United Kingdom
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| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | |||||
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| National information | |||||
| National anthem: | God Save the Queen[1] | ||||
| About the people | |||||
| Official languages: | English (de facto), recognised regional languages are Welsh, Cornish, Scottish (Gaelic), Scots, and Irish. | ||||
| Population: (# of people) | |||||
| - Total: | 61,113,205 (Est. Jul 2009) [2] (ranked 23nd) | ||||
| - Density: | 637 per mi² / 246 per km² | ||||
| Geography / Places | |||||
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| Capital city: | London | ||||
| Largest city: | London | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total: | 94,526 mi² / 244,820 km² (ranked 79) | ||||
| - Water: | 1,266.6 mi² / 3,280.6 km² (1.34%) | ||||
| Politics / Government | |||||
| Economy / Money | |||||
| Currency: (Name of money) |
Pound Sterling (£) | ||||
| International information | |||||
| Time zone: | Greenwich Mean Time (+0,00) | ||||
| Telephone dialing code: | +44 | ||||
| Internet domain: | .uk | ||||
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually shortened to the United Kingdom, GB or UK, is a sovereign state in northwest Europe. It is made up of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.[3]
About 61 million people live in the UK. Most people in the UK speak English. There are several other native languages, other than English. They are Welsh in Wales, Gaelic and Scots in Scotland, Irish in Northern Ireland, French in the Channel Islands, Cornish in Cornwall and Angloromani. About 270 other languages are spoken.[needs proving] Major languages spoken in the United Kingdom other than English include Eastern Panjabi or Punjabi (471,000 - approximate number of speakers in the UK), Bengali (400,000), Urdu (400,000), Cantonese (300,000), Greek (200,000), Southwestern Caribbean Creole English (170,000).[4]
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[change] History
The history of Great Britain goes back to ancient times, when most of Britain was Pagan, full of Druids and Witches. This all changed with the Roman invasion of "Britain". After the "Romans" invaded the "Pagan" population went down and with the "Romans", came the founding of London. The Romans ruled this country from 43AD to 410AD.
- See also: History of the United Kingdom
Wales was taken over by England in the 13th century by the King, King Edward I of England.
In 1603, when Queen Elizabeth I of England died, her closest relative was King James VI of Scotland. He became king of England as well as king of Scotland, but the two countries stayed separate. In 1707, the Scottish and English Parliaments agreed the Treaty of Union, which joined the two countries into one country called The Kingdom of Great Britain under Queen Anne I of England.
By the year 1800, England had already had much influence over Ireland for over 600 years. In that year laws were passed in Great Britain and Ireland to merge the two states. This was against the wishes of many of the Irish people, as they had in previous centuries already suffered much English oppression. The new country was called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 much of Ireland became independent as the Irish Free State (now called the Republic of Ireland) from the United Kingdom. However, six northern counties of Ireland continued to be part of the United Kingdom. The country was renamed The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Germany bombed Britain in World War II. Winston Churchill was the famous Prime Minister then. He was a Conservative. The Prime Minister is the real leader of Britain.
Tony Blair was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. The Conservative party ruled for 18 years before his Labour party won elections. The current Prime Minister is Gordon Brown.
[change] Geography
The capital city of the United Kingdom is London, a large city on the River Thames in south-eastern England. Other large cities in the UK are Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leeds, Sheffield, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Southampton, Leicester, Coventry, Bradford and Nottingham.
The UK is north-west off the coast of mainland Europe. Around the UK are the North Sea, the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.
The UK is also in charge of a few smaller places around the world, most of them are islands, which are known as overseas territories.
The weather of the United Kingdom is warm summers, cool winters and lots of rain throughout the year. The reasons include its northerly latitude and the warm water from the Atlantic Ocean's Gulf Stream.
[change] Politics
The UK is a constitutional monarchy and a Hereditary monarchy. The people of the United Kingdom vote for a Member of Parliament to speak for them and to help make laws for them. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the queen of the UK and is the head of state (person in charge of the country). Even though she is the head of state, she does not choose what the United Kingdom should do about things like education, healthcare or other choices. The person who chooses for the people in the United Kingdom is the Prime Minister, who is in charge of the government. Today, the Prime Minister is Gordon Brown, who is the leader of the Labour party.
Parliament, where laws are made, has three constituent parts: the House of Commons and the House of Lords and the Queen in Parliament. The House of Commons generally holds primacy. The Members of Parliament serve in the Commons, as has every Prime Minister since the Marquess of Salisbury resigned in 1902. The peers sitting in the House of Lords are not chosen by all of the people of the United Kingdom. They are people who are peers, because their parents were peers (ie. they are hereditary peers), they have been created peers or they are important officials in the established Church of England. The 92 hereditary peers are the only elected members of the House of Lords. There are two other hereditary peers in the House of Lords because they also have jobs to do on state occasions.
Scotland has its own devolved Parliament with power to make laws on things like education, health and scots law. Northern Ireland and Wales have their own devolved Assemblies which have some powers but less than the Scottish parliament. The UK Parliament remains sovereign and it could end the devolved administrations at any time.
[change] Economy
The UK is a developed country with sixth largest economy in the world. It was a major world power during the 18th, 19th and early 20th century and was considered in the late 1800's the most powerful and influentual nation in the world, in politics, econamy (For it was the wealthiest counrty at the time.) and in military strength. The economic cost of two world wars and the decline of the British Empire in the latter 20th century reduced its leading role in global affairs. The UK retains strong economic, cultural, military and political influence and is a nuclear power. It is a member state of the European Union. The UK holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the G8, NATO, World Trade Organization and the Commonwealth of Nations.
[change] Literature
- See also: English literature
William Shakespeare is perhaps the most famous English playwright. He wrote plays in the late 16th century including Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. In the 19th century, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens were popular novelists. Twentieth century writers include the science fiction novelist H. G. Wells and J. R. R. Tolkien. The children's fantasy Harry Potter series is written by J. K. Rowling. Aldous Huxley was also from here.
Arthur Conan Doyle from Scotland wrote the Sherlock Holmes detective novels. He was from Edinburgh.
The poet Dylan Thomas has brought Welsh culture to international attention.
[change] Education
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have separate systems of education. They have in common that education is required from ages five to sixteen. The majority of children attend state schools but a small proportion of children attend private schools.
United Kingdom has the leading universities of University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, as well as the London universities (University College London, the London School of Economics, King's College London and Imperial College London) which collectively form the 'Golden Triangle (UK universities)'.
[change] Transport
Road traffic in the United Kingdom drives on the left hand side of the road (unlike Europe and the Americas), and the driver steers from the right hand side of the vehicle. The road network on the island of Great Britain and is extensive, with most local and rural roads having evolved from Roman and Medieval times. Major routes developed in the mid 20th Century with the dawn of the motor car. The high speed motorway (freeway) network was mostly constructed in the 1960s and 1970s and links together the major towns and cities.
The United Kingdom has the oldest railway network in the world, and was built mostly during the Victorian era. At the heart of the network are five long distance main lines which radiate from London to the major cities and secondary population centres with dense commuter networks within the regions. The newest part of the network connects London to the Channel Tunnel from St Pancras station and is built to the same standard as the French TGV system. The network is part privatised, with privately owned train operating companies providing service along particular lines or regions, whilst the tracks, signals and stations are owned by a Government controlled company called Network Rail.
Most domestic air travel in the United Kingdom is between London and the major cities in Scotland and the North of England. London-Heathrow is the nation’s largest airport and is one of the most important international hubs in the world. Other major airports with principal international service include London-Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.
An extensive system of ferry networks operate between the Scottish islands, and major ferry routes operate between England and France (via the English Channel), Scotland-Northern Ireland (via the Irish Sea) and England/Wales-Republic of Ireland (from Liverpool/Holyhead).
[change] References
- ↑ What is the British National Anthem?. Project Britain. Woodlands Junior School. Retrieved on 18 June 2009.
- ↑ United Kingdom. The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved on 30 August 2009.
- ↑ The Countries of the UK. www.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved on 10 October 2008.
- ↑ Languages of the UK. Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version. SIL International: ethnologue.com (2005). Retrieved on 13 November 2008.
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