The United Kingdom has historically played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith in the 19th century, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two world wars and the Irish Republic's withdrawal from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and a founding member of NATO and the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy. The UK is also an active member of the EU, although it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999. The latter was suspended until May 2007 due to wrangling over the peace process, but devolution was fully completed in March 2010.

Western Europe, islands - including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland - between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea; northwest of France

slightly smaller than Oregon

temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast

mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast

coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land

winter windstorms; floods

continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move toward a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government reduced the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and recycled or composted at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015

lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

white (of which English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census)

Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census)

63,047,162 (July 2012 est.)

12.27 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

9.33 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

2.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

LONDON (capital) 8.615 million; Birmingham 2.296 million; Manchester 2.247 million; West Yorkshire 1.541 million; Glasgow 1.166 million (2009)

12 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

1.91 children born/woman (2012 est.)

2.739 physicians/1,000 population (2009)

3.38 beds/1,000 population (2008)

fewer than 1,000 (2009 est.)

constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm

Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

12 April 1927 (Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act establishes current name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland); notable earlier dates: 927 (minor English kingdoms united); 3 March 1284 (enactment of the Statute of Rhuddlan uniting England and Wales); 1536 (Act of Union formally incorporates England and Wales); 1 May 1707 (Acts of Union formally unite England and Scotland as Great Britain); 1 January 1801 (Acts of Union formally unite Great Britain and Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland); 6 December 1921 (Anglo-Irish Treaty formalizes partition of Ireland; six counties remain part of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland)

the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

common law system; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords; note - membership is not fixed (788 seats; consisting of approximately 670 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 clergy - as of 1 April 2012) and House of Commons (650 seats since 2010 elections; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)

Supreme Court of the UK (established in October 2009 taking over appellate jurisdiction formerly vested in the House of Lords is the final court of appeal); Senior Courts of England and Wales (comprising the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland); Scotland's Court of Session and High Court of the Justiciary

Conservative [David CAMERON]; Democratic Unionist Party or DUP (Northern Ireland) [Peter ROBINSON]; Labor Party [Ed MILIBAND]; Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) [Nick CLEGG]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Leanne WOOD]; Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Alasdair MCDONNELL]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Tom ELLIOTT]

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Trades Union Congress

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, C, CBSS (observer), CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNSC (permanent), UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, and British overseas territories

lion (Britain in general); lion (England); lion, unicorn (Scotland); dragon (Wales); harp (Northern Ireland)

The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is the third largest economy in Europe after Germany and France. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil resources, but its oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became a net importer of energy in 2005. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. After emerging from recession in 1992, Britain's economy enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record during which time growth outpaced most of Western Europe. In 2008, however, the global financial crisis hit the economy particularly hard, due to the importance of its financial sector. Sharply declining home prices, high consumer debt, and the global economic slowdown compounded Britain's economic problems, pushing the economy into recession in the latter half of 2008 and prompting the then BROWN (Labour) government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include nationalizing parts of the banking system, temporarily cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels, in 2010 the CAMERON-led coalition government (between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) initiated a five-year austerity program, which aims to lower London's budget deficit from over 10% of GDP in 2010 to nearly 1% by 2015. In November 2011, Chancellor of the Exchequer George OSBORNE announced additional austerity measures through 2017 because of slower-than-expected economic growth and the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis. The CAMERON government raised the value added tax from 17.5% to 20% in 2011. It has pledged to reduce the corporation tax rate to 23% by 2015. The Bank of England (BoE) implemented an asset purchase program of up to £325 billion (approximately $525 billion) as of February 2011. During times of economic crisis, the BoE coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank, but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

$2.29 trillion (2011 est.)

$2.275 trillion (2010 est.)

$2.228 trillion (2009 est.)

$2.418 trillion (2011 est.)

31.73 million (2011 est.)

14.3% of GDP (2011 est.)

40.8% of GDP (2011 est.)

-8.3% of GDP (2011 est.)

86.3% of GDP (2011 est.)

79.6% of GDP (2010 est.)

0.5% (31 December 2011 est.)

0.5% (31 December 2010 est.)

4% (31 December 2011 est.)

3.962% (31 December 2010 est.)

$92.77 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$88.88 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$3.884 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$3.362 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$5.151 trillion (31 December 2009)

$4.436 trillion (31 December 2008)

$1.202 trillion (31 December 2011)

$3.107 trillion (31 December 2010)

$2.796 trillion (31 December 2009)

cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish

machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods

-$46.47 billion (2011 est.)

-$75.23 billion (2010 est.)

$479.7 billion (2011 est.)

$410.9 billion (2010 est.)

manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco

Germany 11.6%, US 10.6%, Netherlands 8.4%, France 7.8%, Ireland 6.4%, Belgium 5.7% (2011)

$639.5 billion (2011 est.)

$563.3 billion (2010 est.)

manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs

Germany 13.2%, China 8.7%, Netherlands 7.5%, US 6.1%, France 6%, Norway 5%, Belgium 5% (2011)

$94.54 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$82.41 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$9.836 trillion (30 June 2011)

$8.981 trillion (30 June 2010)

$1.13 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.076 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

$1.773 trillion (31 December 2011 est.)

$1.675 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)

British pounds (GBP) per US dollar -

352.7 billion kWh (2010 est.)

325.8 billion kWh (2009 est.)

4.481 billion kWh (2010 est.)

7.144 billion kWh (2010 est.)

88.02 million kW (2009 est.)

75.4% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

12.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

1.9% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

7.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

1.099 million bbl/day (2011 est.)

788,900 bbl/day (2009 est.)

942,100 bbl/day (2009 est.)

2.827 billion bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

1.584 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

1.608 million bbl/day (2011 est.)

535,300 bbl/day (2009 est.)

493,500 bbl/day (2009 est.)

47.43 billion cu m (2011 est.)

82.21 billion cu m (2011 est.)

16.69 billion cu m (2011 est.)

53.43 billion cu m (2011 est.)

253 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

532.4 million Mt (2010 est.)

33.32 million (2009)

80.799 million (2009)

public service broadcaster, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world; BBC operates multiple TV networks with regional and local TV service; a mixed system of public and commercial TV broadcasters along with satellite and cable systems provide access to hundreds of TV stations throughout the world; BBC operates multiple national, regional, and local radio networks with multiple transmission sites; a large number of commercial radio stations as well as satellite radio services are available (2008)

8.409 million (2010)

51.444 million (2009)

condensate 8 km; gas 14,071 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 595 km; refined products 4,907 km (2010)

3,200 km (620 km used for commerce) (2009)

Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Teesport (England); Forth Ports (Scotland); Milford Haven (Wales)

Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force (2010)

16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; as of October 2009, women comprised 12.1% of officers and 9% of enlisted personnel in the regular forces; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 16 years of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens (2009)

2.7% of GDP (2005 est.)

in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insisted on equal participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproved of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory); in 2001, the former inhabitants of the archipelago, evicted 1967 - 1973, were granted U.K. citizenship and the right of return, followed by Orders in Council in 2004 that banned rehabitation, a High Court ruling reversed the ban, a Court of Appeal refusal to hear the case, and a Law Lords' decision in 2008 denied the right of return; in addition, the United Kingdom created the world's largest marine protection area around the Chagos islands prohibiting the extraction of any natural resources therein; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center