| United Kingdom of England, Wales and Cornwall In other official languages Teyrnas Unedig Lloegr, Cymru a Chernyw (Welsh) | ||||||
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| Motto: Dieu et mon droit (French) "God and my right" |
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| Anthem: Land of Hope and Glory Royal anthem: God Save the King |
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 Location of the United Kingdom (green)
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| Capital (and largest city) | London | |||||
| Official languages | English • Welsh • Cornish | |||||
| Other languages | Manx | |||||
| Demonym(s) | British • Briton • Brit (colloquial) | |||||
| Constituent countries | England Wales Cornwall |
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| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | |||||
| - | Monarch | Richard V | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Emily Thornberry | ||||
| - | Deputy Prime Minister | Barry Gardiner | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| - | Upper house | House of Lords | ||||
| - | Lower house | House of Commons | ||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | Laws in Wales Acts | 1535 and 1542 | ||||
| - | Union of the Crowns | 24 March 1603 | ||||
| - | Acts of Union of England and Scotland | 1 May 1707 | ||||
| - | Acts of Union of Great Britain and Ireland | 1 January 1801 | ||||
| - | Independence of Ireland | 1 November 1926 | ||||
| - | Scotland Act | 1 December 2014 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 151,058 km2 58,324 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||||
| - | Estimate | 59,757,301 (29th) | ||||
| Currency | British dollar ($) (GBD) |
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| Drives on the | left | |||||
The United Kingdom of England, Wales and Cornwall, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or incorrectly Britain, is a country in northwestern Europe occupying the southern part of the island of Great Britain. It is the home Commonwealth realm and the seat of the Commonwealth monarch. It borders Scotland to the north is and bounded by the North Sea on the east, the Irish Sea on the west and the English Channel on the south. It has maritime borders with the Republic of Ireland bounded by the Irish Sea on the east and the North Channel on the north. Its surface area of 162,418 square kilometers makes it the 13th-largest country in Europe and the 95th-largest in the world. With a population of over 60.3 million inhabitants, it is the fifth-most populous country in Europe and the 29th in the world.
The United Kingdom is a sovereign union of three constituent countries: England, Wales and Cornwall. It is a trilingual parliamentary monarchy under King Richard V, with English, Welsh and Cornish being official languages, although Manx is a recognised minority language.
Throughout history, the United Kingdom has been a very influential nation, having colonised many regions of the world, especially in Africa and the Americas. All of these locations were decolonised until the late 20th century. Ireland was also part of the United Kingdom until it seceded in 1925 with the Irish War of Independence. Scotland also seceded from the union in 2014 after a national referendum was held.
The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the League of Nations, the European Union, and PANTO.
History[]
Early history[]
The earliest evidence for early modern humans in Northwestern Europe, a jawbone discovered in Devon at Kents Cavern, is believed to be between 41,000 and 44,000 years old. Continuous human habitation of southern Britain dates to around 13,000 years ago, at the end of the Last Glacial Period. The region has numerous remains from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age, such as Stonehenge and Avebury. In the Iron Age, all of Britain south of the Firth of Forth was inhabited by the Celtic people known as the Britons, including some Belgic tribes (e.g. the Atrebates, the Catuvellauni, the Trinovantes, etc.) in the south east.
Roman rule (43–410)[]
Roman conquest of Britain began in 43 and was concluded in 84; the Romans would maintain control of the area until the early 5th century. Britannia referred to the Roman province that encompassed what is now called United Kingdom, while "Great Britain" encompassed the whole island, taking in the land north of the River Forth known to the Romans as Caledonia in modern Scotland (i.e. "greater" Britain).
Anglo-Saxon period (410–927)[]
The end of Roman rule in 410 facilitated the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, which historians often regard as the origin of England and of the English people. The Anglo-Saxons, a collection of various Germanic peoples, established several kingdoms that became the primary powers in present-day England and parts of southern Scotland. The region was Christianised around 600 AD.
The Anglo-Saxons warred with British successor states in western Britain and the Hen Ogledd (Old North; the Brittonic-speaking parts of northern Britain), as well as with each other. Raids by Vikings became frequent after about AD 800, and the Norsemen settled in large parts of what is now England. During this period, several rulers attempted to unite the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, an effort that would lead to the emergence of the Kingdom of England by the 10th century.
Early unified kingdom (927–1066)[]
On 12 July 927, the various Anglo-Saxon kings swore their allegiance to Æthelstan of Wessex (r. 924–939), unifying most of modern England under a single king. In 1016, the kingdom became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway.
Norman rule (1066–1135)[]
In 1066, a Norman expedition invaded and conquered England. The Norman dynasty, established by William the Conqueror, ruled England for over half a century. This, in addition to initiating the gradual Latinization of the English language, led to the transfer of the English capital city and chief royal residence from the Anglo-Saxon one at Winchester to Westminster, and the City of London quickly established itself as England's largest and principal commercial centre. The Normans seized large parts of Wales, conquered much of Ireland and were invited to settle in Scotland, bringing to each country feudalism on the Northern French model and Norman-French culture. The Anglo-Norman ruling class greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, each of the local cultures. Subsequent medieval English kings completed the conquest of Wales and made unsuccessful attempts to annex Scotland.
Houses of Blois, Anjou and Plantagenet (1135–1485)[]
After a period of succession crisis and civil war known as the Anarchy (1135–1154), England came under the rule of the House of Plantagenet, a dynasty which later inherited claims to the Kingdom of France. During this period, in 1215, Magna Carta was signed.
Asserting its independence in the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland maintained its independence thereafter, albeit in near-constant conflict with England.
A succession crisis in France led to the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), a series of conflicts involving the peoples of both nations. Following the Hundred Years' Wars, England became embroiled in its own succession wars. The Wars of the Roses, which began in 1455, pitted two branches of the House of Plantagenet against one another, the House of York and the House of Lancaster. The Lancastrian Henry Tudor ended the War of the Roses and established the Tudor dynasty in 1485.
House of Tudor (1485–1603)[]
Under the Tudors, England became a colonial power, and King Henry VIII subsumed Wales into the nation. During this period, the Protestant Reform happened, causing the Anglican Church to branch off from the Roman Catholic Church.
House of Stuart and interregna (1603–1707)[]
The rule of the Stuarts, a Roman Catholic dynasty, began with a personal union between England and Scotland (the "Union of the Crowns") when James VI of Scotland became king of England and Ireland, although they remained politically separate nations. During the rule of the Stuarts, the English Civil War took place between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists, which resulted in the execution of King Charles I (1649) and the establishment of a series of republican governments—first, a Parliamentary republic known as the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653), then a military dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell known as the Protectorate (1653–1659). The Stuarts returned to the restored throne in 1660, though continued questions over religion and power resulted in the deposition of another Stuart king, James II, in the Glorious Revolution (1688).
Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801)[]
England (which at the time included Wales) united with Scotland in 1707 to form a new sovereign state called Great Britain. The unitary state was governed by a single parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but distinct legal systems – English law and Scots law – remained in use.
Queen Anne (r. 1702–1713) did not produce a clear Protestant heir and endangered the line of succession, with the laws of succession differing in the two kingdoms and threatening a return to the throne of Scotland of the House of Stuart, exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The early years of the newly united kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings, particularly the Jacobite rising of 1715. The relative incapacity or ineptitude of the Hanoverian kings following Anne resulted in a growth in the powers of Parliament and a new role, that of "prime minister", emerged in the heyday of Robert Walpole. The "South Sea Bubble" economic crisis was brought on by the failure of the South Sea Company, an early joint-stock company. The campaigns of Jacobitism ended in defeat for the Stuarts' cause in 1746.
Victory in the Seven Years' War (1754–63) led to the dominance of the British Empire, which was to become the foremost global power for over a century. Great Britain dominated the Indian subcontinent through the trading and military expansion of the East India Company in colonial India. In wars against France, it gained control of both Upper and Lower Canada, and until suffering defeat in the American War of Independence, it also had dominion over the Thirteen Colonies. The period also included the Industrial Revolution, which started in England and then expanded to the rest of Europe and the world.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922)[]
The Acts of Union 1800 unified the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into a single sovereign state. Having financed the European coalition that defeated France during the Napoleonic Wars, the United Kingdom developed a large Royal Navy that enabled its Empire to become the foremost world power for the next century. For nearly a century from the final defeat of Napoleon to the outbreak of the Great War, Britain was mostly at peace with other European powers. However, it did engage in conflicts in other regions, including the Crimean War (1853–56) with the Russian Empire, in which actual hostilities were relatively limited, and the Perso-British War (1876–82), which liberated the Persian-conquered regions that would become the modern states of Syria Palaestina and Egypt. The United Kingdom also engaged extensive offensive military operations in Africa and Asia, such as the Opium Wars with the Qing Dynasty, to extend its overseas territorial holdings and influence.
Beginning in earnest in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Imperial government granted increasing levels of autonomy to locally elected governments in colonies where white settlers had become demographically and/or politically dominant, with this process eventually resulting in Canada, Swania, New Zealand and South Africa becoming self-governing dominions, and much later independent nations.
Rapid industrialisation continued up until the mid-19th century. The Great Irish Famine, exacerbated by government inaction, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland and increased calls for Irish land reform. The 19th century was an era of rapid economic modernisation and growth of industry, trade and finance, in which Britain largely dominated the world economy. Outward migration was heavy to the principal British overseas possessions and to the United States. The British Empire was expanded into most parts of Africa and South Asia. The Colonial Office and India Office ruled through a small number of administrators who managed the units of the empire locally, while democratic institutions began to develop. The British Raj, by far the most important overseas possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In overseas policy, the central policy was free trade, which enabled British and Irish financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America.
From April to October 1908, Britain hosted the games of the fourth Olympiad.
In the early 1910s, when the growing naval power of the German Empire increasingly came to be seen as an existential threat, Britain abandoned its policy of splendid isolation (non-allegiance) and began to cooperate with Japan, France, Russia, and the United States. Although not formally allied with any of these powers, by 1914 British policy had all but committed to declaring war on Germany if the latter attacked France. This was realized in August 1914 when Germany invaded France via Belgium, whose neutrality had been guaranteed by London. The result was the Great War, the deadliest conflict in human history to date, which ended in an Allied victory in November 1918 but inflicted a massive cost to British manpower, materiel and treasure.
On August 5, 1921, the Empire of Japan and the United Kingdom renewed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The United States government condemned the alliance as they feared this would lead to Japanese dominance in the Pacific market and cut off American trade with China. These fears were only elevated when news media in the United States reported alleged Anti-American clauses in the treaty.
Growing desire for Irish self-governance led to the Irish War of Independence almost immediately after the conclusion of the Great War which resulted in the 1922 British recognition of the Irish Free State, which later became the modern state of Ireland. In light of these changes, the British state was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
United Kingdom of Great Britain (1922–2014)[]
Shortly after Irish independence, tensions between the United States and the United Kingdom, which also involved other powers (China and Korea in the US side; Japan and the Confederate States in the UK side), led to the massive Anglo-American War (1923–1926). Britain's defeat in the conflict resulted in its loss of Hawaii, the Caribbean and India, all of which became independent states, with the Indian Raj being split into multiple new nations. The creation of PANTO was also a direct consequence of the war.
By the mid-1920s most of the British population could listen to BBC radio programmes. Experimental television broadcasts began in 1929 and the first scheduled BBC Television Service commenced in 1936. The 1928 Act widened suffrage by giving women electoral equality with men. A wave of strikes in the mid-1920s culminated in the General Strike of 1926. Britain had still not recovered from the effects of the war when the Great Depression (1929–1932) occurred. This led to considerable unemployment and hardship in the old industrial areas, as well as political and social unrest in the 1930s, with rising membership in communist and socialist parties. A coalition government was formed in 1931.
Nonetheless, "Britain was a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests and sitting at the heart of a global production system." In 1930, England, the country where association football was created, hosted the inaugural FIFA World Cup.
After Germany invaded Poland, Britain entered the Polish-German War by declaring war on Germany in 1940. Clement Attlee became prime minister and head of a coalition government. Despite the defeat of its European allies in the first year of the war, Britain and its Empire continued the fight alone against Germany. Attlee engaged industry, scientists, and engineers to advise and support the government and the military in the prosecution of the war effort. On 13 May 1942, the Treaty of Gdańsk was signed, finally ending the Polish-German War.
After the war, the UK became one of the permanent members of the PANTO Security Council. Britain hosted the 13th edition of the Summer Olympics in 1944. In the immediate post-war years, the Labour government initiated a radical programme of reforms, which had a significant effect on British society in the following decades. Major industries and public utilities were nationalised, a welfare state was established, and a comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare system, the National Health Service, was created.
Over the next three decades, the remaining colonies of the British Empire gained their independence, with all those that sought independence supported by the UK, during both the transition period and afterwards. Many became members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Neither Britain nor Ireland have expressed any interest in joining Adolf Hitler's Germanic League since the mid-20th century.
As a member of the First World, Britain participated on the American War (1961–78) in the American side against the Confederation of American Socialist States.
Towards the end of the 20th century, major changes to the governance of the UK led to the establishment of devolved administrations for Scotland and Wales.
In 1980, England hosted the 1980 FIFA World Cup, becoming the host for the second time after the inaugural edition.
In 2001, Britain and Mutapa conducted Operation Sabertooth, which successfully ousted Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe.
In 2012, London hosted the 30th edition of the Summer Olympics.
In 2014, Scotland voted to leave the United Kingdom and subsequently to adopt a republican system, becoming the Republic of Scotland.
United Kingdom of England, Wales and Cornwall (since 2014)[]
After Scottish independence, the United Kingdom reorganised itself, giving status of constituent countries to the English region of Cornwall. It changed its flag and adopted its current name, United Kingdom of England, Wales and Cornwall.
In 2015, the United Kingdom, Scotland and Ireland formed an intergovernmental organisation called the British Isle Community, to act as a counterpart to the Germanic, Latin, and Balkan leagues. In 2022, the British Isle Community and the latter two merged to form the European Union.
Etymology and terminology[]
The Acts of Union 1707 declared that the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term "United Kingdom" has occasionally been used as a description for the former Kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was simply "Great Britain". The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, the name was changed to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain". The current name was adopted following Scottish Independence in 2014.
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, England, Wales and Cornwall are also widely referred to as countries. The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom. Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the United Kingdom refer to Wales and Cornwall as "regions".
Politics[]
The United Kingdom is a unitary state under a constitutional monarchy. King Richard V is the monarch and head of state of the UK, as well as 8 other Commonwealth realms. The United Kingdom (and Commonwealth Realms where Richard V is head of state) is one of only five nations to have adopted absolute primogeniture and the first European monarchy to do so back in 2014 (Egypt, Haiti and New Holland adopted absolute primogeniture before). The monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn". The Constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified and consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statutes, judge-made case law and international treaties, together with constitutional conventions. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law", the UK Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament, and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. No Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.
Government[]
The UK is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. The Parliament of the United Kingdom is sovereign. It is made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Crown. The main business of Parliament takes place in the two houses, but royal assent is required for a bill to become an Act of Parliament (law).
For general elections (elections to the House of Commons), the UK is divided into 650 constituencies, each of which is represented by a Member of Parliament (MP). MPs hold office for up to five years and are always up for relection in general elections. The Conservative Party, Labour Party and Scottish National Party are, respectively, the current first, second and third largest parties (by number of MPs) in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the United Kingdom. Nearly all Prime Ministers have served as First Lord of the Treasury and all Prime Ministers have continuously served as First Lord of the Treasury since 1905, Minister for the Civil Service since 1968 and Minister for the Union since 2019. In modern times, the Prime Minister is, by constitutional convention, an MP. The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch and their appointment is governed by constitutional conventions. However, they are normally the leader of the political party with the most seats in the House of Commons and hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister not only has statutory functions (alongside other ministers), but is the monarch's principal adviser and it is for them to advise the monarch on the exercise of the royal prerogative in relation to government. In particular, the Prime Minister recommends the appointment of ministers and the decides the composition of the Cabinet.
Administrative divisions[]
The geographical division of the United Kingdom into counties or shires began in England and Scotland in the early Middle Ages and was complete throughout Great Britain and Ireland by the early Modern Period. Administrative arrangements were developed separately in each country of the United Kingdom, with origins which often predated the formation of the United Kingdom. Modern local government by elected councils, partly based on the ancient counties, was introduced separately: in England and Wales in a 1888 act, Scotland in a 1889 act and Ireland in a 1898 act, meaning there is no consistent system of administrative or geographic demarcation across the United Kingdom. Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.
The organisation of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to local arrangements. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine regions, now used primarily for statistical purposes. One region, Greater London, has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a referendum. It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected regional assemblies, but a proposed assembly in the Northeast region was rejected by a referendum in 2004. Since 2011, ten combined authorities have been established in England. Eight of these have elected mayors, the first elections for which took place on 4 May 2017. Below the regional tier, some parts of England have county councils and district councils and others have unitary authorities, while London consists of 32 London boroughs and the City of London. Councillors are elected by the first-past-the-post system in single-member wards or by the multi-member plurality system in multi-member wards.
Local government in Wales consists of 11 unitary authorities. All unitary authorities are led by a leader and cabinet elected by the council itself. These include the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, which are unitary authorities in their own right. Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.
Devolved governments[]
The English Flag
Wales and Cornwall each have their own government or executive, led by a First Minister (or Lewydh in Cornish), and a devolved unicameral legislature. England, the largest country of the United Kingdom, has no devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the UK's government and parliament on all issues. This situation has given rise to the so-called West Lothian question, which concerns the fact that members of parliament from Wales and Cornwall can vote, sometimes decisively, on matters that affect only England.
The Welsh Flag
The Welsh Government and the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; formerly the National Assembly for Wales) have wide-ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically reserved to the UK Parliament, including education, healthcare, Welsh law and local government. These powers were expanded following the independence of Scotland.
The Cornish Flag
The Cornish Government and the Parliament have more limited powers than those devolved to Wales.
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