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United Kingdom
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. Devolution and constitutional reform have been significant recent issues 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.
Location :
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
Geographic Coordinates Center :
54 00 N, 2 00 W (Latitude, Longtitude)
Geographic Coordinates Rectangle :
| West | -8.62 |
| North | 60.85 |
| East | 1.76 |
| South | 49.91 |
Map references :
Europe
Area :
| total | 243 610 | square km |
| land | 241 930 | square km |
| water | 1 680 | square km |
Land boundaries :
| total | 360 | km |
| Ireland (ie) | 360 | km |
Coastline :
12429.00 km
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 | 4 | metres |
| highest point | 1 343 | metres |
Natural resources :
| arable land | chalk |
| clay | coal |
| gold | gypsum |
| iron ore | lead |
| limestone | natural gas |
| petroleum | potash |
| salt | silica sand |
| slate | tin |
| zinc |
Land use :
| arable land | 23.23 | % |
| permanent crops | 0.20 | % |
| other | 76.57 | % |
Irrigated land :
1 700 square km
Total renewable water resources :
160 cubic km
Natural hazards :
| floods | windstorms |
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 :
| Air Pollution | Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides |
| Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants | Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 |
| Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds | Antarctic Seals |
| Antarctic Treaty | Antarctic-Environmental Protocol |
| Antarctic-Marine Living Resources | 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 |
Population :
61 113 205
Indicators :
| Growth rate | 0.28 | % |
| Birth rate | 10.65 | births/1,000 population |
| Total fertility rate | 1.66 | children born/woman |
| Death rate | 10.02 | deaths/1,000 population |
| Net migration rate | 2.16 | migrant(s)/1,000 population |
Age structure :
| 0-14 years | 16.70 | % |
| 15-64 years | 67.10 | % |
| 65 years and over | 16.20 | % |
Median age :
| total | 40.20 | years |
| male | 39.10 | years |
| female | 41.30 | years |
Sex ratio :
| at birth | 1.05 | male(s)/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 |
Health :
| Infant mortality rate | 4.85 | deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life expectancy at birth - total population | 79.01 | years |
| Life expectancy at birth - male | 76.52 | years |
| Life expectancy at birth - female | 81.63 | years |
| HIV-AIDS adult prevalence rate | 0.20 | % |
| HIV-AIDS people living with HIV-AIDS | 77 000 | |
| HIV-AIDS deaths | 500 |
Religions :
| Christian | 71.60 | % |
| Muslim | 2.70 | % |
| Hindu | 1.00 | % |
| other | 1.60 | % |
| unspecified | 23.10 | % |
Languages :
| English | |
| Welsh | |
| Gaelic |
Literacy :
| total population | 99.00 | % |
| male | 99.00 | % |
| female | 99.00 | % |
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 |
Country Codes :
| ISO 3166 | GB |
| ISO Numeric | 826 |
| ISO3 | GBR |
| FIPS | UK |
| ccTLD | uk |
| English | United Kingdom |
Administrative divisions :
|England:|34 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan counties, 46 unitary authorities||two-tier 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:|Bath and North East Somerset, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, City of Bristol, Darlington, Derby, East Riding of Yorkshire, Halton, Hartlepool, County of Herefordshire, Isle of Wight, City of Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland, Rutland, Slough, South Gloucestershire, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, Warrington, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, York||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||unitary authorities:|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||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
Capital :
| name | London |
| geographic coordinates | 51 30 N, 0 10 W |
| time difference | 0.00 |
| daylight saving time | 1 |
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-10 |
| G-20 | G-5 |
| G-7 | G-8 |
| IADB | IAEA |
| IBRD | ICAO |
| ICC | ICCt |
| ICRM | IDA |
| IEA | IFAD |
| IFC | IFRCS |
| IHO | ILO |
| IMF | IMO |
| IMSO | IOC |
| IOM | IPU |
| ISO | ITSO |
| ITU | ITUC |
| Interpol | MIGA |
| NATO | NEA |
| NSG | OAS (observer) |
| OECD | OPCW |
| OSCE | PCA |
| PIF (partner) | Paris Club |
| SECI (observer) | UN |
| UN Security Council | UNCTAD |
| UNESCO | UNHCR |
| UNIDO | UNMIS |
| UNRWA | UPU |
| WCO | WEU |
| WFTU | WHO |
| WIPO | WMO |
| WTO | ZC |
Independence :
1927
Executive branch :
| Prime Minister James Gordon BROWN | Queen ELIZABETH II |
Legislative branch :
| Labor | 35.20 | % |
| Conservative | 32.30 | % |
| Liberal Democrats | 22.00 | % |
| other | 10.50 | % |
GDP - Gross Domestic product :
| PPP - Purchasing Power Parity | 2 165 000 000 000 | $ |
| Official Exchange Rate | 2 198 000 000 000 | |
| RGR - Real Growth rate | -4.30 | % |
| PPP - per capita | 35 400 | $ |
GDP Composition by sector :
| agriculture | 1.20 | % |
| industry | 23.80 | % |
| services | 75.00 | % |
Labor force - by occupation :
| agriculture | 1.40 | % |
| industry | 18.20 | % |
| services | 80.40 | % |
Other Indicators :
| Labor force | 31 250 000 | people |
| Unemployment rate | 8.00 | % |
| Population below poverty line | 14.00 | % |
| Distribution of family income - Gini index | 34.00 | |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.10 | % |
| Investment (gross fixed) | 15.00 | % of GDP |
| Current account balance | - 32 369 999 999 | $ |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | 52 980 000 000 | $ |
| Debt external | 9 088 000 000 000 | $ |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | 1 634 000 000 000 | $ |
| Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | 1 024 999 999 999 | $ |
| Market value of publicly traded shares | 3 859 000 000 000 | $ |
| Military expenditures | 2.40 | % of GDP |
| Public debt | 68.50 | % of GDP |
Household income or consumption by percentage share :
| lowest 10% | 2.10 | % |
| highest 10% | 28.50 | % |
Budget :
| revenues | 819 900 000 000 | $ |
| expenditures | 1 132 000 000 000 | $ |
Agriculture - products :
| cattle | cereals |
| fish | oilseed |
| potatoes | poultry |
| sheep | vegetables |
Industries :
| aircraft | automation equipment |
| chemicals | clothing |
| coal | electric power equipment |
| electronics and communications equipment | food processing |
| machine tools | metals |
| motor vehicles and parts | other consumer goods |
| paper and paper products | petroleum |
| railroad equipment | shipbuilding |
| textiles |
Energy :
| Electricity Production | 368 600 000 000 | kWh |
| Electricity Consumption | 345 800 000 000 | kWh |
| Electricity Exports | 1 272 000 000 | kWh |
| Electricity Imports | 12 290 000 000 | kWh |
| Oil Production | 1 584 000 | bbl/day |
| Oil Consumption | 1 710 000 | bbl/day |
| Oil Exports | 1 602 000 | bbl/day |
| Oil Imports | 1 651 000 | bbl/day |
| Oil Proved reserves | 3 410 000 000 | bbl |
| Natural gas Production | 69 900 000 000 | cubic metres |
| Natural gas Consumption | 95 940 000 000 | cubic metres |
| Natural gas Exports | 10 500 000 000 | cubic metres |
| Natural gas Imports | 36 540 000 000 | cubic metres |
| Electricity Exports | 342 900 000 000 | cubic metres |
Value :
351 300 000 000 $
Partners :
| United States (us) | 13.80 | % |
| Germany (de) | 11.50 | % |
| Netherlands (nl) | 7.80 | % |
| France (fr) | 7.60 | % |
| Ireland (ie) | 7.50 | % |
| Belgium (be) | 5.30 | % |
| Spain (es) | 4.10 | % |
Commodities :
| beverages | chemicals |
| food | fuels |
| manufactured products | tobacco |
Value :
473 600 000 000 $
Partners :
| Germany (de) | 13.00 | % |
| United States (us) | 8.70 | % |
| China (cn) | 7.50 | % |
| Netherlands (nl) | 7.40 | % |
| France (fr) | 6.80 | % |
| Norway (no) | 6.00 | % |
| Belgium (be) | 4.70 | % |
| Italy (it) | 4.10 | % |
Commodities :
| foodstuffs | fuels |
| machinery | manufactured products |
Currency-code :
GBP
Currency-name :
British pound
Communications :
| Telephons Main lines in use | 33 209 000 | |
| Telephons Mobile, Cellular | 75 565 000 | |
| FM Radio broadcast stations | 696 | |
| Television broadcast stations | 940 | |
| Internet Country code (ccTLD) | uk | |
| Internet Hosts | 9 322 000 | |
| Internet Users | 48 755 000 |
Transportation :
| Airports with paved runways | 307 | |
| Heliports | 11 | |
| Pipelines - gas | 7 992 | km |
| Pipelines - oil | 699 | km |
| Pipelines - condensate | 43 | km |
| Pipelines - refined products | 4 417 | km |
| Pipelines - liquid petroleum gas | 59 | km |
| Roadways - total | 398 366 | km |
| Roadways - expressways | 3 520 | km |
| Roadways - paved | 398 366 | km |
| Railways | 16 454 | km |
| Waterways | 3 200 | km |
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