Background: 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 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. 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.

Geographic coordinates: 54 00 N 2 00 W

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 243,610 km²
Rank: 79
Land: 241,930 km²
Water: 1680 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 1343 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: 62,348,447 (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 22
Growth rate: 0.563% (2010 est.)
Growth rate rank: 151
Below poverty line: 14% (2006 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Briton British
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
Note: the following are recognized regional languages: Scots (about 30% of the population of Scotland) Scottish Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) Welsh (about 20% of the population of Wales) Irish (about 10% of the population of Northern Ireland) Cornish (some 2000 to 3,000 in Cornwall)

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: 16.7%
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 20,774,192/female 20,246,519)
65 years and over: 16.2% (male 4,259,654/female 5,612,953) (2010 est.)

Median age
Total: 39.8 years
Male: 38.6 years
Female: 40.9 years (2010 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.563% (2010 est.)
Rank: 151

Birth rate: 12.34 births/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 162

Death rate: 9.33 deaths/1000 population (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 66

Net migration rate: 2.61 migrant(s)/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 32

Urbanization
Urban population: 90% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 0.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 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: 1.052 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 4.69 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 191
Male: 5.15 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 4.2 deaths/1000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 79.92 years
Rank: 28
Male: 77.84 years
Female: 82.11 years (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.92 children born/woman (2010 est.)
Rank: 142

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2007 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 95
People living with hivaids: 77,000 (2007 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 52
Deaths: fewer than 500 (2007 est.)
Deaths rank: 90

Education expenditures: 5.6% of GDP (2007)
Rank: 43

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 (2008)

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 and Commonwealth realm

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: 27 two-tier counties 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London 36 metropolitan districts 56 unitary authorities
Twotier counties: Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hertfordshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Warwickshire West Sussex 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 districts: 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 S
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 council areas
Council areas: Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll and Bute Clackmannanshire Dumfries and Galloway Dundee City East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Lothian East Renfrewshire City of Edinburgh Eilean Siar (Western Isles) Falkirk Fife Glasgow City Highland Inverclyde Midlothian Moray North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Orkney Islands Perth and Kinross Renfrewshire Shetland Islands South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire Stirling The Scottish Borders West Dunbartonshire West Lothian
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: 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 as Northern Ireland)

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 ; Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen born 14 November 1948)
Head of government: Prime Minister David CAMERON (since 11 May 2010)
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 usually the prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords (741 seats; consisting of approximately 625 life peers 91 hereditary peers and 25 clergy - as of 15 December 2010) 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)
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 on 6 May 2010 (next to be held by June 2015)
Election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Conservative 36.1% Labor 29% Liberal Democrats 23% other 11.9%; seats by party - Conservative 305 Labor 258 Liberal Democrat 57 other 30
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: Supreme Court of the UK (established in October 2009 taking over appellate jurisdiction formerly vested in the House of Lords); 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

Political parties and leaders: 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) [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) [Margaret RICHIE]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Tom ELLIOTT]

International organization participation: 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 ICCt ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS 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) SECI (observer) UN UN Security Council UNCTAD UNESCO UNFICYP UNHCR UNIDO UNMIS UNRWA UPU WCO 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 consulate general: Atlanta Boston Chicago Houston Los Angeles Miami New York San Francisco
In the us consulate: Dallas Denver Orlando
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Louis B. SUSMAN
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 consulate 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

National anthem
Name: 'God Save the Queen'
Lyricsmusic: unknown
Note: in use since 1745; by tradition the song serves as both the national and royal anthem of the United Kingdom; it is known as either 'God Save the Queen' or 'God Save the King' depending on the gender of the reigning monarch; it also serves as the royal anthem of many Commonwealth nations

Economy overview: 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 government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include nationalizing parts of the banking system cutting taxes suspending public sector borrowing rules and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels the CAMERON government in 2010 initiiated a five-year austerity program which aims to lower London's budget deficit from over 11% of GDP in 2010 to nearly 1% by 2015. The Bank of England periodically coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 9
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 163

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 35
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 0.9%
Industry: 22.1%
Services: 77.1% (2010 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: 1.9% (2010 est.)
Rank: 133

Labor force: 31.45 million (2010 est.)
Rank: 19
By occupation agriculture: 1.4%
By occupation industry: 18.2%
By occupation services: 80.4% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate: 7.6% (2009 est.)
Rank: 86

Population below poverty line: 14% (2006 est.)

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

Distribution of family income gini index: 36.8 (1999)
Rank: 92

Public debt: 68.2% of GDP (2009 est.)
Rank: 21

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.2% (2009 est.)
Rank: 97

Central bank discount rate: 0.86% (31 December 2008)
Rank: 136

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 4.63% (31 December 2008 est.)
Rank: 152

Stock of narrow money: $84.92 billion (31 December 2009 est)
Rank: 33

Stock of broad money: $3.199 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 7

Stock of domestic credit: $4.436 trillion (31 December 2008)
Rank: 6

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 5

Current account balance: -$23.65 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 185

Exports: $356.2 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 11
Commodities: manufactured goods fuels chemicals; food beverages tobacco
Partners: US 14.71% Germany 11.06% France 8% Netherlands 7.79% Ireland 6.89% Belgium 4.65% Spain 4% (2009)

Imports: $483.9 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 7
Commodities: manufactured goods machinery fuels; foodstuffs
Partners: Germany 12.87% US 9.74% China 8.88% Netherlands 6.94% France 6.64% Belgium 4.86% Norway 4.84% Ireland 4.01% Italy 3.99% (2009)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external: $9.041 trillion (31 December 2008)
Rank: 3

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $1.125 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 3

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $1.652 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 3

Exchange rates: British pounds (GBP) per US dollar - 0.6504 (2010) 0.6389 (2009) 0.5302 (2008) 0.4993 (2007) 0.5418 (2006)

Electricity
Production: 368.6 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Production rank: 12
Consumption: 345.8 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Consumption rank: 12
Exports: 1.272 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Imports: 12.29 billion kWh (2008 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 58.56 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Production rank: 16
Consumption: 87.45 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 8
Exports: 12.17 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Exports rank: 17
Imports: 41.06 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Imports rank: 6
Proven reserves: 292 billion m³ (1 January 2010 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 40

Telephones
Main lines in use: 32.117 million (2009)
Main lines in use rank: 10
Mobile cellular: 80.375 million (2009)
Mobile cellular rank: 14

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

Broadcast media: public service broadcaster 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)

Internet
Country code: .uk
Hosts: 7.03 million (2010)
Hosts rank: 14
Users: 51.444 million (2009)
Users rank: 7

Military expenditures: 2.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
Rank: 63

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; 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)

Airports: 505 (2010)
Rank: 14
With paved runways total: 306
With paved runways over 3047 m: 9
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 32
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 124
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 77
With paved runways under 914 m: 64 (2010)
With unpaved runways total: 199
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 22
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 173 (2010)

Heliports: 11 (2010)

Pipelines: condensate 43 km; gas 7,992 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 699 km; refined products 4,417 km (2009)

Railways
Total: 16,454 km
Rank: 17
Broad gauge: 303 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)
Standard gauge: 16,151 km 1.435-m gauge (5,248 km electrified) (2008)

Roadways
Total: 394,428 km
Rank: 16
Paved: 394,428 km (includes 3,519 km of expressways) (2009)

Waterways: 3,200 km (620 km used for commerce) (2008)
Rank: 32

Merchant marine
Total: 527
Rank: 22
By type: bulk carrier 30 cargo 70 carrier 3 chemical tanker 71 container 190 liquefied gas 10 passenger 7 passenger/cargo 67 petroleum tanker 20 refrigerated cargo 6 roll on/roll off 29 vehicle carrier 24
Foreign owned: 292 (US 11)
Registered in other countries: 275 (Algeria 12 Antigua and Barbuda 2 Argentina 2 Australia 5 Bahamas 24 Barbados 7 Belgium 2 Belize 4 Bermuda 11 Cambodia 3 Cape Verde 2 Cayman Islands 2 Comoros 1 Cook Islands 2 Cyprus 7 Georgia 4 Gibraltar 4 Greece 27 Honduras 1 Hong Kong 27 Italy 2 Liberia 44 Libya 1 Luxembourg 5 Malta 16 Marshall Islands 9 Moldova 6 Nigeria 2 Panama 44 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7 Sierra Leone 1 Singapore 6 Thailand 6 Togo 3 Tonga 1 US 4 unknown 1) (2010)

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