United Kingdom uk or U. K

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK or U.K.)^[14] or Britain,^{[note 10]} is asovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands.^[15] Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland. Otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the southwest, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,000 square miles (240,000 km²).

The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.^{[note 11][16][17]} The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her the world's longest-serving current head of state.^[18] The United Kingdom's capital is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million.^[19] Other major cities include Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester.

The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales andNorthern Ireland.^[20] Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolvedgovernments,^[21] each with varying powers,^[22][23] but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation.^[24] The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the unionbetween England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK's current name was adopted in 1927 to reflect the change.^{[note 12]} There are fourteen British Overseas Territories,^[25] the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and was thelargest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and political systems of many of its former colonies.^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

The United Kingdom has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the ninth-largest by purchasing power parity(PPP). It has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating, ranking 14th in the world. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.^[31][32] The UK remains a great power, with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally.^[33][34] It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and is sixth in military expenditure in the world.^[35] It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.

The United Kingdom is a leading member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Interpol and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was a member of the European Union (EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC) for 47 years, between 1 January 1973 and withdrawal on 31 January 2020.

Etymology and terminology

See also: Britain (place name) and Terminology of the British Isles

The 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain".^{[36][37][note 13]} The term "United Kingdom" has occasionally been used as a description for the former kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was simply "Great Britain".^{[38][39][40][41]} The Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which leftNorthern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".^[42]

Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also widely referred to as countries.^[43][44] The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.^[20] Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdomrefer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions".^[45][46] Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province".^[47][48]With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences".^[49]

The term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination.^[50][51][52] It is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.^[53]

The term "Britain" is used both as a synonym for Great Britain,^[54][55][56] and as a synonym for the United Kingdom.^[57][56]Usage is mixed: the UK Government prefers to use the term "UK" rather than "Britain" or "British" on its own website (except when referring to embassies),^[58] while acknowledging that both terms refer to the United Kingdom and that elsewhere '"British government" is used at least as frequently as "United Kingdom government".^[59] The UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names recognises "United Kingdom" and "UK or U.K." as shortened and abbreviated geopolitical terms for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in its toponymic guidelines; it does not list "Britain" but notes 'it is only the one specific nominal term "Great Britain" which invariably excludes Northern Ireland.'^[59]The BBC historically preferred to use "Britain" as shorthand only for Great Britain, though the present style guide does not take a position except that "Great Britain" excludes Northern Ireland.^[60][61]

The adjective "British" is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom and is used in law to refer to United Kingdom citizenship and matters to do with nationality.^[62] People of the United Kingdom use a number of different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being British, English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, or Irish;^[63] or as having a combination of different national identities.^[64] The official designation for a citizen of the United Kingdom is "British citizen".^[59]

History

Background

Main articles: History of the United Kingdom, History of England, History of Wales, History of Scotland, History of Ireland, and History of the formation of the United Kingdom

See also: History of the British Isles



Stonehenge consists of a ring of standing stones, each around 13 feet (4.0 m) high and seven feet (2.1 m) wide and weighing approximately 25 tons; erected between 2400BC and 2200BC

Settlement by anatomically modern humans of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago.^[65] By the end of the region's prehistoric period, the population is thought to have belonged, in the main, to a culture termed Insular Celtic, comprising Brittonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland.^[66] The Roman conquest, beginning in 43 AD, and the 400-year rule of southern Britain, was followed by an invasion by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers, reducing the Brittonic area mainly to what was to become Wales, Cornwall and, until the latter stages of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the Hen Ogledd (northern England and parts of southern Scotland).^[67] Most of the region settled by the Anglo-Saxonsbecame unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.^[68] Meanwhile,Gaelic-speakers in north-west Britain (with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in the 5th century)^[69][70]united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century.^[71]



The Bayeux Tapestry depicts theBattle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.

In 1066, the Normans and their Breton allies invaded England from northern Franceand after its conquest, seized large parts of Wales, conquered much of Ireland and were invited to settle in Scotland, bringing to each country feudalism on the Northern French model and Norman-French culture.^[72] The Anglo-Norman ruling class greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, each of the local cultures.^[73] Subsequent medieval English kings completed the conquest of Walesand made unsuccessful attempts to annex Scotland. Asserting its independence in the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland maintained its independence thereafter, albeit in near-constant conflict with England.

The English monarchs, through inheritance of substantial territories in France and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the Hundred Years War, while the Kings of Scots were in an alliance with the French during this period.^[74] Early modern Britain saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country.^[75] Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England,^[76]and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.^[77] In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.^[78]

In 1603, the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a personal union when James VI, King of Scots, inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political, legal, and religious institutions.^[79][80]

In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms were involved in a series of connected wars (including the English Civil War) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy, with the execution of King Charles I, and the establishment of the short-lived unitary republic of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.^[81][82] During the 17th and 18th centuries, British sailors were involved in acts of piracy (privateering), attacking and stealing from ships off the coast of Europe and the Caribbean.^[83]



The State House in St. George's, Bermuda. Settled in 1612, the town is the oldest continuously-inhabited English town in the New World.

Although the monarchy was restored, the Interregnum (along with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the subsequent Bill of Rights 1689, and the Claim of Right Act 1689) ensured that, unlike much of the rest of Europe, royal absolutism would not prevail, and a professed Catholic could never accede to the throne. The British constitution would develop on the basis of constitutional monarchy and theparliamentary system.^[84] With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. During this period, particularly in England, the development of naval power (and the interest in voyages of discovery) led to the acquisition and settlement of overseas colonies, particularly in North America and the Caribbean.^[85][86]

Though previous attempts at uniting the two kingdoms within Great Britain in 1606, 1667, and 1689 had proved unsuccessful, the attempt initiated in 1705 led to theTreaty of Union of 1706 being agreed and ratified by both parliaments.