administration of sport. Certain venues have their own distinct and historical recognition and host a number of international competitions. These include Wimbledon for tennis, Silverstone for motor racing, and St Andrews for golf.

Domestic sport is dominated by soccer with one of the strongest and most popular leagues in the world - the Premier League of England. Teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool are well known sports club brands and maintain followings across the world. Cricket and both codes of rugby also have strong and popular domestic leagues. Other popular sports include snooker, rowing, darts, horse racing, and motor racing. These most popular sports are well covered by both the print press and TV.

Some sports notable for being more popular in other countries such as American football and basketball have small but dedicated followings.

Religion

According to the 2001 Census the religious make-up of the UK at that time was

Religions in United Kingdom

Belief	Thousands	Proportion
Christian	42,079	71.6
No Religion	9104	15.5
Muslim	1591	2.7
Hindu	559	1.0
Jedi Knight	390	0.7
Sikh	336	0.6
Jewish	267	0.5
Other	179	0.3
Buddhist	152	0.3
Pagan & Wicca	40	0.1
Total religious	45,163	76.8
No answer	4289	7.3

The answers were distorted by an internet campaign just prior to the census, that claimed that if at least 50,000 people stated their religion as 'Jedi Knight' it would be officially classified as a religion. This was not true, though the Office of National Statistics does aggregate very small religions into the 'Other' category whereas a religion of 50,000 would be itemised separately. This separate listing does not constitute any form of official recognition.

Two of the four states of the United Kingdom, England and Scotland, have official state religions. The Church of England is the official religion of England and the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland is the official religion of Scotland. The (Anglican) Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871 and the (Anglican) Church of Wales was disestablished in 1920, whereupon it was renamed the [[Church in Wales]].

See also

• British politics
• June 2007 UK terror attacks