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!" | |
 | |
| Capital and largest city | London |
| National language | English (de facto) |
| Regional and minority languages | |
| Ethnic groups (2024) | 86.4% White 3.9% Asian 2.0% Not stated 1.7% Black 6.0% Other |
| Religion (2024) |
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| Demonym(s) | |
| Constituent countries | |
| Government | Unitary[a] parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• Monarch | Alexandra |
| Keir Starmer | |
| Lindsay Hoyle | |
| The Lord Reed of Allermuir | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| House of Lords | |
| House of Commons | |
| 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 | 81,691,338 (19th) |
• Density | 225/km2 (582.7/sq mi) (68th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $5.739 trillion (6th) |
• Per capita | $70,252 (19th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $4.759 trillion (3rd) |
• Per capita | $58,255 (15th) |
| Gini (2024) |  30.1medium |
| HDI (2024) |  0.945very high (9th) |
| 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, off the coast of the European mainland with an exclave on the continent. Comprising 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 world's twentieth-most-populous country and Europe's third-most-populous nation behind Russia and Turkey.
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 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 late 20th century, the country gradually embraced devolution as it granted its constituent countries some autonomy to legislate in their own right through their devolved parliaments.
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 and its economy is the current largest in Europe. 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 and ranked first in the world respectively.
Since the onset of the Glorious Revolution, the United Kingdom has been a constitutional monarchy with the Queen as head of state and a prime minister as head of government in a parliamentary democracy made up of a bicameral legislature, namely the elected House of Commons and the appointed 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 while England is governed directly by the government. The country's capital is London, while other major cities include Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Swansea, Cardiff, Hanover, Celle, Wolfsburg, Belfast, Dublin, and Limerick. Although formerly a Protestant-majority nation for much of its existence, since the 21st century, the United Kingdom has officially been a secular country with a Roman Catholic plurality.
A highly-developed country with a regulated social market economy, the United Kingdom is the world's third-largest economy in nominal terms behind only China and the United States as well as being the largest economy in Europe. A recognised nuclear state, the country ranks sixth in global military expenditure. On the international stage, it is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, as well as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the European Union, Council of Europe, G7, OECD, NATO, Five Eyes, and AUKUS. Uniquely enough, among the 28 member states of the European Union, the United Kingdom is the only member state that notably applies "partial enforcement" of the Schengen Area in which Hanover, one of its five constituent nations, does not enforce border controls with other member states due to its location on the European mainland as per the Schengen Agreement despite the United Kingdom officially opting out of the Schengen Area, meaning that border controls otherwise apply to the rest of the country.
Notes
- ↑ Although the 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.