About 95 percent of the UK's population are English speakers.[13] 5.5 per cent of the population speak languages brought to the UK as a result of relatively recent immigration.[13]
At its height in 1922, more than 458 million people lived in the British Empire, one-fifth of the Earth's population. Its area was 13,012,000 square miles: almost a quarter of the Earth's land area. The Empire was sometimes called 'the Empire on which the Sun never sets', meaning it is always daytime someplace in the Empire. Many countries left and became independent from the Empire in the 20th century, although Britain keepslinks with most countries of its former empire and also still controlsfourteen colonies.
Humans have lived in Britain for almost a million years. They did not live there all the time, probably because theclimate was too extreme at times.
Archaeological remains show that the first group of modern people to live in the British Isles were hunter-gatherers after the lastice age ended.[15] The date is not known: perhaps as early as 8000BC but certainly by 5000BC. They builtmesolithic wood and stonemonuments.Stonehenge was built between 3000 and 1600BC.[16]Celtic tribes arrived from mainland Europe. Britain was a changing collection of tribal areas, with no overall leader. Julius Caesar tried to invade (take over) the island in 55BC but was not able to do so. The Romans successfully invaded in 43AD.[17]
Written history began in Britain when writing was brought to Britain by theRomans. Rome ruled in Britain from 44AD to 410AD. They ruled the southern two-thirds of Great Britain. The Romans never took overIreland and never fully controlledScotland, the land north of thevalleys of theRiver Forth andRiver Clyde. Their northernborder varied from time to time and was marked sometimes atHadrian's Wall (in modern England), sometimes at theAntonine Wall (in modern Scotland).
After a long period when Anglo-Saxon England was split into various kingdoms, it was made into one kingdom by Æthelstan (Athelstan) in 945AD. In the 13th century, the lands of Wales were unified by force with England by the wars ofEdward I of England ("Edward Longshanks").
There were hundreds of years of fighting between both kingdoms of Great Britain. In 1603, whenQueen Elizabeth I of England died, her closest relative wasKing James VI of Scotland. He became king of England and Ireland as well as the king of Scotland. The kingdoms of England, Ireland, and Scotland had the samemonarch ever since.James VI and I was the first to be named "King of Great Britain", and he ordered thedesign of theUnion Jack. The Union Jack has been the Britishnational flag ever since.
In 1707, the Parliaments of England and Scotland agreed on the Treaty of Union, which joined the two countries into one country called theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain underQueen Anne with theActs of Union 1707. This union merged Scotland and England into one kingdom. England and Scotland kept their own laws, withEnglish law in England and Wales andScots law in Scotland. The division between theChurch of Scotland and theChurch of England continued. Ireland and Great Britain continued to have the same king, but Ireland did not become part of the new kingdom in 1707.
Scotland and England had already independently had much influence overIreland since 1200. In 1800 laws were passed in the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland to merge the two kingdoms and their two parliaments. The country was then called theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Union Jack was changed so that theflag ofSaint Patrick (a redsaltire) shows Ireland to be a part of the country.
In 1922 much of Ireland became independent from the United Kingdom as theIrish Free State (now calledIreland). However, six northern counties (calledNorthern Ireland) are part of the United Kingdom. The country was renamed theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927.
In September 2024, the United Kingdom became the firstG7 country to phase outcoal power for electric generation, after 142 years of using the energy source.[18][19]
The physical geography of the UK varies greatly.England consists of mostly lowland terrain, with upland or mountainous terrain only found north-west of theRiver Tees-River Exe line. The upland areas include theLake District, thePennines, the North York Moors,Exmoor, andDartmoor. The lowland areas are typically traversed by ranges of lowhills, frequently composed ofchalk, and flatplains. Scotland is the most mountainous country in the UK and its physical geography is distinguished by theHighland Boundary Fault which goes across the Scottish mainland fromHelensburgh toStonehaven. TheRoyal Observatory, Greenwich is the defining point of thePrime Meridian.
Theweather of the United Kingdom is changeable and unpredictable. Summers are moderately warm, winters are cool to cold. Rain falls throughout the year, and more on the west than the east because of its northerly latitude and the warm water from theAtlantic Ocean'sGulf Stream. The usually moderate prevailing winds from the Atlantic may be interrupted byArctic air from the northeast or hot air from theSahara.
The highest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom was 40.3 °C (104.5 °F), on 19 July 2022 in Coningsby.[23] The lowest temperature ever recorded was −27.2 °C (−17.0 °F), on February 11, 1895 & January 10, 1982 in Braemar, and December 30, 1995 in Altnaharra.[24]
Parliament is where laws are made. It has three parts: theHouse of Commons, theHouse of Lords, and the King. The House of Commons is the most powerful part. It is where Members of Parliament sit.
Scotland has its own devolved Parliament with the power to make laws on things like education, health and Scottish law. Northern Ireland and Wales have their own devolvedlegislatures which have some powers but less than the Scottish parliament. The Parliament of the United Kingdom is sovereign and it could end the devolved administrations at any time. The UK is aunitary state and not afederation of states.
Unlike the House of Commons, the people in the House of Lords are not elected. The people who sit in the House of Lords are called peers. Most peers are appointed by the government. There are some who are hereditarypeers (whoinherit their peerages fromancestors or other family members). Certainbishops in the establishedChurch of England also attend the House of Lords. (The Church of England is thenational church in England. TheChurch of Scotland does not have bishops, and neither Wales nor Northern Ireland has an established national church.) Together, the two houses make abicameral legislature, in which the House of Commons has more power. In the past, the House of Lords had more power. Before the 20th century, the prime minister was often a member of the House of Lords. As the House of Lords lost its powers, as politicalreforms tried to improvedemocracy, the House of Commons became more powerful and the prime minister is now always a member of the House of Commons.
After theEnglish Civil War during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms,Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the monarchy ended for a time. The British Isles were arepublic, which Cromwell named the "Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland". Although the monarchy was restored after his death,the Crown slowly became the secondary power, and Parliament the first. Until the early twentieth century, only men who owned property could vote to choose MPs. In the nineteenth century, more people were givensuffrage. In 1928, all men and women got the vote: this is calleduniversal suffrage.
Almost all members of Parliament belong topolitical parties. The biggest parties are theConservative Party,Labour Party, theScottish National Party and theLiberal Democrats. Members of the same party agree to work together. A party (often with more than half the seats: a majority) forms the government. The leader of the party becomes theprime minister, who then chooses the other ministers. Because the government has amajority in Parliament, it can normally control what laws are passed.
The British Parliament is inWestminster, in London. It has power over the whole of the United Kingdom. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own parliaments as well, and these have more limited powers. England does not have a separate parliament.
About 68million people live in the UK (2022).[25] They can be divided into four bignationalities based on the countries where they live (or where they were born or theirancestry). Each country has ademonym for its people (for example; England's people are English), but no matter which country someone is from, they have a British nationality.
England is the biggest country, where most people in the UK live. People who live in England are calledEnglish. Their nativelanguage is calledEnglish, which is spoken by most people in England. England's land is split betweenregions.
Scotland, north of England, is the second biggest country. People who live there are called Scottish, and a Scottish person may be called aScot. Some speak a language other than English:Scottish Gaelic, aGaelic language.Scottish English, on the other hand, is a version ofEnglish.
Wales is to the west of England. Its people are calledWelsh and they have their own Celtic language which is also calledWelsh. Not everyone in Wales can speak Welsh, but almost everyone can speak English.
Northern Ireland is the smallest country. Unlike the other three countries, it is not on the island ofGreat Britain: it is part of the island calledIreland. Northern Ireland takes up about a sixth of Ireland (with theRepublic of Ireland taking up the remainder). People who live in Northern Ireland are either Irish, British, or Northern Irish. The people who live here speak English.
The crown dependencies are three nations which are not part of any of the four countries in the UK. They are: theIsle of Man,Jersey andGuernsey. Unlike the four countries, the governments of the crown dependencies have almost full power over the dependencies, with the exception of military and international relations. Everybody from a crown dependency has a British nationality.
The British Overseas Territories are formercolonies of theBritish Empire which have not become independent from the UK. There are fourteen. Some have civilisations on them while others are military bases. Most of them have their own governments. The UK is responsible for their defence and international relationships. Everybody from an overseas territory has a British nationality.
The United Kingdom has one of the most advanced militaries in the world, alongside such countries such as theUSA andFrance, and operates a large navy (Royal Navy), a sizable army, (British Army) and an air force (Royal Air Force).
From the 18th century to the early 20th century, the United Kingdom was one of the most powerful nations in the world, with a large and powerful navy (due to the fact it was surrounded by sea, so a large navy was the most practical option). This status has faded in recent times, but it remains a member of various military groups such as theUN Security Council andNATO. It is also still seen as a great military power.
The United Kingdom is adeveloped country with the sixth-largesteconomy in the world. It was asuperpower during the 18th, 19th and early 20th century and was considered since the early 1800s to be the most powerful and influential nation in the world, in politics, economics and in military strength.
Britain continued to be the biggest manufacturing economy in the world until 1908 and the largest economy until the 1920s. The economic cost of two world wars and the decline of theBritish Empire in the 1950s and 1960s reduced its leading role in global affairs. The United Kingdom has strong economic, cultural, military and political influence and is anuclear power. The United Kingdom holds a permanent seat on theUnited Nations Security Council, and is a member of theG8,NATO,World Trade Organization and theCommonwealth of Nations. TheCity of London, in the capital, is famous for being the largest centre offinance in the world.
The nature ofeducation is a devolved matter inScotland,Wales andNorthern Ireland. They have separate, but similar, systems of education with laws that a broad education is required from ages five to eighteen, except for in Scotland where school departure is allowed from the age of sixteen. Pupils attend state funded schools (academy schools, faith schools, grammar schools, sixth form colleges, further education, city technology colleges, studio schools) and other children attend independentfee-paying schools (known aspublic schools).
TheBBC is an organisation in the United Kingdom. It broadcasts in the United Kingdom and othercountries ontelevision,radio and theInternet. The BBC also sells its programs to other broadcasting companies around the world. The organisation is run by a group of twelvegovernors who have been given the job bythe King on the advice ofgovernmentministers.
Road traffic in the United Kingdom drives on the left-hand side of the road (unlike the Americas and most of Europe), and the driver steers from the right-hand side of the vehicle. The road network on the island ofGreat Britain is extensive, with most local and rural roads having evolved from Roman and Medieval times. Major routes developed in the mid 20th Century were made to the needs of the motor car. The multi-lane high speedmotorway (freeway) network was mostly built in the 1960s and 1970s. It links major towns and cities.
The system ofrail transport was invented in England and Wales, so the United Kingdom has the oldestrailway network in the world. It was built mostly during theVictorian era. At the heart of the network are five long-distance main lines which radiate fromLondon to the major cities and secondary population centres with dense commuter networks and highs-speed lines in the regions. The newest part of the network connects London to the Channel Tunnel from St Pancras station. The system of underground railways in London, known as theTube, has been copied by many other cities.
Most domesticair travel in the United Kingdom is between London and the major cities in Scotland and the North of England andBelfast.London-Heathrow is the nation’s largest airport and is one of the most important internationalhubs in the world. Other major airports with principal international service include London-Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. An extensive system offerry networks operates. TheIsle of Man and theChannel Islands also have domestic passenger andfreight routs.
Major languages spoken in the United Kingdom other than English includePolish (500,000 approximate number of speakers in the United Kingdom), Eastern Panjabi orPunjabi (471,000),Bengali (400,000),Urdu (400,000),Cantonese (300,000),Greek (200,000), Southwestern CaribbeanCreole English (170,000).[26]
Belarus. The British ambassador was (recalled or) removed by British authorities in 2020; The reason was that (British) authorities were notsatisfied with the government of Belarus.[27]
Syria. The British ambassador was (recalled or) removed by British authorities in 2012; The embassy was also closed; The (British) authorities were notsatisfied with the government of Syria.[28]
↑An alternative variant of the Royal coat of arms is used in Scotland:[click to view image].
↑There is no authorised version of the national anthem as the words are a matter of tradition; only the first verse is usually sung.[1] No law was passed making "God Save the King" the official anthem. In the English tradition, such laws are not necessary; proclamation and usage are sufficient to make it the national anthem. "God Save the King" also serves as theRoyal anthem for certainCommonwealth realms. The wordsKing, he, him, used at present (in the reign of Charles III), are replaced byQueen, she, her when the monarch is female.
↑"This category could include Polish responses from the country specific question for Scotland which would have been outputted to ‘Other White’ and then included under ‘White’ for UK ... ‘White Africans’ may also have been recorded under ‘Other White’ and then included under ‘White’ for UK."
↑Some of the devolved countries, crown dependencies and British Overseas Territories issue their own sterling banknotes or currencies, or use another nation's currency. SeeList of British currencies for more information.
↑"National Anthem".Official web site of the British Royal Family. 15 January 2016.Archived from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved4 June 2016.
↑Oxford English Dictionary: "British Isles: a geographical term for the islands comprising Great Britain and Ireland with all their offshore islands including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands".
↑Population estimates – Office for National Statistics U.K. www.ons.gov.uk.[1]Archived 2017-05-25 at theWayback Machine
↑Gordon, Raymond G. Jr. (ed) 2005."Languages of the UK".Ethnologue: languages of the world, 15th ed. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version.Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved20 March 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
1.Transcontinental country/territory that is part of both Europe and Asia. 2. Territory or with territory geographically part of North America. 3. Partially recognized. 4. Not all dependent territories are listed. 5. Territory has some form of self-rule. 6. Territory or with territory geographically part of Africa. 7. Governed by theHoly See.
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