the united kingdom of great britain and
northern ireland
commonly known as the united kingdom uk
or britain is a sovereign country
located off the northwestern part of the
european mainland
the uk includes the island of great
britain the northeastern part of the
island of ireland
and many smaller islands northern
ireland
shares a land border with the republic
of ireland otherwise the uk is
surrounded by the atlantic ocean
with the north sea to the east the
english channel to the south
and the celtic sea to the southwest
giving it the 12th longest coastline in
the world
the irish sea separates great britain
and ireland
the total area of the uk is 94 000
square miles or 240 000 square
kilometers
the uk is a unitary parliamentary
democracy and constitutional monarchy
the uk consists of four countries
england
scotland wales and northern ireland
their capitals are london edinboro
cardiff
and belfast respectively london
a global city and financial center other
major cities include birmingham
glasgow leeds liverpool and manchester
apart from england the countries have
their own devolved governments
each with varying powers but such power
is delegated by the parliament of the
united kingdom
which may enact laws unilaterally
altering or abolishing devolution
the nearby island of man balawick of
guernsey
and balwick of jersey are not part of
the uk
being crowned dependencies with the
british government responsible
for defense and international
representation the medieval conquest and
subsequent annexation
of wales by the kingdom of england
followed by the union between england
and scotland in 1707
to form the kingdom of great britain and
the union
in 1801 of great britain and the kingdom
of ireland
created the united kingdom of great
britain and ireland
five-sixth of ireland seceded from the
uk in 1922.
leaving the present formulation of the
united kingdom of great britain and
northern ireland
the uk's current name was adopted in
1927 to reflect the change
there are 14 british overseas
territories
the remnants of the british empire which
had its height in the 1920s
encompassed almost a quarter of the
world's land mass and was the largest
empire in history
british influence can be observed in the
language culture
and political systems of many of its
former colonies
the uk is currently the world's sixth
largest economy by nominal gdp
and currently the ninth largest by
purchasing power parity
or ppp it has a high income economy
and a very high human development index
rating currently ranking 14th in the
world
it was the world's first industrialized
country and the world's foremost power
during the 19th and early 20th centuries
the uk remains a great power with
considerable economic
cultural military scientific and
political influence internationally
it is a recognized nuclear weapons state
and is currently sixth in military
expenditure in the world
it's been a permanent member of the
united nations security council
since its first session in 1946.
the uk is a leading member of the
commonwealth of nations
the council of europe the g7 the g20
nato the organization for economic
cooperation and development
or oecd interpol and the world trade
organization
or wto it was a member of the european
union or eu
and its predecessor the european
economic community
or eec for 47 years between january 1st
1973
and withdrawal on january 31st 2020
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