United Kingdom

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United Kingdom

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) Area 244,100 sq km/94,247 sq mi Capital London Language English (official), Welsh (also official in Wales), Gaelic Religion about 46% Church of England (established church); other Protestant denominations, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh Time difference GMT +/-0 Major holidays 1 January, 25–26 December; variable: Good Friday, Easter Monday (not Scotland), Early May, Late May and Summer (August) Bank Holidays; Northern Ireland also has 17 March, 29 December; Scotland has 2 January


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Belfast, Cardiff Major ports London, Grimsby, Southampton, Liverpool Physical features became separated from European continent in about 6000 BC; rolling landscape, increasingly mountainous towards the north, with Grampian Mountains in Scotland, Pennines in northern England, Cambrian Mountains in Wales; rivers include Thames, Severn, and Spey Territories Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St Helena and Dependencies (Ascension, Tristan da Cunha), South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands; the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK but are direct dependencies of the crown Airports 20 main international airports and over 20 domestic airports; total passengers carried: 76.4 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 17,200 km/10,688 mi; total passenger journeys: 1.2 billion (2003–04) Roads total road network: 619,398 km/384,876 mi, of which 100% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 442 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Queen Elizabeth II from 1952 Head of government Gordon Brown from 2007 Political system liberal democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions England: 34 non-metropolitan counties, 46 unitary authorities, 6 metropolitan counties, (with 36 metropolitan boroughs), 32 London boroughs, and the Corporation of London; Scotland: 9 regions, 29 unitary authorities, and 3 island authorities (from 1996); Wales: 9 counties and 22 unitary authorities/county boroughs (from 1996); Northern Ireland: 26 districts within 6 geographical counties Political parties Conservative and Unionist Party, right of centre; Labour Party, moderate left of centre; Social and Liberal Democrats, left of centre; Scottish National Party (SNP), Scottish nationalist; Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalist Party), Welsh nationalist; Official Ulster Unionist Party (OUP), Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Ulster People's Unionist Party (UPUP), all Northern Ireland right of centre, in favour of remaining part of UK; Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP), Northern Ireland, moderate left of centre; Green Party, ecological; Sinn Fein, Irish nationalist Death penalty abolished in 1965, except for treason and piracy; abolished completely in 1998 Armed forces 216,900; plus 241,5,600 reservists (2006 est) Conscription military service is voluntary Defence spend (% GDP) 2.6 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 5.3 (2002 est) Health spend (% GDP) 6.9 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency pound sterling GDP (US$) 2,192.6 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 2.7 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 2,263.7 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 32,690 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 2.3% (2006 est) Unemployment 5.3% (2006 est) Labour force 1.4% agriculture, 22% industry, 76.6% services (2005) Major trading partners USA, Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium–Luxemboug, EU25 Resources coal, limestone, crude petroleum, natural gas, tin, iron, salt, sand and gravel Industries machinery and transport equipment, steel, metals and metal products, food processing, shipbuilding, aircraft, petroleum and gas extraction, electronics and communications, chemicals and chemical products, business and financial services, tourism Exports industrial and electrical machinery, automatic data-processing equipment, motor vehicles, petroleum, chemicals, finished and semi-finished manufactured products, agricultural products and foodstuffs. Principal market: USA 14.6% (2005) Imports industrial and electrical machinery, motor vehicles, food, beverages and tobacco, petroleum, automatic data processing equipment, basic materials, consumer goods, textiles, paper, paper board. Principal source: Germany 13.8% (2005) Arable land 23.3% (2006 est) Agricultural products wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beet, fruit, vegetables; livestock rearing (chiefly poultry and cattle), animal products, fishing


POPULATION

Population 59,847,100 (2006 est) Population growth rate 0.3% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 245 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 89 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 18%, 15–59 61%, 60+ 21% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 81.5% English; 9.6% Scots; 2.4% Irish; 1.9% Welsh; about 5% West Indian, Asian, African, and other ethnic minorities Life expectancy 77 (men); 81 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 6 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 12 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 16.6 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 4.1 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.2 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <1,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 100 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 56.4 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 102.2 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 1,446 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 1,100 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 60 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 63 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

c. 400–200 BC British Isles conquered by Celts. 55–54 BC Romans led by Julius Caesar raided Britain. AD 43–60 Romans conquered England and Wales, which formed the province of Britannia; Picts stopped them penetrating further north. 5th–7th centuries After Romans withdrew, Anglo-Saxons overran most of England and formed kingdoms, including Wessex, Northumbria, and Mercia; Wales was stronghold of Celts. 500 The Scots, a Gaelic-speaking tribe from Ireland, settled in the kingdom of Dalriada (Argyll). 5th–6th centuries British Isles converted to Christianity. 829 King Egbert of Wessex accepted as overlord of all England. c. 843 Kenneth McAlpin unified Scots and Picts to become first king of Scotland. 9th–11th centuries Vikings raided British Isles, conquering north and east England and northern Scotland. 1066 Normans led by William I defeated Anglo-Saxons at Battle of Hastings and conquered England. 12th–13th centuries Anglo-Norman adventurers conquered much of Ireland, but effective English rule remained limited to area around Dublin. 1215 King John of England forced to sign Magna Carta, which placed limits on royal powers. 1265 Simon de Montfort summoned first English parliament in which towns were represented. 1284 Edward I of England invaded Scotland; Scots defeated English at Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. 1314 Robert the Bruce led Scots to victory over English at Battle of Bannockburn; England recognized Scottish independence in 1328. 1455–85 Wars of the Roses: House of York and House of Lancaster disputed English throne. 1513 Battle of Flodden: Scots defeated by English; James IV of Scotland killed. 1529 Henry VIII founded Church of England after break with Rome; Reformation effective in England and Wales, but not in Ireland. 1536–43 Acts of Union united Wales with England, with one law, one parliament, and one official language. 1541 Irish parliament recognized Henry VIII of England as king of Ireland. 1557 First Covenant established Protestant faith in Scotland. 1603 Union of crowns: James VI of Scotland became James I of England also. 1607 First successful English colony in Virginia marked start of three centuries of overseas expansion. 1610 James I established plantation of Ulster in Northern Ireland with Protestant settlers from England and Scotland. 1642–52 English Civil War between king and Parliament, with Scottish intervention and Irish rebellion, resulted in victory for Parliament. 1649 Execution of Charles I; Oliver Cromwell appointed Lord Protector in 1653; monarchy restored in 1660. 1689 ‘Glorious Revolution’ confirmed power of Parliament; replacement of James II by William III resisted by Scottish Highlanders and Catholic Irish. 1707 Act of Union between England and Scotland created United Kingdom of Great Britain, governed by single parliament. 1721–42 Cabinet government developed under Robert Walpole (first ‘prime minister’). 1745 ‘The Forty-Five’: rebellion of Scottish Highlanders in support of Jacobite pretender to throne; defeated 1746. c. 1760–1850 Industrial Revolution: Britain became world's first industrial nation. 1775–83 American Revolution: Britain lost 13 American colonies; empire continued to expand in Canada, India, and Australia. 1793–1815 Britain at war with revolutionary France, except for 1802–03. 1800 Act of Union created United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, governed by single parliament; effective 1801. 1832 Great Reform Act extended franchise; further extensions in 1867, 1884, 1918, and 1928. 1846 Repeal of Corn Laws reflected shift of power from landowners to industrialists. 1870 Home Rule Party formed to campaign for restoration of separate Irish parliament. 1880–90s Rapid expansion of British Empire in Africa. 1906–14 Liberal governments introduced social reforms and curbed power of House of Lords. 1914–18 Major UK military involvement in World War I; British Empire expanded in Middle East. 1919–21 Anglo-Irish war ended with secession of southern Ireland as Irish Free State; Ulster remained within United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (with some powers devolved to Northern Irish parliament). 1924 First Labour government led by Ramsay MacDonald. 1926 General strike arose from coal dispute. Equality of status recognized between UK and Dominions of British Commonwealth. 1931 National Government coalition formed in face of growing economic crisis. 1939–45 Major UK military involvement in World War II. 1945–51 Labour government of Clement Attlee created welfare state and nationalized major industries. 1947–71 Decolonization brought about end of British Empire. 1969 Start of civil strife (the ‘Troubles’) in Northern Ireland; Northern Irish Parliament suspended in 1972. 1973 UK joined European Community. 1979–90 Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher pursued radical free-market economic policies. 1982 Victory in war with Argentina over disputed sovereignty of Falkland Islands in south Atlantic. 1984–85 Year-long coalminers' strike over pit closures. 1991 British participation in US-led war against Iraq under United Nations mandate to liberate Kuwait from occupation. early 1990s Economic recession. 1993 Downing Street Declaration on Northern Ireland by British and Irish governments. 1994 IRA and Protestant paramilitaries declared ceasefire in Northern Ireland. 1996 IRA renewed terrorist campaign. 1997 Labour Party led by Tony Blair won landslide general election victory; launch of new Northern Ireland peace initiative; referendums in Scotland and Wales in favour of devolution; Princess Diana killed in car crash. 1998 Historic multiparty ‘Good Friday Agreement’ reached on future of Northern Ireland; approved in referendums in Northern Ireland and Irish Republic. 1999 Devolved Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly opened. In Northern Ireland IRA agreed to discuss arms decommissioning and power devolved to elected assembly and executive. 2000 Wave of disruptive protests over high fuel prices caused petrol shortage throughout UK. 2001 Outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease affecting farm livestock resulted in slaughter of over 2 million animals. Labour Party under Tony Blair re-elected. In wake of 11 September terrorist attacks on USA, British forces joined US-led military campaign against Islamist Taliban regime in Afghanistan. 2002 Queen Mother died. In Northern Ireland continuing controversy over lack of IRA arms decommissioning led to suspension of devolved administration and reimposition of direct rule by British government. 2003–04 Britain joined US-led military intervention in Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein regime despite domestic and international opposition; controversy over alleged government distortion of intelligence information on security threat posed by Iraq. 2005 Labour Party won third consecutive general election but with reduced majority. British Islamic extremists killed over 50 people in suicide bomb attacks on London transport network. IRA formally announced end to its armed campaign. 2007 Progress in Northern Ireland: unionist and republican politicians reached agreement on restoration of power-sharing devolved government. UK government announced first large withdrawal of British troops from Iraq since invasion in 2003. Tony Blair stood down as prime minister after ten years in office; replaced by former chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown.


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