United Kingdom (Finlandia)

The United Kingdom of the British Empire, more commonly referred to as the United Kingdom or the UK, is a pluricontinental superstate. With a territory of 8,442,756 square miles in the British Isles, North America, Africa, and Oceania, it is the largest sovereign state in the word by area; and is the seventh-largest by population with almost 174 million inhabitants in the 2016 Census. It has coastlines on all four of the world's oceans, and shares borders with Brazil, Central America, Lesotho, Mexico, Namibia, the Republic of South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Swaziland, Venezuela, and the United States.

The UK is a Confederal Constitutional Monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The current Monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, while the current Prime Minister is Stephen Harper of the Federalist Party. The capital and largest city is London, with a population of approximately ten million, the main financial and cultural center of the country. Other prominent cities include Toronto, Sydney, and Seattle. In general, the country tends toward urbanisation, with significant tracts of unpopulated land. As a pluricontinental nation, climate and environment are highly variable, ranging from the Canadian Arctic to the Australian Outback, and from the temperate climate of the British Isles to the tropical climate of the West Indies.

The UK is a confederation of two Realms (Great Britain, Ireland), and twelve Dominions (Australia, Canada, Cascadia, Fiji, Gibraltar, Kiribati and Tuvalu, Mauritius, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Seychelles, Union of South Africa, West Indies). These are themselves sovereign states with almost complete control of their internal affairs. The Imperial Parliament in Westminster has authority in the areas of foreign relations, defense, trade, and the nine remaining colonies.

Formed by the Imperial Convention and subsequent Constitution of 1912, the UK has been the primary global power since its genesis. Allied with Germany since 1904, it was able to remain neutral in the Great War and avoided much of the War's negative consequences. The 1920s saw sustained economic growth and a heyday of almost unquestioned power. This was dampened by the rise of Syndicalism, which was viewed with alarm by the British and their allies. To counter Syndicalist influence, the North Sea Treaty Organisation was formed, and the Cold War against the pact of Steel began. All this happened in the midst of a wave of decolonisation, whereby the colonial holdings of the Empire were largely abandoned and the nation's global prestige was lowered. While earlier Cold War governments favoured an aggressive foreign policy, the government of Edward Heath began a policy of dialogue with the Pact of Steel that was continued by his successors. This policy was reversed by Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister, who began an arms race with the Syndicalist bloc in order to drain them financially. The Syndicalist collapse in 1992 was largely attributed to Thatcher, who resigned in triumph.

The UK is a developed country, with an estimated nominal GDP of almost £65 trillion; making it the largest economy in the world. The British economy is highly diversified, with a base in natural resources but significant manufacturing and service sectors.

History
Writing a history of the UK can be problematic, as it is a pluricontinental union which encompasses the history of many different regions. Additionally, the UK is viewed, in legal contexts, as the successor state of the former United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This was in turn the successor of Great Britain and Ireland; the former of which was also the successor of England and Scotland. This section will attempt to be as broad as possible, but will inevitably focus on England during the pre-union era.

Prehistory and Antiquity
Human habitation in the regions that would become the modern UK dates back millions of years, and in the British Isles to about 800,000 years. After significant cultural developments in the Megalithic era, such as the building of Stonehenge, the region was overwhelmed by Celts, who subsequently developed into three main groups: the Britons south of the Firth of Forth, the Picts north of it, and the Gaels in Ireland. Roman interest in Britain began with Julius Caesar, but did not lead to any significant conquests until AD 43. The Romans conquered most of what is now England and Wales by about AD 60, briefly halted by a revolt led by the warrior-queen Boudica. The greatest expansion took place during the reign of Antonius Pius, when much of southern Scotland was Roman territory. However, in subsequent years the Romans would retreat from that extent. The Roman hold on Britain was significant, and Constantine the Great began his rise to power from a British base. But as the Western Roman Empire went into decline, the area collapsed into political instability. Into this vacuum entered the Anglo-Saxons.

Anglo-Saxon era
The Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic group originating in what is now Frisia, began to invade and subjugate the area in the 6th century. Precisely why they began arriving is subject to debate, as is the completeness of settlement, but what is certain is that the Anglo-Saxons permanently changed the culture of England by the introduction of their language, Old English. Initially pagan, they were gradually converted to Christianity, starting with the missionary efforts of Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The Anglo-Saxons were divided into nine kingdoms, of which Mercia was initially the most powerful.

This supremacy was destroyed by the Viking invasion in the 9th century, which subjugated most of the north of England to the Danelaw, an area of Viking dominance and settlement. Anglo-Saxon opposition centered around the Kingdom of Wessex, where Alfred the Great rose to prominence by his successful resistance. Under his son, Æthelstan, Wessex was able to conquer much of the Danelaw and establish the Kingdom of England. This period of dominance eventually faded, and by 1016, the Danish King Cnut was able to seize the throne for himself. A brief period of native rule was inaugurated by Edward the Confessor in 1046, but his death left a succession crisis in which three men claimed the throne. One of them was Duke William of Normandy.

High Mediaeval England
In 1066, William defeated Harold, the last remaining claimant to the throne, at the Battle of Hastings, and became King of England. William eventually subdued the entire country with the help of his barons, and formed a Francophone Norman aristocracy that dominated the country for centuries to come. He also introduced the feudal system, and a radical centralisation of the English state. The Anglo-Norman Empire William created lasted beyond his death, but crumbled in 1135 when a devastating Civil War over the succession broke out.

By 1154, the War was settled, and Henry II added England to his already considerable holdings in France. As part of the Angevin Empire, England enjoyed much prestige, especially under the reign of Richard the Lionheart, notable leader in the Crusades. But when Richard died, his brother John's inferior military skill led to loss of much French territory, and an argument with the Pope led to his excommunication and all England being placed under Interdict.

By 1215, the incensed barons forced John to sign the Magna Carta, a document that redressed many of their grievances and significantly reduced the power of the Monarch. While John tried to repeal it, the barons persisted in their support. His successor, Henry III, would face heavy baronial opposition; causing Simon de Montfort, leader of the barons, to effectively rule England for about a year. While he did not last long as a ruler, he summoned two Parliaments, one of which went so far as to include commoners from the towns. As such, he is regarded as the father of the British parliamentary tradition, and the Magna Carta is regarded as the foundation of the British constitution.

Late Mediaeval England and the Wars of the Roses
Into this chaos stepped Edward I, who inherited the throne in 1272. Pursuing an expansionist policy, he conquered Wales, solidified the English hold on Ireland, and attempted to install a puppet regime in Scotland. While his son Edward II was a much less able ruler, his grandson Edward III proved worthy of his grandfather, and became a powerful ruler. Disputes over the territory of Gascony and the succession to the French throne led to the Hundred Years War with France; initially the English had the advantage, but this gradually was reversed, and the French eventually triumphed.

Defeat abroad was coupled with problems at home: the Great Famine, the Black Death, and the Peasant's Revolt all occurred in this period. When King Richard II was overthrown in 1399 by Henry Bolingbroke, it began a period of dynastic tension that came to a head in 1455, when Henry VI was deposed. This sparked a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses, where the houses of Lancaster and York both claimed the throne and fought each other bitterly to gain it. In 1485, Henry Tudor was able to overthrow the unpopular Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, ending the Wars of the Roses. This accomplished, Henry set himself to the task of rebuilding England.

Tudor Era
Henry VII's reign focused on economic development and conciliation between the houses of York and Lancaster (as the Lancastrian heir, he married Elizabeth of York, and thus cemented his claim to the throne). His son, Henry VIII, embraced the ideals of the Renaissance and worked to modernise England. Though initially a supporter of the Pope, he pragmatically embraced the Reformation when he was refused an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and founded the Church of England. Henry left a troubled legacy of religious disputes and an unstable succession, and his changes were almost reversed by his daughter Mary, who attempted to forcibly reconvert England to Catholicism. Her heavy-handedness, however, had the opposite of the desired effect, and when she died her Protestant sister Elizabeth returned things to the status quo ante.

Elizabethan England saw both cultural flourishing, exemplified by the work of William Shakespeare, still considered the greatest writer in the English language. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 confirmed England's rising status as a naval power, and Sir Francis Drake's escapades against the Spanish were a significant source of national pride. Colonial expansion had begun as early as John Cabot's voyage to Newfoundland in 1497, but Elizabethan England began the first real attempts at settler colonialism. While the Roanoke colony was a dismal failure, it planted the seeds for what would become the British Empire, and thereby the modern United Kingdom.

Jacobean Era and the Civil War
When Elizabeth died in 1603, she was succeeded by her relative James VI of Scotland. At first, this was welcomed, as it united all of the British Isles under one crown and placed the country in Protestant hands. James, however, was used to the more amenable Scottish Parliament, and was not prepared for the robust parliamentary tradition that had developed in the Tudor era. He was unable to succeed in uniting his three Kingdoms into one, as he wished; and though a Calvinist, he quickly became enemies with the Calvinistic Puritan movement within the Church of England. The Gunpowder Plot briefly unified the nation in anti-Catholic sentiment, but this unity was short-lived and James gradually lost his popularity. Two significant achievements, however, came out of his troubled reign: the Authorised Version, or King James Version, which provided a commonly agreed-upon English translation of the Bible for centuries to come; and the settlement at Jamestown, which not only survived but paved the way for further colonial expansion in the future. Undoubtedly Charles I succeeded his father at an inopportune time, but he compounded his problems by attempting to consolidate his power at the expense of Parliament. Parliament fought back with the Petition of Right, which claimed severely limited powers for the King; the King responded by proroguing Parliament and ruling without them until 1640. A poor financial situation and religious tensions in Scotland forced Charles to eventually summon a Parliament, which forced him to comply with their wishes in exchange for funding.

Eventually, Charles grew tired of this and attempted to arrest five members of the House of Commons; this ill-conceived action provoked Civil War. The Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell quickly crushed the Royalists, and in 1649 Charles was tried and executed. A republic, the Commonwealth of England, was declared, but this degenerated into chaos. Cromwell stepped in to become Lord Protector (King in all but name), and led an efficient, militaristic Puritan state. When he died, however, the Protectorate fell apart, and the Monarchy under Charles II was restored.

Glorious Revolution and the English Empire
Charles II favoured a lenient attitude toward parliament, but when he died his Catholic brother James II tired to reassert the royal prerogatives his father had attempted to wield. A believer in the divine right of kings, James' autocratic leanings and Catholicism led worried members of Parliament to seek contact with his daughter Mary and son-in-law William of Orange, Stadholder of the Dutch Republic. In 1689, William invaded England and forced James to flee. Conventions in both England and Scotland declared that James had abdicated, and declared William and Mary joint monarchs. The Bill of Rights limited the power of the monarchy even more, and began to assert the concept of Parliamentary Sovereignty. It was the beginning of Constitutional Monarchy, and had been accomplished with a palpable lack of bloodshed. Hence, it would be known as the Glorious Revolution. English expansion in the Americas had begun with Virginia, spread to New England in 1621 and St. Kitts in 1623. As the century progressed, the English ejected the Spanish from Jamaica and the Dutch from New Netherlands (which became New York), so that by the end of the century the English colonial empire consisted of much of the Atlantic Seaboard in North America, much of the West Indies, and Rupert's Land, an area around Hudson's Bay claimed for the purpose of the Fur Trade. Settlement to the colonies on the mainland was extensive, and many colonies were founded for the purpose of religious freedom for certain groups, such as the Puritans in New England and the Quakers in Pennsylvania. The more Southern colonies, as well as those in the West Indies, produced tobacco and sugarcane, and relied, sadly, on slave labour. With the decline of Spain, England's main rival once again became France, and the country would go on to participate in the War of Austrian Succession.

Great Britain
In 1707, the Parliaments of England and Scotland both passed the Act of Union, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain. The new nation was governed by one Parliament located in London, with autonomy for various local institutions. At the time, the Union was highly unpopular in Scotland, but as time wore on a common British identity would be created, which would later extend far beyond the Island itself.

When the childless Queen Anne died, the Act of Settlement's provision for a Protestant succession bypassed the son of James II, James Stuart, and the throne fell to the Elector George of Hannover. A brief Jacobite rebellion in Scotland was crushed, and George settled in comfortably enough. Unable to speak English well and lacking an interest in British affairs, George left much of the government in the hands of the capable minister Robert Walpole. This allowed for the further development of constitutional rule, and also created a powerful new position that would evolve into that of Prime Minister. Under George II, these developments only continued. The Seven Years War brought William Pitt to power, and under his inspired leadership the British Empire expanded to new heights. The French defeat on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 led to the French cession of Canada, while Robert Clive was able to greatly expand the holdings of the British East India company at the expense of their French competitors. But all this glory came at a cost, and when the War was over, the burden of taxation fell on the American colonies, as it was thought that they had gained the most while expending the least effort. This misguided policy, supported by King George III (who was born and raised in Britain, the first truly British Monarch of the House of Hannover) and much of Parliament, led to disastrous repercussions in America. Protests throughout much of the late 1760s and early 1770s culminated in 1775, when the Battles of Lexington and Concord provoked an uprising throughout New England, and in 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared their Independence as the United States of America. The Revolution resulted in a shocking defeat for the British, and in 1783 much of the Empire in North America was gone, now an independent nation. Many Americans loyal to Britain fled to the remaining North American colonies of Canada and Nova Scotia, becoming the United Empire Loyalists.

From this humiliation, George decided to renounce his attempts at assertive royal rule, and power fell into the hands of William Pitt the Younger. Under his leadership, Britain reasserted itself as a great power, especially in the wake of the French Revolution. As France descended into anarchy and led wars of conquest in Europe to establish puppet republics, Britain opposed the French decisively. This opposition to French expansionism would continue well into the next century.

United Kingdom and the Second British Empire
In 1801, Great Britain and Ireland united to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. While this union occurred, Britain was in a brief lull of hostilities with Napoleonic France. By in 1803, the War would flare up again, and in 1805, Napoléon made plans for an invasion of the United Kingdom. These schemes, however, would all come to naught in July, when the British fleet under Nelson overwhelmingly defeated the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar, confirming British mastery of the seas. The British were thus able to ward off invasion, and remained at War with France for the entirety of the conflict. Napoléon's invasion of Portugal was countered by the British Army, and the Royal Navy spirited the royal family to Brazil; when Napoléon betrayed his allies and attempted to install his brother as King of Spain, the British under Wellington gave aid to the rebels. The defeat of the Grand Armée in Russia paved the way for the formation of the Sixth coalition, and Napoléon was eventually defeated. As the premier anti-Napoleonic power, the British were very influential at the Congress of Vienna, and when Napoléon escaped from Elba and attempted to regain his position, he was halted by Wellington at Waterloo and exiled to the British possession of St. Helena.

The postwar period was somewhat chaotic in Britain, but reform gradually took hold. As early as 1807, the slave trade was abolished, and in 1833 ownership of slaves was outlawed- despite being a tremendous strain on the government's finances and offering no conceivable economic advantage. The franchise was greatly expanded, and Parliamentary constituencies rationalised, by the Great Reform Act in 1832. Catholic emancipation had been achieved back in 1829, though Jewish emancipation would be delayed until 1858. A distinct two-party system between the Whigs and Tories developed.

Captain James Cook's voyages in the late 18th century had been greeted with interest by the British public, but one of the most significant consequences was the discovery of Australia. In 1788, a penal colony was established at Botany Bay, and by the end of the century the British had mapped and laid claim to the entire coastline of the continent. The Napoleonic Wars provided an excuse to appropriate French colonies, and the distribution of British and French colonies in the West Indies was finally settled. In addition, the British took the Cape and Mauritius, and negotiated with the Americans to gain ownership of the Oregon Country. This changed landscape of settler colonies, coupled with the growth of British India, gave rise to a new Empire. Where the First British Empire had been dominated by America, the Second Empire was much more widespread, and not entirely focused on settler colonialism. These trends would only continue.

Victorian Era
In 1837, the 19-year-old princess Alexandrina Victoria succeeded to the throne as Queen Victoria. The nation did not initially expect much her, and the early years of her reign were a time of political instability. However, she would die one of the longest-reigning and most beloved monarchs in British history. Her happy marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha produced a new dynasty that holds the throne to this day, while her large family and its many dynastic marriages earned her the nickname "Grandmother of Europe".

The Victorian era was a time of economic and imperial expansion. Sir Robert Peel led the charge by repealing the corn laws, beginning the ascendency of Free Trade worldwide, while London, the north of England, and the central belt of Scotland led the world in industrialisation. London became the financial centre of Europe, and thereby the world. Culturally, it was a time when religion and morality were viewed as pillars of society. Reform movements had a great impact in the rapidly-growing middle-class. In the field of the arts, movements such as the Pre-Raphaelites with an emphasis on realism dominated. Literature saw the exceptional work of Charles Dickens and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Toward the end of the period, literature would still flourish in the works of authors as distinct as Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling.

A short-lived rebellion in Canada came to nothing, and the crushing of the Indian mutiny in 1857 led to the end of the Mughal Empire and establishment of the British Raj over all India. Settler colonialism focused on Australia, where convict transportation was gradually phased out, New Zealand, where the provisions for the indigenous Māori were made by the Treaty of Waitangi, and Natal, which quickly surpassed the Cape as the main source of British migration to Africa. By 1848, Nova Scotia gained wide political autonomy and responsible government, a pattern that was repeated throughout the settler colonies. In 1867, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada confederated to form the Dominion of Canada; setting a precedent that would be repeated by Cascadia in 1889 and Australia in 1901. Political rights grew in the UK proper: in 1867 and 1884 the franchise was greatly expanded by new Reform Acts, and a distinct political culture began to emerge. The Conservative and Liberal parties, led by Benjamin Disraeli and William Ewart Gladstone respectively, dominated the landscape; but Charles Stewart Parnell's Irish Parliamentary Party rose to prominence by its demand of Home Rule for Ireland, a highly controversial issue that would split the Liberals. Labour unions became more powerful and successful, while local governments acquired greater responsibilities.

The UK led the world in the Scramble for Africa, and while not quite able to achieve its goal of British control from Cape to Cairo, it still acquired significant possessions. The New Imperialism focused on "civilising" indigenous peoples through education and Christianity. Though certainly not approved of today, the efforts were nonetheless in good faith, and changed the culture of Africa significantly. Missionary efforts led to the development of a ubiquitous African Christianity, and British influence can still be discerned in all independent states of the former Empire.

Throughout the Victorian Era, the British Empire stood in "Splendid Isolation" from continental Europe, and was generally unconcerned with events outside its sphere of influence. As tensions grew throughout Europe, however, the UK inevitably began to seek alliances.

Edwardian Era and Imperial Federation
In 1901, Queen Victoria died, provoking almost universal mourning. She was succeeded by her son, Edward VII, the first monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. A new era had dawned in British politics.

The Edwardian era was a time of extreme affluence, especially among the aristocracy, and the British upper class lived lives of incredible luxury. At the same time, prosperity was expanding in all sectors of society, and the increased representation of the working class led to greater political change. It was an era of progressivism, and the large Liberal majority elected to Parliament in 1905 were certainly in favour of this. The Liberal government of H. H. Asquith introduced heavier taxation on the rich, curbed the power of the House of Lords, and laid the foundations of the modern Welfare State. In Australia, the Labor Party became the first of its kind in the world to lead a government. Abroad, the UK became more involved in international affairs, and reached Verständnis with Germany.

All this occurred at a time of great Imperial loyalty, and many called for an Imperial Federation- the union of the UK and its Dominions into one pluricontinental nation. In 1911, an Imperial Conference was convened in London, and Prime Minister Joseph Ward of New Zealand called for the implementation of the Federation at the earliest possible date. Asquith demurred, believing that such a union would be detrimental to British sovereignty, but many of the other delegates were favourable, and eventually a compromise was reached: the parliaments of the UK and the Dominions would vote on weather to send delegates to an Imperial Convention. As the year progressed, all of the Dominions voted in favour, and in 1912 the Imperial Convention met in London. In a little over a month, the Convention had drafted a constitutional document, the Constitution of the Imperial Federation Act. This provided for a Parliament in London with authority over defence, trade, foreign affairs, and the remaining colonial Empire, while providing autonomy for the realms (Great Britain and Ireland) and Dominions. By 17 October all of the Parliaments had ratified the Act, and the Imperial Federation of the British Empire was formed.

New Nation in a Changing World
While the UK and Germany were able to avoid entry into the Great War, they still suffered from the ripple effects of scarcity and the Great Flu. Regardless, the UK remained more or less as strong as it had been due to not participating in the War, and as another consequence the country retained a sense of optimism. Women were granted the right to vote, and property qualifications were gradually abolished. The UK continued to set a pattern for advanced legislation.

In the wake of the Great War and Great Flu, a tremendous economic boom rocked the world in the 1920s, and the UK was one of the greatest beneficiaries. But in 1929, the American Stock Market crashed, and a ripple effect of tariffs and protectionism let to the Great Depression. The Depression had as much of a negative impact on the UK as on any other country, but the most worrying consequence was abroad, where Syndicalism was on the rise in Europe.

Disturbed by the rapid spread of Syndicalism, and the strong organisation of the Syndicalist powers, the UK brought together other liberal democracies in Northern Europe to form the North Sea Treaty Organisation, an alliance for mutual defence. This led to the Cold War, a time of escalating tensions between the Syndicalist and Democratic countries.

The Cold War and Beyond
Initially, the Cold War was pursued with almost single-minded devotion. But in the 1960s, cracks in the system began to show. A right-wing youth culture challenged the liberal consensus, and many mainstream politicians began to seriously question the seriousness of the conflict. Even on the left, many decried the Cold War as an imperialist conflict. This disunity at home was compounded by decolonisation, which had started with India in 1947, been accelerated with Ghana ten years later, and resulted in the almost wholesale abandonment of the Colonial Empire. At the same time, however, the UK expanded. The West Indies Federation was admitted to the Imperial Federation in 1960, which produced a small but significant trend of former colonies joining the UK, such as Mauritius and Fiji. The fact that all of the new Dominions were majority non-white accelerated the push toward full racial equality. Indigenous rights movements began to gain prominence in South Africa, Australia, Canada, Cascadia, and New Zealand. The new distrust of the Cold War led Prime Minister Edward Heath to began a policy of dialogue with the Pact of Steel. This new model assumed that the divisions between Syndicalism and Democracy were entrenched, more or less permanent, and that the Cold War was unwinnable. This became an orthodoxy at the Foreign Office, and was continued throughout the 1970s. This was changed by Margaret Thatcher's victory in the 1979 elections.

Thatcher, believing that the Cold War was winnable, began an arms race with the Pact of Steel. This aggressive foreign policy led to similar countermeasures within the Syndicalist bloc, and Argentina almost provoked a global war with the South Georgia crisis of 1982. Eventually, however, the less-advanced Syndicalist economies came under heavy strain, and reform movements gained greater force. Gianfranco Fini's rise to become Prime Minister of Italy signified change, and his pro-market and pro-democratisation reforms were widely copied by other Syndicalist powers. Fini even began negotiations with Thatcher, but her government was unwilling to give up on any of its policies, and thus the arms race continued. But a combination of the strain put on the Syndicalist military-industrial complex, combined with the spiraling consequences of reform, led to the Revolutions of 1990, which toppled Syndicalism worldwide. Thatcher resigned, stating that she had gone into federal politics in the first place due to the Cold War, "and now my work is done".

Geography
The total land area of the UK is approximately 8,442,756 square miles, which makes it the largest sovereign state in the world by area. The UK is so large due to its pluricontinental nature, and it encompasses incorporated territory on five continents. In Europe, the UK holds the British Isles in their entirety, as well as the small peninsula of Gibraltar on the coast of Spain. In Africa, the UK controls significant territory on the far southern tip of the continent, as well as the archipelago of the Seychelles and the island of Mauritius. The UK includes all of the Australian continent, the islands of New Zealand, and several island chains and archipelagoes in Micronesia and Polynesia. South American territory is limited to Guyana, but the UK also controls much of the West Indies, and the northern third of the North American continent.

Political Divisions
The UK is divided into a total of fourteen Realms and Dominions (about the governance of which, see below). These are each considered sovereign states within the greater sovereign state of the UK, and many of them are themselves federations.

The following list of Realms and Dominions (collectively referred to as Constituent States) is provided for reference: