(Redirected from UK)
The 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (also known as the 'United Kingdom', the 'U.K.', or 'Britain')
[4] is a
country[5] to the north-west of
mainland Europe. It comprises the island of
Great Britain, the north-east part of the island of
Ireland and many small local islands.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the
Republic of Ireland.
[6][7][8] Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the
Atlantic Ocean, the
North Sea, the
English Channel and the
Irish Sea.
Great Britain, its largest island is linked to
France by the
Channel Tunnel.
The United Kingdom is a
parliamentary democracy and a
constitutional monarchy comprising four
constituent countries —
England,
Northern Ireland,
Scotland and
Wales — with
Elizabeth II as
head of state. The
Crown Dependencies of the
Channel Islands and the
Isle of Man, formally possessions of
the Crown, are not part of the UK but form a
federacy with it.
[9] The UK has fourteen
overseas territories,
[10] all remnants of the
British Empire, which at its height encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface. It is a developed country, with the fifth-largest economy in the world.
Britain was the
world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th century,
[11] but the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its role and status in global affairs. The UK nevertheless retains economic, cultural, military and political influence today and is a
nuclear power, with the
second highest defence spending in the world. It holds a permanent seat on the
United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the
G8,
NATO, the
European Union and the
Commonwealth of Nations.
History
England and
Scotland had existed as separate sovereign and independent states with their own
monarchs and political structures since the 9th century. The once independent
Principality of Wales fell under the control of English monarchs from the
Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. Under the
Acts of Union 1707, England (including Wales) and Scotland, which had been in
personal union since the
Union of the Crowns in 1603, agreed to a political union in the form of a unified
Kingdom of Great Britain.
[12]
The
Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the
Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1541 and
1691, to form the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
[13] Independence for the
Irish Free State in 1922 followed the
partition of the island of Ireland two years previously, with six of the nine
counties of the
province of
Ulster remaining within the UK, which then
changed to the current name in 1927 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
[14]
Britain was an important part of the
Age of Enlightenment with
philosophical and
scientific input and a
literary and
theatrical tradition. Over the next century the United Kingdom played an important role in developing
Western ideas of
parliamentary democracy with significant contributions to
literature, the
arts and
science.
[15] The UK-led
Industrial Revolution transformed the country and fuelled the
British Empire. During this time, like other
Great Powers, the UK was involved in colonial exploitation, including the
slave trade, while the passing of the 1807
Slave Trade Act also made the UK the first nation to prohibit trade in slaves.
After the defeat of
Napoleon in the
Napoleonic Wars, Britain became the principal naval power of the 19th century. At its peak the
British Empire controlled large amounts of territory in Asia, Africa, Oceania and America.
In the 19th century the country played an important role in the development of
parliamentary democracy, partly through the emergence of a multi-party system. At the end of the
Victorian era the United Kingdom lost its industrial leadership, particularly to the
German Empire, which surpassed the UK in industrial production and trade in the 1890s, and to the
United States. Britain remained an eminent power and its empire expanded to its maximum size by 1921, gaining the
League of Nations mandate over former German and Ottoman colonies after World War I.
After the
Great War, the world's first large-scale international broadcasting network, the
BBC, was created. In 1924 the country's
Labour movement, which had been gaining strength since the late 1890s, formed the
first Labour government. Britain fought
Nazi Germany in
World War II, with its
Commonwealth allies including
Canada,
Australia,
New Zealand,
South Africa and
India, later to be joined by further
allies. Wartime leader
Winston Churchill and his peacetime successor
Clement Atlee helped create the post-war world as part of the "Big Three". World War II left the United Kingdom financially and physically damaged.
Loans taken out during and after World War II from both Canada and the United States were economically costly but, along with post-war
Marshall aid, the UK began the road to recovery.
The immediate post-war years saw the establishment of the British
Welfare State and one of the world's first and most comprehensive
health services, while the demands of a recovering economy brought people from all over the
Commonwealth to create a
multi-ethnic Britain. Although the new post-war limits of Britain's
political role were confirmed by the
Suez Crisis of 1956, the international currency of the
language meant the continuing impact of its literature and
culture, while at the same time from the 1960s its
popular culture found influence abroad. Following a period of economic stagnation and industrial strife in the 1970s after a global economic downturn, the 1980s saw the inflow of substantial
oil revenues, and the premiership of
Margaret Thatcher, under whom there was a marked break with the post-war political and economic consensus. Her supporters credit her with economic success, but her critics blame her for greater social division. From the mid-1990s onward these trends of growth largely continued under the leadership of
Tony Blair.
The United Kingdom has been a member of the
European Union since 1973. The attitude of the present
Labour government towards further integration with this organisation is mixed,
[ Modest progress but always on back foot ] with the
Conservative Party favouring a return of some powers and competencies to the state,
[ European Constitution: bad for Britain, bad for Europe ] and the
Liberal Democrats supportive of current engagement.
Government and politics
The United Kingdom is a
constitutional monarchy with
Elizabeth II,
Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as head of state. The UK uses a
parliamentary government based on strong democratic traditions, a system that has been emulated around the world—a legacy of the
British Empire.
The UK's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists mostly of written sources, including
statutes, judge made
case law, and international treaties. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and
law considered to be "constitutional law," the
British Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing
Acts of Parliament and thus has the
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.
[16] The United Kingdom is one of the three countries in the world today that does not have a codified
constitution (the other two being
New Zealand and
Israel).
[17]
The position of
Prime Minister, the UK's
head of government, belongs to the
current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the
House of Commons. The Prime Minister and their Cabinet are formally appointed by the Monarch to form
Her Majesty's Government. However, the Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Queen respects the Prime Minister's choices. The
Cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which
they are responsible. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all of whom are sworn into
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and become
Ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises vast political power, especially in the appointment of other officials within the government and
civil service.
Gordon Brown, leader of the
Labour Party, has been Prime Minister,
First Lord of the Treasury and
Minister for the Civil Service since
27 June,
2007.
The
Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom; housed in the
Palace of Westminster, it is the ultimate legislative authority in the UK, according to the doctrine of
parliamentary sovereignty. However, questions over sovereignty have been brought forward due to the UK's membership within the
European Union.
[ Europe Wins The Power To Jail British Citizens ] The parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed
House of Lords. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by
simple plurality in a
constituency; general elections are called by the Monarch when the Prime Minister so advises. There is no minimum term for a Parliament, but a new election must be called within five years of the last general election.
The UK's three
major political parties are the
Labour Party, the
Conservative Party, and the
Liberal Democrats. Other parties such as the
Scottish National Party and
Sinn Féin hold the remainder of seats in the House.
Administrative subdivisions
Main articles: Subdivisions of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is divided into four ''
home nations'' or ''
constituent countries'':
England,
Scotland,
Wales, and
Northern Ireland. The latter three each has a
unicameral legislature,
devolved from the United Kingdom Parliament, which relates specifically to each constituent country: the
Scottish Parliament, the
National Assembly for Wales, and the
Northern Ireland Assembly. Each also has its own
Executive, led by a
First Minister, which controls separate law making and constitutional powers devolved from Westminster. However, despite being the largest of the United Kingdom's four constituent countries, England, (with the exception of the
Greater London Authority), has no devolved executive; it is ruled directly by the UK government.
Each nation is further subdivided for the purposes of
local government. The Queen appoints a
Lord-Lieutenant as her personal representative in lieutenancy areas across the UK; this is little more than a ceremonial role. The following table highlights the arrangements for local government, lieutenancy areas and cities across the home nations of
Historically, the four nations were divided into
counties as areas for local government administration. Although these are still used to some extent for this purpose and as geographical areas, they are no longer the sole basis for
local government administration.
In recent years, England has, for some purposes, been divided into nine intermediate-level
Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of
counties and
unitary authorities, apart from
London, which consists of
London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that these regions would be given their own elected regional assemblies, the plan's future is uncertain following a rejection, by referendum, of a proposed assembly in the
North East region.
City status is governed by
Royal Charter. There are sixty-six British cities: fifty in England; six in Scotland; five in Wales; and five in Northern Ireland.
The
Crown has sovereignty over the
Isle of Man and the
Bailiwicks of
Jersey and
Guernsey. Collectively, these three territories are known as the
Crown dependencies, lands owned by the
British monarch but not part of the United Kingdom. They are also not part of the European Union. However, the Parliament of the United Kingdom has the authority to legislate for the dependencies, and the British government manages their foreign affairs and defence.
The UK also has fourteen
overseas territories around the world, the last remaining territories of the
British Empire. The overseas territories are also not considered part of the UK, but in most cases the local populations have British citizenship and the right to abode in the UK. This has been the case since 2002.
Law
Main articles: Law of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has three distinct
systems of law.
English law, which applies in
England and Wales, and
Northern Ireland law, which applies in Northern Ireland, are based on
common-law principles.
Scots law, which applies in Scotland, is a hybrid system based on both common-law and
civil-law principles. The
Act of Union 1707 guarantees the continued existence of a separate law system for Scotland.
The Appellate Committee of the
House of Lords (usually just referred to, as "The House of Lords") is the highest court in the land for all criminal and civil cases in
England,
Wales, and
Northern Ireland, and for all civil cases in Scots law. Recent constitutional changes will see the powers of the House of Lords transfer to a new
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
[19]
In
England and Wales, the
court system is headed by the Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, consisting of the
Court of Appeal, the
High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the
Crown Court (for criminal cases). In
Scotland the chief courts are the
Court of Session, for civil cases, and the
High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases, while the
sheriff court is the Scottish equivalent of the county court.
The
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, comprising the same members as the Appellate Committee of the
House of Lords, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.
Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is one of the permanent members of the
United Nations Security Council. It is also a member state of the
European Union, and is one of the three 'big powers' of the EU, along with Germany and France. The United Kingdom also enjoys a "
Special Relationship" with the
United States. Britain's close allies outside of
Europe include members of the
Anglosphere and
Commonwealth of Nations, a legacy of the
British Empire. With its membership of the
G8 and
NATO, Britain has influence in international institutions. Britain's global presence is amplified through its trading relations and its armed forces, which maintains approximately eighty military installations and other deployments around the globe.
[20]
Geography
Main articles: Geography of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is in Western Europe. It comprises the island of Great Britain (most of England, Scotland and Wales) and the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland), together with many smaller islands. The mainland areas lie between latitudes 49° and 59° N (the Shetland Islands reach to nearly 61° N), and longitudes 8° W to 2° E. The Royal Greenwich Observatory, near London, is the defining point of the
Prime Meridian. The United Kingdom has a total area of approximately .
The UK lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, and comes within of the north-west coast of France, from which it is separated by the
English Channel. Northern Ireland shares a land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. The Channel Tunnel ("Chunnel") now links the UK with France beneath the English Channel.
Topography
Map of the United Kingdom.
Most of England consists of lowland terrain, with some mountainous terrain in the north-west (
Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District), north (the upland moors of the
Pennines and
limestone hills of the
Peak District) and south-west (
Exmoor and
Dartmoor) by the
Tees-Exe line. Lower ranges include the
limestone hills of the
Isle of Purbeck,
Cotswolds and
Lincolnshire Wolds, and the
chalk downs of the
Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the
Thames,
Severn and the
Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is
Greater London. England's highest mountain is
Scafell Pike, which is in the
Lake District .
Scotland's geography is varied, with
lowlands in the south and east and
highlands in the north and west, including
Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles at . There are many long and deep sea arms,
firths, and
lochs. There are nearly eight hundred
islands in Scotland, mainly west and north of the mainland, notably the
Hebrides,
Orkney Islands and
Shetland Islands. In total, it is estimated that the UK includes around one thousand islands.
[21]
Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being
Snowdon (''Yr Wyddfa'') at above sea level, however South Wales is less mountainous than North and Mid Wales. North of the mainland is the island of
Anglesey (''Ynys Môn'').
Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. It includes
Lough Neagh, at , the largest body of water in the UK and
Ireland.
[22] The highest peak is
Slieve Donard at in the province's
Mourne Mountains.
The greatest distance between two points on the UK mainland of Great Britain is between
Land's End in
Cornwall (near
Penzance) and
John O'Groats in
Caithness (near
Thurso), a two day journey by car. When measured directly north-south it is a little over in length and is a fraction under at its widest.
Climate
Main articles: Climate of the United Kingdom
All parts of the United Kingdom have a temperate
climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons but seldom drops below −10 °
C or rises above 32 °C. The prevailing wind is from the south-west, bearing frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean. Eastern parts are most sheltered from this wind and are therefore the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream, bring mild winters, especially in the west, where winters are also wet, especially over high ground. Summers are warmest in the south east of England, being closest to the European mainland, and coolest in the north. Snowfall can occur in winter and early spring, though it rarely settles to any great depth away from high ground.
Absolute temperature ranges:
★ England: 38.5 °C on
10 August 2003 at Brogdale, near Faversham, Kent, to −26.1 °C on
10 January 1982 at Edgmond, near Newport, Shropshire.
★ Wales: 35.2 °C in Hawarden Bridge, Flintshire on
2 August 1990, to -23.3 °C in Rhayader, Radnorshire on
21 January 1940.
★ Scotland: 32.9 °C at Greycrook, Scottish Borders on
9 August 2003 to -27.2 °C recorded at Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on
11 February 1895 and
10 January 1982 and also at Altnaharra, Sutherland, on
30 December 1995.
★ Northern Ireland: 30.8 °C at Knockarevan, near Belleek, County Fermanagh on
30 June 1976 and at Belfast on
12 July 1983, to -17.5 °C at Magherally, near Banbridge, County Down on
1 January 1979.
Cities and urban areas
Main articles: City status in the United Kingdom
The four capitals of the United Kingdom's
constituent countries are
London (England),
Edinburgh (Scotland),
Cardiff (Wales) and
Belfast (Northern Ireland). London is also the capital of the UK.
Largest cities
Main articles: List of United Kingdom cities by population
★ above 7 million:
London
★ above 1 million:
Birmingham
★ above 500,000:
Glasgow
★ 400,000–500,000:
Liverpool,
Leeds,
Sheffield,
Edinburgh,
Bristol
★ 300,000–400,000:
Manchester,
Leicester,
Coventry,
Hull
★ 250,000–300,000:
Bradford,
Cardiff,
Belfast,
Stoke-on-Trent,
Wolverhampton
★ 200,000–250,000:
Nottingham,
Plymouth,
Southampton,
Reading,
Derby
The term "
second city" has been disputed in several ways.
Birmingham is typically accepted as the second city, although many view
Manchester,
Glasgow and
Liverpool to be the second city.
Urban areas
Main articles: List of conurbations in the United Kingdom
★
Greater London Urban Area (8.5 million) (
Metropolitan area: 12 - 14 million)
★
West Midlands conurbation (2.28 million)
★
Greater Manchester Urban Area (2.24 million)
★
West Yorkshire Urban Area (1.5 million)
★
Greater Glasgow (1.16 million)
Demography
Main articles: Demography of the United Kingdom
The populations and percentage of total population in the four nations of the United Kingdom.
Population
At the April
2001 UK Census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third largest in the
European Union (behind
Germany and
France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. This had been estimated up to 59,834,300 by the
Office for National Statistics in 2004.
[23] Two years later it had increased to 60.2 million, largely from net
immigration, but also because of a rising
birth rate and increasing life expectancy.
[24]
The UK's overall
population density is one of the highest in the world. About a quarter of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban,
[25] with an estimated 7,517,700 in the capital of London.
[26]
Migration and ethnicity
Main articles: Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom
Located as they are on a group of islands close to
Continental Europe, the lands now constituting the United Kingdom have historically been subject to many
invasions and
migrations, especially from
Scandinavia and the continent - including
Roman occupation for several centuries. Present day Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The
pre-Celtic,
Celtic, Roman,
Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the
Normans, Scandinavian
Vikings who had lived in northern France (Normandy). Since 1945, international ties forged by the
British Empire have contributed to substantial immigration, especially from Africa and South Asia, and, most recently, the accession of new EU members in 2004 has fuelled more immigration from continental
Europe. As of
2001, 13.1% (5.2% white, 7.9% non-white
[27]
) of the UK population identified themselves as an
ethnic minority.
[28]
In contrast with some other European countries, high
foreign-born immigration is contributing to a rising population
[29], accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. The latest official figures (2005) show net immigration to the UK of 185,000, 565,000 immigrants and 380,000 emigrants, down from a record high of 223,000 in 2004.
[ International migration: Net inflow rose in 2004 ][30] Immigration from the
Indian subcontinent, mainly fuelled by family reunion, accounted for two-thirds of net immigration.
[31] High
minority group percentages are found in
London (40.1%),
[32] Birmingham (34.4%),
[33] and
Leicester (39.5%).
[34] By contrast, at least 5.5 million British-born people are living abroad.
[35][36][37][38] The most popular emigrant destinations were
Australia,
Spain and
France.
[39][40]
A study by a city forecaster, however, contends that the above immigration figures are unreliable and that net immigration for 2005 was
circa 400,000.
[41] Nonetheless, the proportion of foreign-born people in the UK population remains slightly below that of some other European countries.
[42]
In 2004 the number of people who became British citizens rose to a record 140,795 - a rise of 12% on the previous year. This number had risen dramatically since 2000. The overwhelming majority of new citizens come from
Africa (32%) and
Asia (40%), the largest three groups being people from
Pakistan,
India and
Somalia.
[43] One in five babies in the UK are born to immigrant mothers, according to official statistics released in 2007 that also show the highest
birth rates in Britain for 26 years.
[44]
Figures published in August 2007 indicate that 682,940 people applied to the
Worker Registration Scheme (for nationals of the central and eastern European states that joined the EU in May 2004) between
1 May 2004 and
31 June 2007, of whom 656,395 were accepted.
[45] Self-employed workers and people who are not working (including students) are not required to register under the scheme so this figure represents a lower limit on immigration inflow. These figures do not indicate the number of immigrants who have since returned home, but 56 per cent of applicants in the 12 months ending 30 June 2007 reported planning to stay for a maximum of three months. Of the 2.5million foreign workers who moved to the UK to work, the majority were from EU countries
[46], but net migration in 2005 from the new EU states stood at 64,000.
Language
Main articles: Languages of the United Kingdom
Countries where
English has ''de facto'' official or official language status.
Though the UK does not have a ''de jure'' official language, the predominant spoken language is English, a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large number of borrowings from Old Norse and Norman. The other indigenous languages are Scots (which is closely related to English) and the Insular Celtic languages (which are not). The latter fall into two groups: the P-Celtic languages (Welsh and the Cornish language); and the Q-Celtic languages (Irish and Scottish Gaelic and Manx). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep (see Yan Tan Tethera).
The English language has spread to all corners of the world (largely due to the British Empire) and has thus become the business language of the world. Worldwide, it is taught as a second language more than any other.[47] The United Kingdom's Celtic languages are also spoken by small groups around the globe, mainly Gaelic in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina.
Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, and Punjabi speakers outside of Asia.It has recently acquired many speakers of Eastern European languages, notably Polish.
Religion
The UK is primarily Christian; the Church of England is officially established, and 71.6% of people identified themselves as Christian in the 2001 UK Census.[ UK Census 2001 ]. But the population has become more secular; only 38%[. Page 11. European Commission. Retrieved on 7 December 2006] of the population believe in a God and 66% have no church connections.[ Tearfund Survey 2007 ''(page5)'']. For cultural reasons, some non believers still identify themselves with a religion.
Christianity
Christianity is the majority religion, and there is a wide variety of Christian churches, denominations, and sects. Each of the four countries of the United Kingdom has distinctive churches.
Scotland and northern England were evangelised first, by Celtic missionaries from Ireland, such as Ninian, Columba and Aidan. Augustine was subsequently sent to southern England by Pope Gregory I in 597.
The English Church split from Rome in 1534, during the reign of Henry VIII of England (see English Reformation). Today, the Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The British monarch is required to be a member of the Church of England under the Act of Settlement 1701 and is the Supreme Governor. The senior bishop of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Church of Scotland (known informally as the Kirk) broke with the Roman Catholic Church in 1560 (see Calvinism and Scottish Reformation). Today it is a Presbyterian church, recognised as the national church of Scotland, and not subject to state control. The British monarch is an ordinary member, and is required to swear an oath to "defend the security" of the Church at the coronation. The Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, dates from the final establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland in 1690. Further splits in the Church of Scotland, especially in the nineteenth century, led to the creation of various other Presbyterian churches in Scotland, including the Free Church of Scotland.
In the 1920s, the Church in Wales was separated from the Church of England and became disestablished (lost its status as the state religion). However the Church in Wales remains in the Anglican Communion. Methodism and other independent churches are traditionally strong in Wales.
The Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished in the nineteenth century. It covers the entire island of Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). In Northern Ireland the Catholic Church in Ireland is the largest single denomination, although Protestants are in the majority overall. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination and is in terms of theology and history closely linked to the Church of Scotland
The Roman Catholic Church is the second largest denomination of Christianity in the UK. After the Protestant Reformation, strict laws were passed against Catholics; these were removed by the Catholic Emancipation laws in 1829. There are separate Catholic hierarchies for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Other large Christian groups include the Methodists (founded by John Wesley in London) and the Baptists. There are also growing Evangelical or Pentecostal churches, many of which have flourished with immigration from around the Commonwealth and beyond.
After some years of decline in the UK Christianity, a Tearfund Survey[ Tearfund Survey 2007 ] in 2007 suggests that numbers identifying themselves as Christian have stabilised at 53%, whereas in the 2001 census the proportion was 71% - note these numbers are not comparable because the phrasing of the question was different in each survey. According to the Tear Fund survey, 15% of people in the UK attend "church" at least once a month.
Islam
Muslims in the United Kingdom are believed to number 1.8 million ,[48]. Mosques are present in most regions: The biggest groups are of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin. More recently, refugees from Somalia, Northern Cyprus, the Balkans and Arab countries have increased Britain's Muslim population. The 2006 controversy over the burqa, brought up in comments by politician Jack Straw, reflects a split between some Britons questioning the extent to which traditionalist forms of Islam are compatible with British society, and others who believe that wearing the veil is not incompatible with Muslim integration in Britain.[49]
Other religions
Religions of Indian origin, such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism are followed in Britain. As of the 2001 census, there are about 560,000 Hindus and 340,000 Sikhs. Buddhism is practised by about 150,000[50] It is likely that these figures have increased since 2001. One non-governmental organisation estimates that there are 800,000 Hindus in the UK.[51] Leicester houses one of the world's few Jain temples that are outside of India. There are approximately 260,000 Jews in England and Wales, according to the 2001 census. 390,127 individuals proclaimed themselves as "Jedi Knight" in the 2001 census, though this is likely to have coincided with the Star Wars film on release at the time.
Economy
Main articles: Economy of the United Kingdom
London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is the leader of the three "command centres" for the global economy (along with New York City and Tokyo).[53] For over twenty-five years, the British economy has corresponded with what has been described by some since the 1980s as the Anglo-Saxon model, focusing on the principles of liberalisation, the free market, and low taxation and regulation. Based on market exchange rates, the United Kingdom is the fifth largest economy in the world,[54] and the second largest in Europe after Germany.
The British started the Industrial Revolution, and, like most industrialising countries at the time, initially concentrated on heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining, steel production, and textiles. The empire created an overseas market for British products, allowing the United Kingdom to dominate international trade in the 19th century. However, as other nations industrialised and surplus labour from agriculture began to dry up coupled with economic decline after two world wars, the United Kingdom began to lose its economic advantage. As a result, heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. The British service sector, however, has grown substantially, and now makes up about 73% of GDP.[55]
The service sector of the United Kingdom is dominated by financial services, especially in banking and insurance. London is the world's largest financial centre with the London Stock Exchange, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, and the Lloyd's of London insurance market all based in The City. It also has the largest concentration of foreign bank branches in the world. In the past decade, a rival financial centre in London has grown in the Docklands area, with HSBC and Barclays Bank relocating their head offices there. Many multinational companies that are not primarily UK-based have chosen to site their European or rest-of-world headquarters in London: an example is the US financial services firm Citigroup. The Scottish capital, Edinburgh, also has one of the large financial centres of Europe.[56]
Tourism is very important to the British economy. With over 27 million tourists a year, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world.[57]
The British manufacturing sector, however, has greatly diminished, relative to the economy as a whole, since World War II. It is still a significant part of the economy, but only accounted for one-sixth of national output in 2003.[58] The British motor industry is a significant part of this sector, although it has diminished with the collapse of MG Rover and most of the industry is foreign owned. Civil and defence aircraft production is led by the United Kingdom's largest aerospace firm, BAE Systems, and the continental European firm EADS, the owners of Airbus. Rolls-Royce holds a major share of the global aerospace engines market. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is also strong in the UK, with the world's second and sixth largest pharmaceutical firms (GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively)[59] being based in the UK.
The creative industries accounted for 7.3% GVA in 2004 and grew at an average of 5% per annum between 1997 and 2004.[60]
The United Kingdom's agriculture sector accounts for only 0.9% of the country's GDP.[61]
The UK has a small coal reserve along with significant natural gas, and oil reserves, although the natural gas and oil reserves are diminishing.
Government involvement throughout the economy is exercised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (currently Alistair Darling) who heads HM Treasury, but the Prime Minister (currently Gordon Brown), is First Lord of the Treasury; the Chancellor of the Exchequer is the Second Lord of the Treasury. However since 1997, the Bank of England, headed by the Governor of the Bank of England, has control of interest rates and other monetary policy.
Currency
The currency of the UK is the pound sterling, represented by the symbol '£'. The Bank of England is the central bank, responsible for issuing currency. 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 the issue. The UK chose not to join the Euro at the currency's launch, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ruled out membership for the foreseeable future, saying that the decision not to join had been right for Britain and for Europe.[62] The government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair had pledged to hold a public referendum for deciding membership should "five economic tests" be met. In 2005, more than half (55%) of the UK were against adopting the currency, whilst 30% were in favour.[63]
Infrastructure
Main articles: Transport in the United Kingdom, Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
The government's Department for Transport oversees the well-developed transport system in the United Kingdom. A radial road network of of main roads is centred on London, Edinburgh and Belfast, whilst, in Great Britain, a motorway network of is centred on Birmingham, Manchester and London. There are a further 213,750 kilometers
(132,818 mi) of paved roads.
The National Rail network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 route km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger trains and 1,000 freight trains daily. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities. There was once over 30,000 route miles of rail network in the UK, however most of this was reduced over a time period from 1955 to 1975, much of it after a report by a government advisor Richard Beeching in the mid 1960s (known as the Beeching Axe).
Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport, and being an island nation the UK has a considerable network of sea ports, which received over 558 million tonnes of goods in 2003–04.
Armed forces
Main articles: British Armed Forces
The Army, Navy and Air Force are collectively known as the British Armed Forces (or Her Majesty's Armed Forces) and officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. The commander-in-chief is the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. The armed forces are controlled by the Defence Council, chaired by the Chief of the Defence Staff.
The United Kingdom fields one of the most technologically advanced and best trained armed forces in the world. According to various sources, including the Ministry of Defence, the UK has the second highest military expenditure in the world,[64][65] despite only having the 28th largest military in terms of manpower. Total defence spending currently accounts for 2.2% of total national GDP, compared to 4.4% at the end of the Cold War.[66] It is also the second largest spender on military science, engineering and technology.[67] The Royal Navy is considered to be the only other blue-water navy along with those of France and the United States.[68] The British Armed Forces are equipped with many advanced weapons systems, including the Challenger 2 tank and the Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighter. The Ministry of Defence also confirmed the acquisition of two new Aircraft Carriers on 25 July 2007.
The United Kingdom is one of the five recognised countries possessing nuclear weapons, utilising the Vanguard class submarine-based Trident II ballistic missile system.
The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom'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 and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained at Ascension Island, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, and Cyprus.[69][70]
The British Army had a reported strength of 102,440 in 2005,[71] the Royal Air Force a strength of 49,210 and the 36,320-strong Royal Navy, which includes the Royal Marines, who provide commando units specialising in amphibious warfare.
The United Kingdom Special Forces, provide troops trained for quick, mobile, military responses in counter-terrorism, land, maritime and amphibious operations, often where secrecy or covert tactics are required.
There are also reserve forces supporting the regular military. These include the Territorial Army, the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. This puts total active and reserve duty military personnel at approximately 429,500, deployed in over eighty countries.
Despite the United Kingdom's military capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" would be undertaken as part of a coalition.[72] Setting aside the intervention in Sierra Leone, operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq may all be taken as precedent. Indeed the last war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982.
Culture
Main articles: Culture of the United Kingdom
Cinema
Main articles: Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has been influential in the development of cinema, with the Ealing Studios claiming to be the oldest studios in the world. Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry is characterised by an ongoing debate about its identity, and the influences of American and European cinema. Famous films include the Harry Potter and Ian Fleming's James Bond series which, although now made by American studios, used British source materials, locations, actors and filming crew.
Education
The United Kingdom's official literacy rate (99%) is normal by developed country standards. Universal state education was introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696, see Education in Scotland).[73] Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August).
The majority of children in the UK are educated in state-sector schools, only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. Around 7% of children in the UK are educated privately, the vast majority at the anachronistically named public schools. The products of public schools make up about 50% of students at the leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as well as the majority of doctors, judges and business leaders. State schools which are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to public schools: out of the top ten performing schools in terms of GCSE results in 2006 two were state-run grammar schools.
Some of the UK's 138 university level institutions are internationally renowned, especially those of Cambridge, Oxford, and London.[74] In the 2006 THES - QS World University Rankings,[75] 30 UK institutions were ranked amongst the top 200 universities in the world.
Literature
Main articles: British literature
The countries that make up the United Kingdom have provided some of the world's most notable and popular authors, poets and literary figures. The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.[76][77][78]
In the history of the novel England is particularly well represented. Early English writers included Geoffrey Chaucer, Thomas Malory and Geoffrey of Monmouth. In the 18th century, Samuel Richardson (often credited with inventing the modern novel), and subsequently Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne and Jane Austen all innovated in the novel form, followed by Thackeray, the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Anthony Trollope. In the twentieth century, H. G. Wells, D. H. Lawrence, the Modernists Virginia Woolf and Henry Green, E. M. Forster, George Orwell and Graham Greene were prominent. More recently, Ian McEwan, Martin Amis, Alan Hollinghurst, Ben Okri, Will Self, Monica Ali, and Zadie Smith were among those gaining recognition, while children's author J. K. Rowling has seen immense popularity, recalling that of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Scotland has also contributed many notable writers to the UK’s literary tradition with writers including Arthur Conan Doyle, Kenneth Grahame and Lewis Grassic Gibbon and has a particularly strong heritage in poetry.
In Romantic literature, Scotland saw Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson's epic adventures and one of the world's most celebrated poets , Robert Burns. Modern Scottish writers like Hugh MacDiarmid and Neil M. Gunn helped develop a distinct modernist and nationalist Scottish voice, sometimes termed the Scottish Renaissance. A more grim outlook is found in Ian Rankin's stories and the psychological horror-comedy of Iain Banks. Other notable authors from Scotland include Muriel Spark, Alasdair Gray, Alan Warner, and Irvine Welsh.
Scotland is also home to UNESCO's first worldwide city of literature - Edinburgh.
In the early medieval period, Welsh writers composed the Mabinogion. In modern times, the poets R.S. Thomas and Dylan Thomas have brought Welsh culture to an international audience.
Many authors from other nationalities, particularly from Ireland, or from Commonwealth countries, have also 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 and Ezra Pound, and more recently British authors born abroad such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Sir Salman Rushdie.
There have been many British poets; the best known include Robert Burns, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Blake, William Wordsworth, and John Betjeman.
The history of the theatre in the United Kingdom is particularly vivid. Shakespeare's contemporaries Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson add depth to the early theatre. More recently Alan Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter, Michael Frayn, Tom Stoppard and David Edgar have combined elements of surrealism, realism and radicalism; with successful recent playwrights also including John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, Alan Bennett and David Hare.
Media
Main articles: Media of the United Kingdom
The prominence of the English language gives the UK media a widespread international dimension.
Broadcasting
The BBC is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world. It operates several television channels and radio stations both in the UK and abroad. The BBC's international television news service, BBC World, is broadcast throughout the world and the BBC World Service radio network is broadcast in thirty-three languages globally.
The domestic services of the BBC are funded by the television licence, a legal requirement for any British household with a television receiver that is in use to receive broadcasts, regardless of whether or not the householders watch BBC channels. Households which are the principal residence of any person over 75 are exempt[79] and the requirement does not extend to radio listeners. The BBC World Service Radio is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the television stations are operated by BBC Worldwide on a commercial subscription basis over cable and satellite services. It is also this commercial arm of the BBC that forms half of UKTV along with Virgin Media.
There are five major nationwide television channels in the UK: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five - all currently transmitted by analogue terrestrial, free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising.
The UK now also has a large number of digital terrestrial channels including a further six from the BBC, five from ITV and three from Channel 4 among a variety of others.
The vast majority of digital cable services are provided by Virgin Media with satellite being provided by BSkyB and free-to-air digital terrestrial television by Freeview. The entire country will switch to digital by 2012.
Radio in the UK is dominated by BBC Radio, which operates ten national networks and over forty local radio stations. The most popular radio station, by number of listeners, is BBC Radio 2, closely followed by BBC Radio 1. There are also many hundreds of mainly local commercial radio stations across the country offering a variety of music or talk formats.
Print
Traditionally, British newspapers could be split into ''quality'', serious-minded newspaper (usually referred to as "broadsheets" due to their large size) and the more populist, ''tabloid'' varieties. For convenience of reading, many traditional broadsheets have switched to a more compact-sized format, traditionally used by tabloids. ''The Sun'' has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the UK, with approximately a quarter of the market; its sister paper, ''The News of The World'' similarly leads the Sunday newspaper market,[80] and traditionally focuses on celebrity-led stories. ''The Daily Telegraph'', a right-of-centre broadsheet paper, has overtaken ''The Times'' (tabloid size format) as the highest-selling of the "quality" newspapers .[81] ''The Guardian'' is a more liberal (left-wing) "quality" broadsheet. The ''Financial Times'' is the main business paper, printed on distinctive salmon-pink broadsheet paper. Scotland has a distinct tradition of newspaper readership (see List of newspapers in Scotland).
First printed in 1737, the ''Belfast News Letter'' is the oldest known English-speaking daily newspaper still in publication today. One of its fellow Northern Irish competitors, ''The Irish News'', has been twice ranked as the best regional newspaper in the United Kingdom, in 2006 and 2007.[82]
Aside from newspapers, a number of British magazines and journals have achieved world-wide circulation including ''The Economist'' and ''Nature''.
Music
Main articles: British Music
'Classical music:' Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, Henry Purcell, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten, pioneer of modern British opera. London remains one of the major classical music capitals of the world.
'Popular music:' Prominent among the UK contibutors to the development of rock music in the 1960s were The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Heavy metal, hard rock, punk rock and New Wave were among the variations that followed. In the early 1980s UK bands from the New Romantic scene were prominent. In the 1990s, Britpop bands and electronica music also attained international success. More recent pop acts, including Take That, McFly and the Spice Girls, have ensured the continuation of the UK's contribution to popular music.
Philosophy
Eminent philosophers from the UK include William of Ockham, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, Adam Smith and Alfred Ayer. Foreign born philosophers who settled in the UK include Isaiah Berlin, Karl Marx, Karl Popper, and Ludwig Wittgenstein
Science, engineering and innovation
The scientific method was promoted by the English philosopher Francis Bacon in the early seventeenth century. Subsequent advances credited to British scientists and engineers and include:
★ Turing Machine Alan Turing
★ The laws of motion and illumination of gravity, by Sir Isaac Newton in the late 17th century
★ The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell
★ The discovery of hydrogen, by Henry Cavendish
★ The steam locomotive, by Richard Trevithick and Andrew Vivian
★ The telephone, by Alexander Graham Bell
★ Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin
★ The structure of DNA, by Francis Crick and others
★ The development of the World Wide Web, largely attributed to Tim Berners-Lee
Notable civil engineering projects, whose pioneers included Isambard Kingdom Brunel, contributed to the world's first national railway transport system. Other advances pioneered in the UK include the marine chronometer, television, the jet engine, the modern bicycle, electric lighting, the electric motor, the screw propeller, the internal combustion engine, military radar, the electronic computer, vaccination and antibiotics.
Scientific journals produced in the UK include ''Nature'', the ''British Medical Journal'' and ''The Lancet''. In 2006, it was reported that the UK provided 9% of the world's scientific research papers and a 12% share of citations, second only to the USA.[83]
Sport
Main articles: Sport in the United Kingdom
A number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, rugby, cricket, tennis and golf.
The most popular sport in the UK is football. The UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Because of this four-team arrangement that the UK does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, there are proposals for a united team taking part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which are to be held in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate, fearing that it would undermine their independent status.
The UK is home to many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. British teams have been successful in European Competitions including some who have become European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners: Liverpool (five times), Manchester United (twice), Nottingham Forest (twice), Aston Villa, and Celtic. More clubs from England have won the European Cup than any other country (four compared to three from Italy, Germany and the Netherlands). Moreover, England ranks second in the all time list of European club trophies won with 35, one behind Italy's 36. The European Cup competition itself was brought about due to the success of another UK club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, against top European sides[84] in the 1950s. The English Premier League is also the most-watched football league in the world and is particularly popular in Asia: in the People's Republic of China, matches attract television audiences between 100 million and 360 million, more than any other foreign sport.[85][86]
The new
Wembley Stadium is the most expensive stadium ever built costing £793 million ($1.6 billion).
The 90,000 capacity Wembley Stadium is the main sporting stadium of the UK. Between the demolition of the former 'twin towers' stadium and construction of the new one (completed in March 2007), Cardiff's 73,000 seater Millennium Stadium served in this role.
The early reference to the separate national identities in the UK is perhaps best illustrated by the game of cricket. Cricket was invented in England. There are league championships but the English national team dominates the game in Britain. There is no UK team. Some Irish and Scottish players have played for England because neither Scotland nor Ireland have Test status and only play in One Day Internationals.
The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in rowing. It is widely considered that the sport's most successful rower is Steven Redgrave who won five gold medals and one bronze medal at five consecutive Olympic Games as well as numerous wins at the World Rowing Championships and Henley Royal Regatta.
Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby league originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played predominantly in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Southern England. Having supposedly originated from the actions of William Webb Ellis at the School at Rugby, it is considered the national sport of Wales. In rugby league the UK plays as one nation—Great Britain—though in union it is represented by four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (which consists of players from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). England is the holder of the Rugby World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions tour either Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. Here, rugby football differs internationally to association football, as the England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland) teams combine to form the British and Irish Lions although they compete separately in all other international competitions.
The game of tennis first originated from the UK's second city of Birmingham between 1859 and 1865. The Wimbledon Championships are international tennis events held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are regarded as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar.
Thoroughbred racing is also very popular throughout the UK. It originated under Charles II of England as the 
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