United Kingdom  

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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain, is a sovereign island country,^[1] spanning the island of Great Britain, the northeast part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe, it is a member state of the European Union. Its largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel. The capital city of UK is London.

Fast Facts
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [1]
Flag Royal coat of arms
Motto: "Dieu et mon droit" [2]  (French) "God and my right"
Anthem: "God Save the Queen" [3]
Capital (and the Largest city)	London {{coor dm|51|30|N|0|7|W}}
Official languages	English [4]
Demonym	British, Briton
Government	Parliamentary system and Constitutional monarchy
- Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
- Prime Minister	Gordon Brown MP
Politics
Formation
- Acts of Union	May 1, 1707
- Act of Union	January 1, 1801
- Anglo-Irish Treaty	April 12, 1922
Entry into EU	January 1, 1973
Geographical area
- Total	1 E11 244,820 km² (79th ) (94526 sq. mi.)
- Water (%)	1.34
Population
- 2007 estimate	60,975,000 UNIQ2,021bc8d3bcc0f56-ref-00,000,004-QINU (22nd )
- 2001 census	58,789,194 [1]
- Density	246 (48th) (637.1)
Economy
GDP (PPP)	2006 estimate
- Total	US$2.270 trillion (6th)
- Per capita	US$37,328 (13th)
GDP (nominal)	2007 estimate
- Total	$2.772 trillion (5th)
- Per capita	US$45,845 (9th)
Miscellaneous
HDI  (2005)	▲ 0.946 (high) (16th)
Currency	Pound sterling (£) 1 (GBP)
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)
- Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Internet TLD	.uk [5]
Calling code	44
1 The Euro is accepted in many payphones and some larger shops. ^  In the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous (regional) languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, the UK's official name is as follows: Cornish: Rywvaneth Unys Breten Veur ha Kledhbarth Iwerdhon; Irish: Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire agus Thuaisceart Éireann; Scots: Unitit Kinrick o Graet Breetain an Northren Irland; Scottish Gaelic: Rìoghachd Aonaichte Bhreatainn Mhòir agus Èireann a Tuath; Welsh: Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon. ^  This is the royal motto. In Scotland, the royal motto is the Scots phrase In My Defens God Me Defend (Shown in the abbreviated form "IN DEFENS"). There is a variant form of the coat-of-arms for use in Scotland; see Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. ^  It serves as the de facto National Anthem as well as being the Royal anthem for several other countries. ^  English is established by de facto usage. In Wales, the Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg is tasked with ensuring that, "in the conduct of public business and the administration of justice, the English and Welsh languages should be treated on a basis of equality".[1] Bòrd na Gàidhlig is tasked with "securing the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language".[1] ^ Under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish, Ulster Scots and Scots languages are officially recognised as Regional or Minority languages by the UK Government.[1] See also Languages in the United Kingdom. ^  ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 is GB, but .gb is practically unused. The .eu domain is shared with other European Union member states.</small>

Location of the United Kingdom (The light green region is the rest of the European Union of which the UK is a part.)

2.   The United Kingdom is a union of four constituent countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England (which included the once independent Principality of Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland on May 1, 1707, an event resulting from the Treaty of Union of 1706. Almost a century later, the Kingdom of Ireland joined the Kingdom of Great Britain with the passing of the Act of Union 1800. Simmering tensions in Ireland, however, led to the partition of the island in 1920, followed by independence for the Irish Free State in 1922. Six of the nine counties of the province of Ulster, however, remained within the UK. In 1927, the formal name of the UK changed to its current name, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is governed by a parliamentary system and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state.

3.   The total population of the United Kingdom is estimated to be about 61 million in 2006, the third largest in the European Union after Germany and France. It is descended from varied ethnic stocks, though mainly pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norman. 92.1% of the population identified themselves as White. Though the UK does not de jure have an official language; the predominant spoken language is English. 53% of the population identified themselves as Christian. The Church of England, which split from Rome in 1534 (see English Reformation) is today the 'established' Church in England and the senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, while the Roman Catholic Church is the second largest denomination.

4.   The UK is a developed country, with the fifth (nominal GDP) or sixth (PPP) largest economy in the world. The service sector, making up about 73% of GDP, is dominated by financial services, especially in banking and insurance. London is the world's largest financial centre, with the largest concentration of foreign bank branches in the world. The United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world,^[1] with London being the most visited city in the world in 2006.^[1] The manufacturing sector, however, has greatly diminished since World War II, accounting for only one-sixth of the national output in 2003,^[1] while agriculture accounts for only 0.9%. The UK is a nuclear power, with the second or third (depending on method of calculation) highest defence spending in the world.   more... at Wikipedia