Map of United Kingdom | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
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Background: Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the nineteenth century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. The British Empire covered approximately one-fourth of the earth's surface at its zenith. In the first half of the twentieth century its strength was seriously depleted by two world wars. Since the end of World War II, the British Empire has been dismantled, and Britain has rebuilt itself into a prosperous, modern European nation with significant international political, cultural, and economic influence.


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Location:

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: 244,820 km²
Land: 241,590 km²

Land boundaries: total 360 km, Ireland 360 km

Coastline: 12,429 km
Continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm

Maritime claims

Climate:

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

Elevation

Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica

Land use
Arable land: 29%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 48%
Forest and woodland: 9%
Other: 14%

Irrigated land: 1,570 km² (1989)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards

Geography


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Population: 57,970,200 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 0.29% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Briton(s), British (collective pl.)
Adjective: British

Ethnic groups:

Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Religions:

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 0.29% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 13.58 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 10.87 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.17 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: pollution control measures improving air and water quality; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
Current issues note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now being linked by tunnel under the English Channel

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 7.4 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.5 years
Male: 73.71 years

Total fertility rate: 1.83 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1978)
Total population: 99%
Male: NA%
Female: NA%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form:
Conventional short form: United Kingdom
Abbreviation: UK

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: London

Administrative divisions: 47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas
England:
Northern Ireland:
Scotland:
Wales:

Dependent areas:

Independence: 1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)

National holiday:

Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Lords and a lower house or House of Commons

Judicial branch: House of Lords Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952; Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the Queen, born 14 November 1948) Head of Government: Prime Minister John MAJOR (since 28 November 1990)

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Sir Robin RENWICK
In the us chancery: 3,100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: (202) 462-1340
In the us fax: (202) 898-4,255
In the us consulates general:
In the us consulates: Dallas, Miami, and Seattle
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Raymond G. H. SEITZ
From the us embassy: 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE
From the us mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 9,498-4,040
From the us telephone: 44 (71) 499-9,000
From the us fax: 44 (71) 409-1637
From the us consulates general: Belfast and Edinburgh

Flag description: blue 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; known as the Union Flag or Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and others

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe. The economy is essentially capitalistic; over the past thirteen years the ruling Tories have greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance, now employing only 25% of the work force and generating 21% of GDP. The economy is emerging out of its 3-year recession with only weak recovery expected in 1993. Unemployment is hovering around 10% of the labor force. The government in 1992 adopted a pro-growth strategy, cutting interest rates sharply and removing the pound from the European exchange rate mechanism. Excess industrial capacity probably will moderate inflation which for the first time in a decade is below the EC average. The major economic policy question for Britain in the 1990s is the terms on which it participates in the financial and economic integration of Europe.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: -0.6% (1992)

Real gdp per capita ppp

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: accounts for only 1.5% of GDP and 1% of labor force; highly mechanized and efficient farms; wide variety of crops and livestock products produced; about 60% self-sufficient in food and feed needs; fish catch of

Industries: production machinery including machine tools, electric power equipment, equipment for the automation of production, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate 0.4% (1992 est.)

Labor force: 28.048 million
By occupation services: 62.8%
By occupation manufacturing and construction: 25.0%
By occupation government: 9.1%
By occupation energy: 1.9%
By occupation agriculture: 1.2% (June1992)

Unemployment rate: 9.8% (1992)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget: revenues $367.6 billion; expenditures $439.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $32.5 billion (FY92 est.)

Public debt

Taxes and other revenues

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

Current account balance

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $187.4 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
Commodoties: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment
Partners: EC countries 56.7% (Germany 14.0%, France 11.1%, Netherlands 7.9%), US 10.9%

Imports: $210.7 billion (c.i.f., 1992)
Commodoties: manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Partners: EC countries 51.7% (Germany 14.9%, France 9.3%, Netherlands 8.4%), US 11.6%

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: British pounds (#) per US$1 - 0.6527 (January 1993), 0.5664 (1992), 0.5652 (1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988)


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Electricity access

Electricity production: 99,000,000 kW capacity; 317,000 million kWh produced, 5,480 kWh per capita (1992)

Electricity consumption

Electricity exports

Electricity imports

Electricity installed generating capacity

Electricity transmission distribution losses

Electricity generation sources

Petroleum

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones fixed lines

Telephones mobile cellular

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet country code

Internet users

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp:
Percent of gdp July 1994 SuDoc No. C 1.88: 994/7/v.1-2 / R. Muns, UM-St. Louis Libraries

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 496
Usable: 385
With permanentsurface runways: 249
With runways over 3659 m: 1
With runways 2440-3659 m: 37
With runways 1220-2439 m: 134

Airports with paved runways

Airports with unpaved runways

Heliports

Pipelines: crude oil (almost all insignificant) 933 km, petroleum products 2,993 km, natural gas 12,800 km

Railways

Roadways

Waterways:

Merchant marine:

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international:

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: increasingly important gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the European market