United kingdom

Royal coat of arms[note 1] of United Kingdom

 (Dark-Green) United Kingdom.

The State House in St. George's, Bermuda. Settled in 1612, the town is the
oldest continuously-inhabited English town in the New World
The Skiddaw massif, town of Keswick and Derwent Water in Lakeland

Montserrat: Soufrière Hills volcano

Jaguar cars, including the Jaguar XE as shown, are designed,
developed and manufactured in the UK

Engines and wings for the Airbus A380 are manufactured in the UK
The City of London is one of the world's largest financial centres

Westminster Abbey is used for the coronation of British monarchs

United Kingdom of Great

Britain and Northern Ireland[show]

Flag
 Royal coat of arms[note 1]

Anthem: "God Save the Queen"[note 2]

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Location of the United Kingdom (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union (green)

Location of the United Kingdom,

Crown dependencies and
British Overseas Territories (red)[show]

Capital London
and largest city 51°30′N 0°7′W

Official language English

and national language

Recognised regional  Scots

or minority  Ulster Scots
languages[note 3]  Welsh
 Cornish
 Scottish Gaelic
 Irish

Ethnic groups(2011)  87.1% White

 7.0% Asian
 3.0% Black
 2.0% Mixed
 0.9% others

Religion (2011)  59.5% Christian

 25.7% Irreligious
 4.4% Muslim
 1.3% Hindu
  0.4% Jewish
 1.5% other religions
 7.2% unknown[6]

Demonym  British
 Briton

Countries of the  England

United Kingdom  Scotland
 Wales
 Northern Ireland

Government Unitary parliamentary

constitutional monarchy

• Monarch Elizabeth II
• Prime Minister Theresa May

Legislature Parliament

• Upper house House of Lords

• Lower house House of Commons

Formation

• Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542

• Union of the 24 March 1603
Crowns under James VI
and I
• Acts of Union of England 1 May 1707
and Scotland
• Acts of Union of Great 1 January 1801
Britain and Ireland
• Irish Free State 5 December 1922
Constitution Act
• EC accession[note 4] 1 January 1973

Area
• Total 242,495 km2(93,628 sq mi)[7] (78th)
• Water (%) 1.34

Population
• 2017 estimate 66,040,229[8] (22nd)
• 2011 census 63,181,775[9] (22nd)
• Density 270.7/km2(701.1/sq mi) (50th)

GDP (PPP) 2017 estimate

• Total $2.914 trillion[10] (9th)
• Per capita $44,117[10] (25th)

GDP (nominal) 2017 estimate

 • Total $2.624 trillion[10] (5th)
• Per capita $39,734[10] (19th)

Gini (2014) 31.6[11]

medium · 33rd

HDI (2015) 0.909[12]

very high · 16th

Currency Pound sterling[note 5](GBP; £)

Time zone Greenwich Mean Time[note 6] (UTC⁠)

• Summer (DST) British Summer Time(UTC+1)

Date format dd/mm/yyyy (AD)

Drives on the left[note 7]

Calling code +44[note 8]

ISO 3166 code GB

Internet TLD .uk[note 9]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United
Kingdom (UK)[13] or Britain,[note 10] is a sovereign country lying off the north-western coast of
the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern
part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands.[14] Northern Ireland is the only part of the
United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland.
Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom 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-south-west, giving it
the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an
area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign
state in the world. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million
inhabitants in 2017.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
democracy.[15][16] The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 1952, making her
the longest-serving current head of state.[17] The United Kingdom's capital and largest city is London,
a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million.[18] Other major urban
areas in the UK include the conurbations centred
on Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Liverpool.
The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland,
and Wales.[19] Their capitals are London, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Cardiff respectively. Apart from
England, the countries have devolved administrations,[20] each with varying powers.[21][22] The
nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK,
being Crown dependencieswith the British Government responsible for defence and international
representation.[23] The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of
England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great
Britain, and the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving
the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[note 11] There
are fourteen British Overseas Territories,[24] 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 largest empire in
history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of
its former colonies.
The United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal
GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It has a high-income economy and has
a "very high" Human Development Index, ranking 16th in the world. It was the first industrialised
country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.[25][26] The United
Kingdom remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and
political influence internationally.[27][28] It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and is sixth in military
expenditure in the world.[29] It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security
Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a leading member state of the European
Union (EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), since 1973; however, a
referendum in 2016 resulted in 51.9% of UK voters favouring leaving the European Union, and the
country's exit is being negotiated. The United Kingdom is also a member of the Commonwealth of
Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD), Interpol and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Capital London
and largest city 51°30′N 0°7′W

Official language English

and national language

 Scots
Recognised regional or minority
 Ulster Scots
languages[note 3]
 Welsh
 Cornish
 Scottish Gaelic
 Irish

Ethnic groups(2011)  87.1% White

 7.0% Asian
 3.0% Black
 2.0% Mixed
 0.9% others

Religion (2011)  59.5% Christian

 25.7% Irreligious
 4.4% Muslim
 1.3% Hindu
 0.4% Jewish
 1.5% other
religions
 7.2% unknown[6]