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UK

Definition: UK

UK

Noun

1. A monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "UK" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1916. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: UK

DomainDefinition

Computing

Uk The country code for United Kingdom. (1999-01-27). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Bridges in the United Kingdom

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Bridges in the United Kingdom is a link page for any bridge in the United Kingdom.

Scotland

England

London

Wales

See Also

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British

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The word British has several different uses. See the article on Britain for more details.

See also: Alternate words for British

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "British."

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England

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

zh-tw:英格蘭

England is the largest, the most populous, and the most densely populated of the nations that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The name "England" is derived from "Engla-lond" or "land of the Angles". It is often incorrectly used as a synonym for Great Britain or the United Kingdom by some, which is inaccurate and can be offensive. Other terms for England include "Blighty", from the Hindustani "bila yati" meaning "foreign"; "this Green and Pleasant Land", from William Blake's poem Jerusalem. "Albion" was used by writers such as Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century, in reference to the white (Latin: "alba") cliffs of Dover.

The Marquis de Ximenés, an 18th century diplomat, is credited with coining the phrase La perfide Albion, or "perfidious Albion", which is still heard from the French -- also an affectionate term, in its own way. It is also used by the Irish about the English but in a less affectionate manner, suggesting a degree of untrustworthiness. The Irish also refer to England as "pagan England".

England
(In Detail) (Lions of England)
Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (God and my right)
Official languagesNone, but mostly English is used by public officials.
CapitalLondon
Area
 - Total		Ranked 1st UK
130,395 km²
Population
 - Total (2001)
 - Density 		Ranked 1st UK
49,138,831
377/km²
UnificationEgbert of Wessex (d.839) is often regarded as the first king of all England, though his true title was Bretwalda (High King). School histories of England tend to begin with the accession of William the Conqueror in 1066.
CurrencyPound Sterling
Time zoneUTC+0
National anthemsGod Save the Queen, Land of Hope and Glory (unofficial), Jerusalem (unofficial)

History

Main article: History of England

Politics

Main article: Politics of England

England, as a significant political entity, ceased to exist with the Act of Union 1707, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. All of Great Britain has been ruled by the government of the United Kingdom between that date and 1999, when the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly left England as the only nation in the Union with no representative body.

There are calls by some for an English Parliament but the current Labour government favours the establishment of regional governments, claiming that England is too large to be governed as a sub-state entity. In some regions, notably the south-west and south-east there is little interest, but in the north of England there is some support. Referenda will take place on this issue, possibly some time in 2004, and consideration has still to be given to what powers regions would be granted, and what impact this may have on the powers of counties or central government. Considerable disquiet was caused when changes were made to the system of counties in 1889.

Unlike the other nations of the Kingdom, there is very little call for independence of England from the UK. This is overwhelmingly due to its dominance in the Union. Those groups that do campaign for such a thing tend to be right-wing organisations.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England

Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the county. These divisions had emerged from a range of units of old, pre-unification England, whether they were Kingdoms, such as Essex and Sussex; Duchies, such as Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire or simply tracts of land given to some noble, as is the case with Berkshire.

These counties all still exist in, or near to their original form as the traditional counties. In many places, however, they have been heavily modified or abolished outright as administrative counties. This came about due to a number of factors.

The fact that the counties were so small meant, and still means, that there was no regional government able to co-ordinate an overarching plan for the area. This was especially true in the metropolitan areas surrounding the cities, as the county lines were usually drawn up before the industrial revolution and the mass urbanisation of the country.

The solution was the creation of large metropolitan counties centred on cities. These were later broken up, with several other counties, into unitary authorities, unifying the county and district/borough levels of government.

London is a special case, and is the one Region which currently has a representative authority as well as a directly elected mayor. The thirty-two London boroughs remain the local form of government in the city.

Other than Greater London, the official Regions are:

The Regions hold very little power owing to their lack of accountability - regional authority is placed in the hands of unelected representatives of various interests. When, as seems likely, several Regions opt to replace these QUANGOs with elected assemblies, Local government in England will remain as variable and, some might say, confusing as ever.

Geography

Main article: Geography of England

England comprises most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales.
Most of England consists of rolling terrain, but the country is more mountainous in the north. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line.

The Channel Tunnel near Dover links England to the European mainland.

Major rivers:

Major cities: List of towns in England

Economy

Main article: Economy of England

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of England

England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse country in the United Kingdom with around 49 million inhabitants, of which roughly a tenth are from non-White ethnic groups.

This population is made up of immigrants who have arrived over millennia. The principal waves of migration have been in c. 600 BC (Celts), the Roman period (garrison soldiers from throughout the Empire), 350-550 (Angles, Saxons, Jutes), 800-900 (Vikings, Danes), 1066 (Normans), 1650-1750 (European refugees and Huguenots), 1880-1940 (Jews), 1950-1985 (Caribbeans, Africans, South Asians), 1985-present (East Europeans, Kurds, refugees).

The general prosperity of England has also made it a destination for economic migrants particularly from Ireland and Scotland. This diverse ethnic mix continues to create a diverse and dynamic language that is widely used internationally.

Generally, an English person is someone who lives in England regardless of their racial origin. However, some people (including many south Asians and whites) use the label as only referring to those people of Anglo-Saxon origin - preferring to instead use "British" as a racially neutral label. This is only possible due to the somewhat hazy distinction that many people in the country make between "England" and "Britain".

See also Population of England - historical population estimates

Culture

Main article: Culture of England

Miscellaneous Topics

External links

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Great Britain

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Note: Great Britain is often incorrectly used to refer to the United Kingdom.

Great Britain is, geographically, an island located in the north Atlantic Ocean to the northwest of continental Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. With an area of 229,850 km2 (88,745 sq miles) the island of Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles -- an archipelago that also includes Ireland, the Faroe Islands and the Isle of Man.

Great Britain is also, politically, the entity consisting of the nations of England, Scotland and Wales, including a number of smaller islands such as Anglesey, the Isle of Wight, the Hebrides, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands. Over the centuries, the political entity that is Great Britain has consisted of a number of independent states (England, Scotland, and Wales), two kingdoms with a shared monarch (England and Scotland), a single all-island Kingdom of Great Britain, and since 1801 has been part of an entity called the United Kingdom.

Origins and nomenclature

The term Great Britain was first widely used during the reign of King James VI of Scotland, I of England to describe the island, on which co-existed two separate kingdoms ruled over by the same monarch. Though England and Scotland each remained legally in existence as a separate state with its own parliament, collectively they were sometimes referred to as Great Britain. In 1707, an Act of Union joined both states. That Act used two different terms to describe the new all island state, a 'united Kingdom' and the 'Kingdom of Great Britain'. The former is generally though not universally regarded as a description of the union rather than its name. Most reference books describe the all-island kingdom that existed between 1707 and 1800 and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

In 1801, under a new Act of Union this kingdom merged with the Kingdom of Ireland, over which the monarch of Great Britain had ruled. The new kingdom was unambiguously called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, twenty-six of Ireland's thirty-two counties left to form a separate Irish Free State. The remaining truncated kingdom is now known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which also now includes a number of Overseas Territories. Though sometimes the term 'Great Britain' is used when referring to the United Kingdom, with the United Kingdom minus Northern Ireland being referred to as 'the mainland', this is factually incorrect; it is simply 'Great Britain'.

Often the terms Britain and British refer to the whole of the UK or its predecessors, or institutions associated with them, and not just Great Britain. For example, United Kingdom monarchs are often called "British monarchs"; United Kingdom Prime Ministers are often called "British Prime Ministers". Such usage is generally seen as correct. However the use of the term English for British, as in "Queen of England" is clearly incorrect; England in a sense of a separate state has not existed since 1707.

The term Islands of the North Atlantic or IONA has also been used more recently for the British Isles. It was created as a neutral term for use in efforts to achieve agreement on a more widely acceptable political structure for Northern Ireland. However, it remains unknown to most of the British population, and seems likely to achieve little recognition outside of the narrow political circles in which it was coined.

Why "Great" Britain rather than Britain?

There are in fact two Britains: the island of Britain in the British Isles and the land of Britain in France. In French these are known as Grande Bretagne and Bretagne, in English as Great Britain and Brittany. The word "Great" in this context has its old meaning of "big" as in "she was great with child" or "Greater London". Likewise, the ending "-y" on the end of "Brittany" has the meaning "Little", as in "doggy," meaning "small dog", or "Jimmy", meaning "little Jim".

From about the 16th century to the 20th century, the political and/or military control of Great Britain and the United Kingdom extended over a large number of territories all around the world, and all those entities together were known as "the British Empire."

Territories associated with Great Britain

Territories elsewhere in the archipilego

See also:

External links

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List of British television channels

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Terrestrial Stations

These channels are available as free-to-air analogue broadcasts, as well as on digital, satellite and cable systems.

Free Digital Channels

Most of these channels are available on the Freeview service as well as in basic digital cable and satellite packages. Some are only available in part of the UK.

Satellite & Cable

These channels are only available on cable and satellite television, whether in basic packages or as premium channels. Note: many channels have "+1" services, carrying the same programmes delayed by one hour to give viewers a second chance to catch a favourite programme.

See also: Lists of television channels, UK topics
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "List of British television channels."
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List of political parties in the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Brief History and overview

Prior to the mid 19th century British politics was dominated by the Whigs and the Tories. These were not political parties in the modern sense. The whigs were associated with the newly emerging moneyed industrial classes, whereas the Tories were associated with the landed gentry.

By the mid 19th century the Tories had evolved into the Conservative Party, and the Whigs had evolved into the Liberal Party. 

These two parties dominated the political scene until the 1920s. When internal divisions caused the Liberal Party to fall apart. It was replaced as the main left-wing party by the newly emerging Labour Party, who represented the mass working classes.

Since then the Conservative and Labour Parties have dominated British politics, and have alternated in government ever since. The UK is nearly but not quite a two-party system however. The Liberals in their new incarnation as the Liberal Democrats are a sizeable third party whose electoral performance has improved in recent years.

The UK's First Past the Post electoral system leaves small parties disadvantaged.


Political Parties
  

The following political parties are active in the United Kingdom:


Major Parties

Parties which have elected officials in the House of Commons, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly, or to the European Parliament from the UK.


UK Wide Parties


Scotland Only


Wales Only


Northern Ireland only


Unionist


Republican/Nationalist


Neutral on the Constitutional Status


Minor Parties

Many of these parties have had some success at a local level but have not achieved representation at Westminster.


Far left parties


Regional parties


Far right parties


Joke parties


Other parties


Defunct Parties


Far left parties


Regional parties


Far right and fascist parties


Other parties


See also

British politics, List of political parties in Scotland, List of political parties in Northern Ireland
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "List of political parties in the United Kingdom."
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List of schools in the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The following is a partial list of schools in the United Kingdom:


England


Bedfordshire


Berkshire


Buckinghamshire


Derbyshire


East Sussex


Essex


Gloucestershire


Greater London


Hampshire


Hertfordshire


Kent


Lincolnshire


Oxfordshire


Shropshire


South Yorkshire


Surrey


Warwickshire


West Sussex


Scotland


Aberdeen


Angus


Nursery schools


Primary schools


Secondary schools


Dundee


See also: Education


See also


External link:


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List of ships of the Royal Navy
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The link to current Royal Navy(UK) ships is to a list of the current commissioned vessels in the Royal Navy. The link to Royal Navy ship names is to a list of all names that Royal Navy ships have ever borne. They were split because the file was simply getting too big.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "List of ships of the Royal Navy."
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Music of the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The music from the United Kingdom includes English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Manx, Cornish folk forms, as well as foreign forms from immigrant communities, especially Jamaicans, Arabs and Indians, and various genres of popular music.

This article is about music that applies to the whole of the United Kingdom.  For information music specific to its component parts, see:

Sea shanties

Sea shanties are a form of work song traditionally sung by sailors working on the rigging of ships.  There are several types, divided based on the type of work they set the rhythmic base for.  For example:

British rock

Rock and roll is form of music that developed among African-Americans during the 1940s and 1950s.  While rock music and its country-influenced cousin, rockabilly, topped the American charts, a group of blues musicians started to become very popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  British blues soon became a distinct genre, while rock, rockabilly and other forms of popular music mixed, resulting teen crazes like mod and merseybeat.

By the mid-1960s, British rock dominated charts over much of the world; this was known as the British Invasion.  The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Animals and other artists played a form of pop rock, with some grit and swagger.  After the disintegration of one of the grittiest, The Yardbirds, a group called Led Zeppelin formed.  Led Zeppelin, along with contemporaries like Black Sabbath and American bands like The Velvet Underground and Blue Cheer, invented heavy metal music.  By the end of the 1960s, British psychedelia was reaching its peak of influence with dark bands like The Doors and glam rock artists like David Bowie and Mott the Hoople and splitting into more experimental directions, such as in the Canterbury Scene and the further evolution and popularization of progressive rock bands like King Crimson, Procol Harum, Genesis and The Moody Blues.

In the 1970s, music from the United Kingdom further diversified.  Heavy metal music grew into hair metal in the United States, and other American metal bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith and KISS helped move the UK from the forefront of the metal world.  A late-1970s influx of British metal bands, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, helped change this, especially bands like Judas Priest.  At the same time, disco grew to prominence world-wide and a brief fad for Jamaican lovers rock also sold well in the UK.  The mid- to late 1970s saw the rise of punk rock in the UK and US.  Bands like The Clash and the Sex Pistols became very controversial, attacking institutions and authorities and using a quick, simple rhythm alongside humorous, immature, nihilist or thought-provoking lyrics.

In the early 1980s, the death of Sid Vicious (of the Sex Pistols) and the alleged selling-out of bands like The Clash and The Jam led to still-frequent cries that punk is dead.  Hardcore punk diversified into Gothic rock, including Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure, and New Wave bands like Adam & the Ants.  The rebellious punk esthetic was adopted by a group of independent record labels and bands playing distinct and uncompromising alternative rock arose.  By the end of the 1980s, alternative rock in the United Kingdom had split into multiple genres, including dream pop, twee pop, shoegazing and space rock.

In the early 1990s, American alternative rock bands became mainstream in the US and achieved great popularity in the UK as well.  Grunge bands  like Nirvana and Pearl Jam helped inspire the British alternative rock scene.  By the middle of the decade, the British charts were dominated by Britrock, a melding of British rock and roll forms from the last thirty years.  Bands like Blur, Suede and Oasis helped lead this charge.  

Later in the 1990s and into the next millennium, melodic British rock groups like Radiohead and Coldplay achieved great critical and commercial success.


Acid house, techno and electronica

During the mid to late 1980s, techno and house music, originally developed in Detroit and Chicago, respectively, influenced many British musicians and DJs (see History of house music).  By the end the 1980s, a uniquely British spin on house music, known as "acid house" had emerged as a result of the underground party scene based around, amongst others, the so-called "Orbital" raves near the M25 motorway of London.  Early pioneers of this sound were the Manchester-based 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald, Sheffield-based LFO and London-based Orbital. It was in the early 1990s after the so-called "Summer of Love" in the late 1980s that the concept of an outdoor rave began.  In part as a reaction to the aggressive anti-rave policy of the government, during this time the music become harder and darker and eventually led to forms such as hardcore techno and, later in the decade, drum and bass.

As the audience for electronica, techno and other forms of electronic dance music matured, various acts topped the charts in the middle of the decade, especially artists like Leftfield, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Massive Attack and Paul Oakenfold.  These forms combined and mutated into dozens of subgenres, including various combinations of drum and bass, jungle, trance, house and trip hop.


Jamaican music

Jamaican immigrants to the UK has resulted in a large community and its attendant cultural institutions. Island Records and Trojan Records, for example, introduced Jamaican music to the British during the 1970s.  Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" was the beginning of the popularization of reggae, which influenced everything from pop and reggae to the mod and punk sounds of two-tone in the 1980s.  Radio attention has always been scarce, with little outlet until the 1981 founding of the Dread Broadcasting Corporation, a pirate radio station.

The 1970s saw the first major flowering of British reggae with bands like The Cimarons, Aswad and Matumbi.  Many of these bands adopted pop forms to appeal to mainstream audiences, a practice which peaked in the 1980s, when Aswad's "Don't Turn Around" (1988) became the first chart-topper from a British reggae band and the emergence of UB40's pure pop reggae..  At the same time, other groups, including Steel Pulse, kept the distinctively Jamaican confrontational lyrics.  The later part of the decade saw the rise of the two-tone groups, often interracial, who included The Selecter, The Specials and The Beat.  1970s saw the rise of dub poetry, exemplified by Linton Kwesi Johnson, Sister Netifa and Benjamin Zephaniah.  Louisa Marks' "Caught You in a Lie" began a major craze for lovers' rock music at the end of the decade, and the genre soon became popular across the United Kingdom.

The 80s and 90s also saw the rise of Saxon DJs from Wood Green, north London, including Peter King and Smiley Culture.  Later, fusions with hip hop became popular, led by London Posse and the crossover star Apache Indian, and a techno fusion with reggae called jungle also became popular among a new generations of Jamaican-Brits.


Indian music

Indians migrated to the UK in great numbers following World War 2, settling in urban areas like Bradford, London, Manchester and Birmingham.  These migrants brought with them several varieties of Indian music, and a widespread Indian-British music scene had arisen by the mid-1970s, when dance bands like Alaap and Bhujungy began performing at weddings and other celebrations.

Bhangra is an Indian folk dance from Punjab that has become the most popular form of Indian music in the UK.  It is led by the dhol drum with romantic or humorous lyrics.  More recently electric guitars, keyboards and other instruments were added to the ensemble.  The biggest early band was Alaap, who formed in 1977 and were discovered by Pran Gohill of Polygram Records.  Gohill's Multitone label had previously had success with Indian disco, and artists like [Mussarrat Nazir]] and Salma Agha, and found bhangra to be an easily dance-able and potential mainstream success.

With the success of Alaap's 1979 Teri Chunni de Sitare, numerous bands sprang up playing traditional and pop bhangra.  Apna Sangeet, Chirag Pehchan, Sangeeta and DCS were among the most popular artists of the period.  By 1982, bhangra was the most popular music among British Asians.

Bhangra raves were popular in the mid-1980s, when Asian teens would dance all day (not at night) while DJs like X-Executive Sounds and Hustlers Convention  played bhangra alongside hip hop, soul and other genres.  Multitone Records began released remix albums, and bhangra picked up influences from hip hop and soul music.  Other forms of Indian music, including Aki Nawaz's punk sounds, Sheila Chandra's pop, hip hop artists like Joi Bangla and Osmani Sounds, and Najma Akhtar's ghazal/jazz fusion Qareeb arose in the 80s.  This set the stage for Bally Sagoo's Wham Bam (1990), a popular album of remixes meant for dancing.  Artists like Malkit Singh and Achanak emerged, just as touring brought bhangra to Indian communities in Toronto, Los Angeles, Vancouver and New York City.

The 90s saw fusions with Jamaican music, especially Apache Indian's bhangramuffin fusion of bhangra and raggamuffin.  Mainstream success continued to build as prominent clubs, record labels and the British pop charts saw major South Asian influence, culminating in Apache Indian's 1994 presentation on BBC Radio One.  That same year, Outcaste Records released Migration by Nitin Sawhney fused flamenco and other genres with bhangra.  By 1997, artists like Talvin Singh had become mainstream stars.

See also: Culture of the United Kingdom


References


External links


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Roman sites in the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Roman sites in the United Kingdom is a link page for any Roman site open to the public.


England


Scotland


Wales

See also: Roman_invasion_of_Britain, Roman_Britain, Romano-British, List_of_Roman_place_names_in_Britain, Roman, UK topics
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Roman sites in the United Kingdom."
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Towns of the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a town is any settlement which has received a charter of incorporation, more commonly known as a town charter, approved by the monarch.  In Scotland, the equivalent is known as a burgh, pronounced burra.  There are two types of burgh: royal burghs and burghs of barony.

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom, but are included here for convenience.


Lists of towns in the UK


List of towns in England

List of burghs in Scotland

List of towns in Wales

List of towns in Northern Ireland


Towns of the Isle of Man


Castletown, Douglas, Peel, Ramsey

Towns of the Channel Islands


St Helier, St Peter Port


See also


List of towns in the Republic of Ireland

List of cities in the United Kingdom
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Towns of the United Kingdom."
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Tunnels in the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Tunnels in the United Kingdom is a link page for any road-, railway-, waterway- or other form of tunnel, anywhere in the United Kingdom.


England


Cornwall


Dover


East Sussex


Essex/Kent



Gloucestershire/Monmouthshire


London


Lancashire/Cheshire


Northamptonshire


Staffordshire


West Yorkshire


South Yorkshire


County Durham/Northumberland


Wiltshire


West Midlands


Wales


Monmouthshire


Scotland


Scottish Highlands


See Also


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United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)















simple:United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland comprises Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland. Also known as simply the United Kingdom (UK), it is situated just off the north-western coast of mainland Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Also under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, though not part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and a number of Overseas Territories. 



United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Northern Ireland (English)

Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr 
a Gogledd Iwerddon (Welsh)

An Rìoghachd Aonaichte na Breatainn Mhòr 
agus Eirinn mu Thuath (Scots Gaelic)

Ríocht Aontaithe na Breataine Móire 
agus Thuaisceart Éireann (Irish)

Unitit Kinrick o Great Breetain
an Northren Ireland (Scots)








(In Detail)
(Full size)



Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit
 (French: God and my right)



Official language None. English is de facto;
 also Scottish Gaelic and
 Welsh in Scotland and
 Wales respectively.

CapitalLondon

Largest CityLondon

QueenElizabeth II

Prime MinisterTony Blair

Area
 - Total 
 - % water		Ranked 76th 
 244,101 km² 
 1.3%

Population
 - Total (2003)
 - Density 		Ranked 21st
 60,094,648
 246/km²

Establishment11801 Act of Union

Currency Pound Sterling

Time zone UTC, Summer: +1 UTC

National anthemGod Save the Queen (unofficial)
Internet TLD.UK (but ISO 3166-1 is GB)

Calling Code44

International call prefix00

(1) Formed as United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Name changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927.






History

Main article: History of the United Kingdom

England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the 1536 Act of Union. In the 1707 Act of Union, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The 1801 Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1603, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. With the formation of 26 Irish counties into the Irish Free State in 1922, the six remaining Ulster counties remaining part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland, the country was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927.  The nation had two periods of republican rule in the 17th century before reverting to a monarchy in 1660.

The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. The UK is currently weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it has chosen to defer its participation in  Euro Zone owing to internal political considerations. Constitutional reform is also a current issue in the UK. The House of Lords has been subjected to ongoing reforms and National assemblies with varying degrees of power were created in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 1999. Further assemblies for the English regions are also under consideration.  The British republican movement is also gaining increasing media attention, although general support for monarchy remains high. 

The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations (successor organisation to the former Empire), the European Union and NATO.  It is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council and holds a veto power.

See also: Monarchs; history of Britain; history of England; history of Ireland; history of Scotland; history of Wales, UK local history terms


Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom

In form, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with government, though carried out in the monarch's name, answerable to parliament and through it the electorate. It is governed from its capital, London (although see below). The UK's current monarch and head of state is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Today, her role is mainly ceremonial, with the country's real political power being delegated to the Prime Minister.

The United Kingdom is a very centralised state, with London's Westminster Parliament holding responsibility for most of the political affairs of the Kingdom. In recent years however, each of the countries apart from England has been granted its own governmental body responsible in varying degree for some internal matters.

See also: 

Countries, Regions, Counties, Areas and Districts

Main article: Subdivisions of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is made up of the four countries England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which are in turn made up of the following subdivisions:


Wales and England are grouped into England and Wales for legal purposes.

England is divided into nine Government Office Regions - North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern, Greater London, South East, South West. Each region is made up of Counties and/or Metropolitan Counties and/or unitary authorities, apart from London which consists of London boroughs. There is growing support for the regions to be empowered via democratically elected assemblies - particularly in the northern regions and the West Midlands.





Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 24 Districts, 2 Cities, and 6 Counties.

There are also a number of different dependencies belonging to the United Kingdom, see Crown colony.

The Isle of Man and Channel Islands are not legally part of the United Kingdom; they are British crown dependencies, though the United Kingdom is responsible for their external affairs.


The monarchy of the United Kingdom is symbolically shared with 16 other sovereign countries that are known as Commonwealth Realms, although Britain has very little political influence over these independent nations. 

Other articles: Cities of the United Kingdom, Towns of the United Kingdom, Local government in England


Geography

Main article: Geography of the United Kingdom

Most of England consists of rolling terrain, but the country is more mountainous in the north; the dividing line between terrain types is usually identified as the Tees-Exe line. The main rivers are the Thames and the Severn; major cities include London, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol and Newcastle upon Tyne. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France.

Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon, at 1,085 m above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. Main and capital city is Cardiff, located in the south of Wales.

Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain (1343 m). There are many long and deep sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. Main cities are Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Northern Ireland, making up the northeastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. Main cities are Belfast and Londonderry.


Economy

Main article: Economy of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, one of the largest of Western Europe. Over the past two decades the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatization programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. 


The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before a referendum can take place.


  1.  Are business cycles and economic structures compatible with European interest rates on a permanent basis? 

  2.  If problems emerge, is there sufficient flexibility to deal with them?

  3.  What impact would entry into the euro have on the UK's financial services industry?

  4.  Would joining the euro create better conditions for firms making long-term decisions to invest in Britain? 

  5.  Would joining the euro promote higher growth, stability and a lasting increase in jobs?
    

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the United Kingdom

The primary language spoken is English. Other languages include Welsh, Gaelic, Irish and various dialects of Scots.  Recent immigrants from elsewhere in the Commonwealth speak other languages, including Urdu.


Culture

Main article: Culture of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has two of the world's most famous universities in its borders, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, and has brought forth great scientists and engineers such as Isaac Newton, James Watt, Charles Darwin, and Alexander Fleming.

Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the world; other well-known writers include the Bronte sisters, Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and J. R. R. Tolkien. Important poets include Robert Burns, Thomas Hardy, John Milton, Alfred Tennyson, Dylan Thomas and William Wordsworth.

Composers William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, John Taverner, John Blow, Henry Purcell, Edward Elgar, Arthur Sullivan, William Walton, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett have made major contributions to British music, and are known internationally. Living composers include John Tavener, Harrison Birtwistle and Oliver Knussen. 

Britain has been described as a land without music, but it supports a number of major orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and its several music colleges have helped to teach many well known musicians. Because of its location and other economic factors London is one of the most important cities for music in the world, and has several important concert halls and is also home to the Royal Opera House, one of the world's leading opera houses.  British traditional music has also been very influential abroad.

The UK has also produced the famous Rock and roll bands The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd, Sex Pistols, Oasis, and Radiohead.  It has also pioneered in various forms of electronic dance music such as acid house, drum and bass and trip hop, which were in whole or part developed in the United Kingdom and have spawned various internationally known acts such as Underworld, Massive Attack, The Chemical Brothers and Portishead.  The United Kingdom is one of three countries which have a profitable recorded music industry, based mostly on popular music, the others being the United States and Sweden. (see main article: Music of the United Kingdom). 

Visual artists from the United Kingdom include such luminaries as John Constable, Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, William Blake and J.M.W. Turner. In the 20th century, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, and the pop artists Richard Hamilton and Peter Blake are of note. More recently still, the so-called Young British Artists have gained some notoriety, particularly Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

The United Kingdom also has a vibrant tradition of theatre, and London has many theatres which put on plays and musicals, including the National Theatre.


UK topics on Wikipedia

See list of United Kingdom topics for a comprehensive listing of UK related links on Wikipedia.




Public & Bank Holidays

DateName

1 JanuaryNew Year's Day

2 January(Scotland only)

The Friday before Easter SundayGood Friday

First Sunday after the first full moon since the vernal equinoxEaster Sunday

The day after Easter SundayEaster Monday

First Monday in MayMay Day Bank Holiday

Last Monday in MaySpring Bank Holiday

Last Monday in AugustSummer Bank Holiday

25 DecemberChristmas Day

26 DecemberBoxing Day (not Scotland)

17 MarchSt Patrick's Day (Northern Ireland only)

12 JulyBattle of the Boyne - Orangemen's Day (Northern Ireland only)





External links




European Union:

Austria  |  Belgium  |  Denmark  |  Finland  |  France  |  Germany  |   Greece  |  Ireland 
 Italy  |  Luxembourg  |  Netherlands  |  Portugal  |  Spain  |  Sweden  |  United Kingdom

Countries acceding to membership on May 1, 2004:

Cyprus  |  Czech Republic   |  Estonia  |  Hungary  |  Latvia  |  Lithuania   |  Malta  |  Poland  |  Slovakia  |  Slovenia





Countries of the world  |  Europe  |  Council of Europe
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "United Kingdom."
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Watermills in the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Watermills in the United Kingdom is a link page for any watermill in the United Kingdom.

See also: List of windmills, windmill, windpump


England

Wales

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Waterways in the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Waterways in the United Kingdom is a link page for any river, canal, firth or estuary in the United Kingdom.

See also Rivers of the United Kingdom for a list of the rivers of the United Kingdom organised geographically.

Related topics: Waterway restoration, History of the British canal system, Transportation in the United Kingdom, Conservation in the United Kingdom, British Waterways, Aqueduct, Barge, River delta, Distributary, Flood plain, Narrowboat, Ship transport, Towpath, Tributary, Tunnel, Reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom, List of reservoirs and dams


Rivers and firths in England


Rivers and firths in Scotland


Canals in England


Canals in Scotland


Canals in Wales


See also


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Windmills in the United Kingdom
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Windmills in the United Kingdom is a link page for any windmill or windpump in the United Kingdom.

See also: watermill



England

East Riding of Yorkshire

Essex
Lancashire
Lincolnshire
Merseyside
Norfolk
North Lincolnshire
Peterborough
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Sussex
Wiltshire

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Abbreviations & Acronyms: UK
The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField
UK
EnglishUniversity of KentuckyMedicine, Physics
UKAFFEnglishUK Astrophysical Fluids FacilityN/A
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).
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Synonyms: UK
Synonyms: Britain (n), Great Britain (n), United Kingdom (n), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irela (n). (additional references)
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Crosswords: UK
English words defined with "UK": sterling ♦ tenpence, threepence, tuppence, twopence. (references)
Non-English Usage: "UK" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.
Maya (to drink), Turkmen (able).
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Modern Usage: UK
DomainUsage
Movie/TV Titles
Jo Guest UK Exposed (2002)
1900 UK (2000)
Jerry Springer UK (1999)
Naturism UK (1995)
Crimewatch UK (1984)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.
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Commercial Usage: UK
DomainTitle
References
  • Care UK Plc: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)
  • Edinburgh UK Tracker Trust plc: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)
  • Cairngorm UK Financials Investment Trust P.L.C.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)
  • Legal & General UK Select Investment Trust P.L.C.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)
  • Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust p.l.c.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)
    (more reference examples)
  
Books
  • Acidity in United Kingdom fresh waters : second report of the UK Acid Waters Review Group (reference)
  • Uk Airspace: Is It Safe? (reference)
  • Code of practice for the safe handling and transport of anhydrous ammonia in bulk by rail in the UK (reference)
  • Hydraulic and Hydrochemical Characterisation of Argillaceous Rocks: Proceedings of an Int. Workshop Nottingham, Uk 7-9, June 1994 (Disposal of Radioactive Waste) (reference)
  • Cross-National Appropriation of Work Systems: Japanese Firms in the Uk (reference)
    (more book examples)
  
Periodicals
  
Theater & Movies
  
Music
  
High Tech
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.
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Image Slideshow: UK
Computer Images:
UK
More pictures...