User:SamuelFenn/sandbox/Destynia

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{{pp-semi-indef}} {{pp-move-indef}} {{Use British English|date=April 2012}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}} {{Infobox country | name = {{collapsible list |titlestyle=background:transparent;font-size:9pt; |title={{resize|11.5pt|{{nowrap|Republic of}} {{nowrap|Destynia}}}} |{{Infobox |subbox=yes |bodystyle=font-size:9pt; |rowclass1=mergedrow |label1=[[Cornish language|Cornish]]: |data1={{lang|kw|Rywvaneth Unys Breten Veur ha Kledhbarth Iwerdhon}} |rowclass2 =mergedrow |label2=[[Irish language|Irish]]: |data2={{lang|ga|Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Thuaisceart Éireann}} |rowclass3=mergedrow |label3=[[Scots language|Scots]]: |data3={{lang|sco|Unitit Kinrick o Great Breetain an Northren Ireland}} |rowclass4=mergedrow |label4=[[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]]:|data4={{lang|sco-UKN|Claught Kängrick o Docht Brätain an Norlin Airlann}} |rowclass5=mergedrow |label5=[[Scottish Gaelic]]: |data5={{lang|gd|Rìoghachd Aonaichte Bhreatainn is Èireann a Tuath}} |rowclass6=mergedrow |label6=[[Welsh language|Welsh]]: |data6={{lang|cy|Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon}} }} }} | common_name = United Kingdom | linking_name = the United Kingdom | image_flag = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg | alt_flag = A flag featuring both cross and saltire in red, white and blue | image_coat = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg | alt_coat = Coat of arms containing shield and crown in centre, flanked by lion and unicorn | symbol_type = {{nowrap|[[Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom|Royal coat of arms]]{{#tag:ref |An alternative variant of the Royal coat of arms is used in Scotland: [[:File:Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (Scotland).svg|[click to view image]]].|group="nb"}}}} | national_anthem = {{nowrap|1="[[God Save the Queen]]"{{#tag:ref |There is no authorised version of the national anthem as the words are a matter of tradition; only the first verse is usually sung.<ref>''[http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Symbols/NationalAnthem.aspx National Anthem]'', British Monarchy official website. Retrieved 16 November 2013.</ref> No law was passed making "God Save the Queen" the official anthem. In the English tradition, such laws are not necessary; proclamation and usage are sufficient to make it the national anthem. "God Save the Queen" also serves as the [[Honors music|Royal anthem]] for certain [[Commonwealth realms]]. |group="nb"}} <div style="padding-top:0.5em;"><center>[[File:United States Navy Band - God Save the Queen.ogg]]</center></div>}} | image_map = EU-United Kingdom.svg | alt_map = Two islands to the north-west of continental Europe. Highlighted are the larger island and the north-eastern fifth of the smaller island to the west. | map_caption = {{map_caption |countryprefix=the |country={{nobold|United Kingdom}} |location_color=dark green |region=Europe |region_color=dark grey |subregion=the [[European Union]] |subregion_color=green}} | languages_type = Official language<br />{{nobold|and national language}} | languages = [[English language|English]] | languages2_type = Recognised regional<br />languages{{#tag:ref |Under the [[Council of Europe]]'s [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]], Scots incl. Ulster Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, are officially recognised as [[Regional language|regional]] or [[Minority language|minority]] languages by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] for the purposes of the Charter. See also [[Languages of the United Kingdom]].<ref name="reglang">{{cite web |url= http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/Commun/ListeDeclarations.asp?CL=ENG&NT=148&VL=1 |title=List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148 |publisher=[[Council of Europe]] |accessdate=12 December 2013}}</ref> |group="nb"}} | languages2 = {{hlist|list_style=line-height:1.3em;|item_style=white-space; |[[Scots language|Scots]]|[[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]]|[[Welsh language|Welsh]]|[[Cornish language|Cornish]]|[[Scottish Gaelic]]|[[Irish language|Irish]]}} | ethnic_groups = {{ublist|list_style=line-height:1.3em; |class=nowrap |87.1% [[White people|White]] |7.0% [[British Asian|Asian]] |3.0% [[Black British|Black]] |2.0% [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed]] |0.9% others}} | ethnic_groups_year = [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011]] | demonym = {{hlist|[[British people|British]] | Briton}} | capital = [[London]] | latd=51 |latm=30 |latNS=N |longd=0 |longm=7 |longEW=W | largest_city = capital | government_type = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[constitutional monarchy]] | leader_title1 = [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Monarch]] | leader_name1 = {{nowrap|[[Elizabeth II]]}} | leader_title2 = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] | leader_name2 = [[David Cameron]] | legislature = [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] | upper_house = {{nowrap|[[House of Lords]]}} | lower_house = {{nowrap|[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]}} | sovereignty_type = [[History of the United Kingdom|History]] | established_event1 = [[Acts of Union of England and Scotland]] | established_date1 = {{nowrap|1 May 1707}} | established_event2 = [[Acts of Union of Great Britain and Ireland]] | established_date2 = {{nowrap|1 January 1801}} | established_event3 = [[Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922|Irish Free State Constitution Act]] | established_date3 = {{nowrap|5 December 1922}} | established_event4 = [[1973 enlargement of the European Economic Community|EEC accession]]{{#tag:ref |[[European Union]] since 1993. |group="nb"}} | established_date4 = {{nowrap|1 January 1973}} | EUseats = 78 | area_rank = 80th | area_magnitude = 1 E11 | area_km2 = 242495 | area_sq_mi = 93628 | area_footnote = <ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2012/Table03.pdf|format=PDF|title=Demographic Yearbook – Table 3: Population by sex, rate of population increase, surface area and density|publisher=United Nations Statistics Division|year=2012|accessdate=9 August 2015}}</ref> | percent_water = 1.34 | population_estimate_rank = 22nd | population_estimate = 64,511,000<ref name="imf2"/> | population_census = 63,181,775<ref name="pop_census">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/uk-census/index.html |title=2011 UK censuses |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=17 December 2012}}</ref> | population_estimate_year = 2014 | population_census_year = 2011 | population_census_rank = 22nd | population_density_km2 = 255.6 | population_density_sq_mi = 661.9 | population_density_rank = 51st | GDP_PPP_year = 2015 | GDP_PPP = {{nowrap|$2.660 trillion}} | GDP_PPP_rank = 10th | GDP_PPP_per_capita = $40,958<ref name="imf2">{{cite web |url= http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=43&pr.y=14&sy=2014&ey=2020&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=112&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a= |title=United Kingdom |publisher=International Monetary Fund |accessdate= October 2015 }}</ref> | GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 28th | GDP_nominal_year = 2015 | GDP_nominal_rank= 5th | GDP_nominal_per_capita = $44,118<ref name="imf2"/> | GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 19th | GDP_nominal = {{nowrap|$2.865 trillion}} | Gini_year = 2012 | Gini_change = decrease | Gini = 32.8 | Gini_ref =<ref name="eurogini">{{cite web |title=Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income (source: SILC) |url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_di12 |publisher=Eurostat Data Explorer |accessdate=13 August 2013}}</ref> | Gini_rank = 33rd | HDI_year = 2013 | HDI_change = steady | HDI = 0.892 | HDI_ref =<ref name="HDI">{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-summary-en.pdf |title=2014 Human Development Report |date=14 March 2013 |accessdate=27 July 2014 |pages=22–25}}</ref> | HDI_rank = 14th | currency = [[Pound sterling]] (£) | currency_code = GBP | time_zone = [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]] | utc_offset =  | time_zone_DST = [[British Summer Time|BST]] | utc_offset_DST = +1 | date_format = dd/mm/yyyy ([[Anno Domini|AD]]) | drives_on = [[Right- and left-hand traffic|left]] | calling_code = [[Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom|+44]] | cctld = [[.uk]] }}

The '''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''', commonly known as the '''United Kingdom''' ('''UK''') or '''Britain''',{{#tag:ref |[[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] transcriptions

{{nowrap|"United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"}}

{{nowrap|Standard: {{IPAc-en|juː|ˈ|n|aɪ|t|ɪ|d|_|ˈ|k|ɪ|ŋ|d|əm|_|ə|v|_|ɡ|r|eɪ|t|_|ˈ|b|r|ɪ|t|ən|_|ə|n|(d)|_|ˈ|n|ɔr|ð|ər|n|_|ˈ|aɪər|l|ən|d}}}}

{{nowrap|[[Received Pronunciation|RP]]: {{IPAc-en|juː|ˈ|n|aɪ|t|ɪ|d|_|ˈ|k|ɪ|ŋ|d|əm|_|ə|v|_|ɡ|r|eɪ|t|_|ˈ|b|r|ɪ|t|ə|n|_|ə|n|(d)|_|ˈ|n|ɔː|ð|ə|n|_|ˈ|aɪ|ə|l|ən|d|audio=United Kingdom pronunciation.ogg}}}}

{{nowrap|"UK" {{IPAc-en|juː|ˈ|k|eɪ}}}}

*{{nowrap|"Britain" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|ɪ|t|ən|audio=en-uk-Britain.ogg}}}}|group="nb"}} is a [[sovereign state]] in [[Europe]]. Lying off the north-western coast of the [[Continental Europe|European mainland]], the country includes the island of [[Great Britain]]—a term also applied loosely to refer to the whole country—the north-eastern part of the island of [[Ireland]] and many smaller islands.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Great Britain in English |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Great-Britain?q=Great+Britain |publisher=Oxford University Press |accessdate=29 October 2014 |quote=Great Britain is the name for the island that comprises England, Scotland, and Wales, although the term is also used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom.}}</ref> [[Northern Ireland]] is the only part of the UK that shares [[Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border|a land border]] with another state (the [[Republic of Ireland]]).<ref group="nb">Although Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another state, two of [[British Overseas Territories|its Overseas Territories]] also share land borders with other states. [[Gibraltar]] shares [[Gibraltar-Spain border|a border]] with [[Spain]], while the [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia|Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia]] share borders with the [[Cyprus|Republic of Cyprus]], [[Northern Cyprus|Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] and UN [[buffer zone]] separating the two Cypriot polities.</ref> Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the [[Atlantic Ocean]], with the [[North Sea]] to its east, the [[English Channel]] to its south and the [[Celtic Sea]] to its south-southwest. The [[Irish Sea]] lies between Great Britain and Ireland. The UK has an area of {{convert|93800|sqmi|km2}}, making it the [[List of countries by area|80th-largest sovereign state in the world]] and the [[List of European countries by area|11th-largest in Europe]].

The United Kingdom is the [[List of countries and dependencies by population|22nd-most populous country]], with an estimated 64.5 million inhabitants.<ref name="imf2"/> It is a [[constitutional monarchy]] with a [[parliamentary system]] of governance.<ref>[http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/HowtheMonarchyworks/Whatisconstitutionalmonarchy.aspx The British Monarchy, ''What is constitutional monarchy?'']. Retrieved 17 July 2013</ref><ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html CIA, ''The World Factbook'']. Retrieved 17 July 2013</ref> Its [[capital city]] is [[London]], an important [[global city]] and [[financial centre]] with an urban population of 10,310,000, the fourth-largest in Europe and [[Largest urban areas of the European Union|second-largest in the European Union]].<ref>The 30 Largest Urban Agglomerations Ranked by Population Size at Each Point in Time, 1950-2030, [http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/CD-ROM/ World Urbanization Prospects, the 2014 revision], Population Division of the [[United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs]]. Retrieved 22 February 2015.</ref> The current [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|monarch]]—since 6 February 1952—is [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]]. The UK consists of [[countries of the United Kingdom|four countries]]: [[England]], [[Scotland]], [[Wales]], and [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name="page823">{{cite web |url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823 |title=Countries within a country |publisher=Prime Minister's Office |date=10 January 2003|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> The latter three have [[devolution in the United Kingdom|devolved]] administrations,<ref name="devoladmins">{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland#devolved-administrations |title=Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland |publisher=United Kingdom Government |accessdate=17 April 2013 |quote=In a similar way to how the government is formed from members from the two Houses of Parliament, members of the devolved legislatures nominate ministers from among themselves to comprise an executive, known as the devolved administrations...}}</ref> each with varying powers,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7859034.stm |title=Fall in UK university students |work=BBC News |date=29 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transport-research.info/web/countryprofiles/uk.cfm |title=Country Overviews: United Kingdom |publisher=Transport Research Knowledge Centre |accessdate=28 March 2010}}</ref> based in their capitals, [[Edinburgh]], [[Cardiff]], and [[Belfast]], respectively. The nearby [[Isle of Man]], [[Bailiwick of Guernsey]] and [[Bailiwick of Jersey]] are not part of the United Kingdom, being [[Crown dependencies]] with the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British Government]] responsible for defence and international representation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517 |archivedate=3 October 2012|title=Key facts about the United Kingdom |archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http:/www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517|accessdate=6 March 2015|publisher=[[Directgov]] |quote= The full title of this country is 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom (UK) is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 'Britain' is used informally, usually meaning the United Kingdom. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK.}}</ref>

The relationships among the countries of the United Kingdom have [[History of the formation of the United Kingdom|changed over time]]. Wales was annexed by the [[Kingdom of England]] under the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542|Acts of Union]] of 1536 and 1543. [[Treaty of Union|A treaty]] between England and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] resulted in 1707 in a unified [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], which merged in 1801 with the [[Kingdom of Ireland]] to form the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the country, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.<ref group="nb">The [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] was signed on 6 December 1921 to resolve the [[Irish War of Independence]]. Effective one year later, it established the [[Irish Free State]] as a separate [[dominion]] within the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]]. The UK's current name was [[Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927|adopted in 1927]] to reflect the change.</ref> The UK has [[British Overseas Territories|fourteen Overseas Territories]].<ref name=overseasterrirories>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/protecting-and-developing-the-overseas-territories |title=Supporting the Overseas Territories |publisher=[[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> These are the remnants of the [[British Empire]] which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land mass and was the [[List of largest empires#All empires at their greatest extent|largest empire in history]]. British influence can be observed in the [[English language|language]], [[culture of the United Kingdom|culture]], and [[common law|legal systems]] of many of [[List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom|its former colonies]].

The United Kingdom is a [[developed country]] and has the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|fifth-largest economy]] by nominal [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] and [[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|tenth-largest economy]] by [[purchasing power parity]]. The UK is considered to have a [[World Bank high-income economy|high-income economy]] and is categorised as very high in the [[Human Development Index]], currently ranking [[List of countries by Human Development Index|14th in the world]]. It was the world's first [[Industrialisation|industrialised]] country and the world's foremost [[Power (international relations)|power]] during the 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |title=The First Industrial Nation: the Economic History of Britain, 1700–1914 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |author=Mathias, P. |year=2001 |isbn=0-415-26672-6}}</ref><ref name="ferguson">{{cite book |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |year=2004 |title=Empire: The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=0-465-02328-2}}</ref> The UK remains a [[great power]] with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, and political [[Sphere of influence|influence]] internationally.<ref>{{cite book | last = T. V. Paul, James J. Wirtz, Michel Fortmann| title=Balance of Power| publisher=State University of New York Press, 2005 | year=2005| pages = 59, 282 | isbn = 0791464016| url=http://www.google.com/books?id=9jy28vBqscQC&pg=PA59&dq="Great+power"}} ''Accordingly, the great powers after the Cold War are Britain, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States'' p.59</ref><ref name="David M. McCourt">{{cite book |last=McCourt |first=David |title=Britain and World Power Since 1945: Constructing a Nation's Role in International Politics |publisher=University of Michigan Press |date=28 May 2014 |location=United States of America|pages=|isbn=0472072218 |url=http://books.google.ie/books?id=lwpOnwEACAAJ&dq=Britain+and+World+Power+Since+1945:+Constructing+a+Nation%27s+Role+in+International+Politics&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TCJkU8TOE6mS7Abw14HIBg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA}}</ref> It is a [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty|recognised]] [[List of states with nuclear weapons|nuclear weapons state]] and its [[List of countries by military expenditures|military expenditure ranks fifth or sixth]] in the world.<ref name="SIPRI">{{cite web |url=http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=476 |title=The 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2013 (table) |publisher=[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] |format=PDF |accessdate=4 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="iiss.org">[http://www.iiss.org/en/about%20us/press%20room/press%20releases/press%20releases/archive/2014-dd03/february-0abc/military-balance-2014-press-statement-52d7 The Military Balance 2014: Top 15 Defence Budgets 2013] (IISS)</ref> The UK has been a [[permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|permanent member]] of the [[United Nations Security Council]] since its first session in 1946. It has been a [[member state of the European Union|member state]] of the [[European Union]] (EU) and its predecessor, the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC), since 1973; it is also a member of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], the [[Council of Europe]], the [[G7 finance ministers]], the [[G7 forum]], the [[G-20 major economies|G20]], [[NATO]], the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), and the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO).

Etymology and terminology

{{anchor|Etymology}} {{see also|Britain (place name)|Terminology of the British Isles}}

The [[Acts of Union 1707|1707 Acts of Union]] declared that the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]", though the new state is also referred to in the Acts as the "Kingdom of Great Britain", "United Kingdom of Great Britain" and "United Kingdom".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |title=Treaty of Union, 1706 |publisher=Scots History Online |accessdate=23 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=LYc1tSYonrQC&pg=PA165 |title=Constitutional & Administrative Law |page=165 |author=Barnett, Hilaire |author2=Jago, Robert |edition=8th |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-415-56301-7 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon }}</ref><ref group="nb">Compare to section 1 of both of the 1800 [[Acts of Union (1800)|Acts of Union]] which reads: the ''Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall...be united into one Kingdom, by the Name of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland"''</ref> However, the term "United Kingdom" is only found in informal use during the 18th century and the country was only occasionally referred to as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain"—its full official name, from 1707 to 1800, being merely ''Great Britain'', without a "long form".<ref>See [[s:Act of Union 1707#Article 1 (name of the new kingdom)|Article One]] of the Act of Union 1707.</ref><ref name=name>"After the political union of England and Scotland in 1707, the nation's official name became 'Great Britain'", ''The American Pageant, Volume 1'', Cengage Learning (2012)</ref><ref name=name2>"From 1707 until 1801 ''Great Britain'' was the official designation of the kingdoms of England and Scotland". ''The Standard Reference Work: For the Home, School and Library, Volume 3'', Harold Melvin Stanford (1921)</ref><ref name=name3>"In 1707, on the union with Scotland, 'Great Britain' became the official name of the British Kingdom, and so continued until the union with Ireland in 1801". ''United States Congressional serial set, Issue 10; Issue 3265'' (1895)</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab07 |title=History of Great Britain (from 1707) |authorlink=Bamber Gascoigne |author=Gascoigne, Bamber |publisher=History World |accessdate=18 July 2011}}</ref> 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]]. The name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was adopted following the independence of the [[Irish Free State]], and the [[partition of Ireland]], in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the UK.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Irish Civil War 1922–23 |author=Cottrell, P. |year=2008 |page=85 |isbn=1-84603-270-9}}</ref>

Although the United Kingdom, as a sovereign state, is a country, England, Scotland, Wales, and to a lesser degree, Northern Ireland, are also regarded as ''countries'', though they are not sovereign states.<ref name="alphabeticalNI1">{{citation |author1=S. Dunn |author2=H. Dawson|year=2000 |title=An Alphabetical Listing of Word, Name and Place in Northern Ireland and the Living Language of Conflict |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |location=Lampeter |quote=One specific problem—in both general and particular senses—is to know what to call Northern Ireland itself: in the general sense, it is not a country, or a province, or a state—although some refer to it contemptuously as a statelet: the least controversial word appears to be jurisdiction, but this might change.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_3166-2_newsletter_ii-3_2011-12-13.pdf |title=Changes in the list of subdivision names and code elements |work=ISO 3166-2 |publisher=International Organization for Standardization |date=15 December 2011 |accessdate=28 May 2012}}</ref> Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government.<ref>[https://books.google.com/?id=gPkDAQAAIAAJ Population Trends, Issues 75–82, p.38], 1994, UK Office of Population Censuses and Surveys</ref><ref name="citizenship">[https://books.google.com/?id=2u8rD6F-yg0C&pg=PA7 Life in the United Kingdom: a journey to citizenship, p. 7], United Kingdom Home Office, 2007, ISBN 978-0-11-341313-3.</ref> The British Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.<ref name="page823"/> Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve [[NUTS of the United Kingdom|NUTS 1 regions of the UK]], also refer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_346117.xml |title=Statistical bulletin: Regional Labour Market Statistics |accessdate=5 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/fall-in-earnings-value-during-recession |title=13.4% Fall In Earnings Value During Recession |accessdate=5 March 2014}}</ref> Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province".<ref name="alphabeticalNI2">{{cite book |author=Dunn, Seamus; Dawson, Helen. |title=An Alphabetical Listing of Word, Name and Place in Northern Ireland and the Living Language of Conflict |year=2000 |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |place=Lampeter |isbn=978-0-7734-7711-7}}</ref><ref name="placeApart">{{cite book |author=Murphy, Dervla |title=A Place Apart |year=1979 |publisher=Penguin |place=London |isbn=978-0-14-005030-1}}</ref> With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Whyte |first1=John |authorlink1=John Henry Whyte |last2=FitzGerald |first2=Garret| authorlink2=Garret FitzGerald|year=1991 |title=Interpreting Northern Ireland |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-827380-6}}</ref>

The term ''Britain'' is often used as synonym for the United Kingdom. The term ''Great Britain'', by contrast, refers conventionally to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/page/0,,184840,00.html |title=Guardian Unlimited Style Guide |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|accessdate=23 August 2011 |location=London |date=19 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/radio_newsroom/1099593.stm#g| title=BBC style guide (Great Britain)| accessdate=23 August 2011 |work=BBC News| date=19 August 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517 |title=Key facts about the United Kingdom|archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517|archivedate=3 November 2012 |accessdate=8 March 2015 |work=Government, citizens and rights |publisher=HM Government}}</ref> However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/great%20britain |title=Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online Definition of ''Great Britain'' |publisher=[[Merriam Webster]] |date=31 August 2012 |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref><ref>[[New Oxford American Dictionary]]: "Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland considered as a unit. The name is also often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom."</ref> ''GB'' and ''GBR'' are the [[International Organization for Standardization|standard]] country codes for the United Kingdom (see [[ISO 3166-2:GB|ISO 3166-2]] and [[ISO 3166-1 alpha-3]]) and are consequently used by international organisations to refer to the United Kingdom. Additionally, the United Kingdom's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain" or "Team GB".<ref>{{cite web |title=Great Britain |url=http://www.olympic.org/great-britain |publisher=International Olympic Committee |accessdate=10 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Mulgrew|first1=John|title=Team GB Olympic name row still simmering in Northern Ireland|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/team-gb-olympic-name-row-still-simmering-in-northern-ireland-28776939.html|accessdate=9 March 2015|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=2 August 2012}}</ref>

The adjective ''British'' is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom. The term has no definite legal connotation, but is used in law to refer to UK citizenship and [[British nationality law|matters to do with nationality]].<ref name="Bradley">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=HT_GS2zgN5QC&pg=PA36 |title=Constitutional and administrative law |volume=1 |page=36 |author=Bradley, Anthony Wilfred |author2=Ewing, Keith D. |edition=14th |publisher=Pearson Longman |location=Harlow |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4058-1207-8}}</ref> People of the United Kingdom use a number of different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being [[British people|British]]; or as being [[English people|English]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], [[People of Northern Ireland|Northern Irish]], or [[Irish people|Irish]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2010/Community_Relations/NINATID.html |title=Which of these best describes the way you think of yourself? |year=2010 |work=Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2010 |publisher=ARK – Access Research Knowledge |accessdate=1 July 2010}}</ref> or as being both.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=u8gZklxHTMUC&pg=PA275 |title=Regionalism after regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom |pages=275–277 |author=Schrijver, Frans |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-90-5629-428-1}}</ref>

In 2006, a new design of [[British passport]] was introduced. Its first page shows the long form name of the state in English, [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Scottish Gaelic]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/11/ian-jack-saddened-by-scotland-going-gaelic |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Ian |last=Jack |title=Why I'm saddened by Scotland going Gaelic |date=11 December 2010}}</ref> In Welsh, the long form name of the state is "Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon" with "Teyrnas Unedig" being used as a short form name on government websites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/cy/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517CY |title=Ffeithiau allweddol am y Deyrnas Unedig |publisher= Directgov – Llywodraeth, dinasyddion a hawliau|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924102112/http://www.direct.gov.uk/cy/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517CY|archivedate=24 September 2012|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> (However it is usually abbreviated to "DU" for the mutated form "Y Deyrnas Unedig".) In Scottish Gaelic, the long form is "Rìoghachd Aonaichte Bhreatainn is Èireann a Tuath" and the short form "Rìoghachd Aonaichte".

History

Before 1707

{{main|History of England|History of Wales|History of Scotland|History of Ireland|History of the formation of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Stonehenge2007 07 30.jpg|thumb|right|[[Stonehenge]], in [[Wiltshire]], was erected around 2500 BC.]] Settlement by [[Cro-Magnons|anatomically modern humans]] of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred [[Prehistoric settlement of the British Isles|in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7069001.stm "Ancient skeleton was 'even older']". [[BBC News]]. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2011.</ref> By the end of the [[Prehistoric Britain|region's prehistoric period]], the population is thought to have belonged, in the main, to a culture termed [[Insular Celts|Insular Celtic]], comprising [[Britons (historical)|Brythonic Britain]] and [[Gaelic Ireland]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Celtic culture: A historical encyclopedia |page=973 |author=Koch, John T. |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |year=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA}}</ref> The [[Roman conquest of Britain|Roman conquest]], beginning in 43 AD, and the 400-year [[Roman Britain|rule of southern Britain]], was followed by an invasion by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Anglo-Saxon]] settlers, reducing the Brythonic area [[Wales#Medieval Wales|mainly to what was to become Wales]] and the historic [[Kingdom of Strathclyde]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Davies|editor1-link=John Davies (historian) |editor2-first=Nigel |editor2-last=Jenkins |editor2-link=Nigel Jenkins |editor3-first=Menna |editor3-last=Baines|editor4-first=Peredur I. |editor4-last=Lynch |editor4-link=Peredur Lynch|displayeditors=4 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Wales|The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales]] |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6 |page=915}}</ref> Most of the [[Anglo-Saxon England|region settled by the Anglo-Saxons]] became unified as the [[Kingdom of England]] in the 10th century.<ref name="Short Athelstan biography on the BBC History website">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/athelstan.shtml |title=Short Athelstan biography |publisher=BBC History |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref> Meanwhile, [[Dál Riata|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)<ref>{{cite book |author=Mackie, J.D. |authorlink=J.D. Mackie |title=A History of Scotland |location=London |publisher=Penguin |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-14-013649-4 |pages=18–19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Campbell, Ewan |title=Saints and Sea-kings: The First Kingdom of the Scots |publisher=Canongate |location=Edinburgh |year=1999 |isbn=0-86241-874-7 |pages=8–15}}</ref> united with the [[Picts]] to create the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] in the 9th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haigh |first=Christopher |title=The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |page=30 |isbn=978-0-521-39552-6}}</ref>

[[File:Bayeux Tapestry WillelmDux.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bayeux Tapestry]] depicts the [[Battle of Hastings]], 1066, and the events leading to it.]]

In 1066, the [[Normans]] invaded England from France and after [[Norman conquest of England|its conquest]], seized [[Norman invasion of Wales|large parts of Wales]], [[Norman invasion of Ireland|conquered much of Ireland]] and were invited to [[Davidian Revolution|settle in Scotland]], bringing to each country [[feudalism]] on the Northern French model and [[Norman-French]] culture.<ref>{{cite book |title=Feudalism |author=Ganshof, F.L. |page=165 |isbn=978-0-8020-7158-3 |publisher=University of Toronto |year=1996}}</ref> The [[Anglo-Norman|Norman elites]] greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, each of the local cultures.<ref>{{cite book |title=The debate on the Norman Conquest |pages=115–122 |author=Chibnall, Marjorie |year=1999 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-4913-2}}</ref> Subsequent [[House of Plantagenet|medieval English kings]] completed the [[conquest of Wales]] and made an unsuccessful [[Wars of Scottish Independence|attempt to annex Scotland]]. Following the [[Declaration of Arbroath]], Scotland maintained its independence, albeit in [[Anglo-Scottish Wars|near-constant conflict with England]]. The English monarchs, through inheritance of [[Angevin Empire|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 [[List of Scottish monarchs|Kings of Scots]] were in [[Auld Alliance|an alliance with the French]] during this period.<ref>Keen, Maurice. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/hundred_years_war_01.shtml "The Hundred Years' War"]. BBC History.</ref>

The [[Early Modern Britain|early modern period]] saw religious conflict resulting from the [[Reformation]] and the introduction of [[Protestantism in the United Kingdom|Protestant]] state churches in each country.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/479892/Protestantism/41558/The-Reformation-in-England-and-Scotland The Reformation in England and Scotland] and [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293754/Ireland/22978/The-Reformation-period Ireland: The Reformation Period & Ireland under Elizabth I], Encyclopædia Britannica Online.</ref> Wales was [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542|fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England]],<ref name="BBC Tudors">{{cite web |title=British History in Depth – Wales under the Tudors |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/wales_tudors_01.shtml |accessdate=21 September 2010 |publisher=BBC History |date=5 November 2009}}</ref> and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.<ref>{{cite book |title=A history of the modern British Isles, 1529–1603: The two kingdoms |pages=171–172 |first=Mark |last=Nicholls |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-631-19334-0 |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford}}</ref> In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and [[Plantation of Ulster|given to Protestant settlers]] from England and Scotland.<ref>{{cite book |last=Canny |first=Nicholas P. |title=Making Ireland British, 1580–1650 |pages=189–200 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-925905-2}}</ref>

In 1603, the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a [[personal union]] when [[James I of England|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.<ref name="D. Ross, 2002 p. 56">Ross, D. (2002). ''Chronology of Scottish History''. Glasgow: Geddes & Grosset. p. 56. ISBN 1-85534-380-0</ref><ref name="J. Hearn, 2002 p. 104">Hearn, J. (2002). ''Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture''. Edinburgh University Press. p. 104. ISBN 1-902930-16-9</ref>

In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms|were involved in a series of connected wars]] (including the [[English Civil War]]) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the short-lived [[unitary republic]] of the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/187936/English-Civil-Wars |title=English Civil Wars |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/scotland/01_laws.php |title=Scotland and the Commonwealth: 1651–1660 |publisher=Archontology.org |date=14 March 2010 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=McCarthy|first1=Mathew|title=Privateering, Piracy and British Policy in Spanish America, 1810-1830|date=2013|publisher=The Boydell Press|location=Woodbridge|isbn=1843838613|edition=1st|accessdate=13 September 2015}}</ref>

Although the [[Restoration (1660)|monarchy was restored]], the [[Interregnum (1649–1660)|Interregnum]] ensured (with the [[Glorious Revolution]] of 1688 and the subsequent [[Bill of Rights 1689]], and the [[Claim of Right Act 1689]]) 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 the [[parliamentary system]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lodge |first=Richard |year=2007 |origyear=1910 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=EBSpvBxGyqcC |title=The History of England – From the Restoration to the Death of William III (1660–1702) |publisher=Read Books |page=8 |isbn=978-1-4067-0897-4 }}</ref> With the founding of the [[Royal Society]] in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. During this period, particularly in England, the development of [[English navy|naval power]] (and the interest in [[Age of Discovery|voyages of discovery]]) led to the acquisition and settlement of [[First British Empire|overseas colonies]], particularly in North America.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |work=Royal Navy History |title=Tudor Period and the Birth of a Regular Navy|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103013901/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two|archivedate=3 November 2011 |accessdate=8 March 2015 |publisher=Institute of Naval History}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Nicholas |last=Canny |title=The Origins of Empire, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume I |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-924676-9 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=eQHSivGzEEMC |ref=refOHBEv1 }}</ref> {{clear left}}

Since the Acts of Union of 1707 and 1801

{{main|History of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Treaty of Union.jpg|thumb|The [[Treaty of Union]] led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.]] On 1 May 1707, the united [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] came into being, the result of [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]] being passed by the parliaments of England and Scotland to ratify the 1706 [[Treaty of Union]] and so unite the two kingdoms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/docs/articles_union.htm |title=Articles of Union with Scotland 1707 |publisher=UK Parliament |accessdate=19 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/ |title=Acts of Union 1707 |publisher=UK Parliament |accessdate=6 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |title=Treaty (act) of Union 1706 |publisher=Scottish History online |accessdate=3 February 2011}}</ref>

In the 18th century, cabinet government developed under [[Robert Walpole]], in practice the first prime minister (1721–1742). A series of [[Jacobite Uprisings]] sought to remove the Protestant [[House of Hanover]] from the British throne and restore the Catholic [[House of Stuart]]. The Jacobites were finally defeated at the [[Battle of Culloden]] in 1746, after which the [[Scottish Highlanders]] were brutally suppressed. The British colonies in North America that broke away from Britain in the [[American Revolutionary War|American War of Independence]] became the United States of America in 1783. British imperial ambition turned elsewhere, particularly to India.<ref>Library of Congress, [https://books.google.com/?id=BQDgr_XvsHoC&pg=PA73 ''The Impact of the American Revolution Abroad''], p. 73.</ref>

During the 18th century, Britain was involved in the [[Atlantic slave trade]]. British [[Slave ship|ships]] transported an estimated 2 million slaves from Africa to the West Indies before banning the trade in 1807, banning slavery in 1833, and taking a leading role in the movement to abolish slavery worldwide by pressing other nations to end their trade with a series of treaties, and then formed the world's oldest international human rights organisation, [[Anti-Slavery International]], in London in 1839.<ref>[http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=9462&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html "Anti-Slavery International"]. UNESCO. Retrieved 15 October 2010</ref><ref>Loosemore, Jo (2007). [http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery]. BBC Devon. 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lovejoy |first=Paul E. |title=Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa |page=290 |location=New York |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0521780128 }}</ref> The term "United Kingdom" became official in 1801 when the parliaments of Britain and Ireland each passed an [[Acts of Union (1800)|Act of Union]], uniting the two kingdoms and creating the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.actofunion.ac.uk/actofunion.htm#act |title=The Act of Union |publisher=Act of Union Virtual Library |accessdate=15 May 2006}}</ref>

In the early 19th century, the British-led [[Industrial Revolution]] began to transform the country. It slowly led to a shift in political power away from the old [[Tory]] and [[Whiggism|Whig]] landowning classes towards the new industrialists. An alliance of merchants and industrialists with the [[Whig (British political party)|Whigs]] would lead to a new party, the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]], with an ideology of [[free trade]] and ''[[laissez-faire]]''. In 1832 Parliament passed the [[Great Reform Act]], which began the transfer of political power from the aristocracy to the middle classes. In the countryside, [[enclosure]] of the land was driving small farmers out. Towns and cities began to swell with a new urban working class. Few ordinary workers had the vote, and they created their own organisations in the form of [[trade unions]].

[[File:Battle of Waterloo 1815.PNG|thumb|left|alt=Painting of a bloody battle. Horses and infantry fight or lie on grass.|The [[Battle of Waterloo]] marked the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] and the start of ''[[Pax Britannica]]''.]]

After the defeat of France in the [[French revolutionary wars|Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic Wars]] (1792–1815), the UK emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830).<ref>Tellier, L.-N. (2009). ''Urban World History: an Economic and Geographical Perspective''. Quebec: PUQ. p. 463. ISBN 2-7605-1588-5.</ref> [[Royal Navy#1815–1914|Unchallenged at sea]], British dominance was later described as ''[[Pax Britannica]]'' ("British Peace"), a period of relative peace in Europe and the world (1815–1914).<ref>Sondhaus, L. (2004). ''Navies in Modern World History''. London: Reaktion Books. p. 9. ISBN 1-86189-202-0.</ref><ref>{{Cite book| first=Andrew| last=Porter| title=The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III| publisher=Oxford University Press| year=1998| isbn=0-19-924678-5 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=oo3F2X8IDeEC| ref=refOHBEv3|page=332}}</ref> By the time of [[the Great Exhibition]] of 1851, Britain was described as the "workshop of the world".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/workshop_of_the_world_01.shtml |title=The Workshop of the World |publisher=BBC History |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> The British Empire was expanded to include [[British Raj|India]], large [[British Empire#Cape to Cairo|parts of Africa]] and many other territories throughout the world. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina and [[Thailand|Siam]].<ref>{{Cite book| first=Andrew| last=Porter| title=The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-924678-5 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=oo3F2X8IDeEC |ref=refOHBEv3 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=P.J. |last=Marshall |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-00254-0 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=S2EXN8JTwAEC |ref=refMarshall |pages=156–57}}</ref> Domestically, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies and a gradual widening of the voting franchise. During the century, the population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, causing significant social and economic stresses.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=H5kcJqmXk2oC&pg=PA63 |title=Great Britain: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present |page=63 |first=Richard S. |last=Tompson |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8160-4474-0 |location=New York |publisher=Facts on File }}</ref> After 1875, the UK's industrial monopoly was challenged by Germany and the United States. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] under [[Disraeli]] launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, and elsewhere. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions.<ref>{{cite book |title=World War I: People, Politics, and Power |series=America at War |page=21 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |author=Hosch, William L. |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-61530-048-8 |location=New York}}</ref>

Social reform and home rule for Ireland were important domestic issues after 1900. The [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] emerged from an alliance of trade unions and small Socialist groups in 1900, and [[suffragettes]] campaigned for women's right to vote before 1914.

[[File:Royal Irish Rifles ration party Somme July 1916.jpg|thumb|alt=Black-and-white photo of two dozen men in military uniforms and metal helmets sitting or standing in a muddy trench.|Infantry of the [[Royal Ulster Rifles|Royal Irish Rifles]] during the [[Battle of the Somme]]. More than 885,000 British soldiers died on the battlefields of World War I.]] The UK fought with France, Russia and (after 1917) the US, against Germany and its allies in [[World War I]] (1914–18).<ref>Turner, John (1988). ''Britain and the First World War''. London: Unwin Hyman. pp. 22–35. ISBN 978-0-04-445109-9.</ref> The UK armed forces were engaged across much of the British Empire and in several regions of Europe, particularly on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western front]].<ref name="Westwell&Cove"/> The high fatalities of trench warfare caused the loss of much of a generation of men, with lasting social effects in the nation and a great disruption in the social order.

After the war, the UK received the [[League of Nations]] mandate over a number of former German and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] colonies. The British Empire reached its greatest extent, covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population.<ref>Turner, J. (1988). ''Britain and the First World War''. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 41. ISBN 0-04-445109-1.</ref> However, the UK had suffered 2.5 million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt.<ref name="Westwell&Cove">Westwell, I.; Cove, D. (eds) (2002). ''History of World War I, Volume 3''. London: Marshall Cavendish. pp. 698 and 705. ISBN 0-7614-7231-2.</ref> The rise of [[Irish Nationalism]] and disputes within Ireland over the terms of [[Irish Home Rule]] led eventually to the [[Partition of Ireland|partition of the island]] in 1921,<ref>SR&O 1921, No. 533 of 3 May 1921.</ref> and the [[Irish Free State]] became independent with [[Dominion|Dominion status]] in 1922. Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.<ref name="CAIN">{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/ait1921.htm |title=The Anglo-Irish Treaty, 6 December 1921 |publisher=CAIN |accessdate=15 May 2006}}</ref> A wave of strikes in the mid-1920s culminated in the [[UK General Strike of 1926]]. The UK had still not recovered from the effects of the war when the [[Great Depression in the United Kingdom|Great Depression]] (1929–32) occurred. This led to considerable unemployment and hardship in the old industrial areas, as well as political and social unrest in the 1930s. A coalition government was formed in 1931.<ref>Rubinstein, W. D. (2004). ''Capitalism, Culture, and Decline in Britain, 1750–1990''. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 11. ISBN 0-415-03719-0.</ref>

The UK entered [[World War II]] by declaring war on [[Germany]] in 1939, after it had invaded [[Poland]] and [[Czechoslovakia]]. In 1940, [[Winston Churchill]] became prime minister and head of a coalition government. Despite the defeat of its European allies in the first year of the war, the UK continued the fight alone against Germany. In 1940, the [[RAF]] defeated the German [[Luftwaffe]] in a struggle for control of the skies in the [[Battle of Britain]]. The UK suffered heavy bombing during [[the Blitz]]. There were also eventual hard-fought victories in the [[Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945)|Battle of the Atlantic]], the [[North Africa campaign]] and [[Burma campaign]]. UK forces played an important role in the [[Normandy landings]] of 1944, achieved with its ally the US. After Germany's defeat, the UK was one of the [[Big Four in World War II|Big Four]] powers (the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and China) who met to plan the post-war world;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HymSg_Pp7X0C&pg=PA223&lpg=PA223&dq=big+four+world+war&source=bl&ots=REcDICvw-w&sig=JeS_uxnaq2LbI9bTqddDTE4Uj0w&hl=zh-CN&sa=X&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAzgKahUKEwi056zQ5MTHAhVLoIAKHQOHCqE#v=onepage&q=big%20four%20world%20war&f=false|title= The New York Times Living History: World War II, 1942-1945: The Allied Counteroffensive|last=Brinkley|first=Douglas |accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.iup.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=37681 |title= The Four Policemen and. Postwar Planning, 1943-1945: The Collision of Realist and. Idealist Perspectives. |last=Kelly|first=Brian |accessdate=25 August 2015}}</ref> it was an original signatory to the [[Declaration of the United Nations]]. The UK became one of the five permanent members of the [[United Nations Security Council]]. However, the war left the UK severely weakened and depending financially on the [[Marshall Plan]] and loans from the United States.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/business/worldbusiness/28iht-nazi.4042453.html |title=Britain to make its final payment on World War II loan from U.S. |work=The New York Times |date=28 December 2006 |accessdate=25 August 2011}}</ref>

[[File:The British Empire.png|thumb|250px|left|alt=Map of the world. Canada, the eastern United States, countries in east Africa, India, most of Australasia and some other countries are highlighted in pink.|Territories that were at one time part of the [[British Empire]]. Names of current [[British Overseas Territories]] are underlined in red.]]

In the immediate post-war years, the [[Labour Government 1945–1951|Labour government]] initiated a radical programme of reforms, which had a significant effect on British society in the following decades.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ideas and policies under Labour, 1945–1951: Building a new Britain |first=Martin |last=Francis |pages=225–233 |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7190-4833-3 |publisher=Manchester University Press}}</ref> Major industries and public utilities were [[nationalised]], a [[Welfare State]] was established, and a comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare system, the [[National Health Service]], was created.<ref>{{cite book |title=Aspects of British political history, 1914–1995 |first=Stephen J. |last=Lee |year=1996 |pages=173–199 |isbn=978-0-415-13103-2 |publisher=Routledge |location=London; New York}}</ref> The rise of nationalism in the colonies coincided with Britain's now much-diminished economic position, so that a policy of [[decolonisation]] was unavoidable. Independence was granted to [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] in 1947.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=7D66_9YOof4C&pg=PA118 |title=A companion to Europe since 1945 |page=118 |first=Klaus |last=Larres |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4051-0612-2 |location=Chichester |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell }}</ref> Over the next three decades, most colonies of the British Empire gained their independence. Many became members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/System/YearbookHomePage.asp?NodeID=152099&load=countrylist |title=Country List|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506071236/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/System/YearbookHomePage.asp?NodeID=152099&load=countrylist|archivedate=6 May 2013 |accessdate=8 March 2015 |last= |first=|coauthors= |date=19 March 2009 |work= |publisher=[[Commonwealth Secretariat]] }}</ref>

Although the UK was the third country to develop [[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom|a nuclear weapons arsenal]] (with its [[Operation Hurricane|first atomic bomb test]] in 1952), the new post-war limits of Britain's international role were illustrated by the [[Suez Crisis]] of 1956. The international spread of the English language ensured the continuing international influence of its [[British literature|literature]] and [[Culture of the United Kingdom|culture]].<ref name="culture"/><ref name="sheridan"/> As a result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s, the UK government encouraged [[immigration]] from [[Commonwealth countries]]. In the following decades, the UK became a multi-ethnic society.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=s3RQ4dsFEkoC&pg=PA84 |title=Contemporary British identity: English language, migrants, and public discourse |series=Studies in migration and diaspora |first=Christina |last=Julios|page=84 |isbn=978-0-7546-7158-9 |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot}}</ref> Despite rising living standards in the late 1950s and 1960s, the UK's economic performance was not as successful as many of its competitors, such as West Germany and Japan. In 1973, the UK joined the [[European Economic Community]] (EEC), and when the EEC became the [[European Union]] (EU) in 1992, it was one of the 12 founding members. [[File:Tratado de Lisboa 13 12 2007 (081).jpg|thumb|250px|After having its membership twice vetoed by France in 1961 and 1967, the UK entered the [[European Economic Community]] in 1973. In a [[United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum, 1975|referendum held in 1975]], 67% of voters voted to remain in the EEC.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499297.stm|title=1975: UK embraces Europe in referendum|publisher=BBC News|work=One This Day|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref>]] From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary violence (sometimes affecting other parts of the UK) conventionally known as [[the Troubles]]. It is usually considered to have ended with the [[Belfast Agreement|Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement]] of 1998.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Politics of Northern Ireland: Beyond the Belfast Agreement |first=Arthur |last=Aughey |isbn=978-0-415-32788-6 |page=7 |year=2005 |location=London |publisher=Routledge}}</ref><ref name=Hope>"The troubles were over, but the killing continued. Some of the heirs to Ireland's violent traditions refused to give up their inheritance." {{cite book |author=Holland, Jack |title=Hope against History: The Course of Conflict in Northern Ireland |publisher=Henry Holt |location=New York |year=1999 |page=221 |isbn=978-0-8050-6087-4}}</ref><ref>Elliot, Marianne (2007). ''The Long Road to Peace in Northern Ireland: Peace Lectures from the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University.'' University of Liverpool Institute of Irish Studies, Liverpool University Press. p. 2. ISBN 1-84631-065-2.</ref>

Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, the [[Conservative Government 1979–1990|Conservative Government of the 1980s]] initiated a radical policy of [[monetarism]], deregulation, particularly of the financial sector (for example, [[Big Bang (financial markets)|Big Bang]] in 1986) and labour markets, the sale of state-owned companies ([[privatisation]]), and the withdrawal of subsidies to others.<ref>{{cite book |title=British politics since 1945 |first=Peter |last=Dorey |year=1995 |pages=164–223 |isbn=978-0-631-19075-2 |location=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell |series=Making contemporary Britain}}</ref> This resulted in high unemployment and social unrest, but ultimately also economic growth, particularly in the services sector. From 1984, the economy was helped by the inflow of substantial [[North Sea oil]] revenues.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://vig.pearsoned.co.uk/catalog/uploads/Griffiths_C01.pdf |title=Applied Economics |publisher=Financial Times Press |year=2007 |edition=11th |accessdate=26 December 2010 |page=6 |author1=Griffiths, Alan |author2=Wall, Stuart |location=Harlow |isbn=978-0-273-70822-3}}</ref>

Around the end of the 20th century there were major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of [[devolution|devolved]] administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.<ref name="devoladmins1"/><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://publius.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/1/217 |title=Reforging the Union: Devolution and Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom |accessdate=4 February 2009 |journal=Publius: the Journal of Federalism |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=217–234 |last=Keating |first=Michael |date=1 January 1998 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a029948}}</ref> The [[Human Rights Act 1998|statutory incorporation]] followed acceptance of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]]. The UK is still a key global player diplomatically and militarily. It plays leading roles in the EU, UN and NATO. However, controversy surrounds some of Britain's overseas [[military deployment]]s, particularly in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]] and [[2003 invasion of Iraq|Iraq]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a6d31ca2-5e22-11e0-b1d8-00144feab49a.html#axzz1MN2vkt7a |author=Jackson, Mike |title=Military action alone will not save Libya |work=Financial Times |location=London |date=3 April 2011}}</ref>

The [[2008 global financial crisis]] severely affected the UK economy. The [[First Cameron ministry|coalition government]] of 2010 introduced austerity measures intended to tackle the substantial public deficits which resulted.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18023389 |title=United Kingdom country profile |publisher=BBC |date=24 January 2013 |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref> In 2014 the [[Scottish Government]] held a [[Scottish independence referendum, 2014|referendum on Scottish independence]], with 55% of voters rejecting the independence proposal and opting to remain within the United Kingdom.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-16478121 |title=Scotland to hold independence poll in 2014 – Salmond |date=10 January 2012 |work=BBC News |accessdate=10 January 2012}}</ref>

Geography

{{main|Geography of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Uk topo en.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Map of United Kingdom showing hilly regions to north and west, and flattest region in the south-east.|The topography of the UK]] The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately {{convert|243610|km2|sqmi|-1}}. The country occupies the major part of the [[British Isles]]<ref>Oxford English Dictionary: "British Isles: a geographical term for the islands comprising Great Britain and Ireland with all their offshore islands including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands."</ref> [[archipelago]] and includes the island of Great Britain, the northeastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with the south-east coast coming within {{convert|35|km|mi|0|disp=flip}} of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the [[English Channel]].<ref name="factbook">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html |title=United Kingdom |work=[[The World Factbook]] |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |accessdate=23 September 2008}}</ref> In 1993 10% of the UK was forested, 46% used for pastures and 25% cultivated for agriculture.<ref name="Atlapedia">{{cite web |author=Latimer Clarke Corporation Pty Ltd |url=http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/unitedki.htm |title=United Kingdom – Atlapedia Online |publisher=Atlapedia.com |accessdate=26 October 2010}}</ref> The [[Royal Observatory, Greenwich|Royal Greenwich Observatory]] in London is the defining point of the [[Prime Meridian]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/the-prime-meridian-at-greenwich |title=The Prime Meridian at Greenwich |author=ROG Learing Team |date=23 August 2002 |work=Royal Museums Greenwich |publisher=Royal Museums Greenwich |accessdate=11 September 2012}}</ref>

The United Kingdom lies between latitudes [[49th parallel north|49°]] to [[61st parallel north|61° N]], and longitudes [[9th meridian west|9° W]] to [[2nd meridian east|2° E]]. Northern Ireland shares a {{convert|360|km|mi|0|adj=on|disp=flip}} land boundary with the Republic of Ireland.<ref name="factbook"/> The coastline of Great Britain is {{convert|17820|km|mi|0|disp=flip}} long.<ref name="UK coastline">{{cite web |url=http://www.cartography.org.uk/default.asp?contentID=749 |title=How long is the UK coastline? |first=Giles |last=Darkes |date=January 2008 |accessdate=24 January 2015 |publisher=The [[British Cartographic Society]] }}</ref> It is connected to [[continental Europe]] by the [[Channel Tunnel]], which at {{convert|50|km|mi|0|disp=flip}} ({{convert|38|km|mi|0|disp=flip}} underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcP3Main/ukcCorporate/ukcTunnelInfrastructure/ukcInfrastructure/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218114514/http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcP3Main/ukcCorporate/ukcTunnelInfrastructure/ukcInfrastructure|archivedate=18 December 2010 |title=The Channel Tunnel |publisher=Eurotunnel |accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref>

[[Geography of England|England]] accounts for just over half of the total area of the UK, covering {{convert|130395|km2|sqmi|-1}}.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/7327029.stm |work=BBC News |title=England – Profile |date=11 February 2010}}</ref> Most of the country consists of lowland terrain,<ref name="Atlapedia"/> with mountainous terrain north-west of the [[Tees-Exe line]]; including the [[Lake District|Cumbrian Mountains]] of the Lake District, the [[Pennines]] and [[limestone]] hills of the [[Peak District]], [[Exmoor]] and [[Dartmoor]]. The main rivers and estuaries are the [[River Thames|Thames]], [[River Severn|Severn]] and the [[Humber]]. England's highest mountain is [[Scafell Pike]] ({{convert|978|m|ft|0}}) in the [[Lake District]]. Its principal [[Rivers of England|rivers]] are the Severn, Thames, Humber, Tees, Tyne, Tweed, Avon, Exe and Mersey.<ref name="Atlapedia"/>

[[Geography of Scotland|Scotland]] accounts for just under a third of the total area of the UK, covering {{convert|78772|km2|sqmi|-1}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotland.org/about/fact-file/index.html |title=Scotland Facts |publisher=Scotland Online Gateway |accessdate=16 July 2008| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621045248/http://www.scotland.org/about/fact-file/index.html| archivedate=21 June 2008}}</ref> and including nearly eight hundred [[List of islands of Scotland|islands]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/the-complete-guide-to-the--scottish-islands-633851.html |title=The complete guide to the ... Scottish Islands|work=The Independent |location=London |date=1 June 2000 |first=Jon |last=Winter | accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> predominantly west and north of the mainland; notably the [[Hebrides]], [[Orkney|Orkney Islands]] and [[Shetland|Shetland Islands]]. The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the [[Highland Boundary Fault]]—a [[Fault (geology)|geological rock fracture]]—which traverses Scotland from [[Isle of Arran|Arran]] in the west to [[Stonehaven]] in the east.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst7728.html |title=Overview of Highland Boundary Fault |work=Gazetteer for Scotland |publisher=University of Edinburgh |accessdate=27 December 2010}}</ref> The faultline separates two distinctively different regions; namely the [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]] to the north and west and the [[Scottish Lowlands|lowlands]] to the south and east. The more rugged Highland region contains the majority of Scotland's mountainous land, including [[Ben Nevis]] which at {{convert|1343|m|ft|0}} is the highest point in the British Isles.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bennevisweather.co.uk/index.asp |title=Ben Nevis Weather |publisher=Ben Nevis Weather |accessdate=26 October 2008}}</ref> Lowland areas—especially the narrow waist of land between the [[Firth of Clyde]] and the [[Firth of Forth]] known as the [[Central Lowlands|Central Belt]]—are flatter and home to most of the population including [[Glasgow]], Scotland's largest city, and [[Edinburgh]], its capital and political centre.

[[File:BenNevis2005.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A view of Ben Nevis in the distance, fronted by rolling plains|[[Ben Nevis]], in Scotland, is the highest point in the [[British Isles]]]] [[geography of Wales|Wales]] accounts for less than a tenth of the total area of the UK, covering {{convert|20779|km2|sqmi|-1}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/6233450.stm |title=Profile: Wales |work=BBC News |date=9 June 2010 |accessdate=7 November 2010}}</ref> Wales is mostly mountainous, though [[South Wales]] is less mountainous than [[North Wales|North]] and [[mid Wales]]. The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the coastal cities of [[Cardiff]], [[Swansea]] and [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], and the [[South Wales Valleys]] to their north. The highest mountains in Wales are in [[Snowdonia]] and include [[Snowdon]] ({{lang-cy|Yr Wyddfa}}) which, at {{convert|1085|m|ft|0}}, is the highest peak in Wales.<ref name="Atlapedia"/> The 14, or possibly 15, Welsh mountains over 3,000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the [[Welsh 3000s]]. Wales has over {{convert|1680|mi|0|abbr=off|disp=flip}} of coastline.<ref name="UK coastline" /> Several islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest of which is [[Anglesey]] (''Ynys Môn'') in the northwest.

[[Geography of Ireland|Northern Ireland]], separated from Great Britain by the [[Irish Sea]] and [[North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland)|North Channel]], has an area of {{convert|14160|km2|sqmi|-1}} and is mostly hilly. It includes [[Lough Neagh]] which, at {{convert|388|km2|sqmi|0}}, is the largest lake in the British Isles by area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/geog.htm |title=Geography of Northern Ireland |publisher=University of Ulster |accessdate=22 May 2006}}</ref> The highest peak in Northern Ireland is [[Slieve Donard]] in the [[Mourne Mountains]] at {{convert|852|m|ft|0}}.<ref name="Atlapedia"/>

Climate

{{main|Climate of the United Kingdom}} The United Kingdom has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round.<ref name="factbook"/> The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below {{convert|-11|C|lk=on}} or rising above {{convert|35|C}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/ |title=UK climate summaries |publisher=Met Office |accessdate=1 May 2011}}</ref> The prevailing wind is from the south-west and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean,<ref name="factbook"/> although the eastern parts are mostly sheltered from this wind since the majority of the rain falls over the western regions the eastern parts are therefore the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the [[Gulf Stream]], bring mild winters;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk/23152|title=Atlantic Ocean Circulation (Gulf Stream)|work=UK Climate Projections|publisher=Met Office|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> especially in the west where winters are wet and even more so over high ground. Summers are warmest in the south-east of England, being closest to the European mainland, and coolest in the north. Heavy snowfall can occur in winter and early spring on high ground, and occasionally settles to great depth away from the hills.

Administrative divisions

{{main|Administrative geography of the United Kingdom}} {{Image frame|width=250|content=<center>{{Image label begin|image=United Kingdom countries.svg|link=|width=250|float=none}} {{Image label small|x=0.625|y=1.2|scale=250|text =<big>[[England]]</big>}} {{Image label small|x=0.375|y=0.7|scale=250|text=<big>[[Scotland]]</big>}} {{Image label small|x=0.4|y=1.3|scale=250|text= <big>[[Wales]]</big>}} {{Image label small|x=0.15|y=0.95|scale=250|text =<big>[[Northern Ireland|Northern<br />Ireland]]</big>}} {{Image label end}}</center> |caption= The four [[countries of the United Kingdom]].}} Each country of the United Kingdom has its own system of administrative and geographic demarcation, whose origins often pre-date the formation of the United Kingdom. Thus there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".<ref name="UN">{{cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/9th-uncsgn-docs/report%20of%209th%20uncsgn%20n0750902%20en.pdf |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5lhCIacyi |archivedate=1 December 2009 |title=Ninth UN Conference on the standardization of Geographical Names |date=August 2007 |author=[[United Nations Economic and Social Council]] |publisher=UN Statistics Division |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.<ref name="barlow">{{cite book |last=Barlow |first=I.M. |title=Metropolitan Government |year=1991 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-02099-2}}</ref> Change did not occur in a uniform manner and the devolution of power over local government to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland means that future changes are also unlikely to be uniform.

The organisation of [[local government in England]] is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is the responsibility of the UK parliament and the [[Government of the United Kingdom]], as England has no devolved parliament. The upper-tier [[subdivisions of England]] are the nine [[Regions of England|Government office regions]] or European Union government office regions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gos.gov.uk/national/ |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5hYQkeu1p |archivedate=15 June 2009 |publisher=Government Offices |accessdate=3 July 2008 |title=Welcome to the national site of the Government Office Network}}</ref> One region, [[Greater London Authority|Greater London]], has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a [[Greater London Authority referendum, 1998|referendum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.london.gov.uk/london-life/city-government/history.jsp |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421023053/http://www.london.gov.uk/london-life/city-government/history.jsp |archivedate=21 April 2008 |title=A short history of London government |publisher=Greater London Authority |accessdate=4 October 2008}}</ref> It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected [[Regional assembly (England)|regional assemblies]], but a proposed assembly in the [[North East England|North East]] region was rejected by a [[Northern England devolution referendums, 2004|referendum in 2004]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article503255.ece |title=Prescott's dream in tatters as North East rejects assembly |accessdate=15 February 2008 |work=The Times |location=London |first1=Jill |last1=Sherman |first2=Andrew |last2=Norfolk |date=5 November 2004 |quote=The Government is now expected to tear up its twelve-year-old plan to create eight or nine regional assemblies in England to mirror devolution in Scotland and Wales.}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Below the regional tier, some parts of England have [[metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England|county councils]] and district councils and others have [[unitary authorities]]; while London consists of 32 [[London borough]]s and the [[City of London]]. Councillors are elected by the [[Plurality voting system|first-past-the-post]] system in single-member wards or by the [[Plurality-at-large voting|multi-member plurality system]] in multi-member wards.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118195001/http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/39780|title=Local Authority Elections |publisher=Local Government Association |accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref>

For [[Local government in Scotland|local government purposes]], Scotland is divided into [[subdivisions of Scotland|32 council areas]], with wide variation in both size and population. The cities of [[Glasgow]], Edinburgh, [[Aberdeen]] and [[Dundee]] are separate council areas, as is the [[Politics of the Highland council area|Highland Council]] which includes a third of Scotland's area but only just over 200,000 people. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are currently 1,223;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.psa.ac.uk/2007/pps/Bennie.pdf |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5xJnMrHvK |archivedate=20 March 2011 |title=STV in Scotland: Local Government Elections 2007 |publisher=Political Studies Association |accessdate=2 August 2008}}</ref> they are paid a part-time salary. Elections are conducted by [[single transferable vote]] in multi-member wards that elect either three or four councillors. Each council elects a [[Provost (civil)|Provost]], or [[Chairman|Convenor]], to chair meetings of the council and to act as a figurehead for the area. [[Councillor]]s are subject to a [[Ethical code|code of conduct]] enforced by the [[Standards Commission for Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Councillors' Code of Conduct: 3rd Edition - December 2010 |url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/12/10145144/0 |publisher=The Scottish Government |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> The representative association of Scotland's local authorities is the [[Convention of Scottish Local Authorities]] (COSLA).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cosla.gov.uk/about/decision-making-cosla |title=Who we are |publisher=Convention of Scottish Local Authorities |accessdate=5 July 2011}}</ref>

[[Local government in Wales]] consists of 22 unitary authorities. These include the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport which are unitary authorities in their own right.<ref name="unitary">{{cite web |url=http://gov.wales/topics/localgovernment/local-authorities/?lang=en |title=Unitary authorities |publisher=Welsh Government |year=2014 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.<ref name="unitary" /> The most recent elections were held in May 2012, except for the [[Isle of Anglesey]]. The [[Welsh Local Government Association]] represents the interests of local authorities in Wales.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wlga.gov.uk/ |title=Welsh Local Government Association |publisher=Welsh Local Government Association |accessdate=20 March 2008}}</ref>

[[Local government in Northern Ireland]] has since 1973 been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as collecting waste, controlling dogs and maintaining parks and cemeteries.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4449092.stm |title=NI local government set for shake-up |work=BBC News |date=18 November 2005 |accessdate=15 November 2008 |first=Mark |last=Devenport}}</ref> On 13 March 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils and replace the present system.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-doe/news-doe-130308-foster-announces-the.htm |title=Foster announces the future shape of local government |publisher=Northern Ireland Executive |date=13 March 2008 |accessdate=20 October 2008}}</ref> The next local elections were postponed until 2016 to facilitate this.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.nio.gov.uk/local-government-elections-to-be-aligned-with-review-of-public-administration/media-detail.htm?newsID=15153 |title=Local Government elections to be aligned with review of public administration |publisher=Northern Ireland Office |date=25 April 2008|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217174725/http://www.nio.gov.uk/local-government-elections-to-be-aligned-with-review-of-public-administration/media-detail.htm?newsID=15153|archivedate=17 February 2013 |accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref>

Dependencies

{{main|British Overseas Territories|Crown dependencies|British Islands}} [[File:Inside the Reef Cayman.jpg|thumb|right|A view of the [[Caribbean Sea]] from the [[Cayman Islands]], one of the world's foremost international financial centres<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cibc.com/ca/pwm-global/locations/caribbean/cayman-islands.html |title=CIBC PWM Global – Introduction to The Cayman Islands |publisher=Cibc.com |date=11 July 2012 |accessdate=17 August 2012}}</ref> and tourist destinations.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/cayman-islands-tourism-20845.html |publisher=USA Today Travel Tips |location=Washington DC |title=Cayman Islands Tourism |first=Laurie |last=Rappeport |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref>]] The United Kingdom has sovereignty over seventeen territories which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself: fourteen British Overseas Territories<ref name=overseasterrirories/> and three Crown dependencies.<ref name=overseasterrirories/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/about/moj/our-responsibilities/Background_Briefing_on_the_Crown_Dependencies2.pdf|title=Background briefing on the Crown Dependencies: Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man|publisher=Ministry of Justice|accessdate=9 March 2015|format=PDF}}</ref>

The fourteen British Overseas Territories are: [[Anguilla]]; [[Bermuda]]; the [[British Antarctic Territory]]; the [[British Indian Ocean Territory]]; the [[British Virgin Islands]]; the [[Cayman Islands]]; the [[Falkland Islands]]; [[Gibraltar]]; [[Montserrat]]; [[Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha]]; the [[Turks and Caicos Islands]]; the [[Pitcairn Islands]]; [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]]; and [[Akrotiri and Dhekelia|Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://collections.europarchive.org/tna/20080205132101/www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front%3fpagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1013618138295 |title=Overseas Territories |publisher=Foreign & Commonwealth Office |accessdate=6 September 2010}}</ref> British claims in Antarctica are not universally recognised.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html |title=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |accessdate=26 December 2010}}</ref> Collectively Britain's overseas territories encompass an approximate land area of {{convert|667018|sqmi|km2|disp=flip}} and a population of approximately 260,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/ |archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121212135632/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/|archivedate=5 December 2012|title=Country profiles |publisher=Foreign & Commonwealth Office |date=21 February 2008 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> They are the remnants of the British Empire and several have specifically voted to remain British territories (Bermuda in [[Bermudan independence referendum, 1995|1995]], Gibraltar in [[Gibraltar sovereignty referendum, 2002|2002]] and the Falkland Islands in [[Falkland Islands sovereignty referendum, 2013|2013]]).<ref name="Independent results">{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/bermudians-vote-to-stay-british-1596724.html |title=Bermudians vote to stay British |author=Davison, Phil |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |date=18 August 1995 |accessdate=11 September 2012}}</ref>

The Crown dependencies are possessions of [[the Crown]], as opposed to overseas territories of the UK.<ref>{{cite web |author=The Committee Office, House of Commons |url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmjust/56/5604.htm |title=House of Commons – Crown Dependencies – Justice Committee |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |accessdate=7 November 2010}}</ref> They comprise three independently administered jurisdictions: the [[Channel Island]]s of [[Jersey]] and [[Guernsey]] in the English Channel, and the [[Isle of Man]] in the Irish Sea. By mutual agreement, the British Government manages the islands' foreign affairs and defence and the UK Parliament has the authority to legislate on their behalf. However, internationally, they are regarded as "territories for which the United Kingdom is responsible".<ref name="International recognition">[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273891/crown-dependencies.pdf Fact sheet on the UK's relationship with the Crown Dependencies – gov.uk], Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 25 August 2014.</ref> The power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with their own respective legislative assemblies, with the assent of the Crown ([[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] or, in the case of the Isle of Man, in certain circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20060902092534/http://www.gov.je/ChiefMinister/International+Relations/Profile+of+Jersey.htm |title=Profile of Jersey |publisher=[[States of Jersey]] |accessdate=31 July 2008 |quote=The legislature passes primary legislation, which requires approval by The Queen in Council, and enacts subordinate legislation in many areas without any requirement for Royal Sanction and under powers conferred by primary legislation.}}</ref> Since 2005 each Crown dependency has had a [[Chief Minister]] as its [[head of government]].<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/chiefministertom.xml |title=Chief Minister to meet Channel Islands counterparts – Isle of Man Public Services |publisher=Isle of Man Government |date=29 May 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430195235/http://www.gov.im/lib/news/cso/chiefministertom.xml|archivedate=30 April 2013 |accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref>

Politics

{{main|Politics of the United Kingdom|Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Elections in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Elizabeth II greets NASA GSFC employees, May 8, 2007 edit.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Elderly lady with a yellow hat and grey hair is smiling in outdoor setting.|[[Elizabeth II]] is [[Queen of the United Kingdom]] and each of the other [[Commonwealth realms]].]]

The United Kingdom is a [[unitary state]] under a [[constitutional monarchy]]. [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] is the head of state of the UK as well as monarch of fifteen other independent [[Commonwealth realm|Commonwealth countries]]. The monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn".<ref>[[Walter Bagehot|Bagehot, Walter]] (1867). ''The English Constitution''. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 103.</ref> The [[Constitution of the United Kingdom]] is [[uncodified constitution|uncodified]] and consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including [[statute]]s, judge-made [[case law]] and international treaties, together with [[British Constitution#Conventions|constitutional conventions]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.llrx.com/features/uk2.htm#UK%20Legal%20System |title=A Guide To the UK Legal System |publisher=[[University of Kent|University of Kent at Canterbury]] |accessdate=16 May 2006 |author=Carter, Sarah}}</ref> As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law", the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament]] can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing [[Act of Parliament|Acts of Parliament]], and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/sovereignty.cfm |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/67yH6yA8K |archivedate=27 May 2012 |title=Parliamentary sovereignty |publisher=UK Parliament |date=n.d.}}</ref>

Government

{{main|Government of the United Kingdom}} The UK has a [[parliamentary system|parliamentary government]] based on the [[Westminster system]] that has been emulated around the world: a legacy of the British Empire. The parliament of the United Kingdom meets in the [[Palace of Westminster]] and has two houses: an elected [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and an appointed [[House of Lords]]. All bills passed are given [[Royal Assent]] before becoming law.

The position of [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]],<ref group="nb">Since the early twentieth century the prime minister has held the office of [[First Lord of the Treasury]], and in recent decades has also held the office of [[Minister for the Civil Service]].</ref> the UK's [[head of government]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Government, Prime Minister and Cabinet |work=Public services all in one place |publisher=[[Directgov]] |url=http://direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/Centralgovernmentandthemonarchy/DG_073444|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921004951/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/Centralgovernmentandthemonarchy/DG_073444|archivedate=21 September 2012 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> belongs to the person most likely to command the [[Confidence and supply|confidence]] of the House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The prime minister chooses a cabinet and its members are formally appointed by the monarch to form [[Government of the United Kingdom|Her Majesty's Government]]. By convention, the Queen respects the prime minister's decisions of government.<ref name="npm">{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6245682.stm |title=Brown is UK's new prime minister |date=27 June 2007 |accessdate=23 January 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

[[File:Palace of Westminster, London - Feb 2007.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Large sand-coloured building of Gothic design beside brown river and road bridge. The building has several large towers, including large clock tower.|The [[Palace of Westminster]], seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom]] The [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|cabinet]] is traditionally drawn from members of the prime minister's party or coalition and mostly from the House of Commons but always from both legislative houses, the cabinet being [[responsible government|responsible]] to both. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]], and become [[Minister of the Crown|Ministers of the Crown]]. The current Prime Minister is [[David Cameron]], who has been in office since 11 May 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8675265.stm |title=David Cameron is UK's new prime minister |date=11 May 2010 |work=BBC News |accessdate=11 May 2010}}</ref> Cameron is the leader of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]. For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is currently divided into [[United Kingdom constituencies|650 constituencies]],<ref name="Elections and voting—UK Parliament">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/ |title=Elections and voting |publisher=UK Parliament |accessdate=14 November 2010 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.uk%2Fabout%2Fhow%2Felections-and-voting%2F&date=14 November 2010 |archivedate=14 November 2010}}</ref> each electing a single [[member of parliament]] (MP) by [[plurality voting system|simple plurality]]. General elections are called by the monarch when the prime minister so advises. Prior to the [[Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011]], the [[Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949]] required that a new election must be called no later than five years after the previous general election.<ref name="The Parliament Acts—UK Parliament">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/parliamentacts/ |title=The Parliament Acts |publisher=UK Parliament |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.uk%2Fabout%2Fhow%2Flaws%2Fparliamentacts%2F&date=14 November 2010 |archivedate=14 November 2010}}</ref>

The Conservative Party, the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and the [[Liberal Democrats]] (formerly as the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]]) have, in modern times, been considered the UK's three [[List of political parties in the United Kingdom#Major parties in the House of Commons|major political parties]],<ref>{{cite book |chapter= Crooked Margins and Marginal Seats |first1=James |last1=Cornford |first2=Daniel |last2=Dorling |title= British Elections and Parties Review, Volume 7 |editor-first1=Charles |editor-last1=Pattie |editor-first2=David |editor-last2=Denver |editor-first3=Justin |editor-last3=Fisher |editor-first4=Steve |editor-last4=Ludlam |publisher=Frank Cass |location=London |year=1997 |page=85 |chapter-url= http://www.dannydorling.org/wp-content/files/dannydorling_publication_id3179.pdf}}</ref> representing the British traditions of [[Conservatism in the United Kingdom|conservatism]], [[socialism in the United Kingdom|socialism]] and [[Liberalism in the United Kingdom|social liberalism]], respectively. However, at the [[United Kingdom general election, 2015|2015 general election]], the [[Scottish National Party]] became the third-largest party by number of seats won, ahead of the Liberal Democrats. Most of the remaining seats were won by parties that contest elections only in one part of the UK: [[Plaid Cymru]] (Wales only); and the [[Democratic Unionist Party]], [[Ulster Unionist Party]], [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] and [[Sinn Féin]] (Northern Ireland only<ref group="nb">Sinn Féin, an [[Irish republican]] party, also contests elections in the Republic of Ireland.</ref>).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results |title= Election 2015: Results |website=BBC News |date=n.d. |accessdate=13 June 2013}}</ref> In accordance with party policy, no elected Sinn Féin members of parliament have ever attended the House of Commons to speak on behalf of their constituents because of the requirement to take an oath of allegiance to the monarch.<ref>{{cite news |last=McDonald |first=Henry |title=Sinn Féin MP says party will always boycott Westminster, despite report |url= http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/01/sinn-fein-boycott-westminster-michelle-gildernew-election |work=The Guardian |location= London |date=1 May 2015 |accessdate=7 July 2015}}</ref>

Devolved administrations

{{main|Devolution in the United Kingdom|Northern Ireland Executive|Scottish Government|Welsh Government}} [[File:Scotland Parliament Holyrood.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Modern one-story building with grass on roof and large sculpted grass area in front. Behind are residential buildings in a mixture of styles.|The [[Scottish Parliament Building]] in [[Holyrood, Edinburgh|Holyrood]] is the seat of the [[Scottish Parliament]].]] Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own [[Executive (government)|government or executive]], led by a [[First Minister]] (or, in the case of Northern Ireland, a [[Diarchy|diarchal]] [[First Minister and deputy First Minister]]), and a [[Devolution|devolved]] [[unicameralism|unicameral]] legislature. England, the largest country of the United Kingdom, has no such devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the UK government and parliament on all issues. This situation has given rise to the so-called [[West Lothian question]] which concerns the fact that members of parliament from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can vote, sometimes decisively,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3432767.stm |title=Scots MPs attacked over fees vote |work=BBC News |date=27 January 2004 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> on matters that only affect England.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/talking_politics/82358.stm |title=Talking Politics: The West Lothian Question |work=BBC News |first=Brian |last=Taylor |date=1 June 1998 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> The [[Commission on the consequences of devolution for the House of Commons|McKay Commission]] reported on this matter in March 2013 recommending that laws affecting only England should need support from a majority of English members of parliament.<ref name="bbcnews250313">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21920010 |title=England-only laws 'need majority from English MPs' |work=BBC News |date=25 March 2013 |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref>

The [[Scottish Government]] and [[Scottish Parliament|Parliament]] have wide-ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically [[reserved matters|reserved]] to the UK parliament, including [[education in Scotland|education]], [[NHS Scotland|healthcare]], [[Scots law]] and [[local government in Scotland|local government]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/scotland_99/the_scottish_parliament/310036.stm |title=Scotland's Parliament – powers and structures |work=BBC News |date=8 April 1999 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> At the [[Scottish Parliament general election, 2011|2011 elections]] the Scottish National Party won re-election and achieved an overall majority in the Scottish parliament, with its leader, [[Alex Salmond]], as [[First Minister of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6659531.stm |title=Salmond elected as first minister |work=BBC News |date=16 May 2007 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13305522 |title=Scottish election: SNP wins election |work=BBC News |date=6 May 2011}}</ref> In 2012, the UK and Scottish governments signed the [[Edinburgh Agreement (2012)|Edinburgh Agreement]] setting out the terms for a [[Scottish independence referendum, 2014|referendum on Scottish independence]] in 2014, which was defeated 55% to 45%.

The [[Welsh Government]] and the [[National Assembly for Wales]] have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/wales_99/the_welsh_assembly/309033.stm |title=Structure and powers of the Assembly |work=BBC News |date=9 April 1999 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> The Assembly is able to legislate on devolved matters through [[Act of the National Assembly for Wales|Acts of the Assembly]], which require no prior consent from Westminster. The [[National Assembly for Wales election, 2011|2011 elections]] resulted in a minority Labour administration led by [[Carwyn Jones]].<ref name="IcWales">{{cite news |title=Carwyn Jones clinches leadership in Wales |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/12/01/carwyn-jones-clinches-leadership-in-wales-91466-25299305/ |accessdate=1 December 2009 |publisher=Media Wales |date=1 December 2009 |work=WalesOnline}}</ref>

The [[Northern Ireland Executive]] and [[Northern Ireland Assembly|Assembly]] have powers similar to those devolved to Scotland. The Executive is led by a [[diarchy]] representing [[Designated Unionist|unionist]] and [[Designated Nationalist|nationalist]] members of the Assembly. Currently, [[Peter Robinson (Northern Ireland politician)|Peter Robinson]] (Democratic Unionist Party) and [[Martin McGuinness]] (Sinn Féin) are [[First Minister and deputy First Minister]] respectively.<ref name="northernireland1">{{cite web |url=http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/index/your-government/devolved-government.htm |title=Devolved Government – Ministers and their departments |publisher=Northern Ireland Executive |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822230925/http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/index/your-government/devolved-government.htm |archivedate=22 August 2007}}</ref> Devolution to Northern Ireland is contingent on participation by the Northern Ireland administration in the [[North-South Ministerial Council]], where the Northern Ireland Executive cooperates and develops joint and shared policies with the [[Government of Ireland]]. The British and Irish governments co-operate on non-devolved matters affecting Northern Ireland through the [[British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference]], which assumes the responsibilities of the Northern Ireland administration in the event of its non-operation.

The UK does not have a [[codified constitution]] and constitutional matters are not among the powers devolved to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Under the doctrine of [[Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom|parliamentary sovereignty]], the UK Parliament could, in theory, therefore, abolish the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Assembly.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Burrows |first=N. |doi=10.1111/1468-2230.00203 |title=Unfinished Business: The Scotland Act 1998 |journal=The Modern Law Review |volume=62 |issue=2 |year=1999 |pages=241–60 [[p. 249]] |quote=The UK Parliament is sovereign and the Scottish Parliament is subordinate. The White Paper had indicated that this was to be the approach taken in the legislation. The Scottish Parliament is not to be seen as a reflection of the settled will of the people of Scotland or of popular sovereignty but as a reflection of its subordination to a higher legal authority. Following the logic of this argument, the power of the Scottish Parliament to legislate can be withdrawn or overridden... }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Elliot |first=M. |doi=10.1093/icon/2.3.545 |title=United Kingdom: Parliamentary sovereignty under pressure |journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law |volume=2 |issue=3 |year=2004 |pages=545–627 [[pp. 553–554]] |quote=Notwithstanding substantial differences among the schemes, an important common factor is that the U.K. Parliament has not renounced legislative sovereignty in relation to the three nations concerned. For example, the Scottish Parliament is empowered to enact primary legislation on all matters, save those in relation to which competence is explicitly denied ... but this power to legislate on what may be termed "devolved matters" is concurrent with the Westminster Parliament's general power to legislate for Scotland on any matter at all, including devolved matters ... In theory, therefore, Westminster may legislate on Scottish devolved matters whenever it chooses... }}</ref> Indeed, in 1972, the UK Parliament [[Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972|unilaterally prorogued]] the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]], setting a precedent relevant to contemporary devolved institutions.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Walker |first=G. |doi=10.1086/644536 |title=Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Devolution, 1945–1979 |journal=Journal of British Studies |volume=39 |issue=1 |year=2010 |pages=124 & 133 }}</ref> In practice, it would be politically difficult for the UK Parliament to abolish devolution to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, given the political entrenchment created by referendum decisions.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gamble |first=A. |doi=10.1093/publius/pjj011 |title=The Constitutional Revolution in the United Kingdom |journal=Publius |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=19–35 [[p. 29]] |quote=The British parliament has the power to abolish the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly by a simple majority vote in both houses, but since both were sanctioned by referenda, it would be politically difficult to abolish them without the sanction of a further vote by the people. In this way several of the constitutional measures introduced by the Blair government appear to be entrenched and not subject to a simple exercise of parliamentary sovereignty at Westminster. }}</ref> The political constraints placed upon the UK Parliament's power to interfere with devolution in Northern Ireland are even greater than in relation to Scotland and Wales, given that devolution in Northern Ireland rests upon an international agreement with the [[Government of Ireland]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Meehan |first=E. |doi=10.1093/pa/52.1.19 |title=The Belfast Agreement—Its Distinctiveness and Points of Cross-Fertilization in the UK's Devolution Programme |journal=Parliamentary Affairs |volume=52 |issue=1 |year=1999 |pages=19–31 [[p. 23]] |quote=[[T]]he distinctive involvement of two governments in the Northern Irish problem means that Northern Ireland's new arrangements rest upon an intergovernmental agreement. If this can be equated with a treaty, it could be argued that the forthcoming distribution of power between Westminster and Belfast has similarities with divisions specified in the written constitutions of federal states... Although the Agreement makes the general proviso that Westminster's 'powers to make legislation for Northern Ireland' remains 'unaffected', without an explicit categorical reference to reserved matters, it may be more difficult than in Scotland or Wales for devolved powers to be repatriated. The retraction of devolved powers would not merely entail consultation in Northern Ireland backed implicitly by the absolute power of parliamentary sovereignty but also the renegotiation of an intergovernmental agreement. }}</ref>

Law and criminal justice

{{main|Law of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Royal courts of justice.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Royal Courts of Justice]] of [[England and Wales]]]] The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system, as Article 19 of the [[Treaty of Union|1706 Treaty of Union]] provided for the continuation of Scotland's separate legal system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |title=The Treaty (act) of the Union of Parliament 1706 |publisher=Scottish History Online |accessdate=5 October 2008}}</ref> Today the UK has three distinct [[Legal systems of the world|systems of law]]: [[English law]], [[Courts of Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland law]] and [[Scots law]]. A new [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom]] came into being in October 2009 to replace the [[judicial functions of the House of Lords|Appellate Committee of the House of Lords]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8283939.stm |title=UK Supreme Court judges sworn in |work=BBC News |date=1 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/supremecourt/supreme.pdf |title=Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom |publisher=Department for Constitutional Affairs |date=July 2003 |accessdate=13 May 2013}}</ref> The [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]], including the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the [[British Overseas Territories]] and the [[Crown Dependencies]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcpc.uk/about/role-of-the-jcpc.html |title=Role of the JCPC |publisher=Judicial Committee of the Privy Council |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref>

Both English law, which applies in [[England and Wales]], and [[Northern Ireland law]] are based on [[common law|common-law]] principles.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=AF303DEl0MkC&pg=PA298 |first=Andrew |last=Bainham |title=The international survey of family law: 1996 |page=298|isbn=978-90-411-0573-8 |year=1998 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |location=The Hague}}</ref> The essence of common law is that, subject to statute, the law is developed by judges in courts, applying statute, [[precedent]] and common sense to the facts before them to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases (''[[stare decisis]]'').<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=a4ddQNrt8e8C&pg=PA371 |title=World dictionary of foreign expressions |author=Adeleye, Gabriel; Acquah-Dadzie, Kofi; Sienkewicz, Thomas; McDonough, James |page=371|isbn=978-0-86516-423-9 |year=1999 |location=Waucojnda, IL |publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci}}</ref> The [[courts of England and Wales]] are headed by the [[Senior Courts of England and Wales]], consisting of the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]], the [[High Court of Justice]] (for civil cases) and the [[Crown Court]] (for criminal cases). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land for both criminal and civil appeal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and any decision it makes is binding on every other court in the same jurisdiction, often having a persuasive effect in other jurisdictions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alpn.edu.au/node/66|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414202207/http://alpn.edu.au/node/66|archivedate=14 April 2013 |title=The Australian courts and comparative law |publisher=Australian Law Postgraduate Network |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

[[File:High Court of Justiciary.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[High Court of Justiciary]]—the [[College of Justice|supreme]] [[criminal justice|criminal court]] of [[Scotland]].]] Scots law is a hybrid system based on both common-law and [[civil law (legal system)|civil-law]] principles. The chief courts are the [[Court of Session]], for civil cases,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/session/index.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731094308/http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/session/index.asp|archivedate=31 July 2008 |title=Court of Session – Introduction |publisher=Scottish Courts |accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> and the [[High Court of Justiciary]], for criminal cases.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/justiciary/index.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912204821/http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/justiciary/index.asp|archivedate=12 September 2008 |title=High Court of Justiciary – Introduction |publisher=Scottish Courts |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom serves as the highest court of appeal for civil cases under Scots law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199697/ldinfo/ld08judg/bluebook/bluebk03.htm| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206120915/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199697/ldinfo/ld08judg/bluebook/bluebk03.htm| archivedate=6 December 2013 |title=House of Lords – Practice Directions on Permission to Appeal |publisher=UK Parliament |accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> [[Sheriff Court|Sheriff courts]] deal with most civil and criminal cases including conducting criminal trials with a jury, known as sheriff solemn court, or with a sheriff and no jury, known as sheriff summary Court.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/introduction.asp|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080901115348/http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/introduction.asp|archivedate=1 September 2008 |title=Introduction |publisher=Scottish Courts |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> The Scots legal system is unique in having three possible [[verdict]]s for a criminal trial: "[[guilt (law)|guilty]]", "[[acquittal|not guilty]]" and "[[not proven]]". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Samuel Bray |year=2005 |title=Not proven: introducing a third verdict |journal=The University of Chicago Law Review |volume=72 |issue=4 |page=1299 |url=http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4495530?uid=3738032&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21103086564553 |accessdate=30 November 2013}}</ref>

Crime in England and Wales increased in the period between 1981 and 1995, though since that peak there has been an overall fall of 48% in recorded crime from 1995 to 2007/08,{{Update inline|date=March 2015}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7511192.stm |title=Police-recorded crime down by 9% |work=BBC News |date=17 July 2008 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> according to [[Crime statistics in the United Kingdom|crime statistics]]. The [[prison population of England and Wales]] has almost doubled over the same period, to over 80,000, giving England and Wales the highest rate of incarceration in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7235438.stm |title=New record high prison population |work=BBC News |date=8 February 2008 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> [[Her Majesty's Prison Service]], which reports to the [[Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Justice]], manages most of the prisons within England and Wales. Crime in Scotland fell to its lowest recorded level for 32 years in 2009/10, falling by ten per cent.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2010/09/07111730 |title=Crime falls to 32 year low |publisher=Scottish Government |date=7 September 2010 |accessdate=21 April 2011}}</ref> At the same time Scotland's prison population, at over 8,000,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sps.gov.uk/default.aspx?documentid=7811a7f1-6c61-4667-a12c-f102bbf5b808 |title=Prisoner Population at Friday 22 August 2008 |publisher=Scottish Prison Service |accessdate=28 August 2008}}</ref> is at record levels and well above design capacity.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7587724.stm |title=Scots jail numbers at record high |work=BBC News |date=29 August 2008 |accessdate=21 October 2008}}</ref> The [[Scottish Prison Service]], which reports to the [[Cabinet Secretary for Justice]], manages Scotland's prisons.<ref>{{cite web|title=What Governs the Scottish Prison Service|url=http://www.sps.gov.uk/Corporate/AboutUs/Governance.aspx|publisher=Scottish Prison Service|accessdate=7 July 2015}}</ref>

Foreign relations

{{main|Foreign relations of the United Kingdom}} The UK is a [[Big Five (United Nations)|permanent member]] of the [[United Nations Security Council]], a member of [[NATO]], the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], the [[G7 finance ministers]], the [[G7 forum]] (previously the ''G8 forum''), the [[G-20 major economies|G20]], the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]], the [[World Trade Organization|WTO]], the [[Council of Europe]], the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]], and is a [[member state of the European Union]]. The UK is said to have a "[[Special Relationship]]" with the United States and a close partnership with France—the "[[Entente cordiale]]"—and shares nuclear weapons technology with both countries.<ref>Swaine, Jon (13 January 2009). [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/4226246/Barack-Obama-presidency-will-strengthen-special-relationship-says-Gordon-Brown.html "Barack Obama presidency will strengthen special relationship, says Gordon Brown"]. ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London). Retrieved 3 May 2011.</ref><ref>Kirchner, E. J.; Sperling, J. (2007). ''Global Security Governance: Competing Perceptions of Security in the 21st century''. London: Taylor & Francis. p. 100. ISBN 0-415-39162-8</ref> The UK is also closely linked with the Republic of Ireland; the two countries share a [[Common Travel Area]] and co-operate through the [[British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference]] and the [[British-Irish Council]]. Britain's global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, foreign investments, [[official development assistance]] and military engagements.<ref>{{cite web |author=The Committee Office, House of Commons |url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmintdev/220/22007.htm |title=DFID's expenditure on development assistance |publisher=UK Parliament |date=19 February 2009 |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref>

Military

[[File:Cavalry Trooping the Colour, 16th June 2007.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Troopers of the [[Blues and Royals]] during the 2007 [[Trooping the Colour]] ceremony]] {{main|British Armed Forces}} The [[armed forces]] of the United Kingdom—officially, ''[[British Armed Forces|Her Majesty's Armed Forces]]''—consist of three professional service branches: the [[Royal Navy]] and [[Royal Marines]] (forming the [[Naval Service (United Kingdom)|Naval Service]]), the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Air Force]].<ref>{{cite web |accessdate=21 February 2012 |publisher=Ministry of Defence |title=Ministry of Defence |url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Home/}}</ref> The forces are managed by the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] and controlled by the [[Defence Council of the United Kingdom|Defence Council]], chaired by the [[Secretary of State for Defence]]. The [[Commander-in-Chief]] is the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]], [[Elizabeth II]], to whom members of the forces swear an oath of allegiance.<ref name="Speaker">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2012/march/speaker-addresses-hm-the-queen/ |title=Speaker addresses Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |publisher=UK Parliament |date=30 March 2012 |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> The Armed Forces are charged with protecting the UK and its overseas territories, promoting the UK's global security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in [[NATO]], including the [[Allied Rapid Reaction Corps]], as well as the [[Five Power Defence Arrangements]], [[RIMPAC]] and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained in [[Ascension Island]], [[Military of Belize|Belize]], [[Military Forces based in Brunei|Brunei]], [[British Army Training Unit Suffield|Canada]], [[Sovereign Base Areas|Cyprus]], [[Diego Garcia]], the [[Military of the Falkland Islands|Falkland Islands]], [[British Forces Germany|Germany]], [[British Forces Gibraltar|Gibraltar]], [[Kenya]], [[Qatar]] and [[Singapore]].<ref name="Facilities">{{cite web |url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/newhtml_hl?DB=semukparl&STEMMER=en&WORDS=raf%20diego%20garcia&ALL=RAF&ANY=&PHRASE=%22Diego%20Garcia%20%22&CATEGORIES=&SIMPLE=&SPEAKER=&COLOUR=red&STYLE=s&ANCHOR=50221w33.html_spnew0&URL=/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/vo050221/text/50221w33.htm#50221w33.html_spnew0 |title=House of Commons Hansard |publisher=UK Parliament |accessdate=23 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130617/text/130617w0002.htm#13061746000236 |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 17 Jun 2013 (pt 0002) |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |date= |accessdate=4 March 2015}}</ref>

The British armed forces played a key role in establishing the [[British Empire]] as the [[superpower|dominant world power]] in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout its unique history the British forces have seen action in a number of major wars, such as the [[Seven Years' War]], the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the [[Crimean War]], [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]—as well as many colonial conflicts. By emerging victorious from such conflicts, Britain has often been able to decisively [[Congress of Vienna|influence world events]]. Since the end of the British Empire, the UK has nonetheless remained a major military power. Following the end of the [[Cold War]], defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" will be undertaken as part of a coalition.<ref>''UK 2005: The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''. Office for National Statistics. p. 89.</ref> Setting aside the [[Operation Palliser|intervention in Sierra Leone]], recent UK military operations in [[Bosnian War|Bosnia]], [[Kosovo War|Kosovo]], [[Role of the United Kingdom in the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]], [[Operation Telic|Iraq]] and, most recently, [[2011 military intervention in Libya|Libya]], have followed this approach. The last time the British military fought alone was the [[Falklands War]] of 1982.

According to various sources, including the [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] and the [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]], the United Kingdom has the fifth- or sixth-highest [[List of countries by military expenditures|military expenditure]] in the world. Total defence spending currently accounts for around 2.4% of total national GDP.<ref name="SIPRI"/><ref name="iiss.org"/>

Economy

{{main|Economy of the United Kingdom}} [[File:London.bankofengland.arp.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bank of England]]—the [[central bank]] of the United Kingdom]] The UK has a partially regulated [[market economy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/better-regulation/docs/p/11-795-principles-for-economic-regulation |title=Principles for Economic Regulation |date=April 2011 |publisher=Department for Business, Innovation & Skills |accessdate=1 May 2011}}</ref> Based on market [[exchange rate]]s the UK is today the fifth-largest economy in the world and the second-largest in Europe after Germany. [[HM Treasury]], led by the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], is responsible for developing and executing the British government's [[public finance]] policy and [[economic policy]]. The [[Bank of England]] is the UK's [[central bank]] and is responsible for issuing notes and coins in the nation's currency, the [[pound sterling]]. 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 their issue. Pound sterling is the world's third-largest [[reserve currency]] (after the US Dollar and the Euro).<ref>{{cite news| last=Chavez-Dreyfuss| first=Gertrude |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINN3141616420080331?sp=true |agency=Reuters| title=Global reserves, dollar share up at end of 2007-IMF| date=1 April 2008| accessdate=21 December 2009}}</ref> Since 1997 the Bank of England's [[Monetary Policy Committee]], headed by the [[Governor of the Bank of England]], has been responsible for setting [[official bank rate|interest rates]] at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Chancellor each year.<ref>{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312060011/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/more_about.htm |title=More About the Bank |date=n.d. |publisher=Bank of England |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/more_about.htm |archivedate=12 March 2008}}</ref>

The UK [[Tertiary sector of the economy|service sector]] makes up around 73% of GDP.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 May 2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507104835/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=9333 |archivedate=7 May 2006 |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=9333 |title=Index of Services (experimental) |publisher=Office for National Statistics}}</ref> [[London]] is one of the three "command centres" of [[International trade|the global economy]] (alongside [[New York City]] and [[Tokyo]]),<ref>{{Cite book |author=Sassen, Saskia |title=The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo |year=2001 |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=2nd |isbn=0-691-07866-1 |authorlink=Saskia Sassen}}</ref> it is the world's largest financial centre alongside New York,<ref name="Global Financial Centres 7">{{cite web |url=http://www.zyen.com/PDF/GFC%207.pdf#page=30 |title=Global Financial Centres 7 |publisher=[[Z/Yen]] |year=2010 |accessdate=21 April 2010}}</ref><ref name="Mastercard">{{cite web |url=http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/insights/pdfs/2008/MCWW_WCoC-Report_2008.pdf |title=Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index 2008 |publisher=Mastercard |accessdate=5 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="forbes.com">{{Cite news |url=http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/15/economic-growth-gdp-biz-cx_jz_0715powercities.html |title="World's Most Economically Powerful Cities". |work=Forbes |date=15 July 2008 |accessdate=3 October 2010 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5yo0LhcwS |archivedate=19 May 2011 |deadurl=no |location=New York |first=Joshua |last=Zumbrun}}</ref> and it has the [[List of cities by GDP|largest city GDP]] in Europe.<ref name="Global city GDP rankings 2008-2025">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukmediacentre.pwc.com/Media-Library/Global-city-GDP-rankings-2008-2025-61a.aspx |title=Global city GDP rankings 2008–2025 |publisher=PricewaterhouseCoopers |accessdate=16 November 2010 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5yo0M2ast |archivedate=19 May 2011 |deadurl=no}}</ref> [[Edinburgh]] is also one of the largest financial centres in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/vo030430/halltext/30430h05.htm#30430h05_spnew0 |title=Financial Services Industry |date=30 April 2003 |publisher=UK Parliament |accessdate=17 October 2008 |author=Lazarowicz, Mark (Labour MP)}}</ref> [[Tourism in the United Kingdom|Tourism]] is very important to the British economy and, with over 27 million tourists arriving in 2004, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world and London has the most international visitors of any city in the world.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809232203/http://www.world-tourism.org/facts/eng/pdf/highlights/2005_eng_high.pdf |accessdate=9 March 2015|title= UNWTO Tourism Highlights, Edition 2005|publisher= World Tourism Organisation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.euromonitor.com/Euromonitor_Internationals_Top_City_Destination_Ranking |title=Euromonitor International's Top City Destination Ranking |first=Caroline |last=Bremner |work=Euromonitor International |date=10 January 2010 |accessdate=31 May 2011 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5yo0Nvjyd |archivedate=19 May 2011| deadurl=no}}</ref> The [[creative industries]] accounted for 7% GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6% per annum between 1997 and 2005.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 March 2007 |url=http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/2132.aspx|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204131529/http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/2132.aspx|archivedate=4 December 2008 |title=From the Margins to the Mainstream – Government unveils new action plan for the creative industries |publisher=DCMS |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

[[File:A350 First Flight - Low pass 02.jpg|thumbnail|right|The [[Airbus A350]] has its wings and engines manufactured in the UK.]] The [[Industrial Revolution]] started in the UK with an initial concentration on the textile industry,<ref name="Europa">{{cite web |url=http://europa.eu/abc/european_countries/eu_members/unitedkingdom/index_en.htm |title=European Countries – United Kingdom |work=Europa (web portal) |accessdate=15 December 2010}}</ref> followed by other heavy industries such as [[shipbuilding]], coal mining and [[steelmaking]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=NBKjj5Wq6N0C&pg=PA121 |title=Industrial location: Principles, practices, and policy |year=1995 |author1=Harrington, James W. |author2=Warf, Barney |page=121 |isbn=978-0-415-10479-1 |publisher=Routledge |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=aAgi_5xIVBMC&pg=PT343 |title=Western Civilization: Alternative Volume: Since 1300 |year=2008 |author=Spielvogel, Jackson J.|isbn=978-0-495-55528-5 |location=Belmont, CA |publisher=Thomson Wadsworth}}</ref> British merchants, shippers and bankers developed overwhelming advantage over those of other nations allowing the UK to dominate international trade in the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book| first=Andrew| last=Porter| title=The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III| publisher=Oxford University Press| year=1998| isbn=0-19-924678-5| url=https://books.google.com/?id=oo3F2X8IDeEC| ref=refOHBEv3| accessdate=22 July 2009| page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| first=PJ| last=Marshall| title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire| publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=1996| isbn=0-521-00254-0| url=https://books.google.com/?id=S2EXN8JTwAEC| ref=refMarshall| accessdate=22 July 2009| pages=156–57}}</ref> As other nations industrialised, coupled with economic decline after two world wars, the United Kingdom began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. Manufacturing remains a significant part of the economy but accounted for only 16.7% of national output in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dti.gov.uk/ministers/speeches/hewitt150704b.html|archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20070603164510/http://www.dti.gov.uk/ministers/speeches/hewitt150704b.html|archivedate=3 June 2007 |title=TUC Manufacturing Conference |author=Hewitt, Patricia |publisher=Department of Trade and Industry |date=15 July 2004 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

The [[Automotive industry in the United Kingdom|automotive industry]] is a significant part of the UK manufacturing sector and employs over 800,000 people, with a turnover of some £52 billion, generating £26.6 billion of exports.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/industry-topics/economy/# |title=Industry topics |accessdate=5 July 2011 |year=2011 |publisher=Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders}}</ref>

The [[Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom|aerospace industry of the UK]] is the second- or third-largest national aerospace industry in the world depending upon the method of measurement and has an annual turnover of around £25 billion. The wings for the [[Airbus A380]] and the [[A350 XWB]] are designed and manufactured at [[Airbus UK]]'s world-leading Broughton facility, whilst over a quarter of the value of the [[Boeing 787]] comes from UK manufacturers including Eaton (fuel subsystem pumps), [[Messier-Bugatti-Dowty]] (the landing gear) and [[Rolls-Royce Holdings|Rolls-Royce]] (the engines). Other key names include [[GKN Aerospace]]—an expert in metallic and composite aerostructures that's involved in almost every civil and military fixed and rotary wing aircraft in production and development today.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article5477974.ece| title=The Aerospace industry has thousands of jobs in peril |accessdate=9 June 2011 |work=The Times |location=London |date=9 January 2009 |author=Robertson, David}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="asd">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506024756/http://www.asd-europe.org/site/fileadmin/user_upload/publications/ASD_Facts_And_Figures_2009.pdf |title=Facts & Figures – 2009 |accessdate=9 March 2015 |publisher=Aerospace & Defence Association of Europe}}</ref><ref name="ads">{{cite web |url=http://www.adsgroup.org.uk/community/dms/download.asp?txtPageLinkDocPK=23948 |title=UK Aerospace Industry Survey – 2010 |accessdate=9 June 2011 |publisher=ADS Group}}</ref><ref name="asd"/><ref name="theengineer.co.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.theengineer.co.uk/aerospace/in-depth/reasons-to-be-cheerful-about-the-uk-aerospace-sector/1017274.article| title=The Aerospace industry has thousands of jobs in peril |accessdate=9 June 2011 |work=The Times |location=London |date=9 January 2009 |author=Robertson, David}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="ads"/><ref name="theengineer.co.uk"/>

[[BAE Systems]] plays a critical role in some of the world's biggest defence aerospace projects. The company makes large sections of the [[Typhoon Eurofighter]] at its sub-assembly plant in [[Salmesbury]] and assembles the aircraft for the [[RAF]] at its Warton Plant, near Preston. It is also a principal subcontractor on the [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F35]] Joint Strike Fighter—the world's largest single defence project—for which it designs and manufactures a range of components including the aft fuselage, vertical and horizontal tail and wing tips and fuel system. As well as this it manufactures the [[BAE Hawk|Hawk]], the world's most successful jet training aircraft.<ref name="theengineer.co.uk"/> [[Airbus UK]] also manufactures the wings for the [[Airbus A400M Atlas|A400 m]] military transporter. [[Rolls-Royce Holdings|Rolls-Royce]], is the world's second-largest aero-engine manufacturer. Its engines power more than 30 types of [[commercial aircraft]] and it has more than 30,000 engines currently in service across both the civil and defence sectors. Rolls-Royce is forecast to have more than 50% of the widebody market share by 2016, ahead of [[GE Aviation|General Electric]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/02/rolls-royce-trent-xwb-jet-engine-derby-a350|title=Can this jet fly Rolls Royce through turbulent times?|author=Gwyn Topham|work=the Guardian|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> [[Agusta Westland]] designs and manufactures complete helicopters in the UK.<ref name="theengineer.co.uk"/>

The UK space industry is growing very fast. Worth £9.1bn in 2011 and employing 29,000 people, it is growing at a rate of some 7.5% annually, according to its umbrella organisation, the [[UK Space Agency]]. Government strategy is for the space industry to be a £40bn business for the UK by 2030, capturing a 10% share of the $250bn world market for commercial space technology.<ref name="theengineer.co.uk"/> On 16 July 2013, the British government pledged £60 m to the [[Skylon (spacecraft)|Skylon]] project: this investment will provide support at a "crucial stage" to allow a full-scale prototype of the [[SABRE (rocket engine)|SABRE]] engine to be built.

The [[Pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom|pharmaceutical industry]] plays an important role in the UK economy and the country has the third-highest share of global pharmaceutical R&D expenditures (after the United States and Japan).<ref name="pharmsectorbis">{{cite web |url=http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/business-sectors/biotechnology-pharmaceuticals-and-healthcare/pharmaceutical|archiveurl=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121212135622/http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/business-sectors/biotechnology-pharmaceuticals-and-healthcare/pharmaceutical|archivedate=7 February 2011 |title=The Pharmaceutical sector in the UK |publisher=Department for Business, Innovation & Skills |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130107105354/http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_113133.pdf |title=Ministerial Industry Strategy Group – Pharmaceutical Industry: Competitiveness and Performance Indicators |publisher=Department of Health |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 1.6% of the labour force (535,000 workers).<ref>{{cite web|title=Agriculture in the United Kingdom|url=http://archive.defra.gov.uk/evidence/statistics/foodfarm/general/auk/documents/AUK-2009.pdf|publisher=Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> Around two-thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one-third to arable crops. Farmers are subsidised by the EU's [[Common Agricultural Policy]]. The UK retains a significant, though much reduced fishing industry. It is also rich in a number of natural resources including coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica and an abundance of arable land.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

In the final quarter of 2008, as a result of the [[Great Recession]], the UK economy officially entered [[Late-2000s recession|recession]] for the first time since 1991.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7846266.stm |title=UK in recession as economy slides |work=BBC News |date=23 January 2009 |accessdate=23 January 2009}}</ref> [[Unemployment in the United Kingdom|Unemployment]] increased from 5.2% in May 2008 to 7.6% in May 2009 and by January 2012 the unemployment rate among 18 to 24-year-olds had risen from 11.9% to 22.5%, the highest since current records began in 1992.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://en.mercopress.com/2012/03/15/uk-youth-unemployment-at-its-highest-in-two-decades-22.5 |title=UK youth unemployment at its highest in two decades: 22.5% |work=MercoPress |date=15 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32a8c8c0-23b4-11e0-8bb1-00144feab49a.html |title=UK youth unemployment reaches record |work=Financial Times |location=London |date=19 January 2011 |author=Groom, Brian}}</ref> Total UK [[government debt]] rose from 44.4% of GDP in 2007 to 82.9% of GDP in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Release: EU Government Debt and Deficit returns |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-229711 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=March 2012 |accessdate=17 August 2012}}</ref> Following the likes of the United States, France and many major economies, in February 2013, the UK lost its top AAA credit rating for the first time since 1978 with [[Moody's Investment Services|Moodys]] and [[Fitch Ratings|Fitch]] [[credit agency]] while, unlike the other major economies retained their triple A rating with the largest agency [[Standard & Poor's]].<ref>{{cite news| last=Monaghan| first=Angela| title='The AAA-rated club: which countries still make the grade?' |url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/oct/15/the-aaa-rated-club-which-countries-still-make-the-grade |accessdate=8 June 2015| newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21554311 |title=UK loses top AAA credit rating for first time since 1978 |work=BBC News |date=23 February 2013 |accessdate=23 February 2013}}</ref>

However, by the end of 2014, UK growth was the fastest in the G7, the fastest in Europe.<ref>{{cite news|last=Stewart| first=Heather| last2=Wintour| first2=Patrick| title='UK employment rate hits highest level since records began'| url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/18/uk-employment-rate-hits-highest-level-since-records-began| accessdate=8 June 2015|newspaper=The Guardian| date=18 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| last=Wholehouse| first=Matthew| title= 'UK has fastest-growing economy, International Monetary Fund says'| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/10988849/UK-has-fastest-growing-economy-International-Monetary-Fund-says.html|date=24 July 2014|newspaper=The Telegraph |accessdate=8 June 2015}}</ref>

As a direct result of the Great Recession between 2010 and the third quarter of 2012 wages in the UK fell by 3.2%<ref name="PAwages">{{cite news |title=Britain sees real wages fall 3.2% |url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/381408/Britain-sees-real-wages-fall-3-2 |date=2 March 2013 |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London}}</ref> but by 2014, real wages had grown by 2%, moving out and above [[inflation]] for the first time since 2007.<ref>{{cite news | last=Kollewe| first=Julia| title='UK wages to rise above inflation for 2015, study shows'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/23/uk-wages-to-rise-above-inflation-for-2015-study-shows| date=23 February 2015| newspaper=The Guardian| accessdate=8 June 2015}}</ref> Since the 1980s, UK [[economic inequality]], like Canada, Australia and the United States has grown faster than in other developed countries.<ref>{{cite news| last=Roser| first=Max| title= 'Income inequality: poverty falling faster than ever but the 1% are racing ahead'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/27/income-inequality-rising-falling-worlds-richest-poorest|date=27 March 2015| newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=8 June 2015}}</ref><ref name="Beckford">Beckford, Martin (5 December 2011). [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8935943/Gap-between-rich-and-poor-growing-fastest-in-Britain.html "Gap between rich and poor growing fastest in Britain"]. ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London).</ref>

The [[Poverty in the United Kingdom|poverty line in the UK]] is commonly defined as being 60% of the median household income.<ref group="nb">In 2007–2008, this was calculated to be £115 per week for single adults with no dependent children; £199 per week for couples with no dependent children; £195 per week for single adults with two dependent children under 14; and £279 per week for couples with two dependent children under 14.</ref> In 2007–2008 13.5 million people, or 22% of the population, lived below this line. This is a higher level of [[relative poverty]] than all but four other EU members.<ref>{{cite web |title=United Kingdom: Numbers in low income |url=http://www.poverty.org.uk/01/index.shtml |publisher=The Poverty Site |accessdate=25 September 2009}}</ref> In the same year 4.0 million children, 31% of the total, lived in households below the poverty line after housing costs were taken into account. This is a decrease of 400,000 children since 1998–1999.<ref>{{cite web |title=United Kingdom: Children in low income households |url=http://www.poverty.org.uk/16/index.shtml |publisher=The Poverty Site |accessdate=25 September 2009}}</ref> The UK imports 40% of its food supplies.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7982056.stm |title=Warning of food price hike crisis |work=BBC News |date=4 April 2009}}</ref> The [[Office for National Statistics]] has estimated that in 2011, 14 million people were at risk of [[Poverty in the United Kingdom|poverty]] or social exclusion, and that one person in 20 (5.1%) was now experiencing "severe material depression",<ref name="Andrews">Andrews, J. (16 January 2013). [http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/how-poor-is-britain-now-122632356.html "How poor is Britain now"]. ''Yahoo! Finance UK ''</ref> up from 3 million people in 1977.<ref name="Glynn">Glynn, S.; Booth, A. (1996). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0G6AaxTGSC4C&pg=PA209 ''Modern Britain: An Economic and Social History'']. London: Routledge.</ref><ref name="Physorg">[http://phys.org/news/2013-03-highlights-bleak-poverty-uk.html "Report highlights 'bleak' poverty levels in the UK"] ''Phys.org'', 29 March 2013</ref>

[[List of countries by external debt|The UK has an external debt]] of $9.6 [[Trillion (short scale)|trillion]] dollars which is second highest in the world after the US which has an external debt of 18.5 trillion dollars. As a percentage of GDP, external debt is 408% which is third highest in the world after Luxembourg and Iceland.<ref>[http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do?Step=12&id=4&CNO=2 World Development Indicators], [[World Bank]]. Accessed on June 29, 2011. Note: Used for Bermuda, Chad, Cyprus, Eritrea, Greenland, Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia and Turkmenistan.</ref><ref>[http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/tables.html Total Midyear Population], [[U.S. Census Bureau]], International Data Base, accessed on June 29, 2011. Note: Used for Aruba, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Cuba, North Korea, Marshall Islands, Montenegro, Samoa, Somalia, Trinidad and Tobago and West Bank.</ref><ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ee.html The World Factbook - European Union], [[Central Intelligence Agency]],accessed on June 29, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/01/weodata/index.aspx World Economic Outlook Database, April 2011], [[International Monetary Fund]]. Accessed on June 29, 2011. Note: Used for the rest of the countries.</ref><ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2195.html GDP (official exchange rate)], [[The World Factbook]], United States Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on June 29, 2011. Note: Used for the rest of the countries.</ref>

Science and technology

{{main|Science and technology in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Charles Darwin 01.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Charles Darwin]] (1809–82), whose theory of [[Evolution|evolution by natural selection]] is the foundation of modern biological sciences.]] England and Scotland were leading centres of the [[Scientific Revolution]] from the 17th century<ref>Gascoin, J. "A reappraisal of the role of the universities in the Scientific Revolution", in Lindberg, David C. and Westman, Robert S., eds (1990), ''Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution''. Cambridge University Press. p. 248. ISBN 0-521-34804-8.</ref> and the United Kingdom led the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century,<ref name="Europa"/> and has continued to produce scientists and engineers credited with important advances.<ref>Reynolds, E.E.; Brasher, N.H. (1966). ''Britain in the Twentieth Century, 1900–1964''. Cambridge University Press. p. 336. {{oclc|474197910}}</ref> Major theorists from the 17th and 18th centuries include [[Isaac Newton]], whose [[Newton's laws of motion|laws of motion]] and illumination of [[gravitation|gravity]] have been seen as a keystone of modern science;<ref>Burtt, E.A. (2003) 1924.[https://books.google.com/?id=G9WBMa1Rz_kC&pg=PA207 ''The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science'']. Mineola, NY: Courier Dover. p. 207. ISBN 0-486-42551-7.</ref> from the 19th century [[Charles Darwin]], whose theory of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]] was fundamental to the development of modern biology, and [[James Clerk Maxwell]], who formulated classical [[electromagnetic theory]]; and more recently [[Stephen Hawking]], who has advanced major theories in the fields of [[cosmology]], [[quantum gravity]] and the investigation of [[black holes]].<ref>Hatt, C. (2006). [https://books.google.com/?id=BVBvehqrAPQC ''Scientists and Their Discoveries'']. London: Evans Brothers. pp. 16, 30 and 46. ISBN 0-237-53195-X.</ref>

Major scientific discoveries from the 18th century include [[hydrogen]] by [[Henry Cavendish]];<ref>Jungnickel, C.; McCormmach, R. (1996). [https://books.google.com/?id=eiDoN-rg8I8C ''Cavendish'']. American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-220-1.</ref> from the 20th century [[penicillin]] by [[Alexander Fleming]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1945/fleming-bio.html |title=The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1945: Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst B. Chain, Sir Howard Florey |publisher=The Nobel Foundation |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zbLPNl0x |archivedate=21 June 2011}}</ref> and the structure of [[DNA]], by [[Francis Crick]] and others.<ref>Hatt, C. (2006). [https://books.google.com/?id=BVBvehqrAPQC ''Scientists and Their Discoveries'']. London: Evans Brothers. p. 56. ISBN 0-237-53195-X.</ref> Famous British engineers and inventors of the Industrial Revolution include [[James Watt]], [[George Stephenson]], [[Richard Arkwright]], [[Robert Stephenson]] and [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]].<ref>Wilson, Arthur (1994). The Living Rock: The Story of Metals Since Earliest Times and Their Impact on Civilization. p. 203. Woodhead Publishing.</ref> Other major engineering projects and applications by people from the UK include the [[steam locomotive]], developed by [[Richard Trevithick]] and [[Andrew Vivian]];<ref>James, I. (2010). ''Remarkable Engineers: From Riquet to Shannon''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–6. ISBN 0-521-73165-8.</ref> from the 19th century the [[electric motor]] by [[Michael Faraday]], the [[incandescent light bulb]] by [[Joseph Swan]],<ref>Bova, Ben (2002) 1932. ''The Story of Light''. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-4022-0009-0.</ref> and the first practical telephone, patented by [[Alexander Graham Bell]];<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) |publisher=Scottish Science Hall of Fame |url=http://www.nls.uk/scientists/biographies/alexander-graham-bell/index.html |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zbRVYsAo |archivedate=21 June 2011}}</ref> and in the 20th century the world's first working television system by [[John Logie Baird]] and others,<ref>{{cite web |title=John Logie Baird (1888–1946) |publisher=BBC History |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/baird_logie.shtml |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zbSBRsV4| archivedate=21 June 2011}}</ref> the [[jet engine]] by [[Frank Whittle]], the basis of the modern computer by [[Alan Turing]], and the [[World Wide Web]] by [[Tim Berners-Lee]].<ref>Cole, Jeffrey (2011). [https://books.google.com/?id=Wlth0GRi0N0C&pg=PA121 ''Ethnic Groups of Europe: An Encyclopedia'']. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p. 121. ISBN 1-59884-302-8.</ref>

Scientific research and development remains important in British universities, with many establishing [[science park]]s to facilitate production and co-operation with industry.<ref>Castells, M.; Hall, P.; Hall, P.G. (2004). ''Technopoles of the World: the Making of Twenty-First-Century Industrial Complexes''. London: Routledge. pp. 98–100. ISBN 0-415-10015-1.</ref> Between 2004 and 2008 the UK produced 7% of the world's scientific research papers and had an 8% share of scientific citations, the third and second highest in the world (after the United States and China, respectively).<ref>{{cite web |title=Knowledge, networks and nations: scientific collaborations in the twenty-first century |publisher=Royal Society |year=2011 |url=http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/Influencing_Policy/Reports/2011-03-28-Knowledge-networks-nations.pdf |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zdOvXsEt |archivedate=22 June 2011}}</ref> Scientific journals produced in the UK include ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', the ''[[BMJ|British Medical Journal]]'' and ''[[The Lancet]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McCook, Alison |title=Is peer review broken? |journal=Reprinted from the Scientist 20(2) 26, 2006 |url=http://gaia.pge.utexas.edu/Good/Materials/scientist_02_28_2006.htm |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zcLYYyjt| archivedate=21 June 2011 }}</ref>

Transport

{{main|Transport in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Heathrow T5.jpg|thumb|left|[[London Heathrow Terminal 5|Heathrow Terminal 5 building]]. [[London Heathrow Airport]] has the [[world's busiest airports by international passenger traffic|most international passenger traffic]] of any airport in the world.<ref name="bbc1">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7472432.stm |title=Heathrow 'needs a third runway' |work=BBC News |accessdate=17 October 2008| date=25 June 2008}}</ref><ref name="airport">{{cite press release |url=http://www.aci.aero/aci/aci/file/Press%20Releases/2008/TOP30_International%20Passengers_2007.pdf |title=Statistics: Top 30 World airports |publisher=Airports Council International |date=July 2008 |accessdate=15 October 2008}}</ref>]] A radial road network totals {{convert|29145|mi|km}} of main roads, {{convert|2173|mi|km}} of motorways and {{convert|213750|mi|km}} of paved roads.<ref name="factbook"/> The [[M25 motorway|M25]], encircling London, is the largest and busiest bypass in the world.<ref>{{cite book|title=Reading the Everyday|first=Joe|last=Moran|publisher=Routledge|p=95|isbn=978-1-134-37216-4}}</ref> In 2009 there were a total of 34 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/tsgb/latest/tsgb2010vehicles.pdf |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5v0ol5E61 |archivedate=16 December 2010 |title=Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2010 |publisher=Department for Transport}}</ref>

The UK has a railway network of {{convert|10072|mi|0|abbr=out}} in [[Rail transport in Great Britain|Great Britain]] and {{convert|189|mi|0|abbr=out}} in [[Northern Ireland Railways|Northern Ireland]]. Railways in Northern Ireland are operated by [[NI Railways]], a subsidiary of state-owned [[Translink (Northern Ireland)|Translink]]. In Great Britain, the [[British Rail]] network was privatised between 1994 and 1997. [[Network Rail]] owns and manages most of the fixed assets (tracks, signals etc.). About 20 privately owned (and foreign state-owned railways including: [[Deutsche Bahn]]; [[SNCF]] and [[Nederlandse Spoorwegen]]) [[Train Operating Companies]] operate passenger trains and carry over 18,000 passenger trains daily. There are also some 1,000 freight trains in daily operation.<ref name="factbook"/> The UK government is to spend £30 billion on a new high-speed railway line, [[HS2]], to be operational by 2025.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7467203.stm |title=Major new rail lines considered |work=BBC News |date=21 June 2008 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5u79BVcN1 |archivedate=9 October 2010 |deadurl=no}}</ref> [[Crossrail]], under construction in London, Is Europe's largest construction project with a £15 billion projected cost.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16289051 |work=BBC News |title=Crossrail's giant tunnelling machines unveiled |date=2 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/crossrail-delayed-to-save-1631bn-2064629.html |newspaper=The Independent on Sunday |location=London |title=Crossrail delayed to save £1bn |date=29 August 2010 |first=Mark |last=Leftly}}</ref>

In the year from October 2009 to September 2010 UK airports handled a total of 211.4 million passengers.<ref name="caastats">{{cite web |url=http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/201009/Table_01_Size_of_UK_Airports.pdf |title=Size of Reporting Airports October 2009 – September 2010 |accessdate=5 December 2010 |publisher=Civil Aviation Authority}}</ref> In that period the three largest airports were [[London Heathrow Airport]] (65.6 million passengers), [[Gatwick Airport]] (31.5 million passengers) and [[London Stansted Airport]] (18.9 million passengers).<ref name="caastats"/> London Heathrow Airport, located {{convert|15|mi|km|}} west of the capital, has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world<ref name="bbc1"/><ref name="airport"/> and is the hub for the UK flag carrier [[British Airways]], as well as for [[BMI (airline)|BMI]] and [[Virgin Atlantic]].<ref>{{cite news |title=BMI being taken over by Lufthansa |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7697261.stm |accessdate=23 December 2009 |work=BBC News |date=29 October 2008}}</ref>

Energy

{{main|Energy in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Oil platform in the North SeaPros.jpg|thumb|An oil platform in the [[North Sea]]]] In 2006, the UK was the world's ninth-largest consumer of energy and the 15th-largest producer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/country_energy_data.cfm?fips=UK |title=United Kingdom Energy Profile |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |accessdate=4 November 2010}}</ref> The UK is home to a number of large energy companies, including two of the six oil and gas "[[supermajor]]s"—[[BP]] and [[Royal Dutch Shell]]—and [[BG Group]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/6424030/Let-the-battle-begin-over-black-gold.html |title=Let the battle begin over black gold |accessdate=26 November 2010 |work=The Daily Telegraph| date=24 October 2009 |location=London |first=Rowena |last=Mason}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-25/rba-s-stevens-says-inflation-unlikely-to-fall-much-further.html |title=RBA Says Currency Containing Prices, Rate Level 'Appropriate' in Near Term |accessdate=26 November 2010 |work=Bloomberg |location=New York |date=26 November 2010 |first=Michael |last=Heath}}</ref> In 2011, 40% of the UK's electricity was produced by gas, 30% by coal, 19% by nuclear power and 4.2% by wind, hydro, biofuels and wastes.<ref name="world-nuclear.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf84.html |title=Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom |publisher=World Nuclear Association |accessdate=9 April 2013 |date=April 2013}}</ref>

In 2009, the UK produced 1.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and consumed 1.7 million bbl/d.<ref name="eiaoil">{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/United_Kingdom/Oil.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812175554/http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=UK|archivedate=12 August 2011 |title=United Kingdom – Oil |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of oil since 2005.<ref name="eiaoil"/> {{As of|2010|alt=In 2010}} the UK had around 3.1 billion barrels of proven [[North Sea oil|crude oil reserves]], the largest of any EU member state.<ref name="eiaoil"/> In 2009, 66.5% of the UK's oil supply was imported.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edfenergy.com/energyfuture/energy-gap-security/oil-and-the-energy-gap-security |title=Diminishing domestic reserves, escalating imports |publisher=EDF Energy |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref>

In 2009, the UK was the 13th-largest producer of natural gas in the world and the largest producer in the EU.<ref name="eiagas">{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/United_Kingdom/NaturalGas.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416085105/http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=UK|archivedate=16 April 2011 |title=United Kingdom – Natural Gas |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |accessdate=9 March 2011}}</ref> Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004.<ref name="eiagas"/> In 2009, half of British gas was supplied from imports as domestic reserves are depleted.<ref name="world-nuclear.org"/>

Coal production played a key role in the UK economy in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the mid-1970s, 130 million tonnes of coal was being produced annually, not falling below 100 million tonnes until the early 1980s. During the 1980s and 1990s the industry was scaled back considerably. In 2011, the UK produced 18.3 million tonnes of coal.<ref name="eiaoverview">{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/United_Kingdom/Profile.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812175554/http://www.eia.gov/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=UK|archivedate=12 August 2011|title=United Kingdom – Quick Facts Energy Overview |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> In 2005 it had proven recoverable coal reserves of 171 million tons.<ref name="eiaoverview"/> The UK [[Coal Authority]] has stated there is a potential to produce between 7 billion tonnes and 16 billion tonnes of coal through [[Underground coal gasification|underground coal gasification (UCG)]] or '[[Hydraulic fracturing|fracking']],<ref name="Coal 2">{{cite web |title=Coal Reserves in the United Kingdom |author=The Coal Authority |url=http://www.coal.gov.uk/media//860AD/Response%20to%20Energy%20Review%20-%20Appendix%202.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104054403/http://www.coal.gov.uk/media//860AD/Response%20to%20Energy%20Review%20-%20Appendix%202.pdf |archivedate=4 January 2009 |accessdate=5 July 2011 |publisher=The Coal Authority |date=10 April 2006}}</ref> and that, based on current UK coal consumption, such reserves could last between 200 and 400 years.<ref name="Coal 3">{{cite news |title=England Expert predicts 'coal revolution' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7046981.stm |accessdate=23 September 2008 |work=BBC News |date=16 October 2007}}</ref> However, environmental and social concerns have been raised over chemicals getting into the water table and minor earthquakes damaging homes.<ref>{{cite news |last=Watts |first=Susan |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17448428 |title=Fracking: Concerns over gas extraction regulations |work=BBC News |date=20 March 2012 |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/fracking |title=Quit fracking aboot |publisher=Friends of the Earth Scotland |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref>

In the late 1990s, nuclear power plants contributed around 25% of total annual electricity generation in the UK, but this has gradually declined as old plants have been shut down and ageing-related problems affect plant availability. In 2012, the UK had 16 reactors normally generating about 19% of its electricity. All but one of the reactors will be retired by 2023. Unlike Germany and Japan, the UK intends to build a new generation of nuclear plants from about 2018.<ref name="world-nuclear.org"/>

The total of all renewable electricity sources provided for 14.9% of the electricity generated in the United Kingdom in 2013,<ref name=DUKES>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes|title=Department of Energy and Climate Change: Annual tables: ‘Digest of UK energy statistics’ (DUKES) - Chapter 6: Renewable Sources of energy|accessdate=13 April 2015}}</ref> reaching 53.7 TWh of electricity generated. The UK is [[Wind power in the United Kingdom|one of the best sites in Europe for wind energy]], and wind power production is its fastest growing supply, in 2014 it generated 9.3% of the UK's total electricity.<ref name="Roadmap">[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/48128/2167-uk-renewable-energy-roadmap.pdf UK Renewable Energy Roadmap Crown copyright, July 2011]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/adaptation/wind_power.shtml|title=BBC – Weather Centre – Climate Change – Wind Power|work=bbc.co.uk|accessdate=9 June 2015}}</ref><ref>[http://www.renewableuk.com/en/news/renewableuk-news.cfm/electricity-needs-of-more-than-a-quarter-of-uk-homes-powered-by-wind-in-2014 RenewableUK News website article]</ref>

Water supply and sanitation

{{Main|Water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom}} Access to improved water supply and sanitation in the UK is universal. It is estimated that 96.7% of households are connected to the sewer network.<ref>[http://www.wssinfo.org/download?id_document=988 WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program]</ref> According to the Environment Agency, total water abstraction for public water supply in the UK was 16,406 [[Megalitre|megalitres]] per day in 2007.<ref>[http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/data/112185.aspx Environment Agency]</ref> In England and Wales the economic regulator of water companies is the [[Water Services Regulation Authority]] (Ofwat). The [[Environment Agency]] is responsible for environmental regulation, and the [[Drinking Water Inspectorate]] for regulating drinking water quality. The economic water industry regulator in [[Scotland]] is the Water Industry Commission for Scotland and the environmental regulator is the [[Scottish Environment Protection Agency]]. Drinking water standards and wastewater discharge standards in the UK, as in other countries of the [[European Union]], are determined by the EU (see [[Water supply and sanitation in the European Union]]).

In England and Wales water and sewerage services are provided by 10 private regional water and sewerage companies and 13 mostly smaller private "water only" companies. In Scotland water and sewerage services are provided by a single public company, [[Scottish Water]]. In Northern Ireland water and sewerage services are also provided by a single public entity, [[Northern Ireland Water]].

Demographics

{{main|Demography of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Population density UK 2011 census.png|thumb|250px|Map of population density in the UK as at the 2011 census.]] A [[Census in the United Kingdom|census]] is taken simultaneously in all parts of the UK every ten years.<ref>{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604093106/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/census_geog.asp |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/geography/census_geog.asp |title=Census Geography |publisher=Office for National Statistics |archivedate=4 June 2011 |date=30 October 2007 |accessdate=14 April 2012 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> The [[Office for National Statistics]] is responsible for collecting data for England and Wales, the [[General Register Office for Scotland]] and the [[Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency]] each being responsible for censuses in their respective countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/index.html |title=Welcome to the 2011 Census for England and Wales |date=n.d. |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=11 October 2008}}</ref> In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] the total population of the United Kingdom was 63,181,775.<ref name="2011census">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_292378.pdf |title=2011 Census: Population Estimates for the United Kingdom |publisher=Office for National Statistics |archivedate= |date=27 March 2011 |accessdate=18 December 2012 }}</ref> It is the third-largest in the European Union, the fifth-largest in the Commonwealth and the 21st-largest in the world. In mid-2014 net long-term international migration contributed more to population growth, for the first time since mid-2011. In mid-2012 and mid-2013 natural change contributed the most to population growth.<ref name="pop2014">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-uk--england-and-wales--scotland-and-northern-ireland/mid-2014/index.html |title=Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Mid-2014 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=25 June 2015}}</ref> Between 2001 and 2011 the population increased by an average annual rate of approximately 0.7%.<ref name="2011census"/> This compares to 0.3% per year in the period 1991 to 2001 and 0.2% in the decade 1981 to 1991.<ref name="pop2010">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-uk--england-and-wales--scotland-and-northern-ireland/mid-2010-population-estimates/annual-mid-year-population-estimates--2010.pdf |title=Annual Mid-year Population Estimates, 2010 |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |year=2011 |accessdate=14 April 2012}}</ref> The 2011 census also confirmed that the proportion of the population aged 0–14 has nearly halved (31% in 1911 compared to 18 in 2011) and the proportion of older people aged 65 and over has more than tripled (from 5 to 16%).<ref name="2011census"/> It has been estimated that the number of people aged 100 or over will rise steeply to reach over 626,000 by 2080.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/30/one-in-six-people-live-100 |author=Batty, David |title=One in six people in the UK today will live to 100, study says |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=30 December 2010}}</ref> {{UK largest cities map}} England's population in 2011 was found to be 53 million.<ref name="2011 UK censuses">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/uk-census/index.html |title=2011 UK censuses |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=18 December 2012}}</ref> It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 417 people resident per square kilometre in mid-2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedom-of-information/what-can-i-request/published-ad-hoc-data/pop/july-2015/uk-population-density-2014.xls|title=UK Population Density 2014|publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=9 July 2015}}</ref> with a particular concentration in London and the south-east.<ref>{{cite news |title=England is most crowded country in Europe |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2967374/England-is-most-crowded-country-in-Europe.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=5 September 2009| location=London |first=Urmee |last=Khan |date=16 September 2008}}</ref> The 2011 census put Scotland's population at 5.3 million,<ref>{{cite web |title=Scotland's population at record high |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/dec/17/scotland-population-record-high |newspaper=The Guardian |author=Carrell, Severin |accessdate=18 December 2012 |location=London |date=17 December 2012}}</ref> Wales at 3.06 million and Northern Ireland at 1.81 million.<ref name="2011 UK censuses"/> In percentage terms England has had the fastest growing population of any country of the UK in the period from 2001 to 2011, with an increase of 7.9%.

In 2012 the average [[total fertility rate]] (TFR) across the UK was 1.92 children per woman.<ref name="TFR">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/vital-statistics--population-and-health-reference-tables/spring-2014-update/annual-table.xls |title=Vital Statistics: Population and Health Reference Tables (February 2014 Update): Annual Time Series Data |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics|ONS]] |accessdate=27 April 2014}}</ref> While a rising birth rate is contributing to current population growth, it remains considerably below the 'baby boom' peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964,<ref name="Boseley">{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/14/familyandrelationships.women |title=The question: What's behind the baby boom? |last=Boseley |first=Sarah |date=14 July 2008 |work=The Guardian |page=3 |accessdate=28 August 2009| location=London}}</ref> below the replacement rate of 2.1, but higher than the 2001 record low of 1.63.<ref name="TFR"/> In 2012, Scotland had the lowest TFR at only 1.67, followed by Wales at 1.88, England at 1.94, and Northern Ireland at 2.03.<ref name="TFR"/> In 2011, 47.3% of births in the UK were to unmarried women.<ref>[http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&plugin=0&language=en&pcode=tps00018 Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table]. Eurostat (26 February 2013). Retrieved 12 July 2013.</ref> A government figure estimated that there are 3.6 million homosexual people in Britain comprising 6% of the population.<ref>{{cite news |author=Campbell, Denis |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/dec/11/gayrights.immigrationpolicy |title=3.6 m people in Britain are gay – official |newspaper=The Observer |location=London |date=11 December 2005 |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> {{Largest Urban Areas of the United Kingdom}} {{Clear}}

Ethnic groups

{{main|Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Non-white in the 2011 census.png|thumb|250px|Map showing the percentage of the population who are not white according to the 2011 census.]]

Historically, indigenous British people were thought to be [[Genetic history of the British Isles|descended from the various ethnic groups]] that settled there before the 11th century: the [[Celts]], Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the [[Normans]]. [[Welsh people]] could be the oldest ethnic group in the UK.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18489735 |title=Welsh people could be most ancient in UK, DNA suggests |work=BBC News |date=19 June 2012 |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> A 2006 genetic study shows that more than 50% of England's gene pool contains [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] Y chromosomes.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Thomas | first1 = Mark G. | display-authors = 1 | last2 = et al | year = | title = Evidence for a segregated social structure in early Anglo-Saxon England | journal = [[Proceedings of the Royal Society]] B: Biological Sciences | volume = 273 | issue = 1601| pages = 2651–2657 | pmc=1635457 | pmid=17002951 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2006.3627 | date=October 2006}}</ref> Another 2005 genetic analysis indicates that "about 75% of the traceable ancestors of the modern British population had arrived in the British isles by about 6,200 years ago, at the start of the British Neolithic or Stone Age", and that the British broadly share a common ancestry with the [[Basque people]].<ref>Owen, James (19 July 2005). [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0719_050719_britishgene.html "Review of 'The Tribes of Britain'"]. ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' (Washington DC).</ref><ref>Oppenheimer, Stephen (October 2006). {{Wayback |df=yes |date=20060926181227 |url=http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7817 |title="Myths of British ancestry"}}. ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]'' (London). Retrieved 5 November 2010.</ref><ref name="Henderson">{{cite news |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article1945608.ece |title=Scientist – Griffin hijacked my work to make race claim about 'British aborigines' |last=Henderson |first=Mark |date=23 October 2009 |work=The Times |accessdate=26 October 2009 |location=London}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

The UK has a history of small-scale non-white immigration, with [[Liverpool]] having the oldest Black population in the country dating back to at least the 1730s during the period of the African slave trade,<ref name="Costello">{{Cite book |last=Costello |first=Ray |title=Black Liverpool: The Early History of Britain's Oldest Black Community 1730–1918 |publisher=Picton Press |location=Liverpool |year=2001 |isbn=1-873245-07-6}}</ref> and the oldest [[British Chinese|Chinese]] community in Europe, dating to the arrival of Chinese seamen in the 19th century.<ref name="Chinese">{{cite web |url=http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.1369|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724204513/http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.1369|archivedate=24 July 2009 |title=Culture and Ethnicity Differences in Liverpool – Chinese Community |publisher=Chambré Hardman Trust |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> In 1950 there were probably fewer than 20,000 non-white residents in Britain, almost all born overseas.<ref>Coleman, David; Compton, Paul; Salt, John (2002). [https://books.google.com/?id=mmaRpUa1oSoC&pg=PA505 "The demographic characteristics of immigrant populations"], Council of Europe, p.505. ISBN 92-871-4974-7.</ref>

Since 1948 substantial immigration from Africa, the [[Caribbean]] and [[South Asia]] has been a legacy of ties forged by the [[British Empire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/enwiki/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/short_history_of_immigration.stm|title=Short History of Immigration|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=18 March 2015}}</ref> Migration from new EU member states in [[Central Europe|Central]] and Eastern Europe since 2004 has resulted in growth in these population groups, although some of this migration has been temporary.<ref name=Vargas>{{cite web|url=http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/migration-flows-a8-and-other-eu-migrants-and-uk|title=Migration Flows of A8 and other EU Migrants to and from the UK|first=Carlos|last=Vargas-Silva|publisher=Migration Observatory, University of Oxford|date=10 April 2014|accessdate=18 March 2015}}</ref> Since the 1990s, there has been substantial diversification of the immigrant population, with migrants to the UK coming from a much wider range of countries than previous waves, which tended to involve larger numbers of migrants coming from a relatively small number of countries.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Super-diversity and its implications|first=Steven|last=Vertovec|journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies|year=2007|volume=30|issue=6|pages=1024–1054|doi=10.1080/01419870701599465}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4266102.stm|title=Opinion: Super-diversity revealed|first=Steven|last=Vertovec|publisher=BBC News|date=20 September 2005|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Answer Formats in British Census and Survey Ethnicity Questions: Does Open Response Better Capture 'Superdiversity'?|first=Peter J|last=Aspinall|journal=Sociology|volume=46|issue=2|year=2012|pages=354–364|doi=10.1177/0038038511419195}}</ref>

Academics have argued that the [[Classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom|ethnicity categories]] employed in British national statistics, which were first introduced in the [[1991 UK census|1991 census]], involve confusion between the concepts of [[ethnicity]] and [[Race (human classification)|race]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Negotiating race and ethnicity: Exploring the implications of the 1991 census|first=Roger|last=Ballard|journal=Patterns of Prejudice|volume=30|issue=3|year=1996|pages=3–33|doi=10.1080/0031322X.1996.9970192}}</ref><ref name=Kertzer>{{cite book|title=Census and Identity: The Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Censuses|chapter=Censuses, identity formation, and the struggle for political power|year=2002|first1=David I.|last1=Kertzer|first2=Dominique|last2=Arel|editor-first1=David I.|editor-last1=Kertzer|editor-first2=Dominique|editor-last2=Arel|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=1–42}}</ref> {{As of|2011|alt=In [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011]]}}, 87.2% of the UK population identified themselves as white, meaning 12.8% of the UK population identify themselves as of one of number of [[minority group|ethnic minority]] groups.<ref name=ethnicity2011/> In the 2001 census, this figure was 7.9% of the UK population.<ref name=ethnicity2001>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=273|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030731053453/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=273|title= Population Size: 7.9% from a minority ethnic group|publisher=Office for National Statistics|date=13 February 2003|archivedate=31 July 2003|accessdate=7 March 2015}}</ref>

Because of differences in the wording of the census forms used in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, data on the [[Other White]] group is not available for the UK as a whole, but in England and Wales this was the fastest growing group between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, increasing by 1.1 million (1.8 percentage points).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_290558.pdf |title=Ethnicity and National Identity in England and Wales 2011 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=11 December 2012 |accessdate=23 April 2015}}</ref> Amongst groups for which comparable data is available for all parts of the UK level, there was considerable growth in the size of the Other Asian category, which increased from 0.4 to 1.4% of the population between 2001 and 2011.<ref name=ethnicity2011/><ref name=ethnicity2001/> There was also considerable growth in the [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed]] category. In 2001, people in this category accounted for 1.2% of the UK population;<ref name=ethnicity2001/> by 2011, the proportion was 2%.<ref name=ethnicity2011/>

Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. 30.4% of London's population and 37.4% of [[Leicester]]'s was estimated to be non-white {{as of|lc=y|2005|06|alt=in 2005}},<ref>{{cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do;jsessionid=ac1f930dce6eace0153cf12440ca609dc762c8ae598.e38OaNuRbNuSbi0Ma3aNaxiQbNiLe6fznA5Pp7ftolbGmkTy?a=3&b=276743&c=London&d=13&e=13&g=325264&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1201351285750&enc=1&dsFamilyId=1812&bhcp=1 |title=Resident population estimates by ethnic group (percentages): London |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=23 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=Leicester&d=13&e=13&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1208962134759&enc=1&dsFamilyId=1812 |title=Resident population estimates by ethnic group (percentages): Leicester |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=23 April 2008}}</ref> whereas less than 5% of the populations of [[North East England]], Wales and the [[South West England|South West]] were from ethnic minorities, according to the 2001 census.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/commentaries/ethnicity.asp |title=Census 2001 – Ethnicity and religion in England and Wales |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=23 April 2008}}</ref> {{As of|2011|alt=In 2011}}, 26.5% of primary and 22.2% of secondary pupils at [[state school]]s in England were members of an ethnic minority.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2006892/1-4-primary-school-pupils-Britain-ethnic-minority.html |title=One in four primary school pupils are from an ethnic minority and almost a million schoolchildren do not speak English as their first language |work=Daily Mail |date=22 June 2011 |accessdate=28 June 2011 |location=London |first=Kate |last=Loveys}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:right" |- !Ethnic group || Population, 2001<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=455|title=Population size: 7.9% from a non-White ethnic group|publisher=Office for National Statistics|date=8 January 2004|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040619124235/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=455|archivedate=19 June 2014}}</ref> || Population, 2011 || Percentage of total population, 2011<ref name=ethnicity2011>{{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-the-united-kingdom---part-1/rft-ks201uk.xls|title=2011 Census: Ethnic group, local authorities in the United Kingdom|publisher=Office for National Statistics|date=11 October 2013|accessdate=6 March 2015}}</ref> |- |style="text-align:left" | White || 54,153,898 || 55,010,359 ||87.1 |- |style="text-align:left" | White: Gypsy/Traveller/Irish Traveller{{refn|The 2011 Census recorded Gypsies/Travellers as a separate ethnic group for the first time.|group="nb"}} || — || 63,193 ||0.1 |- |style="text-align:left" | Asian/Asian British: Indian || 1,053,411 || 1,451,862 || 2.3 |- |style="text-align:left" | Asian/Asian British: Pakistani || 747,285 || 1,174,983 || 1.9 |- |style="text-align:left" | Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi || 283,063 || 451,529 || 0.7 |- |style="text-align:left" | Asian/Asian British: Chinese|| 247,403 || 433,150 || 0.7 |- |style="text-align:left" | Asian/Asian British: Other Asian || 247,664 || 861,815 || 1.4 |- |style="text-align:left" | Black/African/Caribbean/Black British || 1,148,738 || 1,904,684{{refn|In the 2011 Census, for the purpose of harmonising results to make them comparable across the UK, the ONS includes individuals in Scotland who classified themselves in the "African" category (29,638 people), which in the Scottish version of the census is separate from "Caribbean or Black" (6,540 people),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/censusresults/release2a/scotland/KS201SC.pdf|title=Table KS201SC - Ethnic group: All people|publisher=National Records of Scotland|date=2013|accessdate=28 April 2015}}</ref> in this grouping. The ONS note that "the African categories used in Scotland could potentially capture White/Asian/Other African in addition to Black identities".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/measuring-equality/equality/ethnic-nat-identity-religion/ethnic-group/index.html|title=Ethnic group|publisher=Office for National Statistics|accessdate=27 April 2015}}</ref>|group="nb"}} || 3.0 |- |style="text-align:left" | Mixed/multiple ethnic groups || 677,117 || 1,250,229 || 2.0 |- |style="text-align:left" | Other ethnic group || 230,615 || 580,374 || 0.9 |- |style="text-align:left" | Total || 58,789,194 || 63,182,178 || 100 |}

Languages

{{main|Languages of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Anglospeak.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|The [[English-speaking world]]. Countries in dark blue have a majority of native speakers; countries where English is an official but not a majority language are shaded in light blue. English is one of the official languages [[Languages of the European Union|of the European Union]]<ref name="EUlang">{{cite web |url=http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/languages-of-europe/doc135_en.htm |title=Official EU languages |date=8 May 2009 |publisher=European Commission |accessdate=16 October 2009}}</ref> and [[Official languages of the United Nations|the United Nations]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/depts/OHRM/sds/lcp/UNLCP/english/ |title=Language Courses in New York |year=2006 |publisher=United Nations |accessdate=29 November 2010}}</ref>]]

The UK's ''[[de facto]]'' official language is English.<ref name="direct.gov.uk">{{cite web |url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012519 |title=English language – Government, citizens and rights |work=[[Directgov]] |accessdate=23 August 2011}}</ref><ref name="thecommonwealth.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/YearbookHomeInternal/139560/ |title=Commonwealth Secretariat – UK |publisher=[[Commonwealth Secretariat]] |accessdate=23 August 2011}}</ref> It is estimated that 95% of the UK's population are [[monolingual]] English speakers.<ref name="BBC languages">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/uk.shtml |title=Languages across Europe: United Kingdom |date= |work= |publisher=BBC |accessdate=4 February 2013}}</ref> 5.5% of the population are estimated to speak languages brought to the UK as a result of relatively recent immigration.<ref name="BBC languages"/> South Asian languages, including [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Urdu]], [[Hindi]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], are the largest grouping and are spoken by 2.7% of the UK population.<ref name="BBC languages"/> According to the 2011 census, [[Polish language|Polish]] has become the second-largest language spoken in England and has 546,000 speakers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Polish becomes England's second language |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/30/polish-becomes-englands-second-language |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=30 January 2013 |accessdate=4 February 2012 |location=London |first=Robert |last=Booth}}</ref>

Four [[Celtic languages]] are spoken in the UK: [[Welsh language|Welsh]]; [[Irish language|Irish]]; [[Scottish Gaelic]]; and [[Cornish language|Cornish]]. All are recognised as regional or minority languages, subject to specific measures of protection and promotion under the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]]<ref name="reglang"/><ref>{{cite web|title=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Strasbourg, 5.XI.1992 |url= http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/148.htm|publisher=Council of Europe|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> and the [[Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Strasbourg, 1.II.1995 |url= http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm|publisher=Council of Europe|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=447&Pos=6&ColRank=1&Rank=192|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728133204/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=447&Pos=6&ColRank=1&Rank=192|archivedate=28 July 2011|publisher= National Statistics Online|title= Welsh Language|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> an increase from the 1991 Census (18%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/fow/WelshLanguage.pdf|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5miXXSBP4|archivedate=12 January 2010 |title=Differences in estimates of Welsh Language Skills |accessdate=30 December 2008 |publisher=Office for National Statistics}}</ref> In addition it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/welsh.shtml |title=Welsh today |author=Wynn Thomas, Peter |publisher=BBC |work=Voices |date=March 2007 |accessdate=5 July 2011}}</ref> In the same census in Northern Ireland 167,487 people (10.4%) stated that they had "some knowledge of Irish" (see [[Irish language in Northern Ireland]]), almost exclusively in the [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] (mainly Catholic) population. Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the [[Outer Hebrides]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/news2005/scotlands-census-2001-gaelic-report.html |title=Scotland's Census 2001 – Gaelic Report |publisher=General Register Office for Scotland |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> The number of schoolchildren being taught through Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish is increasing.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7885493.stm |title=Local UK languages 'taking off' |work=BBC News |date=12 February 2009}}</ref> Among emigrant-descended populations some Scottish Gaelic is still [[Canadian Gaelic|spoken in Canada]] (principally [[Nova Scotia]] and [[Cape Breton Island]]),<ref name="Edwards2010">{{cite book |author=Edwards, John R. |title=Minority languages and group identity: cases and categories |url=https://books.google.com/?id=Q2dJlB0TW8oC&pg=PT160 |accessdate=12 March 2011 |year=2010 |publisher=John Benjamins |isbn=978-90-272-1866-7 |pages=150–158}}</ref> and Welsh in [[Patagonia]], Argentina.<ref name="Koch2006">{{cite book |author=Koch, John T. |title=Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/?id=f899xH_quaMC&pg=PA696|year=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |page=696}}</ref>

[[Scots language|Scots]], a language descended from early northern [[Middle English]], has limited [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages|recognition]] alongside its regional variant, [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster Scots]] in Northern Ireland, without specific commitments to protection and promotion.<ref name="reglang"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2449&Itemid=52&lang=en |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623185445/http://eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2449&Itemid=52&lang=en |archivedate=23 June 2007 |title=Language Data – Scots |publisher=European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages |accessdate=2 November 2008}}</ref>

It is compulsory for pupils to study a second language up to the age of 14 in England,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3983713.stm |title=Fall in compulsory language lessons |work=BBC News |date=4 November 2004}}</ref> and up to age 16 in Scotland. French and German are the two most commonly taught second languages in England and Scotland. All pupils in Wales are taught Welsh as a second language up to age 16, or are [[Welsh medium education|taught in Welsh]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/schoolgate/aboutschool/content/inwelsh.shtml |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415013542/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/schoolgate/aboutschool/content/inwelsh.shtml|archivedate=15 April 2014 |title=The School Gate for parents in Wales |publisher=BBC |date= |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

Religion

{{main|Religion in the United Kingdom}} [[File:West Side of Westminster Abbey, London - geograph.org.uk - 1406999.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Westminster Abbey]] is used for the [[coronation]] of [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarchs]]]] Forms of [[Christianity]] have dominated religious life in what is now the United Kingdom for over 1,400 years.<ref>Cannon, John, ed. (2nd edn., 2009). [https://books.google.com/?id=TYnfhTq2M7EC&pg=PA144 ''A Dictionary of British History'']. Oxford University Press. p. 144. ISBN 0-19-955037-9.</ref> Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in many surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,<ref>Field, Clive D. (November 2009). [http://www.brin.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/development-of-religious-statistics.pdf "British religion in numbers"]. BRIN Discussion Series on Religious Statistics, Discussion Paper 001. Retrieved 7 March 2015.</ref> while immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of other faiths, most notably Islam.<ref>Yilmaz, Ihsan (2005). [https://books.google.com/?id=ryrD2YODzxUC&pg=PA291 ''Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey, and Pakistan'']. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 55–6. ISBN 0-7546-4389-1.</ref> This has led some commentators to variously describe the UK as a multi-faith,<ref>Brown, Callum G. (2006). [https://books.google.com/?id=ryrD2YODzxUC&pg=PA291 ''Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain'']. Harlow: Pearson Education. p. 291. ISBN 0-582-47289-X.</ref> [[secularism|secularised]],<ref>Norris, Pippa; Inglehart, Ronald (2004). [https://books.google.com/?id=dto-P2YfWJIC&pg=PA84 ''Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide'']. Cambridge University Press. p. 84. ISBN 0-521-83984-X.</ref> or [[post-Christian]] society.<ref>Fergusson, David (2004). [https://books.google.com/?id=Owz4aBSEINgC&pg=PA94 ''Church, State and Civil Society'']. Cambridge University Press. p. 94. ISBN 0-521-52959-X.</ref>

In the 2001 census 71.6% of all respondents indicated that they were Christians, with the next largest faiths (by number of adherents) being Islam (2.8%), [[Hinduism]] (1.0%), [[Sikhism]] (0.6%), Judaism (0.5%), [[Buddhism]] (0.3%) and all other religions (0.3%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=293 |title=UK Census 2001 |publisher=National Office for Statistics |accessdate=22 April 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312034628/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=293  |archivedate=12 March 2007}}</ref> 15% of respondents stated that they had [[irreligion|no religion]], with a further 7% not stating a religious preference.<ref>{{cite web |title=Religious Populations |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=11 October 2004 |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20757/53570 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zFDlspeL |archivedate=6 June 2011 }}</ref> A [[Tearfund]] survey in 2007 showed only one in ten Britons actually attend church weekly.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.adventist.org/2007/04/uite-kigom-ew-report-fis-oly-oe-i-10-atte-church.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213155625/http://news.adventist.org/2007/04/uite-kigom-ew-report-fis-oly-oe-i-10-atte-church.html|archivedate=13 December 2011 |title=United Kingdom: New Report Finds Only One in 10 Attend Church |publisher=News.adventist.org |date=4 April 2007 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> Between the 2001 and 2011 census there was a decrease in the amount of people who identified as Christian by 12%, whilst the percentage of those reporting no religious affiliation doubled. This contrasted with growth in the other main religious group categories, with the number of Muslims increasing by the most substantial margin to a total of about 5%.<ref>{{cite news |last=Philby |first=Charlotte |title=Less religious and more ethnically diverse: Census reveals a picture of Britain today |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/less-religious-and-more-ethnically-diverse-census-reveals-a-picture-of-britain-today-8406506.html|newspaper=The Independent |date=12 December 2012 |location=London}}</ref> The [[Islam in the United Kingdom|Muslim population]] has increased from 1.6 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2011,<ref>"[http://cnsnews.com/news/article/british-census-islam-fastest-growing-faith-england-christians-drop-59-population British Census: Islam Fastest-Growing Faith in England; Christians Drop to 59% of Population]". CNS News. 12 December 2012.</ref> making it the second-largest religion group in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/sty-religion.html |title=The percentage of the population with no religion has increased in England and Wales |date=4 April 2013 |work=Office for National Statistics}}</ref>

In a 2015 survey conducted by [[British Social Attitudes|BSA (British Social Attitudes)]] on religious affiliation; 49% of respondents indicated '[[irreligious|no religion']], while 42% indicated they were [[Christians]], followed by 8% who affiliated with other religions (e.g. [[Islam]], [[Hinduism]], [[Judaism]] etc.).<ref>[http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media/893167/religious-affiliation-british-social-attitudes.pdf "NatCen's British Social Attitudes survey: Change in religious affiliation among adults in Great Britain"]. NatCen. Retrieved 1 July 2015</ref>

The [[Church of England]] is the [[State religion|established church]] in England.<ref>[http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/history/ The History of the Church of England]. The Church of England. Retrieved 23 November 2008.</ref> It retains a [[Lords Spiritual|representation]] in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament]] and the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]] is its [[Supreme Governor of the Church of England|Supreme Governor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page4708.asp |title=Queen and Church of England |publisher=British Monarchy Media Centre |accessdate=5 June 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008203611/http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page4708.asp |archivedate=8 October 2006}}</ref> In [[religion in Scotland|Scotland]] the [[presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] [[Church of Scotland]] is recognised as the [[national church]]. It is not [[state religion|subject to state control]], and the British monarch is an ordinary member, required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the [[Protestantism|Protestant Religion]] and Presbyterian Church Government" upon his or her accession.<ref>{{cite web |title=Queen and the Church |publisher=The British Monarchy (Official Website) |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/QueenandChurch/History.aspx |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zG8tzxhd |archivedate=7 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=How we are organised |publisher=Church of Scotland |url=http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about_us/how_we_are_organised |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zG8WCEAc |archivedate=7 June 2011}}</ref> The (Anglican) [[Church in Wales]] was disestablished in 1920 and, as the (Anglican) [[Church of Ireland]] was disestablished in 1870 before the [[partition of Ireland]], there is no established church in Northern Ireland.<ref>Weller, Paul (2005). [https://books.google.com/?id=tHc88PzAPLMC&pg=PA80 ''Time for a Change: Reconfiguring Religion, State, and Society'']. London: Continuum. pp. 79–80. ISBN 0567084876.</ref> Although there are no UK-wide data in the 2001 census on adherence to individual Christian denominations, it has been estimated that 62% of Christians are Anglican, 13.5% [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], 6% [[Presbyterian]], 3.4% [[Methodist]] with small numbers of other Protestant denominations such as [[Open Brethren]], and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] churches.<ref>Peach, Ceri, [https://books.google.com/?id=i6ER_z8gcD4C "United Kingdom, a major transformation of the religious landscape"], in H. Knippenberg. ed. (2005). ''The Changing Religious Landscape of Europe''. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis. pp. 44–58. ISBN 90-5589-248-3.</ref>

Migration

{{main|Modern immigration to the United Kingdom}} {{see also|Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom}} [[File:United Kingdom foreign born population by country of birth.png|thumb|300px|Estimated foreign-born population by country of birth, April 2007 – March 2008]] The United Kingdom has experienced successive waves of migration. The [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom, resulted in perhaps a million people migrating to Great Britain.<ref>Richards, Eric (2004). ''[https://books.google.com/?id=JknDbX3ae1MC&pg=PA143 Britannia's children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600]''. London: Hambledon, p. 143. ISBN 978-1-85285-441-6.</ref> Unable to return to Poland at the end of World War II, over 120,000 [[Polish Armed Forces in the West|Polish veterans]] remained in the UK permanently.<ref>Gibney, Matthew J.; Hansen, Randall (2005). ''Immigration and asylum: from 1900 to the present'', ABC-CLIO, p. 630. ISBN 1-57607-796-9</ref> After World War II, there was significant immigration from the colonies and newly independent former colonies, partly as a legacy of empire and partly driven by labour shortages. Many of these migrants came from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/enwiki/static/in_depth/uk/2002/race/short_history_of_immigration.stm |title=Short history of immigration |publisher=BBC |year=2005 |accessdate=28 August 2010}}</ref> In 1841, 0.25% of the population of [[England and Wales]] was born in a foreign country. By 1931, this figure had risen to 2.6%, and by 1951 it was 4.4%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/immigration-population-and-ethnicity-uk-international-perspective|title=Immigration, Population and Ethnicity: The UK in International Perspective|first=David|last=Coleman|date=17 April 2013|publisher=The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref>

In 2014 the [[Net migration rate|net increase]] was 318,000: immigration was 641,000, up from 526,000 in 2013, while the number of people emigrating (for more than 12 months) was 323,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/migration-statistics-quarterly-report/may-2015/stb-msqr-may-2015.html |title=Migration Statistics Quarterly Report May 2015 |date=21 May 2015 |work=Office for National Statistics}}</ref> One of the more recent trends in migration has been the arrival of workers from the new EU member states in Eastern Europe, known as the [[A8 countries]].<ref name=Vargas/> In 2010, there were 7.0 million foreign-born residents in the UK, corresponding to 11.3% of the total population. Of these, 4.76 million (7.7%) were born outside the EU and 2.24 million (3.6%) were born in another EU Member State.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3433488/5579176/KS-SF-11-034-EN.PDF/63cebff3-f7ac-4ca6-ab33-4e8792c5f30c|title=6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad|publisher=Eurostat|first=Katya|last=Vasileva|work=Statistics in Focus|volume=34/2011|date=2011|accessdate=8 March 2015}}</ref> The proportion of foreign-born people in the UK remains slightly below that of many other European countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=402 |title=Europe: Population and Migration in 2005 |first=Rainer |last=Muenz |publisher=Migration Policy Institute |date=June 2006 |accessdate=2 April 2007}}</ref> However, immigration is now contributing to a rising population<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/immigration-and-births-to-nonbritish-mothers-pushes-british-population-to-record-high-6816318.html |title=Immigration and births to non-British mothers pushes British population to record high |newspaper=London Evening Standard |date=21 August 2008}}</ref> with arrivals and UK-born children of migrants accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of [[Office for National Statistics]] (ONS) data shows that a net total of 2.3 million migrants moved to the UK in the 15 years from 1991 to 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1023512/Third-World-migrants-2-3 m-population-boom.html |title=Third World migrants behind our 2.3 m population boom |newspaper=Daily Mail |location=London |date=3 June 2008 |first1=Steve |last1=Doughty |first2=James |last2=Slack}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/tories-call-for-tougher-control-of-immigration-6865562.html |title=Tories call for tougher control of immigration |newspaper=London Evening Standard |date=20 October 2008 |first=Martin |last=Bentham}}</ref> In 2008 it was predicted that migration would add 7 million to the UK population by 2031,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7602526.stm |title=Minister rejects migrant cap plan |work=BBC News |date=8 September 2008 |accessdate=26 April 2011}}</ref> though these figures are disputed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1538598/Immigration-%27far-higher%27-than-figures-say.html |title=Immigration 'far higher' than figures say |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=5 January 2007 |accessdate=20 April 2007 |location=London |first=Philip |last=Johnston}}</ref> The ONS reported that net migration rose from 2009 to 2010 by 21% to 239,000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/25/uk-net-migration-rises-21 |title=UK net migration rises 21% |date=25 August 2011 |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Alan |last=Travis}}</ref>

In 2013, approximately 208,000 foreign citizens were naturalised as British citizens, the highest number since records began in 1962. This figure fell to around 125,800 in 2014. Between 2009 and 2013, the average number of people granted British citizenship per year was 195,800. The main countries of previous nationality of those naturalised in 2014 were India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Nepal, China, South Africa, Poland and Somalia.<ref name=Blinder2015>{{cite web|url=http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/migobs/Briefing%20-%20Naturalisation%20as%20a%20British%20Citizen%20-%20Concepts%20and%20Trends_0.pdf|title=Naturalisation as a British Citizen: Concepts and Trends|first=Scott|last=Blinder|publisher=The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford|date=27 March 2015|accessdate=1 August 2015}}</ref> The total number of grants of settlement, which confers [[Permanent residency|permanent residence]] in the UK without granting British citizenship,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/settlement-uk|title=Settlement in the UK|first=Scott|last=Blinder|publisher=The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford|date=11 June 2014|accessdate=1 August 2015}}</ref> was approximately 154,700 in 2013, compared to 241,200 in 2010 and 129,800 in 2012.<ref name=Blinder2015/>

Over a quarter (27.0%) of live births in 2014 were to mothers born outside the UK, according to official statistics released in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/birth-summary-tables--england-and-wales/2014/index.html|title=Birth Summary Tables, England and Wales, 2014 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=15 July 2015}}</ref>

Citizens of the European Union, including those of the UK, have the right to live and work in any EU member state.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l33152.htm |title=Right of Union citizens and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States |publisher=European Commission |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> The UK applied temporary restrictions to citizens of Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in January 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/sep/23/immigration.eu |title=Home Office shuts the door on Bulgaria and Romania |last1=Doward |first1=Jamie |last2=Temko |first2=Ned |date=23 September 2007 |work=The Observer |page=2 |accessdate=23 August 2008 |location=London}}</ref> Research conducted by the [[Migration Policy Institute]] for the [[Equality and Human Rights Commission]] suggests that, between May 2004 and September 2009, 1.5 million workers migrated from the new EU member states to the UK, two-thirds of them Polish, but that many subsequently returned home, resulting in a net increase in the number of nationals of the new member states in the UK of some 700,000 over that period.<ref name="MPI">{{cite book |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207074918/http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/new_europeans.pdf |title=The UK's new Europeans: Progress and challenges five years after accession |last1=Sumption |first1=Madeleine |last2=Somerville |first2=Will |date=January 2010 |work=Policy Report |publisher=Equality and Human Rights Commission |location=London |page=13 |accessdate=9 March 2015 |isbn=978-1-84206-252-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/17/eastern-european-uk-migrants |title=Young, self-reliant, educated: portrait of UK's eastern European migrants |last1=Doward |first1=Jamie |last2=Rogers |first2=Sam |date=17 January 2010 |work=The Observer |accessdate=19 January 2010 |location=London}}</ref> The [[late-2000s recession]] in the UK reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/packing-up-for-home-poles-hit-by-uks-economic-downturn-6926647.html |title=Packing up for home: Poles hit by UK's economic downturn |first=Elizabeth |last=Hopkirk |newspaper=London Evening Standard |date=20 October 2008}}</ref> the migration becoming temporary and circular.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8243225.stm |title=Migrants to UK 'returning home' |date=8 September 2009 |work=BBC News |accessdate=8 September 2009}}</ref> In 2009, for the first time since enlargement, more nationals of the eight central and eastern European states that had joined the EU in 2004 left the UK than arrived.<ref name="A8 leaving">{{cite news |title=UK sees shift in migration trend |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10174019.stm |accessdate=28 May 2010 |date=27 May 2010 |work=BBC News}}</ref> In 2011, citizens of the new EU member states made up 13% of the immigrants entering the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/migration1/migration-statistics-quarterly-report/may-2012/msqr.html |title=Migration Statistics Quarterly Report May 2012 |date=24 May 2012 |work=Office for National Statistics}}</ref>

[[File:British expats countrymap.svg|thumb|300px|right|Estimated number of British citizens living overseas by country, 2006]] The UK government has introduced a [[Points-based immigration system (United Kingdom)|points-based immigration system]] for immigration from outside the [[European Economic Area]] to replace former schemes, including the Scottish Government's [[Fresh Talent Initiative]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier1/freshtalent/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716184110/http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/tier1/freshtalent/|archivedate=16 July 2011 |title=Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland |publisher=UK Border Agency |location=London |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> In June 2010 the UK government introduced a temporary limit of 24,000 on immigration from outside the EU, aiming to discourage applications before a permanent cap was imposed in April 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9ab202a4-8299-11df-85ba-00144feabdc0.html |title=Tories begin consultation on cap for migrants |work=Financial Times |location=London |first=James |last=Boxell |date=28 June 2010 |accessdate=17 September 2010}}</ref> The cap has caused tension within the coalition: business secretary [[Vince Cable]] has argued that it is harming British businesses.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/17/vince-cable-migrant-cap-economy |title=Vince Cable: Migrant cap is hurting economy |agency=Press Association |work=The Guardian |date=17 September 2010 |accessdate=17 September 2010 |location=London}}</ref>

Emigration was an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930 around 11.4 million people emigrated from Britain and 7.3 million from Ireland. Estimates show that by the end of the 20th century some 300 million people of British and Irish descent were permanently settled around the globe.<ref>Richards (2004), pp. 6–7.</ref> Today, at least 5.5 million UK-born people live abroad,<ref name="BritsAbroad">{{cite web |url=http://www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=509 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509052147/http://www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=509|archivedate=9 May 2011 |title=Brits Abroad: Mapping the scale and nature of British emigration |first1=Dhananjayan |last1=Sriskandarajah |first2=Catherine |last2=Drew |publisher=Institute for Public Policy Research |date=11 December 2006 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html/default.stm |title=Brits Abroad: world overview |publisher=BBC |accessdate=20 April 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6210358.stm |title=5.5 m Britons 'opt to live abroad' |work=BBC News |date=11 December 2006 |accessdate=20 April 2007 |first=Dominic |last=Casciani}}</ref> mainly in Australia, Spain, the United States and Canada.<ref name="BritsAbroad"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm |title=Brits Abroad: Country-by-country |work=BBC News |date=11 December 2006}}</ref>

Education

{{main|Education in the United Kingdom}} {{see also|Education in England|Education in Northern Ireland|Education in Scotland|Education in Wales}} [[File:KingsCollegeChapelWest.jpg|thumb|left|[[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]], part of the [[University of Cambridge]], which was founded in 1209]] Education in the United Kingdom is a [[devolution|devolved]] matter, with each country having a separate education system.

Whilst [[education in England]] is the responsibility of the [[Secretary of State for Education]], the day-to-day administration and funding of state schools is the responsibility of [[Local education authority|local authorities]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081230030407/http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/localauthorities/index.cfm |title=Local Authorities |publisher=Department for Children, Schools and Families |accessdate=21 December 2008}}</ref> Universally free of charge state education was introduced piecemeal between 1870 and 1944.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gordon, J.C.B. |title=Verbal Deficit: A Critique |publisher=Croom Helm |location=London |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-85664-990-5 |page=44 note 18}}</ref><ref>Section 8 ('Duty of local education authorities to secure provision of primary and secondary schools'), Sections 35–40 ('Compulsory attendance at Primary and Secondary Schools') and Section 61 ('Prohibition of fees in schools maintained by local education authorities ...'), Education Act 1944.</ref> Education is now mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August). In 2011, the [[Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study]] (TIMSS) rated 13–14-year-old pupils in England and Wales 10th in the world for maths and 9th for science.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7773081.stm |title=England's pupils in global top 10 |work=BBC News |date=10 December 2008}}</ref> The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. Two of the top ten performing schools in terms of [[GCSE]] results in 2006 were state-run [[grammar school]]s. Over half of students at the leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford had attended state schools.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6905288.stm |title=More state pupils in universities |work=BBC News |date=19 July 2007}}</ref> Despite a fall in actual numbers the proportion of children in England attending private schools has risen to over 7%.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/nov/09/schools.uk |title=Private school pupil numbers in decline |newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 November 2007 |location=London |first=Donald |last=MacLeod |accessdate=31 March 2010}}</ref> In 2010, more than 45% of places at the [[University of Oxford]] and 40% at the [[University of Cambridge]] were taken by students from private schools, even though they educate just 7% of the population.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6055970 |title=Is Oxbridge still a preserve of the posh? |newspaper=TES |author=Frankel, Hannah |location=London |date=3 September 2010 |accessdate=9 April 2013}}</ref> England has the two oldest universities in English-speaking world, Universities of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] (jointly known as "[[Oxbridge]]") with history of over eight centuries. The United Kingdom has 9 universities featured in the Times Higher Education top 100 rankings, making it second to the United States in terms of representation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/mar/05/world-top-100-universities-reputation-rankings-times-higher-education |title=World's top 100 universities 2013: their reputations ranked by Times Higher Education |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2013 |location=London |accessdate=23 October 2014}}</ref>

[[File:QueensBelfast.jpg|thumb|right|[[Queen's University Belfast]], built in 1849<ref>Davenport, F.; Beech, C.; Downs, T.; Hannigan, D. (2006). ''Ireland''. Lonely Planet, 7th edn. ISBN 1-74059-968-3. p. 564.</ref>]] [[Education in Scotland]] is the responsibility of the [[Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning]], with day-to-day administration and funding of state schools the responsibility of Local Authorities. Two [[Scottish public bodies|non-departmental public bodies]] have key roles in Scottish education. The [[Scottish Qualifications Authority]] is responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees which are delivered at secondary schools, [[Tertiary education|post-secondary]] colleges of [[further education]] and other centres.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/5656.html |title=About SQA |publisher=Scottish Qualifications Authority |date=10 April 2013 |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> The [[Learning and Teaching Scotland]] provides advice, resources and staff development to education professionals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/aboutlts/index.asp |title=About Learning and Teaching Scotland |publisher=Learning and Teaching Scotland |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> Scotland first legislated for compulsory education in 1496.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotland.org/about/innovation-and-creativity/features/education/e_brain_drain.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204064525/http://www.scotland.org/about/innovation-and-creativity/features/education/e_brain_drain.html |archivedate=4 December 2007 |title=Brain drain in reverse |publisher=Scotland Online Gateway |date=July 2002 }}</ref> The proportion of children in Scotland attending private schools is just over 4%, and it has been rising slowly in recent years.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6563167.stm |title=Increase in private school intake |work=BBC News |date=17 April 2007}}</ref> Scottish students who attend [[Scottish universities]] pay neither [[tuition fees]] nor graduate endowment charges, as fees were abolished in 2001 and the graduate endowment scheme was abolished in 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7268101.stm |title=MSPs vote to scrap endowment fee |work=BBC News |date=28 February 2008}}</ref>

The [[Welsh Government]] has responsibility for [[education in Wales]]. A significant number of Welsh students are taught either wholly or largely in the [[Welsh language]]; lessons in Welsh are compulsory for all until the age of 16.<ref>{{cite web|title=Education System|url=http://www.wales.com/en/content/cms/english/live/education_system/education_system.aspx|publisher=Welsh Government|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref> There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh-medium schools as part of the policy of creating a fully bilingual Wales.

[[Education in Northern Ireland]] is the responsibility of the [[Department of Education (Northern Ireland)|Minister of Education]] and the [[Department for Employment and Learning|Minister for Employment and Learning]], although responsibility at a local level is administered by five education and library boards covering different geographical areas. The [[Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment]] (CCEA) is the body responsible for advising the [[Northern Ireland Executive|government]] on what should be taught in Northern Ireland's schools, monitoring standards and awarding qualifications.<ref>{{cite web |author=CCEA |url=http://www.ccea.org.uk/ |title=About Us – What we do |publisher=Council for the Curriculum Examinations & Assessment |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref>

A [[Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission|government commission's]] report in 2014 found that privately educated people comprise 7% of the general population of the UK but much larger percentages of the top professions, the most extreme case quoted being 71% of senior judges.<ref name="SMCPC20140828">{{citation |author= |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347915/Elitist_Britain_-_Final.pdf |title=Elitist Britain? |publisher=Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission |date=28 August 2014}}</ref><ref name="Guardian20140828">{{cite news |author=Arnett, George |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/aug/28/elitism-in-britain-breakdown-by-profession |title=Elitism in Britain - breakdown by profession |work=The Guardian: Datablog |date=28 August 2014}}</ref>

Healthcare

{{main|Healthcare in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital]], an [[NHS Scotland]] specialist [[children's hospital]]]] Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a [[devolution|devolved matter]] and each country has its own system of private and [[publicly funded health care]], together with [[alternative medicine|alternative]], holistic and complementary treatments. Public healthcare is provided to all [[British nationality law|UK permanent residents]] and is mostly free at the point of need, being paid for from general taxation. The [[World Health Organization]], in 2000, ranked the provision of healthcare in the United Kingdom as fifteenth best in Europe and eighteenth in the world.<ref name="Who2000">{{Cite book |editor-last=Haden |editor-first=Angela |editor2-last=Campanini |editor2-first=Barbara |title=The world health report 2000 – Health systems: improving performance |year=2000 |location=Geneva |publisher=World Health Organisation |url=http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/whr00_en.pdf |isbn=92-4-156198-X |accessdate=5 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~wgreene/Statistics/WHO-COMP-Study-30.pdf |title=Measuring overall health system performance for 191 countries |author=[[World Health Organization]] |publisher=New York University |accessdate=5 July 2011}}</ref>

Regulatory bodies are organised on a UK-wide basis such as the [[General Medical Council]], the [[Nursing and Midwifery Council]] and non-governmental-based, such as the [[Royal College]]s. However, political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national [[executive (government)|executives]]; [[healthcare in England]] is the responsibility of the UK Government; [[healthcare in Northern Ireland]] is the responsibility of the [[Northern Ireland Executive]]; [[healthcare in Scotland]] is the responsibility of the [[Scottish Government]]; and [[healthcare in Wales]] is the responsibility of the [[Welsh Assembly Government]]. Each [[National Health Service]] has different policies and priorities, resulting in contrasts.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7586147.stm |title='Huge contrasts' in devolved NHS |work=BBC News |date=28 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7149423.stm |title=NHS now four different systems |work=BBC News |date=2 January 2008 |first=Nick |last=Triggle}}</ref>

Since 1979 expenditure on healthcare has been increased significantly to bring it closer to the European Union average.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.healthp.org/node/71 |title=The NHS from Thatcher to Blair |first=Peter |last=Fisher |work=NHS Consultants Association |publisher=International Association of Health Policy |quote=The Budget ... was even more generous to the NHS than had been expected amounting to an annual rise of 7.4% above the rate of inflation for the next 5 years. This would take us to 9.4% of GDP spent on health ie around EU average.}}</ref> The UK spends around 8.4% of its gross domestic product on healthcare, which is 0.5 percentage points below the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] average and about one percentage point below the average of the European Union.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310214914/http://www.oecd.org/health/health-systems/BriefingNoteUNITEDKINGDOM2012.pdf |title=OECD Health Data 2012 – How Does the United Kingdom Compare |publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |location=Paris |date= |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

Culture

{{main|Culture of the United Kingdom}} The culture of the United Kingdom has been influenced by many factors including: the nation's island status; its [[History of the United Kingdom|history]] as a western liberal democracy and a major power; as well as being a [[political union]] of four countries with each preserving elements of distinctive traditions, customs and symbolism. As a result of the [[British Empire]], British influence can be observed in the [[English language|language]], [[Culture of the United Kingdom|culture]] and [[Common law|legal systems]] of many of its former colonies including Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and the United States. The substantial cultural influence of the United Kingdom has led it to be described as a "cultural superpower".<ref name="culture">[http://www.britishpoliticssociety.no/British%20Politics%20Review%2001_2011.pdf "The cultural superpower: British cultural projection abroad"]. Journal of the British Politics Society, Norway. Volume 6. No. 1. Winter 2011</ref><ref name="sheridan">{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/cameron-has-chance-to-make-uk-great-again/story-e6frg6zo-1225866975992 |author=Sheridan, Greg |title=Cameron has chance to make UK great again |accessdate=20 May 2012 |work=The Australian |location=Sydney |date=15 May 2010}}</ref>

Literature

{{main|British literature}} [[File:William Shakespeare Chandos Portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Chandos portrait]], believed to depict [[William Shakespeare]]]] 'British literature' refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, the [[Isle of Man]] and the Channel Islands. Most British literature is in the English language. In 2005, some 206,000 books were published in the United Kingdom and in 2006 it was the [[books published per country per year|largest publisher of books]] in the world.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news |author=Goldfarb, Jeffrey |title=Bookish Britain overtakes America as top publisher |url=http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20080106093222/http://www.redorbit.com/news/entertainment/499053/bookish_britain_overtakes_america_as_top_publisher/ |agency=Reuters |date=10 May 2006 |work=RedOrbit |location=Texas}}</ref>

The English playwright and poet [[William Shakespeare]] is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist of all time,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/537853/William-Shakespeare |title=William Shakespeare (English author) |publisher=Britannica Online encyclopedia |accessdate=26 February 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562101/Shakespeare.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209154055/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562101/Shakespeare.html |archivedate=9 February 2006 |title=MSN Encarta Encyclopedia article on Shakespeare |accessdate=26 February 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Shakespeare%2c+William |publisher=Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia |title=William Shakespeare |accessdate=26 February 2006}}</ref> and his contemporaries [[Christopher Marlowe]] and [[Ben Jonson]] have also been held in continuous high esteem. More recently the playwrights [[Alan Ayckbourn]], [[Harold Pinter]], [[Michael Frayn]], [[Tom Stoppard]] and [[David Edgar (playwright)|David Edgar]] have combined elements of surrealism, realism and radicalism.

Notable pre-modern and early-modern English writers include [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] (14th century), [[Thomas Malory]] (15th century), [[Thomas More|Sir Thomas More]] (16th century), [[John Bunyan]] (17th century) and [[John Milton]] (17th century). In the 18th century [[Daniel Defoe]] (author of ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'') and [[Samuel Richardson]] were pioneers of the [[modern novel]]. In the 19th century there followed further innovation by [[Jane Austen]], the gothic novelist [[Mary Shelley]], the children's writer [[Lewis Carroll]], the [[Brontë family|Brontë sisters]], the social campaigner [[Charles Dickens]], the [[naturalism (literature)|naturalist]] [[Thomas Hardy]], the [[realism (arts)|realist]] [[George Eliot]], the visionary poet [[William Blake]] and romantic poet [[William Wordsworth]]. 20th century English writers include the science-fiction novelist [[H. G. Wells]]; the writers of children's classics [[Rudyard Kipling]], [[A. A. Milne]] (the creator of [[Winnie-the-Pooh]]), [[Roald Dahl]] and [[Enid Blyton]]; the controversial [[D. H. Lawrence]]; the [[modernism|modernist]] [[Virginia Woolf]]; the satirist [[Evelyn Waugh]]; the prophetic novelist [[George Orwell]]; the popular novelists [[W. Somerset Maugham]] and [[Graham Greene]]; the crime writer [[Agatha Christie]] (the [[List of best-selling fiction authors|best-selling novelist]] of all time);<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1505799/Mystery-of-Christies-success-is-solved.html |title=Mystery of Christie's success is solved |accessdate=14 November 2010| newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 December 2005 |location=London}}</ref> [[Ian Fleming]] (the creator of [[James Bond]]); the poets [[T.S. Eliot]], [[Philip Larkin]] and [[Ted Hughes]]; the [[Fantasy literature|fantasy]] writers [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], [[C. S. Lewis]] and [[J. K. Rowling]]; the graphic novelists [[Alan Moore]] and [[Neil Gaiman]].

[[File:Dickens by Watkins 1858.png|thumb|left|upright|A photograph of [[Victorian era]] novelist [[Charles Dickens]]]] [[Scottish literature|Scotland's contributions]] include the detective writer [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] (the creator of [[Sherlock Holmes]]), romantic literature by [[Walter Scott|Sir Walter Scott]], the children's writer [[J. M. Barrie]], the epic adventures of [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] and the celebrated poet [[Robert Burns]]. More recently the modernist and nationalist [[Hugh MacDiarmid]] and [[Neil M. Gunn]] contributed to the [[Scottish Renaissance]]. A more grim outlook is found in [[Ian Rankin]]'s stories and the psychological horror-comedy of [[Iain Banks]]. Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, was UNESCO's first worldwide [[City of Literature]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-industries/creative-cities-network/literature/edinburgh/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528152834/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-industries/creative-cities-network/literature/edinburgh/|archivedate=28 May 2013 |title=Edinburgh, UK appointed first UNESCO City of Literature |publisher=Unesco |year=2004 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

Britain's oldest known poem, ''[[Y Gododdin]]'', was composed in ''[[Hen Ogledd|Yr Hen Ogledd]]'' (''The Old North''), most likely in the late 6th century. It was written in [[Cumbric language|Cumbric]] or [[Old Welsh]] and contains the earliest known reference to [[King Arthur]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/language_poetry.shtml |title=Early Welsh poetry |publisher=BBC Wales |accessdate=29 December 2010}}</ref> From around the seventh century, the connection between Wales and the Old North was lost, and the focus of Welsh-language culture shifted to Wales, where Arthurian legend was further developed by [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=dKJiPyyTevgC |title=History of English Literature from Beowulf to Swinburne |author=Lang, Andrew |year=2003 |page=42 |isbn=978-0-8095-3229-2 |publisher=Wildside Press |location=Holicong, PA |origyear=1913}}</ref> Wales's most celebrated medieval poet, [[Dafydd ap Gwilym]] (''fl.''1320–1370), composed poetry on themes including nature, religion and especially love. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest European poets of his age.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dafydd ap Gwilym |url=http://www.academi.org/dafydd-ap-gwilym-eng/ |quote=Dafydd ap Gwilym is widely regarded as one of the greatest Welsh poets of all time, and amongst the leading European poets of the Middle Ages. |accessdate=3 January 2011 |publisher=[[Literature Wales|Academi]] |year=2011 |work=[[Literature Wales|Academi]] website }}</ref> Until the late 19th century the majority of [[Welsh literature]] was in Welsh and much of the prose was religious in character. [[Daniel Owen]] is credited as the first Welsh-language novelist, publishing ''[[Rhys Lewis (novel)|Rhys Lewis]]'' in 1885. The best-known of the [[Anglo-Welsh poetry|Anglo-Welsh poets]] are both Thomases. [[Dylan Thomas]] became famous on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-20th century. He is remembered for his poetry—his "[[Do not go gentle into that good night]]; Rage, rage against the dying of the light" is one of the most quoted couplets of English language verse—and for his "play for voices", ''[[Under Milk Wood]]''. The influential [[Church in Wales]] "poet-priest" and [[Welsh nationalism|Welsh nationalist]] [[R. S. Thomas]] was nominated for the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 1996. Leading Welsh novelists of the twentieth century include [[Richard Llewellyn]] and [[Kate Roberts (author)|Kate Roberts]].<ref>[http://newsalerts.bbc.co.uk/1/low/wales/551486.stm True birthplace of Wales's literary hero]. BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2012</ref><ref>{{Wayback |df=yes |date=20071015000000* |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/halloffame/arts/kateroberts.shtml |title=Kate Roberts: Biography }}. BBC Wales. Retrieved 28 April 2012</ref>

Authors of other nationalities, particularly from [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, the Republic of Ireland and the United States, have lived and worked in the UK. Significant examples through the centuries include [[Jonathan Swift]], [[Oscar Wilde]], [[Bram Stoker]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[Joseph Conrad]], [[T.S. Eliot]], [[Ezra Pound]] and more recently British authors born abroad such as [[Kazuo Ishiguro]] and [[Salman Rushdie|Sir Salman Rushdie]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=m0CUOYfTdrkC&pg=PA10 |title=Gulliver's travels: complete, authoritative text with biographical and historical contexts, critical history, and essays from five contemporary critical perspectives |author=Swift, Jonathan; Fox, Christopher |publisher=Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=978-0-333-63438-7 |year=1995 |page=10 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10C12F9395517738DDDAA0A94DC405B828DF1D3 |title=Bram Stoker. |newspaper=The New York Times |format=PDF |accessdate=1 January 2011 |date=23 April 1912}}</ref>

Music

{{main|Music of the United Kingdom}} {{see also|British rock}} [[File:The Fabs.JPG|thumb|right|upright|[[The Beatles]] are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in popular music, selling over a billion records.<ref name="Beatles sales">{{cite web |url=http://www.emimusic.com/about/history/1960-1969/#|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425011032/http://www.emimusic.com/about/history/1960-1969/#|archivedate=25 April 2014 |title=1960–1969 |publisher=EMI Group |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="McCartney">{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975715-2,00.html |title=Paul At Fifty |work=Time |location=New York |date=8 June 1992}}</ref><ref name="Guinness">[https://books.google.com/?id=rdU1xtIWJz0C Most Successful Group] ''[[The Guinness Book of Records]]'' 1999, p. 230. Retrieved 19 March 2011.</ref>]]

Various styles of music are popular in the UK from the indigenous [[folk music]] of [[Folk music of England|England]], [[Music of Wales#Folk music|Wales]], [[Folk music of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Folk music of Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]] to [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]]. Notable composers of classical music from the United Kingdom and the countries that preceded it include [[William Byrd]], [[Henry Purcell]], [[Edward Elgar|Sir Edward Elgar]], [[Gustav Holst]], [[Arthur Sullivan|Sir Arthur Sullivan]] (most famous for working with the librettist [[W. S. Gilbert|Sir W. S. Gilbert]]), [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] and [[Benjamin Britten]], pioneer of modern British opera. [[Peter Maxwell Davies|Sir Peter Maxwell Davies]] is one of the foremost living composers. The UK is also home to world-renowned symphonic orchestras and choruses such as the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] and the [[London Symphony Chorus]]. Notable conductors include [[Simon Rattle|Sir Simon Rattle]], [[John Barbirolli]] and [[Malcolm Sargent|Sir Malcolm Sargent]]. Some of the notable [[film score]] composers include [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]], [[Clint Mansell]], [[Mike Oldfield]], [[John Powell (composer)|John Powell]], [[Craig Armstrong (composer)|Craig Armstrong]], [[David Arnold]], [[John Murphy (composer)|John Murphy]], [[Monty Norman]] and [[Harry Gregson-Williams]]. [[George Frideric Handel]] became a [[Naturalization|naturalised]] [[British nationality law|British citizen]] and wrote the British coronation anthem, while some of his best works, such as ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'', were written in the English language.<ref name="Handel">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_publications_and_archives/parliamentary_archives/handel_and_naturalisation.cfm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326164147/http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_publications_and_archives/parliamentary_archives/handel_and_naturalisation.cfm |archivedate=26 March 2010 |title=British Citizen by Act of Parliament: George Frideric Handel |date=20 July 2009 |publisher=UK Parliament |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/4236.html |title=Handel all'inglese |last=Andrews |first=John |date=14 April 2006 |work=Playbill |location=New York |accessdate=11 September 2009}}</ref> [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] is a prolific composer of [[musical theatre]]. His works have dominated London's [[West End Theatre|West End]] since the late 20th century and have also been a commercial success worldwide.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=AWaZ1LAFAZEC |title=Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: The new musical |publisher=Chatto & Windus |location=London |year=2001 |author=Citron, Stephen |isbn=978-1-85619-273-6}}</ref>

[[The Beatles]] have international sales of over one billion units and are the [[List of best-selling music artists|biggest-selling]] and most influential band in the history of popular music.<ref name="Beatles sales"/><ref name="McCartney"/><ref name="Guinness"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/beatles-a-big-hit-with-downloads-15013117.html| title=Beatles a big hit with downloads| newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |date=25 November 2010 |accessdate=16 May 2011}}</ref> Other prominent British contributors to have influenced popular music over the last 50 years include; [[The Rolling Stones]], [[Led Zeppelin]], [[Pink Floyd]], [[Queen (band)|Queen]], the [[Bee Gees]], and [[Elton John]], all of whom have worldwide record sales of 200 million or more.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.emimusic.com/news/2009/singstar®-queen-to-be-launched-by-sony-computer-entertainment-europe/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423012539/http://www.emimusic.com/news/2009/singstar%C2%AE-queen-to-be-launched-by-sony-computer-entertainment-europe/|archivedate=23 April 2014 |title=British rock legends get their own music title for PlayStation3 and PlayStation2 |publisher=[[EMI]] |date=2 February 2009|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2305273/Sir-Elton-John-honoured-in-Ben-and-Jerry-ice-cream.html |title=Sir Elton John honoured in Ben and Jerry ice cream |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=17 July 2008 |first=Urmee |last=Khan |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562875/Rock-group-Led-Zeppelin-to-reunite.html |title=Rock group Led Zeppelin to reunite |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 April 2008 |location=London |first=Richard |last=Alleyne |accessdate=31 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Floyd 'true to Barrett's legacy'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5170644.stm |work=BBC News |date=11 July 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Kate |last=Holton |title=Rolling Stones sign Universal album deal |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL1767761020080117 |work=Reuters |date=17 January 2008 |accessdate=26 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Walker |title=Jive talkin': Why Robin Gibb wants more respect for the Bee Gees |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jive-talkin-why-robin-gibb-wants-more-respect-for-the-bee-gees-826116.html |work=The Independent |location=London |date=12 May 2008 |accessdate=26 October 2008}}</ref> The [[Brit Awards]] are the [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI's]] annual music awards, and some of the British recipients of the Outstanding Contribution to Music award include; [[The Who]], [[David Bowie]], [[Eric Clapton]], [[Rod Stewart]] and [[The Police]].<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/feb/22/brit-awards-winners-list-2012 "Brit awards winners list 2012: every winner since 1977"]. ''The Guardian'' (London). Retrieved 28 February 2012.</ref> More recent UK music acts that have had international success include [[Coldplay]], [[Radiohead]], [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]], [[Spice Girls]], [[Robbie Williams]], [[Amy Winehouse]] and [[Adele]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Corner, Lewis |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a366130/adele-coldplay-biggest-selling-uk-artists-worldwide-in-2011.html |title=Adele, Coldplay biggest-selling UK artists worldwide in 2011 |work=Digital Spy |date=16 February 2012 |accessdate=22 March 2012}}</ref>

A number of UK cities are known for their music. Acts from [[Liverpool]] have had more UK chart number one hit singles per capita (54) than any other city worldwide.<ref name="Liverpool vs Stavanger">{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/a-tale-of-two-cities-of-culture-liverpool-vs-stavanger-770076.html?r=RSS |title=A tale of two cities of culture: Liverpool vs Stavanger |last=Hughes |first=Mark |date=14 January 2008 |work=The Independent |accessdate=2 August 2009 |location=London}}</ref> [[Glasgow]]'s contribution to music was recognised in 2008 when it was named a [[UNESCO]] [[Creative Cities Network|City of Music]], one of only three cities in the world to have this honour.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7570915.stm |title=Glasgow gets city of music honour |work=BBC News |date=20 August 2008 |accessdate=2 August 2009}}</ref>

Visual art

{{main|Art of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Turner selfportrait.jpg|left|upright|thumb|[[J. M. W. Turner]] self-portrait, oil on canvas, c. 1799]] The history of British visual art forms part of [[western art history]]. Major British artists include: the [[Romanticism|Romantics]] [[William Blake]], [[John Constable]], [[Samuel Palmer]] and [[J.M.W. Turner]]; the [[portrait]] painters [[Joshua Reynolds|Sir Joshua Reynolds]] and [[Lucian Freud]]; the landscape artists [[Thomas Gainsborough]] and [[L. S. Lowry]]; the pioneer of the [[Arts and Crafts Movement]] [[William Morris]]; the figurative painter [[Francis Bacon]]; the [[Pop artist]]s [[Peter Blake (artist)|Peter Blake]], [[Richard Hamilton (artist)|Richard Hamilton]] and [[David Hockney]]; the collaborative duo [[Gilbert and George]]; the [[Abstract art|abstract]] artist [[Howard Hodgkin]]; and the [[Sculpture|sculptors]] [[Antony Gormley]], [[Anish Kapoor]] and [[Henry Moore]]. During the late 1980s and 1990s the [[Saatchi Gallery]] in London helped to bring to public attention a group of multi-genre artists who would become known as the "[[Young British Artists]]": [[Damien Hirst]], [[Chris Ofili]], [[Rachel Whiteread]], [[Tracey Emin]], [[Mark Wallinger]], [[Steve McQueen (artist)|Steve McQueen]], [[Sam Taylor-Wood]] and the [[Jake and Dinos Chapman|Chapman Brothers]] are among the better-known members of this loosely affiliated movement.

The [[Royal Academy]] in London is a key organisation for the promotion of the visual arts in the United Kingdom. Major schools of art in the UK include: the six-school [[University of the Arts London]], which includes the [[Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design]] and [[Chelsea College of Art and Design]]; [[Goldsmiths, University of London]]; the [[Slade School of Fine Art]] (part of [[University College London]]); the [[Glasgow School of Art]]; the [[Royal College of Art]]; and [[The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art]] (part of the University of Oxford). The [[Courtauld Institute of Art]] is a leading centre for the teaching of the [[history of art]]. Important art galleries in the United Kingdom include the [[National Gallery]], [[National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery]], [[Tate Britain]] and [[Tate Modern]] (the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article7105032.ece |title=The startling success of Tate Modern |accessdate=19 January 2011| newspaper=The Times| date=24 April 2010 |location=London |first=Stephen |last=Bayley}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

Cinema

{{main|Cinema of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Hitchcock, Alfred 02.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Alfred Hitchcock]] is often ranked the greatest British filmmaker.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/3664474/The-top-21-British-directors-of-all-time.html "The top 21 British directors of all time"]. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2015</ref>]] The United Kingdom has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema. The British directors [[Alfred Hitchcock]], whose film ''[[Vertigo (film)|Vertigo]]'' is considered by some critics as the [[List of films considered the best|best film of all time]],<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19078948 |title=Vertigo is named 'greatest film of all time' |work=BBC News |date=2 August 2012 |accessdate=18 August 2012}}</ref> and [[David Lean]] are among the most critically acclaimed of all-time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/directors-directors.html |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/67yHUco5o |archivedate=27 May 2012 |title=The Directors' Top Ten Directors |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> Other important directors including [[Charlie Chaplin]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/462570/index.html |title=Chaplin, Charles (1889–1977) |accessdate=25 January 2011 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Michael Powell]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/447167/index.html |title=Powell, Michael (1905–1990) |accessdate=25 January 2011 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Carol Reed]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/459891/index.html |title=Reed, Carol (1906–1976) |accessdate=25 January 2011 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> and [[Ridley Scott]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/462413/index.html |title=Scott, Sir Ridley (1937–) |accessdate=25 January 2011 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> Many British actors have achieved international fame and critical success, including: [[Julie Andrews]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/446530/index.html |title=Andrews, Julie (1935–) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Richard Burton]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/472165/index.html |title=Burton, Richard (1925–1984) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Michael Caine]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/463342/index.html |title=Caine, Michael (1933–) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> Charlie Chaplin,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/462570/index.html |title=Chaplin, Charles (1889–1977) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Sean Connery]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/455509/index.html |title=Connery, Sean (1930–) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Vivien Leigh]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/488753/index.html |title=Leigh, Vivien (1913–1967) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[David Niven]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/458293/index.html |title=Niven, David (1910–1983) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Laurence Olivier]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/450224/index.html |title=Olivier, Laurence (1907–1989) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Peter Sellers]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/461941/index.html |title=Sellers, Peter (1925–1980) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Kate Winslet]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/489012/index.html |title=Winslet, Kate (1975–) |accessdate=11 December 2010 |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> [[Anthony Hopkins]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/Player/Player_Page/0,,-3689,00.html |title=Anthony Hopkins |work=The Guardian |location=UK |accessdate=21 January 2015 }}</ref> and [[Daniel Day-Lewis]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21570142 "Daniel Day-Lewis makes Oscar history with third award"]'. BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2013</ref> Some of the most commercially successful films of all time have been produced in the United Kingdom, including two of the [[List of highest-grossing film series|highest-grossing film franchises]] (''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' and ''[[James Bond (film series)|James Bond]]'').<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/sep/11/jkjoannekathleenrowling |title=Harry Potter becomes highest-grossing film franchise |accessdate=2 November 2010 |work=The Guardian |date=11 September 2007 |location=London}}</ref> [[Ealing Studios]] has a claim to being the oldest continuously working film studio in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ealingstudios.com/EalingStudios/history_home.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726040738/http://www.ealingstudios.com/EalingStudios/history_home.html |archivedate=26 July 2013 |title=History of Ealing Studios |publisher=Ealing Studios |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry has often been characterised by a debate about its identity and the level of American and European influence. British producers are active in [[international co-productions]] and British actors, directors and crew feature regularly in American films. Many successful Hollywood films have been based on British people, [[British literature|stories]] or events, including ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean films|Pirates of the Caribbean]]''.

In 2009, British films grossed around $2 billion worldwide and achieved a market share of around 7% globally and 17% in the United Kingdom.<ref name="statistics">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/vitalstats |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903010514/http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/vitalstats|archivedate=3 September 2011 |title=UK film – the vital statistics |accessdate=9 March 2015 |publisher=UK Film Council}}</ref> UK box-office takings totalled £944 million in 2009, with around 173 million admissions.<ref name="statistics"/> The [[British Film Institute]] has produced a poll ranking of what it considers to be the 100 greatest British films of all time, the [[BFI Top 100 British films]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/bfi100/1-10.html |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5xbz32c8I |archivedate=1 April 2011 |publisher=British Film Institute |title=The BFI 100 |date=6 September 2006}}</ref> The annual [[British Academy Film Awards]] are hosted by the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1190562.stm |title=Baftas fuel Oscars race |accessdate=14 February 2011 |work=BBC News |date=26 February 2001}}</ref>

Media

{{main|Media of the United Kingdom}} [[File:Bbc broadcasting house front.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Broadcasting House]] in London, headquarters of the [[BBC]], the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world.<ref name="MediaNewsline">{{cite web |title=BBC: World's largest broadcaster & Most trusted media brand |publisher=Media Newsline |url=http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html |accessdate=23 September 2010| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005004930/http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html| archivedate=5 October 2010 |deadurl=no}}</ref><ref name="ProspectMag">{{cite web |title=Digital license |publisher=Prospect |url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/?p=64654|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107024637/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/07/digitallicense/|archivedate=7 November 2011 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="AboutBBC">{{cite web |title=About the BBC – What is the BBC |publisher=BBC Online |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/purpose/what.shtml |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116202334/http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/purpose/what.shtml|archivedate=16 January 2010 |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>]] The [[British Broadcasting Corporation|BBC]], founded in 1922, is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and Internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world.<ref name="MediaNewsline"/><ref name="ProspectMag"/><ref name="AboutBBC"/> It operates numerous television and radio stations in the UK and abroad and its domestic services are funded by the [[Television licensing in the United Kingdom|television licence]].<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite journal |first= |last=Newswire7| title=BBC: World's largest broadcaster & Most trusted media brand |journal=Media Newsline| date=13 August 2009 |url=http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zVS8t2sR| archivedate=17 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=TV Licence Fee: facts & figures |publisher=BBC Press Office |date=April 2010 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/licencefee.shtml |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zVSwSITq |archivedate=17 June 2011 |deadurl=no}}</ref> Other major players in the UK media include [[ITV plc]], which operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV Network]],<ref>{{Cite journal |first= |last=| title=Publications & Policies: The History of ITV |journal=ITV.com| date=| url=http://www.itv.com/aboutitv/publications-policies/ |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zVTPxDEI| archivedate=17 June 2011 }}</ref> and [[News Corporation]], which owns a number of national newspapers through [[News International]] such as the most popular [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' and the longest-established daily "[[broadsheet]]" ''[[The Times]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Publishing |publisher=News Corporation |url=http://www.newscorp.com/operations/publishing.html |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zVXpU10Z |archivedate=17 June 2011 |deadurl=no}}</ref> as well as holding a large stake in satellite broadcaster [[British Sky Broadcasting]].<ref>{{Cite journal |first= |last=| title=Direct Broadcast Satellite Television |journal=News Corporation| date=| url=http://www.newscorp.com/operations/dbst.html |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zVY0iZ5c| archivedate=17 June 2011 }}</ref> London dominates the media sector in the UK: national newspapers and television and radio are largely based there, although Manchester is also a significant national media centre. Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Cardiff, are important centres of newspaper and broadcasting production in Scotland and Wales respectively.<ref>William, D. (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=7yg45P35KDMC ''UK Cities: A Look at Life and Major Cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland'']. Eastbourne: Gardners Books. ISBN 978-9987-16-021-1, pp. 22, 46, 109 and 145.</ref> The UK publishing sector, including books, directories and databases, journals, magazines and business media, newspapers and news agencies, has a combined turnover of around £20 billion and employs around 167,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Publishing |publisher=Department of Culture, Media and Sport |url=http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/creative_industries/3280.aspx |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zVhIk6SY| archivedate=17 June 2011}}</ref>

In 2009, it was estimated that individuals viewed a mean of 3.75 hours of television per day and 2.81 hours of radio. In that year the main BBC [[Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom|public service broadcasting]] channels accounted for an estimated 28.4% of all television viewing; the three main independent channels accounted for 29.5% and the increasingly important other satellite and digital channels for the remaining 42.1%.<ref>[[Ofcom]] [http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/753567/CMR_2010_FINAL.pdf "Communication Market Report 2010", 19 August 2010, pp. 97, 164 and 191]</ref> Sales of newspapers have fallen since the 1970s and in 2010 41% of people reported reading a daily national newspaper.<ref>{{cite web |title=Social Trends 41: Lifestyles and social participation |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=24 February 2011 |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/social-trends-rd/social-trends/social-trends-41/lifestyles-chapter.pdf}}</ref> In 2010, 82.5% of the UK population were Internet users, the highest proportion amongst the 20 countries with the largest total number of users in that year.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 20 countries with the highest number of Internet users |journal=Internet World Stats |url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5zVi9vpVQ |archivedate=17 June 2011 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

Philosophy

{{main|British philosophy}} The United Kingdom is famous for the tradition of 'British Empiricism', a branch of the philosophy of knowledge that states that only knowledge verified by experience is valid, and 'Scottish Philosophy', sometimes referred to as the '[[Scottish School of Common Sense]]'.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.rrbltd.co.uk/bibliographies/scottish_v5_bibliog.pdf |title=A bibliography of Scottish common sense philosophy: Sources and origins |accessdate=17 December 2010 |editor=Fieser, James |publisher=Thoemmes Press |location=Bristol |year=2000}}</ref> The most famous philosophers of British Empiricism are [[John Locke]], [[George Berkeley]] and [[David Hume]]; while [[Dugald Stewart]], [[Thomas Reid]] and [[Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet|William Hamilton]] were major exponents of the Scottish "common sense" school. Two Britons are also notable for a theory of moral philosophy [[utilitarianism]], first used by [[Jeremy Bentham]] and later by [[John Stuart Mill]] in his short work ''[[Utilitarianism (book)|Utilitarianism]]''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=s7y5MJOuN30C&pg=PA66 |title=Moral Problems in Medicine: A Practical Coursebook |author=Palmer, Michael |publisher=Lutterworth Press |location=Cambridge |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7188-2978-0 |page=66}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=8A4xLnzfqYwC&pg=PA82 |title=Utilitarianism |author=Scarre, Geoffrey |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=1995 |page=82 |isbn=978-0-415-12197-2}}</ref> Other eminent philosophers from the UK and the unions and countries that preceded it include [[Duns Scotus]], [[John Lilburne]], [[Mary Wollstonecraft]], [[Sir Francis Bacon]], [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[William of Ockham]], [[Bertrand Russell]] and [[Alfred Jules Ayer|A.J. "Freddie" Ayer]]. Foreign-born philosophers who settled in the UK include [[Isaiah Berlin]], [[Karl Marx]], [[Karl Popper]] and [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]].

Sport

{{main|Sport in the United Kingdom}} [[File:Wembley Stadium, illuminated.jpg|thumb|[[Wembley Stadium]], London, home of the [[England national football team]], is one of the most expensive stadia ever built.<ref name="Daily Mail - stadium ready">{{cite news |date=9 March 2007 |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-441182/Wembley-kick-Stadium-ready-England-play-game-fortnight.html |title=Wembley kick-off: Stadium is ready and England play first game in fortnight |work=Daily Mail |location=London |accessdate=19 March 2007 |first=Christian |last=Gysin}}</ref>]] Major sports, including [[association football]], [[tennis]], [[rugby union]], [[rugby league]], [[golf]], [[boxing]], [[rowing (sport)|rowing]] and [[cricket]], originated or were substantially developed in the UK and the states that preceded it. With the rules and codes of many modern sports invented and codified in late 19th century [[Victorian Britain]], in 2012, the President of the IOC, [[Jacques Rogge]], stated; "This great, sports-loving country is widely recognized as the birthplace of modern sport. It was here that the concepts of sportsmanship and fair play were first codified into clear rules and regulations. It was here that sport was included as an educational tool in the school curriculum".<ref>[http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Games_London_2012/London_2012_Opening_ceremony_Speech_Jacques_Rogge.pdf "Opening ceremony of the games of the XXX Olympiad"]. Olympic.org. Retrieved 30 November 2013</ref><ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/uk-oly-preview-ad-idUKBRE86M0I720120723 "Unparalleled Sporting History"]. Reuters. Retrieved 30 November 2013</ref>

In most international competitions, separate teams represent England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland usually field a single team representing all of Ireland, with notable exceptions being association football and the [[Commonwealth Games]]. In sporting contexts, the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish / Northern Irish teams are often referred to collectively as the [[Home Nations]]. There are some sports in which a single team represents the whole of United Kingdom, including the Olympics, where the UK is represented by the [[Great Britain at the Olympics|Great Britain team]]. The [[1908 Summer Olympics|1908]], [[1948 Summer Olympics|1948]] and [[2012 Summer Olympics|2012]] Summer Olympics were held in London, making it the first city to host the games three times. Britain has participated in every modern Olympic Games to date and is third in the [[All-time Olympic Games medal table|medal count]].

A 2003 poll found that football is the most popular [[sport in the United Kingdom]].<ref name="sports poll">{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/928/Rugby-Union-Britains-Second-Most-Popular-Sport.aspx |title=Rugby Union 'Britain's Second Most Popular Sport' |publisher=Ipsos-Mori |date=22 December 2003 |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> England is recognised by [[FIFA]] as the birthplace of club football, and [[The Football Association]] is the oldest of its kind, with the [[Laws of the Game (association football)|rules]] of football first drafted in 1863 by [[Ebenezer Cobb Morley]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3694775.ece|title=The father of football deserves much more|last=Rudd|first=Alyson|publisher=Times Online | location=London | date=7 April 2008 | accessdate=29 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=621801.html|publisher=[[FIFA]]|title=Sheffield FC: 150 years of history|accessdate=29 January 2015}}</ref> Each of the Home Nations has its own football association, national team and [[league system]]. The English top division, the [[Premier League]], is the most watched football league in the world.<ref>Ebner, Sarah (2 July 2013). [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/ceo-summit/article3804923.ece "History and time are key to power of football, says Premier League chief"]. ''The Times'' (London). Retrieved 30 November 2013.</ref> The first-ever international football match was contested by [[England national football team|England]] and [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] on 30 November 1872.<ref name="BBC article">{{cite web |title=The first international football match |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0012/index.shtml |publisher=BBC Sport Scotland |author=[[Paul Mitchell (broadcaster)|Mitchell, Paul]] |date=November 2005 |accessdate=15 December 2013}}</ref> England, Scotland, [[Wales national football team|Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]] compete as separate countries in international competitions.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/football/7529807.stm |title=Why is there no GB Olympics football team? |work=BBC Sport |date=5 August 2008 |accessdate=31 December 2010}}</ref> A [[Great Britain Olympic football team]] was assembled for the first time to compete in the [[London 2012 Olympic Games]]. However, the [[Scottish Football Association|Scottish]], [[Football Association of Wales|Welsh]] and [[Irish Football Association|Northern Irish]] football associations declined to participate, fearing that it would undermine their independent status—a fear confirmed by FIFA.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/football/7286011.stm |title=Blatter against British 2012 team |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=9 March 2008 |accessdate=2 April 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Inside the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Millennium Stadium]], [[Cardiff]], opened for the [[1999 Rugby World Cup]].]] In 2003, [[rugby union]] was ranked the second most popular sport in the UK.<ref name="sports poll"/> The sport was created in [[Rugby School]], Warwickshire, and the [[1871 England versus Scotland rugby union match|first rugby international]] took place on 27 March 1871 between [[England national rugby union team|England]] and [[Scotland national rugby union team|Scotland]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-25946757 "Six ways the town of Rugby helped change the world"]. BBC. Retrieved 29 January 2015</ref><ref>Godwin, Terry; Rhys, Chris (1981).''The Guinness Book of Rugby Facts & Feats''. p.10. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives Ltd</ref> England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy compete in the [[Six Nations Championship]]; the premier international tournament in the northern hemisphere. [[Sport governing body|Sport governing bodies]] in [[Rugby union in England|England]], [[Rugby union in Scotland|Scotland]], [[Rugby union in Wales|Wales]] and [[Rugby union in Ireland|Ireland]] organise and regulate the game separately.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=0-IiowvNomMC&pg=PA95 |title=The Girlfriends Guide to Rugby |author=Louw, Jaco; Nesbit, Derrick |publisher=South Publishers |location=Johannesburg |year=2008| isbn=978-0-620-39541-0}}</ref> If any of the British teams or the Irish team beat the other three in a tournament, then it is awarded the [[Triple Crown (rugby union)|Triple Crown]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/championship-information_trophies_triple-crown.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206213734/http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/championship-information_trophies_triple-crown.php|archivedate=6 December 2013 |title=Triple Crown |work=RBS 6 Nations |accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

[[Cricket]] was invented in England, and its [[Laws of cricket|laws]] were established by [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] in 1788.<ref>Colin White (2010). "Projectile Dynamics in Sport: Principles and Applications". p. 222. Routledge</ref> The [[England cricket team]], controlled by the [[England and Wales Cricket Board]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/ |title=About ECB |publisher=England and Wales Cricket Board |date=n.d. |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> is the only national team in the UK with [[Test cricket|Test status]]. Team members are drawn from the main county sides, and include both English and Welsh players. Cricket is distinct from football and rugby where Wales and England field separate national teams, although Wales had fielded its own team in the past. [[Sport in Ireland|Irish]] and [[Cricket in Scotland|Scottish]] players have played for England because neither [[Scotland national cricket team|Scotland]] nor [[Ireland cricket team|Ireland]] have Test status and have only recently started to play in [[One Day International]]s.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Howzat-happen-England-fields-.5519537.jp |title=Howzat happen? England fields a Gaelic-speaking Scotsman in Ashes |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=4 August 2009 |accessdate=30 December 2010 |location=Edinburgh |first=Martyn |last=McLaughlin}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/6149210.stm |title=Uncapped Joyce wins Ashes call up |work=BBC Sport |accessdate=30 December 2010 |date=15 November 2006}}</ref> Scotland, England (and Wales), and Ireland (including Northern Ireland) have competed at the [[Cricket World Cup]], with England reaching the finals on three occasions. There is a professional [[County Championship|league championship]] in which clubs representing 17 English counties and 1 Welsh county compete.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/history/pages/counties_glamorgan.shtml |title=Glamorgan |publisher=BBC South East Wales |date=August 2009 |accessdate=30 December 2010}}</ref>

The modern game of [[tennis]] originated in Birmingham, England in the 1860s, before spreading around the world.<ref>[http://www.itftennis.com/abouttheitf/worldwide/history.asp History of Tennis] [[International Tennis Federation]]. Retrieved 28 July 2008.</ref> The world's oldest tennis tournament, the [[Wimbledon championships]], first occurred in 1877, and today the event takes place over two weeks in late June and early July.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/tennis/06/14/tennis.wimbledon.125th.anniversary.museum/index.html "125 years of Wimbledon: From birth of lawn tennis to modern marvels"]. CNN. Retrieved 21 January 2015</ref>

[[Thoroughbred horse race|Thoroughbred racing]], which originated under [[Charles II of England]] as the "sport of kings", is popular throughout the UK with world-famous races including the [[Grand National]], the [[Epsom Derby]], [[Royal Ascot]] and the [[Cheltenham National Hunt Festival]] (including the [[Cheltenham Gold Cup]]). The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in [[rowing (sport)|rowing]].

The UK is closely associated with [[motorsport]]. Many teams and drivers in [[Formula One]] (F1) are based in the UK, and the country has won more [[List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions|drivers']] and [[List of Formula One World Constructors' Champions|constructors']] [[Formula One World Championship|titles]] than any other. The UK hosted the first F1 Grand Prix in 1950 at [[Silverstone Circuit|Silverstone]], the current location of the [[British Grand Prix]] held each year in July.<ref>[http://www.silverstone.co.uk/about/history/1950s/ "The History of British Motorsport and Motor Racing at Silverstone – The 1950s"]. Silverstone.co.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2015</ref> The UK hosts legs of the [[Grand Prix motorcycle racing]], [[World Rally Championship]] and [[FIA World Endurance Championship]]. The premier national auto racing event is the [[British Touring Car Championship]]. Motorcycle road racing has a long tradition with races such as the [[Isle of Man TT]] and the [[North West 200]].

[[File:18th Green and Clubhouse.jpg|thumb||left|[[The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews|St Andrews]], Scotland, the home of golf. The standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews in 1764.<ref name="Forrest">Forrest L. Richardson (2002). "Routing the Golf Course: The Art & Science That Forms the Golf Journey". p. 46. John Wiley & Sons</ref>]]

[[Golf]] is the sixth-most popular sport, by participation, in the UK. Although [[The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews]] in Scotland is the sport's home course,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsospublicaffairs.co.uk/_assets/newsletters/tracking-the-field.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205004856/http://www.ipsospublicaffairs.co.uk/_assets/newsletters/tracking-the-field.pdf |archivedate=5 February 2009 |title=Tracking the Field |publisher=Ipsos MORI |accessdate=17 October 2008}}</ref> the world's oldest golf course is actually Musselburgh Links' Old Golf Course.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7949045.stm |title=Links plays into the record books |work=BBC News |date=17 March 2009}}</ref> In 1764, the standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes.<ref name="Forrest"/> The oldest golf tournament in the world, and the first major championship in golf, [[The Open Championship]], is played annually on the weekend of the third Friday in July.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pgatour.com/2007/travel/07/16/trans_071607/index.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002214520/http://www.pgatour.com/2007/travel/07/16/trans_071607/index.html | archivedate=2 October 2012|title=The Open Championship – More Scottish than British|publisher= PGA Tour|accessdate=9 March 2015}}</ref>

[[Rugby league]] originated in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in 1895 and is generally played in [[Northern England]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=7rY2tVBypH0C&pg=PA27 |title=Professional identities: policy and practice in business and bureaucracy |isbn=978-1-84545-054-0 |author=Ardener, Shirley |publisher=Berghahn |location=New York |year=2007 |page=27 }}</ref> A single 'Great Britain Lions' team had competed in the [[Rugby League World Cup]] and Test match games, but this changed in 2008 when [[England national rugby league team|England]], [[Scotland national rugby league team|Scotland]] and [[Ireland national rugby league team|Ireland]] competed as separate nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rlwc08.com/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016042328/http://www.rlwc08.com/ |archivedate=16 October 2007 |title=Official Website of Rugby League World Cup 2008}}</ref> Great Britain is still retained as the full national team. [[Super League]] is the highest level of professional rugby league in the UK and Europe. It consists of 11 teams from Northern England, 1 from London, 1 from Wales and 1 from France.<ref>{{Citation | last =Baker| first =Andrew| title =100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era | newspaper = [[The Independent|Independent, The]]| publisher =independent.co.uk | date =20 August 1995| url =http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/100-years-of-rugby-league-from-the-great-divide-to-the-super-era-1597130.html| accessdate =20 June 2015| location=London}}</ref>

The [[Marquess of Queensberry rules|'Queensberry rules']], the code of general rules in [[boxing]], was named after [[John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry]] in 1867, that formed the basis of modern boxing.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9051067?tocId=9051067&query=queensberry&ct= Encyclopædia Britannica (2006).ŷ ''Queensbury Rules'', Britannica]</ref> [[Snooker]] is another of the UK's popular sporting exports, with the world championships held annually in [[Sheffield]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/6288739.stm |title=China in Ding's hands |work=BBC Sport |accessdate=2 January 2011 |first=Saj |last=Chowdhury |date=22 January 2007}}</ref> In Northern Ireland [[Gaelic football]] and [[hurling]] are popular team sports, both in terms of participation and spectating, and Irish expatriates in the UK and the US also play them.<ref name="CJSHurl">{{cite news |title=The ancient Irish sport of hurling catches on in America |url=http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2007-04-10/gould-hurling.html |work=Columbia News Service |publisher=Columbia Journalism School |accessdate=17 May 2011 |author=Gould, Joe |date=10 April 2007}}</ref> [[Shinty]] (or ''camanachd'') is popular in the [[Scottish Highlands]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottishsport.co.uk/othersports/shinty.htm |title=Shinty |publisher=Scottishsport.co.uk |date= |accessdate=28 April 2013}}</ref> [[Highland games]] are held in spring and summer in Scotland, celebrating Scottish and [[celt]]ic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands.<ref>[http://www.scotland.org/about-scotland/sport "Sport in Scotland"]. Scotland.org. Retrieved 20 June 2015</ref>

Symbols

{{main|Symbols of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man}} [[File:Britannia-Statue.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The Statue of [[Britannia]] in [[Plymouth]]. Britannia is a [[national personification]] of the UK.]] The [[flag of the United Kingdom]] is the [[Union Flag]] (also referred to as the Union Jack). It was created in 1606 by the superimposition of the [[Flag of England]] on the [[Flag of Scotland]] and updated in 1801 with the addition of [[Saint Patrick's Flag]]. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag, as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. The possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales has not been completely ruled out.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7114248.stm |title=Welsh dragon call for Union flag |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=27 November 2007 |accessdate=17 October 2008}}</ref> The [[national anthem]] of the United Kingdom is "[[God Save the Queen|God Save the King]]", with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman.

[[Britannia]] is a [[national personification]] of the United Kingdom, originating from [[Roman Britain]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.24carat.co.uk/britanniaframe.html |title=Britannia on British Coins |publisher=Chard |accessdate=25 June 2006}}</ref> Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a [[Corinthian helmet]] and white robes. She holds [[Poseidon]]'s three-pronged trident and a shield, bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding on the back of a lion. Since the height of the British Empire in the late 19th century, Britannia has often been associated with British maritime dominance, as in the patriotic song "[[Rule, Britannia!]]". Up until 2008, the lion symbol was depicted behind Britannia on the [[Fifty pence (British decimal coin)|British fifty pence coin]] and on the back of the [[Ten pence (British decimal coin)|British ten pence coin]]. It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. The [[bulldog]] is sometimes used as a symbol of the United Kingdom and has been associated with Winston Churchill's defiance of Nazi Germany.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Steve |title=Picturing the Beast |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2001 |page=52 |isbn=0-252-07030-5}}</ref>

Notes

References

External links

{{Sister project links|n=Category:United Kingdom|voy=United Kingdom}} ; Government * [http://www.gov.uk/ Official website of HM Government] * [http://www.royal.gov.uk/ Official website of the British Monarchy] * [http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/index.html Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom] statistics * [http://www.number10.gov.uk/ The official site of the British Prime Minister's Office]

; General information * [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18023389 United Kingdom] from the [[BBC News]]

{{CIA World Factbook link|uk|United Kingdom}}

* [http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/british.htm United Kingdom] from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

{{dmoz|Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom}}

* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/615557/United-Kingdom United Kingdom] ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' entry * [http://www.oecd.org/unitedkingdom/ United Kingdom] from the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] * [http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/unitedkingdom/index_en.htm United Kingdom] at the [[European Union|EU]]

{{wikiatlas|United Kingdom}}
{{osmrelation-inline|62149}}

* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=GB Key Development Forecasts for the United Kingdom] from [[International Futures]]

; Travel * [http://www.visitbritain.com/en/EN/ Official tourist guide to Britain]

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