United Kingdom (For Want of a Telegram)

United Kingdom of Great Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain
	Motto: "Dieu et mon droit" (French); "God and my right" (English)
	Anthem: "God Save the Queen";
	Location of the United Kingdom (dark green) within the European Union (light green)
Capital; (and largest city)	London
Official languages	English
Recognised regional languages	Scots; Welsh; Cornish; Scottish Gaelic
Demonym	British
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Legislature	Parliament
Formation
Population
Currency	Pound sterling (£)

The United Kingdom of Great Britain, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK), Great Britain or simply Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, it includes the island of Great Britain (the name of which is also applied to the whole country), and many smaller islands. The UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-southwest, giving it the 12th longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 228,365 square kilometres (88,172 sq mi), the UK is the 83rd-largest sovereign state in the world and the 12th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 63.2 million inhabitants. Together, this makes it the fourth most densely populated country in the European Union.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch — since 6 February 1952 — is Queen Elizabeth II. The capital of UK and its largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million, the fourth-largest in Europe and second-largest in the European Union. Other major urban areas in the UK include the regions of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Liverpool.

The UK consists of three countries, England, Scotland and Wales. The latter two have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, and Cardiff, respectively. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the United Kingdom, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation.

The relationships among the countries of the United Kingdom have changed over time. Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1919, after the British defeat in World War I Ireland was given independence from the country, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the early 1910s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture, and legal systems of many of its former colonies.

The United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. The UK is considered to have a high-income economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index, ranking 14th in the world. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, and political influence internationally. It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a leading member state of the European Union (EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), since 1973. The UK is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7 finance ministers, the G7 forum, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).