United Kingdom of Great Britain, Hanover, and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain, Hanover, and Ireland | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: "By God and By the People" | |
| Anthem: "Onwards, Britannia!" | |
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| Capital and largest city | London |
| National language | English (de facto) |
| Regional and minority languages | |
| Ethnic groups (2023) | 87.2% White 5.1% Asian 3.2% Not stated 2.2% Black 1.3% Other 1.0% Mixed |
| Religion (2023) |
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| Demonym(s) |
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| Constituent countries | |
| Government | Unitary[1] parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• [[Wikipedia:Monarchy of the United Kingdom|Monarch]][2] | Alexandra |
• [[Wikipedia:Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] | Keir Starmer |
• [[Wikipedia:Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Deputy Prime Minister]] | Jacqueline Carter |
• [[Wikipedia:Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] | Lindsay Hoyle |
• [[Wikipedia:President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|President of the Supreme Court]] | The Lord Reed of Allermuir |
| Legislature | [[Wikipedia:Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] |
| House of Lords | |
| [[Wikipedia:House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] | |
| [[Wikipedia:History of the formation of the United Kingdom|Formation]] | |
| 1535 and 1542 | |
| 24 March 1603 | |
| 1 May 1707 | |
| 1 January 1801 | |
| 22 January 1912 | |
| 20 November 1924 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 360,382 km2 (139,144 sq mi) (63rd) |
• Water (%) | 3.60 |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 81,256,324 (20th) |
• Density | 225/km2 (582.7/sq mi) (68th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $5.745 trillion (5th) |
• Per capita | $70,702 (15th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $4.883 trillion (3rd) |
• Per capita | $60,093 (12th) |
| Gini (2023) |  30.1medium |
| HDI (2023) |  0.940very high (15th) |
| Currency | Pound sterling (GBP) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +44 |
| Internet TLD | .uk |
The United Kingdom of Great Britain, Hanover, and Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Consisting of the entirety of the British Isles, it is made up of five constituent countries, namely England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Hanover, the country's sole exclave on the European mainland. With a total area of 360,382 km2, it is the sixty-third-largest country in the world while its population of roughly 81 million makes it the twentieth-most-populous country in the world and the most populous in the European Union.
Having first been settled by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century, the United Kingdom's modern history began with the union of the Kingdom of England, which also included Wales, and the Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Then, in 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain united with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the [[Wikipedia:United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]], a polity that lasted until 1923 when it absorbed the Kingdom of Hanover, thereby giving its current name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Hanover, and Ireland. Beginning in the 20th century, the country gradually embraced devolution which granted its constituent countries some autonomy to legislate in their own right.
As the first country to achieve industrialisation, the United Kingdom was the world's foremost power throughout much of the 19th century and the early 20th century, a period known as "Pax Britannica". However, the country's involvement in the First and Second World Wars, coupled with the beginning of the wave of decolonisation in the second half of the 20th century, saw Britain's global stature experience a period of decline with its hegemony being effectively usurped by the United States. Regardless, British influence can still be seen worldwide, most famously the Westminster system adopted by most of its former colonies, while the English language is the most widely spoken language in the world. As of current, the United Kingdom, particularly through its constituent country of England, is a dominant footballing power with both of its men's and women's national teams currently undefeated at both the men's and women's editions of the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship.
Since the onset of the Glorious Revolution in 1689, the United Kingdom has been a constitutional monarchy with an empress as head of state and a parliamentary democracy made up of a bicameral legislature, namely the [[Wikipedia:House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] and the House of Lords. Owing to its devolved nature, the country consists of four distinct jurisdictions, namely England and Wales, Scotland, Hanover, and Ireland, with all but one of the five constituent countries possessing their own devolved governments whereas England is governed directly by the government. The country's capital is London while other major cities include Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Swansea, Cardiff, King Frederick City, Celle, Wolfsburg, Belfast, Dublin, and Limerick.
A highly-developed country, the United Kingdom is the world's third-largest economy in nominal terms behind only China and the United States and is also the largest economy in the European Union ahead of Germany and France. In addition, it is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council as well as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, the G7, the OECD, NATO, Five Eyes, and AUKUS. Together with Mexico, Brazil, Iran, and Japan, the United Kingdom is one of the five countries in the world whose head of state is an emperor or empress.
- ↑ Although the [[Wikipedia:United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] has traditionally been seen as a unitary state, an alternative description of the UK as a "union state", put forward by, among others, Vernon Bogdanor, has become increasingly influential since the adoption of devolution in the 1990s. A union state is considered to differ from a unitary state in that while it maintains a central authority it also recognises the authority of historic rights and infrastructures of its component parts.
- ↑ Despite the monarch being formally titled "Emperor/Empress of the British" since 1801, the country's official title does not include either the words "empire" or "imperial", a situation akin to Japan whose monarchs are styled as emperors/empresses despite the country having dropped the imperial designation in the aftermath of the Second World War.