United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Timeline: It Will Still Burn On | ||||||
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Anthem: "God Save the King" |
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Royal coat of arms in Scotland |
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Location of the United Kingdom (dark green)
– in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) |
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Capital (and largest city) | London | |||||
Official languages | English • Scots • Welsh • Irish | |||||
Ethnic groups (2011) | 87.1% White 7.0% Asian 3.0% Black 2.0% Mixed 0.9% Other |
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Religion | 52% No religion 38% Christianity 6% Islam 0.5% Judaism 3.5% Other |
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Demonym | British • Breton • Brit (colloquial) | |||||
Constituent countries | England Wales Cornwall Scotland Northern Ireland |
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Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy | |||||
- | Monarch | George VII | ||||
- | Prime Minister | Clive Lewis | ||||
- | Deputy Prime Minister | Barry Gardiner | ||||
Legislature | Parliament | |||||
- | Upper house | Senate | ||||
- | Lower house | House of Commons | ||||
Formation | ||||||
- | 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 | ||||
- | Irish Free State Constitution Act | 5 December 1922 | ||||
- | Current constitution | 16 September 2020 | ||||
Population | ||||||
- | 2022 estimate | 67,791,400 | ||||
Currency | Euro (€) (EUR ) |
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Drives on the | left |
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly referred to as the United Kingdom (UK), is a sovereign state located on the British isles in Western Europe. The nation borders Ireland via Northern Ireland, and shares overseas borders with France, Belgium and the Netherlands to the southeast. The United Kingdom is the 11th-largest country in Europe, and has a population of around 67 million.
The United Kingdom emerged from a series of annexations and unifications, beginning with the unification of England (including Wales, which had been annexed in 1542) and Scotland in 1707, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Throughout the 19th century, Great Britain expanded its colonial empire, becoming the biggest empire in history by 1921 in the aftermath of World War I. In 1922, Ireland gained independence, while the United Kingdom reconstituted itself as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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