Background: As the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith 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 withdraw 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 a founding member of NATO and of the Commonwealth the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999 but the latter was suspended until May 2007 due to wrangling over the peace process.

Geographic coordinates: 54 00 N 2 00 W

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 244,820 km²
Land: 241,590 km²
Water: 3,230 km²
Note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
Comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries
Total: 360 km
Border countries: (1) Ireland 360 km

Coastline: 12,429 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries

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

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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: The Fens -4 m
Extremes highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m

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

Land use
Arable land: 23.23%
Permanent crops: 0.2%
Other: 76.57% (2005)

Irrigated land: 1700 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 160.6 km³ (2005)

Natural hazards: winter windstorms; floods

Geography
Note: 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

Population: 60,943,912 (July 2008 est.)
Growth rate: 0.276% (2008 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Briton, British (collective plural)
Adjective: British

Ethnic groups: 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)

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

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

Age structure
0-14 years: 16.9% (male 5,287,590/female 5,036,881)
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 20,698,645/female 20,185,040)
65 years and over: 16% (male 4,186,561/female 5,549,195) (2008 est.)

Median age
Total: 39.9 years
Male: 38.8 years
Female: 41 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.276% (2008 est.)

Birth rate: 10.65 births/1000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 10.05 deaths/1000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.17 migrant(s)/1000 population (2008 est.)

Environment
Current issues: 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
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male/female
Total population: 0.98 male/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 4.93 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 5.49 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 4.34 deaths/1000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 78.85 years
Male: 76.37 years
Female: 81.46 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.66 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 51,000 (2001 est.)
Deaths: fewer than 500 (2003 est.)

Education expenditures: 5.6% of GDP (2005)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
Total population: 99%
Male: 99%
Female: 99% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 16 years
Male: 16 years
Female: 17 years (2006)

Country name
Conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales
Conventional short form: United Kingdom
Abbreviation: UK

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital
Name: London
Geographic coordinates: 51 30 N, 0 10 W
Time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Note: applies to the United Kingdom proper, not to its overseas dependencies or territories

Administrative divisions
England: 34 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan counties, 46 unitary authorities
Twotier counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Worcestershire
London boroughs and city of london or greater london: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, City of London, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster
Metropolitan counties: Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowlsey, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities: Blaenau Gwent; Bridgend; Caerphilly; Cardiff; Carmarthenshire; Ceredigion; Conwy; Denbighshire; Flintshire; Gwynedd; Isle of Anglesey; Merthyr Tydfil; Monmouthshire; Neath Port Talbot; Newport; Pembrokeshire; Powys; Rhondda, Cynon, Taff; Swansea; The Vale of Glamorgan; Torfaen; Wrexham
Northern ireland: 26 district council areas
District council areas: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Derry, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane
Scotland: 32 unitary authorities
Wales: 22 unitary authorities

Dependent areas: (1) Anguilla Bermuda British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands

Independence: England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707 England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801 with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was adopted in 1927

National holiday: the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday

Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes partly common law and practice

Legal system: based on common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
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 James Gordon BROWN (since 27 June 2007)
Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
Elections: the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister

Legislative branch
Elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010)
Election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labor 35.2%, Conservative 32.3%, Liberal Democrats 22%, other 10.5%; seats by party - Labor 355, Conservative 198, Liberal Democrat 62, other 31; seats by party in the House of Commons as of 4 June 2008 - Labor 351, Conservative 192, Liberal Democrat 63, Scottish National Party/Plaid Cymru 9, Democratic Unionist 9, Sinn Fein 5, other 17
Note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and has been suspended four times, the latest occurring in October 2002 and lasting until 8 May 2007); in 1999, the UK held the first elections for a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, the most recent of which were held in May 2007

Judicial branch: House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England Wales and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal the High Courts of Justice and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary

Political parties and leaders: Conservative [David CAMERON]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Peter ROBINSON]; Labor Party [Gordon BROWN]; Liberal Democrats [Nick CLEGG]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Ieuan Wyn JONES]; Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Mark DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Sir Reg EMPEY]

International organization participation: ADB (nonregional members) AfDB (nonregional members) Arctic Council (observer) Australia Group BIS C CBSS (observer) CDB CE CERN EAPC EBRD EIB ESA EU FAO G-5 G-7 G-8 G-10 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICCt ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC MIGA NATO NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OPCW OSCE Paris Club PCA PIF (partner) SECI (observer) UN UN Security Council UNAMID UNCTAD UNESCO UNFICYP UNHCR UNIDO UNMIL UNMIS UNOMIG UNRWA UNWTO UPU WCO WEU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Sir Nigel E. SHEINWALD
In the us chancery: 3,100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 588-6,500
In the us fax: [1] (202) 588-7,870
In the us consulates general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco
In the us consulates: Denver, Orlando
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Robert Holmes TUTTLE
From the us embassy: 24 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE
From the us mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 9,498-4,040
From the us telephone: [44] (0) 20 7,499-9,000
From the us fax: [44] (0) 20 7,629-9,124
From the us consulates general: Belfast, Edinburgh

Flag description: 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

Economy overview: The UK a leading trading power and financial center is one of the quintet of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. 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 reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% 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. Since emerging from recession in 1992 Britain's economy has enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record; growth has remained in the 2-3% range since 2004 outpacing most of Europe. The economy's strength has complicated the Labor government's efforts to make a case for Britain to join the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Critics point out that the economy is doing well outside of EMU and public opinion polls show a majority of Britons are opposed to the euro. The BROWN government has been speeding up the improvement of education health services and affordable housing at a cost in higher taxes and a widening public deficit.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $2.13 trillion (2007 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 3.1% (2007 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $35,000 (2007 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 0.9%
Industry: 23.4%
Services: 75.7% (2007 est.)

Agriculture products: cereals oilseed potatoes vegetables; cattle sheep poultry; fish

Industries: 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

Industrial production growth rate: 0.5% (2007 est.)

Labor force: 30.89 million (2007 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 1.4%
By occupation industry: 18.2%
By occupation services: 80.4% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate: 5.3% (2007 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.1%
Highest 10: 28.5% (1999)

Distribution of family income gini index: 34 (2005)

Budget
Revenues: $1.154 trillion
Expenditures: $1.239 trillion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 43.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.3% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate: NA

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 5.52% (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit: $5.278 trillion (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $3.058 trillion (2005)

Current account balance: -$119.2 billion (2007 est.)

Exports: $442.2 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Commodities: manufactured goods fuels chemicals; food beverages tobacco
Partners: US 14.2% Germany 11.1% France 8.1% Ireland 8% Netherlands 6.8% Belgium 5.3% Spain 4.5% Italy 4.1% (2007)

Imports: $621.4 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Commodities: manufactured goods machinery fuels; foodstuffs
Partners: Germany 14.2% US 8.6% China 7.3% Netherlands 7.3% France 6.9% Belgium 4.7% Norway 4.7% Italy 4.2% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $57.3 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt external: $10.45 trillion (30 June 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $1.288 trillion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $1.707 trillion (2007 est.)

Exchange rates: British pounds (GBP) per US dollar - 0.4993 (2007) 0.5418 (2006) 0.5493 (2005) 0.5462 (2004) 0.6125 (2003)

Electricity
Production: 371 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Consumption: 348.5 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Exports: 3.398 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Imports: 8.613 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 72.3 billion m³ (2007 est.)
Consumption: 91.1 billion m³ (2007 est.)
Exports: 10.4 billion m³ (2007 est.)
Imports: 29.2 billion m³ (2007 est.)
Proven reserves: 412 billion m³ (1 January 2008 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 33.682 million (2007)
Mobile cellular: 71.992 million (2007)

Telephone system
General assessment: technologically advanced domestic and international system
Domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optic systems
International: country code - 44; numerous submarine cables provide links throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and US; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centers

Internet
Country code: .uk
Hosts: 8.269 million (2008)
Users: 40.2 million (2007)

Military expenditures: 2.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

Military service age and obligation: 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; 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 the Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens (2008)

Airports: 449 (2007)
With paved runways total: 310
With paved runways over 3047 m: 8
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 33
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 131
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 79
With paved runways under 914 m: 59 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 139
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 23
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 113 (2007)

Heliports: 11 (2007)

Pipelines: condensate 567 km; condensate/gas 22 km; gas 18,980 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 4,930 km; oil/gas/water 165 km; refined products 4,444 km (2007)

Railways
Total: 16,567 km
Broad gauge: 303 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)
Standard gauge: 16,264 km 1.435-m gauge (5,361 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways
Total: 398,366 km
Paved: 398,366 km (includes 3,520 km of expressways) (2006)

Waterways: 3,200 km (620 km used for commerce) (2003)

Merchant marine
Total: 518
By type: bulk carrier 33, cargo 67, carrier 5, chemical tanker 61, container 180, liquefied gas 18, passenger 10, passenger/cargo 67, petroleum tanker 23, refrigerated cargo 12, roll on/roll off 24, vehicle carrier 18
Foreign owned: 264 (Cyprus 2, Denmark 62, Finland 1, France 23, Germany 76, Hong Kong 2, Ireland 1, Italy 5, Japan 4, NZ 1, Norway 31, South Africa 3, Spain 1, Sweden 17, Switzerland 1, Taiwan 11, Turkey 2, UAE 9, US 12)
Registered in other countries: 391 (Algeria 11, Antigua and Barbuda 9, Argentina 4, Australia 5, Bahamas 56, Barbados 9, Belize 5, Bermuda 3, Brunei 1, Cape Verde 1, Cayman Islands 3, Cyprus 19, Gibraltar 2, Greece 32, Hong Kong 39, India 2, Italy 7, South Korea 1, Liberia 20, Luxembourg 8, Malta 19, Marshall Islands 18, Netherlands 2, Norway 5, Panama 59, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 14, Sierra Leone 2, Singapore 17, Slovakia 1, Spain 5, Sweden 2, Thailand 5, Tonga 1, US 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals: Dover Felixstowe Immingham Liverpool London Southampton Teesport (England) Forth Ports Hound Point (Scotland) Milford Haven (Wales)

Disputes international: in 2002 Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any 'shared sovereignty' arrangement between the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most Chagossians reside in Mauritius and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship where some have since resettled; in May 2006 the High Court of London reversed the UK Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; 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

Illicit drugs: 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