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Area

94,247 sq. miles (244,100 sq. km)

Population

59,618,000

Density

632 per sq. mile (244 per sq. km)

Urban Population

89 per cent

Head of State

The Monarch - H M Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne on 6 February 1952 and was crowned Queen on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey.

Government

Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom (UK) comprises Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are Crown dependencies with their own legislative systems and they do not form part of the U K.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. The constitution is not contained in any single document. It has evolved in the course of time, formed partly by statute laws passed by Parliament, partly by common laws based on custom and judicial decisions, and partly by convention.
Parliament consists of the Monarch, an elected House of Commons with 650 members, and an unelected House of Lords with about 1400 members including the 26 Lords Spiritual made up of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and 24 bishops

National Flag

The Union Flag, generally known as the Union Jack, is a combination of the cross of St George of England (red cross on white background), cross of St Andrew of Scotland (white diagonal cross on blue background) and cross of St Patrick of Ireland (red diagonal cross on a white background). The correct orientation of the flag is with the broader band of white uppermost near the pole.
The Union Flag was first introduced in 1606 after the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland under one sovereign. In its present form it dates from 1801 following the union with Ireland.

Joined EU

1 January 1973

Capital

London - population 7,074,265

Language

English

Education

Pre-school education for ages 2 - 5 is not compulsory but a free place is available for children aged 4 years. Primary and Secondary education is free and compulsory from 5 - 16 years except in Northern Ireland where the starting age is 4 years.

Religion

There are two established churches in the U K - the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. The majority of the population is Anglican but there are significant minorities, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Methodist. About 5 per cent of the population follow other faiths - Moslims, Jews, Hindus and Sikhs.

Currency

Pound Sterling (£) of 100 pence. The decimal system was introduced on 15 February 1971. The U K is the only country in the European Union not to adopt the Euro of 100 cents.

Landscape

Although small in size, the landscape is varied. There are the windswept Scottish Highlands and the Grampian mountains, which include Ben Nevis, in the north. In the north- west of England are the Cumbrian mountains and Lake District, which include Scafell Pike, linked to the Cheviot Hills and the Pennines from north to south. Most of Wales is covered by the Cambrian mountains. The Fens in eastern England is flat and not much above sea level. The lowlands in both Scotland and England are where most people live and work either in agriculture or in industry. The limestone Cotswolds and the chalk Chiltern Hills are separated by fertile valleys and basins. The longest river in the United Kingdom is the Severn (220 miles or 354 km) which rises in Wales. The River Thames (215 miles or 346 km) rises in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire

Agriculture

About 75 per cent of the British countryside is farmland. About one third is used for growing crops and the rest is used for grazing sheep and cattle. Farming is now highly mechanised and so only about 3 per cent of the population work in agriculture. The main crop-growing areas are in eastern, central, and southern parts of Britain. The major crops include wheat, barley, sugar beet, fruit, and potatoes. Livestock farming of cattle, sheep and pigs is more important in the wetter west and there is poultry farming in all parts of the country. There are fishing grounds around the coast of Britain especially the North Sea. The catch is mainly cod, haddock, plaice and mackerel. In Scotland there is both farmed and wild salmon.

Resources

The industrial economy was originally based on the abundance of coal and iron ore but coal mining is in decline. In 1969, oil and natural gas were discovered in the North Sea. The nuclear power industry produces 29 per cent of the U K electricity. Other natural resources include limestone, tin, sand and gravel.

Industry

Britain was the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the second half of the 18 century when the traditional agricultural economy was replaced by one dominated by machinery and the manufacture of goods. This was made possible through technical advances such as the steam engine. The industrial revolution spread and accelerated throughout Europe, the U S A and Japan. Computer controlled robots are used in industry to transport materials or to perform repetitive tasks.

Although the U K industrial power and influence lessened during the second half of the 20th century in the face of foreign competition, it is still a major trading nation with a wide range of industries. They include machinery and transport equipment, steel, metal, and metal products, food processing, shipbuilding, aircraft, petroleum and gas extraction, electronics and communications, chemicals, textiles, shoes, plastics and ceramics. Banking, insurance and other financial services are important to the economy along with other service industries including tourism.