United Kingdom

United Kingdom 

Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France

Area

Note: Includes Rockall and Shetland Islands

Land Boundaries

Total 360 km, Ireland 360 km

Coastline

12,429 km

Maritime Claims

International Disputes

Northern Ireland question with Ireland; Gibraltar question with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the U.K. have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)

Climate

Temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than half of the days are overcast

Terrain

Mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
lowest point: Fenland -4 m
highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m

Natural Resources

Land Use

Irrigated Land

1,570 sq km (1989)

Environment

Note: Lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

PEOPLE

Population

58,489,975 (July 1996 est.)
58,295,119 (July 1995 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 Years

20% (male 5,853,545; female 5,565,153) (1996 est.)
19% (male 5,843,192; female 5,572,189) (1995 est.)

15-64 Years

65% (male 19,050,420; female 18,797,406) (1996 est.)
65% (male 18,935,931; female 18,723,583) (1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

15% (male 3,753,361; female 5,470,090) (July 1996 est.)
16% (male 3,748,841; female 5,471,383) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

0.22% (1996 est.)
0.27% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

13.12 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
13.18 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

11.24 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
10.66 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
0.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

6.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
7 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Fertility Rate

1.82 children born/woman (1996 est.)
1.82 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic Divisions

Religions

Note: The U.K. does not include a question on religion in its census

Languages

English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Literacy

Age 15 and over that can read and write (1991 est.)

Labor Force

28.048 million

By occupation:

GOVERNMENT

Names

Abbreviation

U.K.

Digraph

U.K.

Type

Constitutional monarchy

Capital

London

Administrative Divisions

47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas

England

39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire

Northern Ireland

26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane

Scotland

9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside, Western Isles*

Wales

8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan

Dependent Areas

Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

Independence

1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)

National Holiday

Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)

Constitution

Unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Legal System

Common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Legislative Branch

Bicameral Parliament

House of Lords

Consists of a 1,200-member body, four-fifths are hereditary peers, 2 archbishops, 24 other senior bishops, serving and retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, other life peers, Scottish peers

House of Commons

Elections last held 9 April 1992 (next to be held by NA April 1997); results - Conservative 41.9%, Labor 34.5%, Liberal Democratic 17.9%, other 5.7%; seats - (651 total) Conservative 336, Labor 271, Liberal Democratic 20, other 24

Judicial Branch

House of Lords

Political Parties and Leaders

Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party, Anthony (Tony) Blair; Liberal Democrats (LD), Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN; Scottish National Party, Alex SALMOND; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru), Dafydd Iwan WIGLEY; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), James MOLYNEAUX; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), Rev. Ian PAISLEY; Ulster Popular Unionist Party (Northern Ireland); Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP, Northern Ireland), John HUME; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), Gerry ADAMS

Other Political or Pressure Groups

Trades Union Congress; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Member of

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNAVEM III, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Anthem

Flag

Blue with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and others

ECONOMY

Overview

The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its economy ranks among the four largest in Western Europe. The economy is essentially capitalistic; over the past 13 years the ruling Tories have greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only about 1% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves, and primary energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance, now employing only 25% of the work force. The economy registered 3.9% GDP growth in 1994, the best rate for six years, but slipped back to 2.7% in 1995. Exports and manufacturing output have been the primary engines of growth. Unemployment is gradually falling. Inflation is at a tolerable 3%. A major economic policy question for the UK in the 1990s is the terms on which it participates in the financial and economic integration of Europe.

National Product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $1.1384 trillion (1995 est.), $1.0452 trillion (1994 est.)

National Product Real Growth Rate

2.7% (1995 est.)
4.2% (1994 est.)

National Product Per Capita

$19,500 (1995 est.)
$17,980 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

3.1% (November 1995)
2.4% (1994)

Unemployment Rate

8% (December 1995)
9.3% (1994)

Budget

Exports

$200.4 billion (f.o.b., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

Imports

$221.9 billion (c.i.f., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

External Debt

$16.2 billion (June 1992)

Industrial Production

Growth rate 1.9% (1995 est.) 5.6% (1994)

Electricity

Industries

Agriculture

Accounts for only 1.5% of GDP; wide variety of crops and livestock products

Illicit Drugs

Gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the European market; producer of synthetic drugs; transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin; money-laundering center

Economic Aid

Currency

1 British pound (£) = 100 pence

Exchange Rates

British pounds (£) per US$1 - 0.6535 (January 1996), 0.6335 (1995), 0.6529 (1994), 0.6658 (1993), 0.5664 (1992), 0.5652 (1991), 0.5603 (1990)

Fiscal Year

1 April - 31 March

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

Highways

Inland Waterways

3.200 km total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km; other, 979 km

Pipelines

Crude oil (almost all insignificant) 933 km; petroleum products 2,993 km; natural gas 12,800 km

Ports

Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Medway, Sullom Voe, Tees, Tyne

Merchant Marine

Airports

Heliports:

10 (1995 est.)

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone System

29.5 million (1987) telephones; technologically advanced domestic and international system

Radio

Television

DEFENSE FORCES

Branches

Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force

Manpower Availability

Males age 15-49 14,515,077; males fit for military service 12,102,431 (1996 est.)

Defense Expenditures

Exchange rate conversion - $35.1 billion, 3.1% of GDP (FY95/96)

History
World Atlas