The UK
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in North-western Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It is made up of England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.
The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,354 square miles (244,376 km2), with an estimated population of nearly 67.6 million people in 2022.
The UK became the first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the "Pax Britannica" between 1815 and 1914. At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population and was the largest empire in history. However, its involvement in the two world wars damaged Britain's economic power and a global wave of decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies.
British influence can be observed in the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies, and British culture remains globally influential, particularly in language, literature, music, and sport. English is the world's most widely spoken language and the third-most spoken native language.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022. The British monarchy traces its origins from the small kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and early medieval Scotland, which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century.
In 1707, the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland united to create the Kingdom of Great Britain and in 1927 adopted the present name, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The UK has three distinct jurisdictions: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Since 1998, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own devolved governments and legislatures while England is governed directly by the UK Government. The capital and largest city of the United Kingdom is London. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland's national capital cities are Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast respectively.
