United Kingdom - Wikipedia

United Kingdom - Wikipedia
Jump to content
Coordinates
55°N
3°W
 / 
55°N 3°W
 /
55; -3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Country in northwestern Europe
"UK" redirects here. For other uses, see
UK (disambiguation)
and
United Kingdom (disambiguation)
. Not to be confused with
England
or
Great Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Flag
Anthem:
God Save the King
Coat of arms
Used in relation to
Scotland
(right) and elsewhere (left)
Show globe
Show map of Europe
Show
British Overseas Territories
and
Crown Dependencies
Show
their exclusive economic zones
Capital
and largest city
London
51°30′N
0°7′W
 / 
51.500°N 0.117°W
 /
51.500; -0.117
National language
Regional and minority languages
Scots
Ulster Scots
Welsh
Cornish
Scottish Gaelic
Irish
British Sign Language
Ethnic groups
(2021)
83.1%
White
8.6%
Asian
3.7%
Black
2.7%
Mixed
2.0%
other
Religion
(2021)
46.6%
Christianity
37.6%
no religion
6.0%
Islam
1.6%
Hinduism
2.2%
other
5.9% not stated
Demonyms
British
Briton
Brit (colloquial)
Government
Unitary
parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Monarch
Charles III
Prime Minister
Keir Starmer
Legislature
Parliament
Upper house
House of Lords
Lower house
House of Commons
Formation
Laws in Wales Acts
1535 and 1542
Union of the Crowns
24 March 1603
Treaty of Union
22 July 1706
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
6 December 1922
Area
• Total
244,376 km
(94,354 sq mi)
78th
• Land
242,741 km
(93,723 sq mi)
10
Population
• 2024 estimate
69,281,437
10
20th
• 2021 census
66,912,637
• Density
285/km
(738.1/sq mi)
10
48th
GDP
PPP
2026 estimate
• Total
$4.721 trillion
11
10th
• Per capita
$67,585
11
33rd
GDP
(nominal)
2026 estimate
• Total
$4.265 trillion
11
5th
• Per capita
$61,056
11
21st
Gini
(2021)
35.4
12
medium inequality
HDI
(2023)
0.946
13
very high
13th
Currency
Pound sterling
) (
GBP
Time zone
UTC
+0
GMT
• Summer (
DST
UTC
+1
BST
Date format
dd
mm
yyyy
AD
Calling code
+44
ISO 3166 code
GB
Internet TLD
.uk
The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
, commonly known as the
United Kingdom
UK
) or
Britain
is a country in
northwestern Europe
, off the coast of
the continental mainland
. It comprises
England
Scotland
Wales
and
Northern Ireland
with a population of over 69 million in 2024. The UK includes the island of
Great Britain
, the north-eastern part of the island of
Ireland
, and most of
the smaller islands
within the
British Isles
, covering 94,354 square miles (244,376 km
).
It shares
a land border
with the
Republic of Ireland
and is surrounded by the
Atlantic Ocean
, the
North Sea
, the
English Channel
, the
Celtic Sea
and the
Irish Sea
, while maintaining sovereignty over the
Crown Dependencies
and the
British Overseas Territories
. The capital and largest city of England and the UK is
London
Edinburgh
Cardiff
and
Belfast
are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The British Isles have been continuously inhabited since the
Neolithic
. In AD 43 the
Roman conquest of Britain
began. The
Roman departure
between 383 and 410 was followed by
Anglo-Saxon settlement
beginning around 450. In 1066 the
Normans conquered England
. Over the 17th century the role of the
British monarchy
was reduced, particularly as a result of the
English Civil War
. In 1707 the Kingdom of England and the
Kingdom of Scotland
united under the
Treaty of Union
to create the
Kingdom of Great Britain
. The
Acts of Union 1800
incorporated the
Kingdom of Ireland
to create the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
in 1801. Most of Ireland
seceded
from the UK in 1922 as the
Irish Free State
, and the
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927
created the present United Kingdom.
The UK
became the first industrialised country
and was the world's
foremost power
for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the
Pax Britannica
between 1815 and 1914. The
British Empire
was the leading
economic power
for most of the 19th century, a position supported by
its agricultural prosperity
, its role as a dominant
trading nation
, a massive industrial capacity,
significant technological achievements
, and the rise of
19th-century London
as the world's principal financial centre. At its height in the 1920s, the empire encompassed around a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the
largest in history
. However,
its involvement in the First World War
and
in the Second World War
damaged
Britain's economic power
, and a global wave of
decolonisation
led to the independence of most British colonies.
The UK is a
constitutional monarchy
and
parliamentary democracy
with three distinct jurisdictions:
England and Wales
Scotland
, and
Northern Ireland
. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own governments and parliaments which control various
devolved
matters. A
developed country
with
an advanced economy
, the UK ranks amongst the
largest economies by nominal GDP
and is one of the world's
largest exporters
and
importers
. As a
nuclear state
with one of the
highest defence budgets
, the UK maintains
one of the strongest militaries in Europe
British culture
is globally influential, notably in the
Anglosphere
and
the Commonwealth
its soft power influence
is observable in the legal and political systems of many
former colonies
, and in its exports
of language
literature
theatre
cinema
music
and
sport
. A
great power
, the UK is part of
numerous international organisations
Etymology and terminology
See also:
Britain (place name)
and
Terminology of the British Isles
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".
19
The term "United Kingdom" has occasionally been used for the former
Kingdom of Great Britain
, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was simply "Great Britain".
20
The
Acts of Union 1800
formed the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
. Following the
partition of Ireland
and the independence of the
Irish Free State
in 1922, which left
Northern Ireland
as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed in 1927 to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
21
Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are widely referred to as
countries
22
The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe it.
23
Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve
NUTS 1 regions
, refer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions".
24
Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province".
25
With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences".
26
The term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination.
27
It is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.
28
The word
England
is occasionally used incorrectly to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole, a mistake principally made by people from outside the UK.
29
The term "Britain" is used as a synonym for
Great Britain
30
31
but also sometimes for the United Kingdom.
32
31
Usage is mixed: the
style guide
of the
UK Government
prefers the term "UK" rather than "Britain" or "British" (except when referring to embassies
),
34
while other government documents acknowledge that both terms refer to the United Kingdom and that elsewhere "British government" is used at least as frequently as "United Kingdom government".
35
The UK
Permanent Committee on Geographical Names
recognises "United Kingdom", "UK" and "U.K." as shortened and abbreviated geopolitical terms for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in its toponymic guidelines; it does not list "Britain" but notes that "it is only the one specific nominal term 'Great Britain' which invariably excludes Northern Ireland".
35
The
BBC
historically preferred to use "Britain" as shorthand only for Great Britain, though the present style guide does not take a position except that "Great Britain" excludes Northern Ireland.
36
The adjective "British" is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom and is used in law to refer to United Kingdom citizenship and
nationality
37
People of the United Kingdom use several different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being
British
Scottish
Welsh
Northern Irish
or
Irish
40
or as having a combination of different national identities.
41
History
Main articles:
Formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
and
History of the British Isles
Further information:
History of the constitution of the United Kingdom
and
Timeline of British history
Prior to the Treaty of Union
Main articles:
History of England
History of Wales
History of Scotland
, and
History of Ireland
Further information:
Kingdom of England
and
Kingdom of Scotland
Stonehenge
in
Wiltshire
is a ring of stones, each about 4 m (13 ft) high, 2 m (7 ft) wide and 25
tonnes
, erected 2400–2200 BC.
Settlement by
Cro-Magnons
of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago.
42
The island has been continuously inhabited since the last retreat of ice around 11,500 years ago.
43
By the end of the
region's prehistoric period
, the population is thought to have belonged largely to a culture termed
Insular Celtic
, comprising
Brittonic Britain
and
Gaelic Ireland
44
The
Roman conquest
, beginning in AD 43, and the 400-year
rule of southern Britain
, was followed by an invasion by
Germanic
Anglo-Saxon
settlers, reducing the Brittonic area mainly
to what was to become Wales
Cornwall
and, until the latter stages of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the
Hen Ogledd
(northern England and parts of southern Scotland).
45
Most of the
region settled by the Anglo-Saxons
became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.
46
Gaelic speakers in north-west Britain
(with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in the 5th century)
47
united with the
Picts
to create the
Kingdom of Scotland
in the 9th century.
48
The
Roman Baths
in
Bath, Somerset
, are a well-preserved
thermae
from
Roman Britain
In 1066 the
Normans
invaded England from northern France. After
conquering England
they 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.
49
The
Anglo-Norman
ruling class
greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, the local cultures.
50
Subsequent
medieval English kings
completed the
conquest of Wales
and tried unsuccessfully
to annex Scotland
. Asserting its independence in the 1320
Declaration of Arbroath
, Scotland maintained its independence thereafter, albeit in
near-constant conflict with England
51
In 1215
Magna Carta
was the first document to state that no government was above the law and that citizens have rights protecting them.
52
The English monarchs, through inheritance of
substantial territories in France
and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the
Hundred Years' War
, while the
Kings of Scots
were in
an alliance with the French
during this period.
53
Early modern Britain
saw religious conflict resulting from the
Reformation
and the introduction of
Protestant
state churches in each country.
54
The
English Reformation
ushered in political, constitutional, social and cultural change in the 16th century and
established
the
Church of England
. It defined a national identity for England and slowly, but profoundly, changed people's religious beliefs.
55
Wales was
fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England
56
and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.
57
In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and
given to Protestant settlers
from England and Scotland.
58
The
Bayeux Tapestry
depicts the
Battle of Hastings
, 1066, and the events leading to it.
In 1603 the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a
personal union
when
James VI of Scotland
inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political, legal and religious institutions.
59
In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms
were involved in a series of connected wars
(including the
English Civil War
) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy, with
the execution
of
King Charles I
, and the establishment of the short-lived
unitary republic
of the
Commonwealth of England
, Scotland and Ireland.
60
Although the
monarchy was restored
, the
Interregnum
along with the
Glorious Revolution
of 1688 and the subsequent
Bill of Rights 1689
in England and
Claim of Right Act 1689
in Scotland ensured that, unlike much of the rest of Europe,
royal absolutism
would not prevail, and a professed Catholic could never accede to the throne. The
British constitution
would develop on the basis of
constitutional monarchy
and the
parliamentary system
61
With the founding of the
Royal Society
in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. During this period, particularly in England, the development of
naval power
and the interest in
voyages of discovery
led to the acquisition and settlement of overseas colonies, particularly in North America and the Caribbean.
62
Though previous attempts at uniting the two kingdoms within Great Britain in 1606, 1667 and 1689 had proved unsuccessful, the attempt initiated in 1705 led to the
Treaty of Union
of 1706 being agreed and ratified by both parliaments.
Union of England and Scotland
Main articles:
Treaty of Union
and
Kingdom of Great Britain
The
Treaty of Union
which unified the
Kingdom of England
and
Kingdom of Scotland
on 1 May 1707
On 1 May 1707 the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed, the result of the
Acts of Union 1707
between the
Kingdom of England
and
Kingdom of Scotland
63
In the 18th century cabinet government developed under
Robert Walpole
, who is considered the
de facto
first
prime minister
from 1721 to 1742. A series of
Jacobite uprisings
sought to remove the Protestant
House of Hanover
from the throne and restore the Catholic
House of Stuart
. The Jacobites were finally defeated at the
Battle of Culloden
in 1746, after which the
Scottish Highlanders
were forcibly assimilated into Scotland by revoking the feudal independence of
clan chiefs
. The British colonies in North America that broke away in the
American War of Independence
became the
United States
. British imperial ambition turned towards Asia, particularly to
India
64
British merchants played a leading part in the
Atlantic slave trade
, mainly between 1662 and 1807 when British or British-colonial
slave ships
transported nearly 3.3 million slaves from Africa.
65
The slaves were taken to
work on plantations
, principally
in the Caribbean
but also
in North America
66
However, with pressure from the
abolitionist movement
, Parliament banned the trade in 1807, banned slavery in the British Empire in 1833, and Britain took a leading role in the movement to abolish slavery worldwide through the
blockade of Africa
and pressing other nations to end their trade with a series of treaties.
67
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Main articles:
History of the United Kingdom
Acts of Union 1800
, and
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Victoria
reigned as
Queen of the United Kingdom
and
Empress of India
during the 19th century.
In 1800 the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland each passed an Act of Union, uniting the two kingdoms and creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801.
68
After the defeat of France at the end of the
French Revolutionary Wars
and
Napoleonic Wars
(1792–1815) the United Kingdom emerged as the principal naval and imperial power (with London the
largest city in the world from about 1830
).
69
Unchallenged at sea
, British dominance was later described as the
Pax Britannica
("British Peace"), a period of
relative peace amongst the great powers
(1815–1914) during which the British Empire became the global
hegemon
70
71
and adopted the role of
global policeman
72
73
From 1853 to 1856 Britain took part in the
Crimean War
, allied with the
Ottoman Empire
against
Tsarist Russia
74
Following the
Indian Rebellion of 1857
the British government led by
Lord Palmerston
assumed
direct rule
over
India
. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it
effectively controlled
the economies of regions such as
East Asia
and
Latin America
75
Throughout the
Victorian era
(1837–1901) political attitudes favoured
free trade
and
laissez-faire
policies. Beginning with the
Great Reform Act
in 1832, Parliament gradually
widened the voting franchise
, with the
1884 Reform Act
championed by
William Gladstone
granting
suffrage
to a majority of males for the first time. The British population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid
urbanisation
, causing significant social and economic stresses.
76
By the late 19th century the
Conservative Party
under
Benjamin Disraeli
and
Lord Salisbury
initiated a period of
imperial expansion in Africa
, maintained a policy of "
splendid isolation
" in Europe, and attempted to contain the influence of the
Russian Empire
in
Afghanistan
and
Persia
, in what came to be known as the
Great Game
77
During this time
Canada
Australia
and
New Zealand
were granted self-governing
dominion
status.
78
At the turn of the century, Britain's industrial dominance became challenged by the
German Empire
and the
United States
79
The
Edwardian era
(1901–1910) saw
social reform
and
home rule for Ireland
become important domestic issues, while the
Labour Party
emerged from an alliance of
trade unions
and small socialist groups in 1900, and
suffragettes
campaigned for women's right to vote.
80
World wars and partition of Ireland
Main articles:
History of the United Kingdom during the First World War
Partition of Ireland
Interwar Britain
United Kingdom home front during the Second World War
, and
Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II
Wreaths being laid during the
Remembrance Sunday
service at the
Cenotaph
in
Whitehall
, London
Spitfire
and a
Hurricane
as flown in the
Battle of Britain
during the
Second World War
Britain was one of the principal
Allies
that defeated the
Central Powers
in the
First World War
(1914–1918). Alongside their French, Russian and (after 1917) American counterparts,
81
British armed forces were engaged across much of the British Empire and in several regions of Europe, particularly on the
Western Front
82
The high fatalities of
trench warfare
caused the loss of much of a generation of men, with lasting social effects in the nation and a great disruption in the social order. Britain had suffered 2.5 million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt.
82
The consequences of the war persuaded the government to expand the right to vote in national and local elections to all adult men and most adult women with the
Representation of the People Act 1918
82
After the war Britain became a permanent member of the Executive Council of the
League of Nations
and received
a mandate
over a number of former German and
Ottoman
colonies. Under the leadership of
David Lloyd George
, the British Empire reached its greatest extent, covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population.
83
By the mid-1920s most of the British population could listen to
BBC
radio programmes.
84
85
Experimental
television
broadcasts
began in 1929
and the
first scheduled BBC Television Service
commenced in 1936.
86
The rise of
Irish nationalism
, and disputes within Ireland over the terms of
Irish Home Rule
, led eventually to the
partition of the island
in 1921.
87
A period of conflict in what is now Northern Ireland
occurred from June 1920 until June 1922. The
Irish Free State
became independent, initially with
Dominion
status in 1922, and
unambiguously independent in 1931
. Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
88
The
1928 Equal Franchise Act
gave women electoral equality with men in national elections. Strikes in the mid-1920s culminated in the
General Strike of 1926
. Still suffering from the long-term economic effects of the First World War, Britain was severely impacted by the
Great Depression
(1929–1932), which intensified hardship in old industrial areas in traditional sectors, led to mass unemployment peaking near 3 million, and precipitated widespread political instability and social unrest.
A coalition government
was formed in 1931.
89
Nonetheless, Britain was described as "a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests and sitting at the heart of a global production system."
90
After
Nazi Germany
's
invasion of Poland
in 1939, Britain entered the
Second World War
. Despite the defeat of its European allies in the first year, Britain and its empire continued the war against Germany.
90
In 1940 the
Royal Air Force
defeated the German
Luftwaffe
in the
Battle of Britain
. Urban areas suffered heavy bombing during
the Blitz
. The
Grand Alliance
of Britain, the United States and the
Soviet Union
formed in 1941, leading the
Allies
against the
Axis powers
. There were eventual hard-fought victories in the
Battle of the Atlantic
, the
North Africa campaign
and the
Italian campaign
. British forces played important roles in the
Normandy landings
of 1944 and the
liberation of Europe
. The British Army led the
Burma campaign
against Japan, and the
British Pacific Fleet
fought Japan at sea.
British scientists contributed
to the American
Manhattan Project
, whose task was to build a
nuclear weapon
91
Post-war 20th century
Main articles:
Post-war Britain (1945–1979)
and
Social history of post-war Britain (1945–1979)
The
British Empire
at its territorial peak in 1921
The United Kingdom was one of the
Big Three
powers (with the United States and the Soviet Union) who met to plan the
post-war world
92
it drafted the
Declaration by United Nations
with the United States and became one of the five permanent members of the
United Nations Security Council
. It worked closely with the United States to establish the
International Monetary Fund
, the
World Bank
and
NATO
93
The war left the UK severely weakened and financially dependent on the American
Marshall Plan
94
but it was spared the total war that devastated
eastern Europe
95
In the immediate post-war years the
Labour government
under
Clement Attlee
initiated a radical programme of reforms, which significantly affected British society
in the following decades
96
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.
97
The rise of nationalism in the colonies coincided with Britain's much-diminished economic position after
its involvement in the First World War
and
the Second World War
, so that a policy of
decolonisation
was unavoidable.
98
99
100
Independence was granted to India and Pakistan in 1947.
101
Over the next three decades, most colonies of the British Empire gained their independence, and many became members of the
Commonwealth of Nations
102
The UK was the third country to develop
a nuclear weapons arsenal
, with its first atomic bomb test,
Operation Hurricane
, in 1952, but the post-war limitations of Britain's international role were illustrated by the
Suez Crisis
of 1956. As a result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s, the government
encouraged immigration
from
Commonwealth countries
. In the following decades the UK became a more
multiracial
and
multicultural
society.
103
Despite rising living standards in the late 1950s and 1960s, the United Kingdom's economic performance was less successful than many of its main competitors such as France,
West Germany
and Japan. The United Kingdom was the first democratic nation to
lower its voting age to 18
in 1969.
104
In the decades-long process of
European integration
the UK was a founding member of the
Western European Union
, established with the
London and Paris Conferences
in 1954. In 1960 the UK was one of the seven founding members of the
European Free Trade Association
(EFTA), but in 1973 it left to join the
European Communities
(EC). In a
1975 referendum
67 per cent voted to stay in it.
105
When the EC became the
European Union
(EU) in 1992, the UK was one of the 12 founding member states.
From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland experienced communal and
paramilitary
violence, sometimes affecting other parts of the UK, known as
the Troubles
. It is usually considered to have ended with the 1998
Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement
106
Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, the
Conservative
government of the 1980s led by
Margaret Thatcher
initiated a radical policy of
monetarism
deregulation
, particularly of the financial sector (for example, the
Big Bang
in 1986) and labour markets, the sale of state-owned companies (privatisation), and the withdrawal of subsidies to others.
107
In 1982,
Argentina
invaded the British territories of
South Georgia
and the
Falkland Islands
, leading to the 10-week
Falklands War
in which Argentine forces were defeated. The inhabitants of the islands strongly favour British sovereignty, expressed in a
2013 referendum
. From 1984 the British economy was helped by the inflow of substantial
North Sea oil
revenues.
108
Another British Overseas Territory,
Gibraltar
109
is
a key military base
; a
referendum in 2002
on shared sovereignty with Spain was rejected.
Around the end of the 20th century, there were major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of
devolved
administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
110
The statutory incorporation
followed acceptance of the
European Convention on Human Rights
. The UK remained a
great power
with global diplomatic and military influence and a leading role in the United Nations and NATO.
111
21st century
Main articles:
Political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)
and
Social history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)
Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
signs the
Brexit withdrawal agreement
in 2020, formally
withdrawing the UK
from the
European Union
(EU).
The United Kingdom broadly supported the United States' approach to the "
war on terror
" in the early 21st century.
112
British troops fought in the
war in Afghanistan
, but controversy surrounded Britain's
military deployment in Iraq
, which saw the
largest protest in British history
in opposition to the government led by
Tony Blair
113
The
Great Recession
(2007–2010) severely affected the British economy,
114
and was followed by a period of weak growth and stagnation.
115
116
The
Cameron–Clegg coalition
government of 2010 introduced
austerity measures
intended to tackle the substantial public deficits.
117
A referendum
on
Scottish independence
in 2014 resulted in the Scottish electorate voting by 55.3 to 44.7 per cent to remain part of the United Kingdom.
118
In 2016, 51.9 per cent of voters in the UK
voted to leave the European Union
(EU).
119
The
UK left the EU
in 2020.
120
On 1 May 2021 the
EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
, a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU, came into force.
121
122
The
COVID-19 pandemic
had a severe
impact on the British economy
, caused major
disruptions to education
and had
far-reaching impacts on society and politics
in 2020 and 2021.
123
124
125
The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to use an approved
COVID-19 vaccine
. Developing a
vaccine in the UK
allowed the rollout to be amongst the fastest in the world.
126
127
Geography
Main articles:
Geography of the United Kingdom
Fauna of Great Britain
, and
Flora of Great Britain and Ireland
A satellite image of the United Kingdom excluding
Shetland
The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 94,354 square miles (244,376 km
),
with a land area of 93,723 square miles (242,741 km
).
It occupies the major part of the
British Isles
128
and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and
some smaller surrounding islands
, meaning it comprises
England
Scotland
Wales
and
Northern Ireland
129
Geographically, the United Kingdom lies between the
North Atlantic Ocean
and the
North Sea
with the southeast coast coming within 22 miles (35 km) of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the
English Channel
130
The nearby island polities of the
Isle of Man
Jersey
and
Guernsey
are
Crown Dependencies
, in union with the
British monarch
, but do not strictly form part of the United Kingdom or any of its three jurisdictions or four countries, although the British government retains responsibility for their external affairs. The Isle of Man lies roughly midway between Great Britain and the
island of Ireland
in the
Irish Sea
, while the Channel Islands lie just off the northern French coast.
The
Royal Greenwich Observatory
in London was chosen as the defining point of the
Prime Meridian
131
at the
International Meridian Conference
in 1884.
132
The UK lies between latitudes
49°
and
61° N
, and longitudes
9° W
and
2° E
. Northern Ireland shares a 310-mile (499 km) land boundary with the Republic of Ireland
130
and has a 404-mile (650 km) coastline.
133
The length of coastline of Great Britain plus its principal islands is about 19,491 miles (31,368 km) long, with the coastline of the main island Great Britain being 11,073 miles (17,820 km) of that,
134
though measurements can vary greatly due to the
coastline paradox
135
It is connected to continental Europe by the
Channel Tunnel
, which at 31 miles (50 km) (24 miles (38 km) underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world.
136
The UK contains four terrestrial
ecoregions
Celtic broadleaf forests
English Lowlands beech forests
North Atlantic moist mixed forests
, and
Caledonian conifer forests
137
The area of woodland in the UK was estimated to be 3.25 million hectares in 2023, which represents 13 per cent of its land area.
138
Climate
Main articles:
Climate of the United Kingdom
and
Climate change in the United Kingdom
Further information:
Climate of England
Climate of Scotland
Climate of Wales
, and
Climate of Northern Ireland
Most of the United Kingdom has a temperate climate, with generally cool temperatures and plentiful rainfall all year round.
130
The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below 0
°C
(32
°F
) or rising above 30 °C (86 °F).
139
Some parts, away from the coast, of upland England, Wales, Northern Ireland and most of Scotland, experience a
subpolar oceanic climate
. Higher elevations in Scotland experience a
continental subarctic climate
and the mountains experience a
tundra climate
140
The prevailing wind is from the southwest and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean,
130
although the eastern parts are mostly sheltered from this wind. Since the majority of the rain falls over the western regions, the eastern parts are the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the
Gulf Stream
, bring mild winters, especially in the west where winters are wet and even more so over high ground. Summers are warmest in the southeast of England and coolest in the north. Heavy snowfall can occur in winter and early spring on high ground, and occasionally settles to great depth away from the hills.
141
The average total annual sunshine in the United Kingdom was 1,339.7 hours between 1971 and 2000,
142
which is just under 30% of the maximum possible.
citation needed
The hours of sunshine vary from 1,200 to about 1,580 hours per year.
143
Climate change has serious impacts on the country. A third of food price rise in 2023 was attributed to it.
144
In 2024 the United Kingdom ranked 5th out of 180 countries in the
Environmental Performance Index
145
A law has been passed that
UK greenhouse gas emissions
will be
net zero
by 2050.
146
Topography
The United Kingdom's topography
England
accounts for 53 per cent of the UK, covering 50,350 square miles (130,395 km
).
147
Most of the country consists of lowland terrain,
148
with upland and mountainous terrain northwest of the
Tees–Exe line
which roughly divides the UK into
lowland and upland
areas. Lowland areas include
Cornwall
, the
New Forest
, the
South Downs
and the
Norfolk Broads
. Upland areas include the
Lake District
, the
Pennines
, the
Yorkshire Dales
Exmoor
and
Dartmoor
. The main rivers and estuaries are the
Thames
Severn
, and the
Humber
. England's highest mountain is
Scafell Pike
, at 978 metres (3,209 ft) in the Lake District; its largest island is the
Isle of Wight
Scotland
accounts for 32 per cent of the UK, covering 30,410 square miles (78,772 km
).
149
This includes
nearly 800 islands
150
notably the
Hebrides
Orkney
Islands and
Shetland Islands
. Scotland is the most mountainous constituent country of the UK. The
Highlands
to the north and west are the more rugged region containing the majority of Scotland's mountainous land, including the
Cairngorms
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs
and
Ben Nevis
which at 1,345 metres (4,413 ft)
151
is the highest point in the British Isles.
152
Wales
accounts for less than 9 per cent of the UK, covering 8,020 square miles (20,779 km
).
153
It is mostly mountainous, though
South Wales
is less mountainous than
North
and
Mid Wales
. The highest mountains in Wales are in
Snowdonia
and include
Snowdon
Welsh
Yr Wyddfa
) which, at 1,085 metres (3,560 ft), is the highest peak in Wales.
148
Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,704 kilometres) of coastline including the
Pembrokeshire Coast
134
Several islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest of which is
Anglesey
Ynys Môn
).
Northern Ireland
, separated from Great Britain by the
Irish Sea
and
North Channel
, has an area of 5,470 square miles (14,160 km
) and is mostly hilly. It includes
Lough Neagh
which, at 150 square miles (388 km
), is the largest lake in the British Isles by area,
154
Lough Erne
, which has over 150 islands, and the
Giant's Causeway
, which is listed by
UNESCO
as a
World Heritage Site
. The highest peak in Northern Ireland is
Slieve Donard
in the
Mourne Mountains
at 852 metres (2,795 ft).
148
Government and politics
Main articles:
Politics of the United Kingdom
Government of the United Kingdom
, and
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
Further information:
Constitution of the United Kingdom
Charles III
King
Keir Starmer
Prime Minister
The United Kingdom is a
constitutional monarchy
and a
parliamentary democracy
155
operating under the
Westminster system
, otherwise known as a "democratic parliamentary monarchy".
156
It is a
centralised
unitary state
157
158
wherein the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
is
sovereign
159
Parliament is made up of the elected
House of Commons
, the appointed
House of Lords
and
the Crown
(as personified by
the monarch
).
162
The main business of Parliament takes place in the two houses,
162
but
royal assent
is required for a bill to become an
act of Parliament
(that is,
statute law
).
163
As a result of parliamentary sovereignty, the
British constitution
is
uncodified
, consisting mostly of disparate written sources, including parliamentary
statutes
, judge-made
case law
and international treaties, together with
constitutional conventions
164
Nevertheless, the
Supreme Court
recognises a number of principles underlying the British constitution, such as parliamentary sovereignty, the
rule of law
democracy
and upholding
international law
165
King Charles III
is the
monarch
and
head of state
of the United Kingdom and 14 other independent
sovereign states
, referred to as "
Commonwealth realms
". The monarch is formally vested with all executive authority as the personal embodiment of
the Crown
and is "fundamental to the law and working of government in the UK".
166
The disposition of such powers however, including those belonging to the
royal prerogative
, is generally exercised only on the
advice
of
ministers of the Crown
responsible to Parliament and thence to the electorate. Nevertheless, in the performance of official duties the monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn".
167
In addition the monarch has a number of
reserve powers
at his disposal to uphold
responsible government
and prevent
constitutional crises
The prime minister is the
head of government
in the United Kingdom.
169
Acting under the direction and supervision of a
Cabinet
of senior ministers selected and led by the prime minister,
His Majesty's Government
serves as the principal instrument for public policymaking, administers public services and, through the
Privy Council
, promulgates
statutory instruments
and tenders advice to the monarch.
170
171
172
Nearly all prime ministers have served concurrently as
First Lord of the Treasury
173
and all prime ministers have continuously served as First Lord of the Treasury since 1905,
174
Minister for the Civil Service
since 1968,
175
and
Minister for the Union
since 2019.
176
While appointed by the monarch, in modern times the prime minister is, by
convention
, an MP, the leader of the political party with the most seats in the House of Commons, and holds office by virtue of their ability to
command the confidence
of the House of Commons.
177
178
The prime minister as at 2025 is
Sir Keir Starmer
, the
leader of the Labour Party
Although not part of the United Kingdom, the three
Crown Dependencies
of
Jersey
Guernsey
and the
Isle of Man
, as well as the 14
British Overseas Territories
, are subject to the sovereignty of the British Crown.
179
Democratic backsliding
was found by the 2026
V-Dem Democracy Report
for the United Kingdom.
180
Elections
Main article:
Elections in the United Kingdom
The
Palace of Westminster
in London is the seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
For
general elections
(elections to the House of Commons), the United Kingdom is divided into 650
constituencies
, each of which is represented by one
member of Parliament
(MP) elected by the
first-past-the-post
system.
181
MPs hold office for up to five years and must then stand for re-election if they wish to continue to be an MP.
181
The
Conservative Party
, colloquially known as the Tory Party or the Tories, and the
Labour Party
have been the dominant political parties in the country since the 1920s, leading to the UK being described as a
two-party system
. However, since the 1920s other
political parties
have won seats in the House of Commons, although never more than the Conservatives or Labour.
182
Administrative divisions
Main articles:
Countries of the United Kingdom
Administrative geography of the United Kingdom
, and
List of counties in the United Kingdom
The four countries of the United Kingdom
The geographical division of the United Kingdom into counties or
shires
began in England and Scotland in the
early Middle Ages
, and was completed throughout Great Britain and Ireland by the
early modern period
183
Modern
local government
by elected councils, partly based on the ancient counties, was established by separate Acts of Parliament: in England and Wales
in 1888
, Scotland
in 1889
and Ireland
in 1898
, meaning there is no consistent system of administrative or geographic demarcation across the UK,
184
and
England and Wales
Scotland
and
Northern Ireland
each have their own distinct jurisdictions.
185
Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.
186
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
, used primarily for statistical purposes.
187
One of the regions,
Greater London
, has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a
1998 referendum
188
Local government in Scotland
is divided into
32 council areas
with a wide variation in size and population. The cities of
Glasgow
, Edinburgh,
Aberdeen
and
Dundee
are separate council areas, as is the
Highland Council
, which includes a third of Scotland's area but only just over 200,000 people. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223.
189
Local government in Wales
consists of 22
unitary authorities
, each 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.
190
Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.
190
Local government in Northern Ireland
since 1973 has been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as waste collection, dog control, and maintaining parks and cemeteries.
191
In 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils to replace the existing system.
192
Devolution
Main article:
Devolution in the United Kingdom
Further information:
Devolved, reserved and excepted matters
Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with the first ministers of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales during the
Council of Nations and Regions
summit.
In the United Kingdom a process of devolution has transferred various powers from the UK Government to three of the four UK countries—Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales—as well as to the regions of England, which since 1999 have their own governments and parliaments that control various devolved matters.
193
These powers vary and have been moved to the
Scottish Government
, the
Welsh Government
, the
Northern Ireland Executive
and in England, the
Greater London Authority
and
Combined Authorities
194
Amongst the devolved parliaments across the United Kingdom, the
Scottish Parliament
has the most extensive responsibilities for
devolved powers
, and has been described as "one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world".
195
196
The United Kingdom has an
uncodified constitution
and constitutional matters are not amongst the powers that have been devolved. Under the doctrine of
parliamentary sovereignty
, the UK Parliament could, in theory, therefore, abolish the Scottish Parliament, Senedd or Northern Ireland Assembly.
197
Though in the
Scotland Act 2016
and the
Wales Act 2017
it states that the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government "are a permanent part of the United Kingdom's constitutional arrangements".
198
199
In practice it would be politically difficult for the UK Parliament to abolish devolution to the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd because these institutions were created by referendums.
200
The political constraints placed upon the UK Parliament's power to interfere with devolution in Northern Ireland are greater still, because devolution in Northern Ireland rests upon an international agreement with the
Government of Ireland
201
The UK Parliament restricts the three devolved parliaments' legislative powers in economic policy matters through
an act
passed in 2020.
202
England
Unlike Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, England does not have a separate devolved government or national parliament,
203
rather a process of devolution of powers from the central government to local authorities has taken place, first in 1998.
204
The
Greater London Authority
(GLA) was set up following a
referendum in 1998
. Colloquially known as City Hall, it is the devolved regional government body for Greater London. It consists of two political branches: an
Executive Mayor
and the
London Assembly
, which serves as a check and balance on the Mayor.
Combined Authority
(CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
. CAs allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain devolved functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area.
205
A Combined County Authority (CCA) is a similar type of local-government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the
Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023
, but may only be formed by upper-tier authorities:
county councils
and
unitary authorities
206
Scotland
Main article:
Responsibilities of the Scottish Government
Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with
First Minister of Scotland
John Swinney
, the head of the
Scottish Government
, at
Bute House
, Edinburgh.
Since 1999 Scotland has had a devolved national government and parliament with wide-ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically
reserved
to the UK Parliament.
207
208
Scotland has the most devolved powers of any of the three devolved parliaments in the United Kingdom, with full legislative control over
education
law and order
the economy
healthcare
elections
Crown Estate Scotland
, the
planning system
and
housing
209
Additional powers were transferred to the Scottish Parliament via the
Scotland Act 2012
and the
Scotland Act 2016
, such as
some taxation powers
, including full control of
income tax
on income earned through employment,
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax
Landfill Tax
, Aggregates Levy,
Air Departure Tax
and
Revenue Scotland
, as well as aspects of the
energy network
, including
renewable energy
, energy efficiency and onshore
oil and gas licensing
210
207
Their power over economic issues is significantly constrained by an
act of the UK Parliament
passed in 2020.
202
The
Scottish Government
is a
Scottish National Party
(SNP)
minority government
218
led by the
first minister
, currently
John Swinney
, the
leader of the SNP
. In 2014 the
Scottish independence referendum
was held, with 55.3 per cent voting against independence from the United Kingdom and 44.7 per cent voting in favour, resulting in Scotland staying within the United Kingdom.
Local government in Scotland
is divided into
32 council areas
with a wide variation in size and population. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223.
189
The Scottish Parliament is separate from the Scottish Government. It is made up of 129 elected
members of the Scottish Parliament
(MSPs). It is the law-making body of Scotland, and thus it scrutinises the work of the incumbent Scottish Government and considers any piece of proposed legislation through parliamentary debates, committees and parliamentary questions.
210
Wales
Since 1999 Wales has had a devolved national government and legislature, known as the Senedd. Elections to the Senedd use the
additional member system
. It has more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.
219
The Senedd can legislate on any matter not specifically reserved to the UK Parliament by
Acts of Senedd Cymru
. The
Welsh Government
is currently a
Welsh Labour
minority government led by the
first minister
Eluned Morgan
Local government in Wales
consists of 22 unitary authorities, each led by a leader and cabinet elected by the council itself.
Northern Ireland
The devolved form of government in Northern Ireland is based on the 1998
Good Friday Agreement
, which brought to an end a 30-year period of
unionist
nationalist
communal conflict known as
the Troubles
. The Agreement was
confirmed by referendum
and implemented later that year. It established
power sharing
arrangements for a devolved government and legislature, referred to as the
Northern Ireland Executive
and the
Northern Ireland Assembly
respectively.
220
Elections to the Assembly use the
single transferable vote
system. The Executive and Assembly have powers similar to those devolved to Scotland.
221
The Executive is led by a
diarchy
representing
unionist
and
nationalist
members of the Assembly.
222
The
first minister and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland
are the joint heads of government of Northern Ireland.
223
224
Local government in Northern Ireland
since 2015 has been divided between 11 councils with limited responsibilities.
191
Foreign relations
Main article:
Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
UK prime minister Keir Starmer and US president
Donald Trump
shaking hands in a joint press conference in 2025. The UK and the US share a "
Special Relationship
".
The United Kingdom is
a permanent member
of the
United Nations Security Council
and a member of
NATO
AUKUS
, the Commonwealth of Nations, the
G7
, the
G20
, the
OECD
, the
WTO
, the
Council of Europe
and the
OSCE
225
It maintains the
British Council
, an organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities in over 100 countries. The UK remains a
great power
with considerable political, cultural, economic and military influence.
226
227
The United Kingdom is said to have a "
Special Relationship
" with the United States and a close partnership with France – the "
Entente cordiale
" – and shares nuclear weapons technology with both countries;
228
229
the
Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
is considered to be the oldest binding military alliance in the world. The UK is also closely linked with the Republic of Ireland; the two countries share a
Common Travel Area
and co-operate through the
British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference
and the
British-Irish Council
. Britain's global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, foreign investments,
official development assistance
and military engagements.
230
Military
Main articles:
British Armed Forces
and
Military history of the United Kingdom
Overseas military installations of the United Kingdom, and locally raised units of the
British Overseas Territories
Military interventions since 2000:
Palliser
(Sierra Leone);
Herrick
(Afghanistan);
Enduring Freedom
(Horn of Africa);
Telic
(Iraq);
Ellamy
(Libya); and
Shader
(Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
The British Armed Forces consist of three professional service branches: the
Royal Navy
and
Royal Marines
(forming the
Naval Service
), the
British Army
and the
Royal Air Force
231
The armed forces of the United Kingdom are managed by the
Ministry of Defence
and controlled by the
Defence Council
, chaired by the
Secretary of State for Defence
. The
Commander-in-Chief
is the
British monarch
, to whom members of the forces swear an oath of allegiance.
232
The armed forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the UK's global security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in
NATO
(including the
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps
), the
Five Power Defence Arrangements
RIMPAC
and other worldwide coalition operations.
Overseas garrisons
and facilities are maintained in
Ascension Island
Bahrain
Belize
Brunei
Canada
Cyprus
Diego Garcia
, the
Falkland Islands
Germany
Gibraltar
Kenya
Oman
Qatar
and
Singapore
233
According to the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
234
and the
International Institute for Strategic Studies
235
the UK had the world's
sixth- or fifth-highest military expenditures
in 2024. Total defence spending in 2024 was estimated at 2.3 per cent of
gross domestic product
236
Following the end of the
Cold War
, defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" will be undertaken as part of a coalition.
237
Law and criminal justice
Main articles:
Law of the United Kingdom
and
Crime in the United Kingdom
Further information:
English law
Northern Ireland law
, and
Scots law
The
Supreme Court
is the final court of appeal for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and for Scottish civil cases.
The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system as the
1706 Treaty of Union
provided for the continuation of Scotland's separate legal system.
19
The UK has three distinct
systems of law
: English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law. A new
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
came into being in October 2009 to replace the
Appellate Committee of the House of Lords
238
The
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
, including the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the
British Overseas Territories
and the
Crown Dependencies
239
Both English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law are based on
common law
(or
case law
) principles.
240
It originated in England in the
Middle Ages
and is the basis for many legal systems around the world.
241
The
courts of England and Wales
are headed by the
Senior Courts of England and Wales
, consisting of the
Court of Appeal
, the
High Court of Justice
for civil cases and the
Crown Court
for criminal cases.
242
Scots law is a hybrid system based on common-law and
civil-law
principles. The chief courts are the
Court of Session
, for civil cases,
243
and the
High Court of Justiciary
, for criminal cases.
244
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom serves as the highest court of appeal for civil cases under Scots law.
245
Crime in England and Wales increased between 1981 and 1995. Since that peak there has been an overall fall of 66% in recorded crime from 1995 to 2015,
246
according to
UK crime statistics
. As of June 2023, the United Kingdom has the highest per-capita incarceration rate in Western Europe.
247
248
249
UK labour laws
establish employment rights including
a minimum wage
, a minimum of 28 days annual holiday, parental leave, statutory sick pay and
a pension
Same-sex marriage
has been legal in England, Scotland, and Wales since 2014, and in
Northern Ireland
since 2020.
250
LGBT equality
in the United Kingdom is considered advanced by modern standards.
251
252
Since leaving the
EU
most disputes under UK-EU agreements are addressed through consultation between the parties. If consultation fails to resolve the issue, either party can request
arbitration
, typically at the
PCA
in
The Hague
121
253
254
The
EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
states that the UK and EU have to cooperate and negotiate with each other with 'full mutual respect and good faith', as defined by international law.
255
Under the
Windsor Framework
Northern Ireland
matters requiring interpretation of EU law go to the
ECJ
, though the
Stormont Brake
can prevent new EU rules from taking effect.
Economy
Main article:
Economy of the United Kingdom
Further information:
Economy of England
Economy of Scotland
Economy of Northern Ireland
, and
Economy of Wales
City of London
skyline from
London City Hall
London
is Europe's largest financial centre.
256
The United Kingdom has a highly developed
social market economy
257
258
With an estimated nominal GDP of £2.765 trillion in 2024,
259
it is the
sixth-largest national economy
in the world and the
second-largest
in Europe. Its currency, the
pound sterling
, is the
fourth-most-traded currency
in the
foreign exchange market
and the world's fourth-largest
reserve currency
, after the
United States dollar
, the
euro
and the
yen
260
The pound sterling maintains its high nominal value through both its long history of stability and by never undergoing formal
redenomination
. Since 2022 the UK has been both the world's
fourth-largest exporter
261
and
fourth-largest importer
262
of goods and services. Despite having one of the highest levels of
income inequality
in the
OECD
263
264
the UK has a very high
HDI
ranking, including when
adjusted for inequality
. As of 2025 the
UK unemployment rate
is 4.7%,
265
which is moderately low
by European standards
HM Treasury
, led by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer
, is responsible for developing and executing the government's
public finance
and
economic policy
. The
Department for Business and Trade
is responsible for business, international trade, and enterprise. The
Bank of England
is the UK's
central bank
and responsible for issuing notes and coins in the pound sterling. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover their issue.
Industries and services
The
Bank of England
is the
central bank
of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based.
Concorde
was a
supersonic
airliner that reduced transatlantic flight time from 8 hours to 3.5 hours.
266
The
service sector
made up around 80 per cent of the UK's
GVA
in 2023.
267
As of 2023 it is the world's
second-largest exporter of services
268
and in 2024 was the world's largest net exporter of
financial services
269
London
is the world capital for foreign exchange trading, with a market share of 37.8 per cent in 2022 of the global turnover.
270
It is the largest urban economy in Europe
271
and, alongside
New York
, the city in the world most integrated with the
global economy
272
London is also one of the world's leading financial centres, ranking second in the 2025
Global Financial Centres Index
273
Edinburgh
, the UK's second-largest financial centre, ranks 29th in the world in the same index.
273
The
UK's manufacturing sector
in 2024 was the world's
10th-largest
and Europe's fourth-largest by value output.
274
At the end of 2024 manufacturing in the United Kingdom accounted for 8 per cent of the workforce and 8.6 per cent of national economic output.
275
As reported in 2017 the
East Midlands
and
West Midlands
(at 12.6 and 11.8 per cent respectively) were the regions with the highest proportion of employees in manufacturing.
London's manufacturing sector
had the lowest at 2.8 per cent.
276
The
country's tourism sector
is important to the British economy;
277
The
creative industries
accounted for 5.9 per cent of the UK's GVA in 2019,
278
and contributed £111 billion to the UK economy in 2018.
279
Lloyd's of London
, located in London, is the world's largest
insurance
and
reinsurance
market.
280
WPP plc
is one of the world's biggest advertising companies and also based in London.
281
The UK is one of Europe's leading retail markets and its largest
e-commerce
market.
282
With
consumption expenditures
of over US$2 trillion in 2023, it has the
second-largest consumer market
in Europe.
283
John Lewis
is the UK's largest employee-owned business.
284
The
British automotive industry
generates £47 billion of exports (12 per cent of the UK's total exports of goods).
285
In 2024 the UK produced 779,584 passenger vehicles and 125,649 commercial vehicles; 8 out of 10 cars produced in the UK are exported overseas.
285
Britain is known for iconic cars like
Mini
and
Jaguar
286
as well as luxury cars such as
Rolls-Royce
Bentley
and
Range Rover
. The UK is a major centre for engine manufacturing: 1.59 million engines were produced in 2024.
285
It was the world's
third-largest exporter of engines
by value in 2023.
287
The
UK motorsport
industry has an annual turnover of around £10 billion.
288
Seven of the eleven
Formula One
teams are based in the UK, with their technology being used in supercars and hypercars from
McLaren
Aston Martin
and
Lotus
The
aerospace industry of the UK
is the second-largest in the world
289
and has an annual turnover of around £30 billion.
290
The
UK space industry
was worth £17.5 billion in 2020/21 and employed around 48,800 people.
291
292
The
UK Space Agency
has stated in 2023 that it is investing £1.6 billion in space-related projects.
293
The
British agriculture industry
is intensive, highly mechanised and efficient by European standards, producing approximately 60 per cent of the country's overall food requirements and 73 per cent of its indigenous food needs, utilising around 0.9 per cent of the labour force (292,000 workers).
294
Around two-thirds of production is devoted to
livestock
and one-third to
arable crops
. The UK retains a significant though much reduced fishing industry, with at least 49 per cent of UK fish sustainably caught in 2020.
295
The UK marine natural capital assets were estimated to have a value of £211 billion in 2021.
296
It is rich in a variety of other natural resources including coal,
petroleum
natural gas
, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk,
gypsum
, lead, and silica and has an abundance of arable land.
297
Science and technology
Main articles:
Science and technology in the United Kingdom
and
Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
The
Cambridge Cluster
is the most intensive research cluster for science and technology in the world.
298
England and Scotland were leading centres of the
Scientific Revolution
from the 17th century.
299
The United Kingdom led the
Industrial Revolution
from the 18th century, and has continued to produce scientists and
engineers
credited with
important advances
300
Major theorists from the 17th and 18th centuries include
Isaac Newton
, whose
laws of motion
and illumination of
gravity
have been seen as a keystone of modern science;
301
from the 19th century
Charles Darwin
, whose theory of
evolution
by
natural selection
was fundamental to the development of modern biology, and
James Clerk Maxwell
, who formulated classical
electromagnetic theory
; and more recently
Stephen Hawking
, who advanced major theories in the fields of
cosmology
quantum gravity
and the investigation of
black holes
302
The
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
(DSIT) is responsible for helping to develop and manage the UK's scientific, research, and technological outputs. Scientific research and development remains important in
British universities
, with many establishing
science parks
to facilitate production and co-operation with industry.
303
In 2022, the UK produced
6.0 per cent of the world's scientific research papers
and had a 8.8 per cent share of scientific citations, the fourth and third highest among
G7
countries and Brazil, China, India, Russia, and South Korea. The UK ranked 1st among these countries for Field-Weighted Citation Impact.
304
Scientific journals produced in the UK include publications by the
Royal Society
Nature
, the
British Medical Journal
and
The Lancet
305
By 2024 the UK tech sector reached a value of US$1.2 trillion surpassing the combined values of the French and German sectors.
citation needed
Cambridge was named the number one university in the world for producing successful technology founders.
306
The
UK's artificial intelligence industry
is the largest in Europe by value
307
and the country ranked third globally in a 2024 report on artificial intelligence development by
Stanford University
308
The UK ranked 6th in the 2025
Global Innovation Index
309
310
Transport
Main article:
Transport in the United Kingdom
Further information:
Transport in England
Transport in Scotland
Transport in Wales
, and
Transport in Northern Ireland
A high-speed
East Coast Main Line
train in
Northumberland
, England
A plane taking off from
London City Airport
London's airports
make it the city with the
busiest airport system
in the world.
In the UK, all traffic
drives on the left
, with distance and speed being measured in miles, yards and miles per hour (mph). All vehicles manufactured for use in the UK have the steering wheel situated on the right side of the vehicle. A radial road network totals 29,145 miles (46,904 km) of main roads, 2,173 miles (3,497 km) of motorways and 213,750 miles (344,000 km) of paved roads.
130
The
M25
, encircling London, is the largest and busiest bypass in the world.
311
In 2024 there were 41.7 million licensed vehicles in the UK.
312
The UK has an extensive railway network of 10,072 miles (16,209 km). In Great Britain, the
British Rail
network
was privatised
between 1994 and 1997, followed by a rapid rise in passengers.
Great British Railways
is a planned state-owned public body that will oversee
rail transport in Great Britain
. The UK was ranked eighth amongst national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index assessing intensity of use, quality of service and safety.
313
A train runs directly from London to
Paris
314
Called the
Eurostar
, it travels through the
Channel Tunnel
under the
English Channel
. At 23.5 miles long, it is the world's longest undersea tunnel.
315
There is also a car service through the tunnel to France called
LeShuttle
. The
Elizabeth line
, a rail link running between
East
and
West London
, was named in honour of
Queen Elizabeth II
in 2016 and opened in 2022.
316
317
Another major infrastructure project is
High Speed 2
(HS2), a high-speed railway under construction since 2019. It will link London with
Birmingham
, with the potential to extend further north and capable of speeds of up to 225 mph.
318
319
In 2023 there were 4 billion bus journeys in the UK, 1.8 billion of which were in London.
320
The red
double-decker
bus has entered popular culture as an internationally recognised icon of London and England.
321
The
London bus network
is extensive, with over 6,800 scheduled services every weekday carrying about 6 million passengers on over 700 different routes, making it one of the most extensive bus systems in the world and the largest in Europe.
322
During 2024
British airports
handled nearly 292.5 million passengers.
323
In that period the three largest airports were
London Heathrow Airport
(83.9 million passengers),
Gatwick Airport
(43.2 million passengers) and
Manchester Airport
(30.8 million passengers).
323
London Heathrow Airport, located 15 miles (24 km) west of the capital, is the world's
second-busiest airport by international passenger traffic
and has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world;
324
it is the hub for the UK flag carrier
British Airways
, as well as
Virgin Atlantic
325
During 2023, 18.3 million passengers travelled internationally by rail and 18.1 million by sea.
326
Energy
Main article:
Energy in the United Kingdom
Further information:
Energy in England
Energy in Scotland
Energy in Wales
, and
Energy in Northern Ireland
In 2021 the UK was the world's
14th-largest consumer and 22nd-largest producer of energy
327
It is home to
many large energy companies
, including two of the six major oil and gas companies –
BP
and
Shell
328
Wind turbines overlooking
Ardrossan
in Scotland. The UK is
a major producer of wind energy
in Europe.
329
Renewable electricity sources provided 51 per cent of the electricity generated in the UK in 2024.
Wind power
was the largest source of electricity in 2024, generating 30 per cent of the UK's total electricity.
330
The UK has the largest offshore wind farm in the world, which is located off the coast of
Yorkshire
331
In 2023 the UK had nine nuclear reactors generating about 15 per cent of the UK's electricity.
332
There are two reactors under construction and more planned.
333
334
In the late 1990s
nuclear power plants
contributed around 25 per cent of the total annual electricity generation in the UK, but this has gradually declined as old plants have been shut down. The UK government is investing in
small modular reactors
that operate via
nuclear fission
, as well as in research and development towards commercial
fusion reactors
. To that end the government entered into a partnership with the US in late 2023 to collaborate on fusion technology, with "a commercial grid-ready fusion reactor by 2040" stated as a goal.
335
At the end of 2023 it was estimated that there were 1.1 billion
barrels of oil equivalent
of "proven" and "probable"
gas reserves
and 2.3 billion boe of "proven" and "probable"
oil reserves
offshore, reducing reliance on imports for energy security and transitioning to renewables.
336
Emissions from UK gas production are roughly four times lower than imported
liquefied natural gas
(LNG), according to the
UK's oil and gas regulator
337
In September 2024 the last coal power station was closed, making
coal
no longer a power source in the UK.
330
The UK currently has no
fracking
(hydraulic fracturing) for
shale gas
despite a large supply, due to environmental concerns.
338
Water supply and sanitation
Main article:
Water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom
Access to improved water supply and sanitation in the UK is universal. It is estimated that 96 per cent of households are connected to the sewer network.
339
According to the
Environment Agency
, total water abstraction for public water supply in the UK was 16,406
megalitres
per day in 2007.
340
In England and Wales, water and sewerage services are provided by 10 private regional water and sewerage companies and 13 mostly smaller private "water only" companies. In Scotland, said services are provided by a single public company,
Scottish Water
. In Northern Ireland, they are also provided by a single public entity,
Northern Ireland Water
341
Demographics
Main articles:
Demographics of the United Kingdom
and
British people
Further information:
Ceremonial counties of England
Subdivisions of Scotland
Subdivisions of Wales
, and
Counties of Northern Ireland
Whereas the censuses of England and Wales and of Northern Ireland went ahead as planned in 2021, the census in Scotland was delayed until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Office for National Statistics has estimated that the total population of the United Kingdom recorded in the census would have been 66,912,637 had it been conducted in all parts of the UK on 21 March 2021.
The UK population is the
fourth-largest
in Europe and the
22nd-largest
in the world. In 2012 and 2013 births contributed the most to population growth, while in 2014 and 2015 net international migration contributed more.
342
Between 2001 and 2011 the population increased at an average annual rate of 0.7 per cent.
343
The
2011 census
also showed that, over the previous 100 years, the proportion of the population aged 0–14 fell from 31 to 18 per cent, and the proportion of people aged 65 and over rose from 5 to 16 per cent.
343
In 2018 the
median age
of the UK population was 41.7 years.
130
The 2021 census put Scotland's population at 5.48 million, Wales's at 3.1 million and Northern Ireland's at 1.9 million.
343
Population of the United Kingdom by country (2024)
344
Country
Land area
Population
Density
(/km
(km
(%)
People
(%)
England
130,310
54%
58,620,101
85%
450
Scotland
77,901
32%
5,546,900
8%
71
Wales
20,737
9%
3,186,581
5%
154
Northern Ireland
13,547
6%
1,927,855
3%
142
United Kingdom
242,741
100%
69,281,437
100%
285
England's population in 2021 was 56 million, representing some 84 per cent of the UK total.
343
England is one of the
most-densely-populated countries
in the world, with 434 people per square kilometre in mid-2021,
343
with a particular concentration in London and the south-east.
345
London's wider metropolitan area
is the largest in
Western Europe
, with a population of 14.9 million in 2024.
346
Population of England by region (2024)
10
Region
Land area
Population
Density
(/km
(km
(%)
People
(%)
North East
8,581
6%
2,683,040
5%
313
North West
14,108
11%
7,516,113
13%
533
Yorkshire and the Humber
15,404
12%
5,541,262
10%
360
East Midlands
15,624
12%
4,934,939
9%
316
West Midlands
12,998
10%
6,021,653
11%
463
East of England
19,116
15%
6,398,497
11%
335
Greater London
1,572
1%
8,866,180
15%
5,640
South East
19,072
15%
9,379,833
16%
492
South West
23,836
18%
5,764,881
10%
242
England
130,310
100%
57,106,398
100%
438
In 2021 the
total fertility rate
across the UK was 1.53 children born per woman,
347
which remains considerably below the
baby boom
peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964,
348
or the high of 6.02 children born per woman in 1815
349
and below the replacement rate of 2.1. In 2011, 47.3 per cent of births in the UK were to unmarried women.
350
The
Office for National Statistics
reported in 2015 that amongst the UK population aged 16 and over, 1.7 per cent identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (2.0 per cent of males and 1.5 per cent of females); 4.5 per cent of respondents responded with "other", "I don't know", or did not respond.
351
The number of
transgender
people in the UK was estimated to be between 65,000 and 300,000 by research between 2001 and 2008.
352
Largest cities or towns in the United Kingdom
(England and Wales: 2011 census built-up area;
353
Scotland: 2016 estimates settlement;
354
Northern Ireland: 2001 census urban area)
355
Rank
Name
Urban area
Pop.
Rank
Name
Urban area
Pop.
London
Greater London
9,787,426
11
Bristol
Bristol
617,280
Manchester
Greater Manchester
2,553,379
12
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
512,150
Birmingham
West Midlands
2,440,986
13
Leicester
Leicester
508,916
Leeds
West Yorkshire
1,777,934
14
Belfast
Belfast
483,418
Glasgow
Greater Glasgow
985,290
15
Brighton
Brighton & Hove
474,485
Liverpool
Liverpool
864,122
16
Bournemouth
South East Dorset
466,266
Southampton
South Hampshire
855,569
17
Cardiff
Cardiff
390,214
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyneside
774,891
18
Middlesbrough
Teesside
376,633
Nottingham
Nottingham
729,977
19
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
372,775
10
Sheffield
Sheffield
685,368
20
Coventry
Coventry
359,262
Ethnicity
Main article:
Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom
Historically, indigenous British people were thought to be
descended from ethnic groups
that settled there before the 12th century: the
Celts
, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the
Normans
Welsh people
could be the oldest ethnic group in the UK.
356
The UK has a history of non-white immigration with
Liverpool
having the oldest black population in the country dating from at least the 1730s,
357
in addition to having the oldest
Chinese
community in Europe dating from the 19th century.
358
In 2021, 83.1 per cent of the UK population was classified as white, 8.6 per cent as Asian or Asian British, 3.7 per cent as Black or Black British, 2.7 per cent as mixed ethnicity, and 2.0 per cent other.
Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. In 2021, 46.2 per cent of London's population was from a non-white ethnic minority,
359
compared less than 10 per cent in the South West and North East of England, Wales,
359
Scotland
360
and Northern Ireland.
361
Language
Main article:
Languages of the United Kingdom
The
English language
is the
de facto
official and most widely spoken language in the United Kingdom.
362
363
The UK promotes the language globally to build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.
364
365
In the UK, the English language is spoken with distinctive characteristics that collectively form what is known as
British English
. The variety of dialects and accents is often noted, with nearby regions frequently having highly distinct variations.
Received Pronunciation
is traditionally associated with educated speakers in southern England.
366
The main national dialects are
Scottish English
Welsh English
and
Northern Irish English
. Distinctive regional varieties include
Brummie
Cockney
Geordie
Mancunian
Scouse
West Country
Yorkshire
and
MLE
(Multicultural London English).
367
Bilingual sign
Irish
and
) in
Newry
, Northern Ireland
Three indigenous
Celtic languages
are spoken in the UK:
Welsh
Irish
and
Scottish Gaelic
Cornish
, which became extinct as a first language in the late-18th century, is being revived and has a small group of second-language speakers.
368
In the
2021 census
the
Welsh-speaking population
of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8 per cent).
369
In addition it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh-speakers live in England.
370
In the 2021 census in Northern Ireland 12.4 per cent of people had some
Irish language
ability and 10.4 per cent had some facility in the
Ulster-Scots
language.
371
In 2001, over 92,000 people in Scotland, just under 2 per cent of the population, had some Gaelic language ability, including 72 per cent of those living in the
Outer Hebrides
372
The number of children being taught either Welsh or Scottish Gaelic is increasing.
373
Scots
, a language descended from early northern
Middle English
, has limited
recognition
alongside its regional variant,
Ulster Scots
in Northern Ireland, without specific commitments to protection and promotion.
374
As of April 2020 there are around 151,000 users of
British Sign Language
(BSL), a
sign language
used by deaf people, in the UK.
375
In 2013, it was estimated that 95 per cent of the UK's population were
monolingual
English speakers.
376
In 2013, over 5 per cent of the population were estimated to speak languages brought to the UK as a result of immigration.
376
South Asian languages
are the largest group, which includes
Punjabi
Urdu
Bengali
Sylheti
Hindi
Pahari-Pothwari
Tamil
and
Gujarati
377
In the 2011 census
Polish
was the second-largest language spoken in England, with 546,000 speakers.
378
In 2019 some three-quarters of a million people spoke little or no English.
379
Religion
Main articles:
Religion in the United Kingdom
and
Freedom of religion in the United Kingdom
The
Westminster Abbey
in
London
. This was the
coronation
site of 40 monarchs, 18 royal burials, and at least 16 royal weddings since 1100.
Christianity
has dominated religious life in the United Kingdom for
more than 1,400 years
380
Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,
381
while immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of Islam and other faiths.
382
This has led some commentators to describe the UK as a multi-faith,
383
secularised
384
or
post-Christian
society.
385
In the 2021 census of England and Wales, 46.2 per cent of respondents reported that they were Christians, with the next largest faiths being
Islam
(6.5 per cent),
Hinduism
(1.7 per cent),
Sikhism
(0.9 per cent),
Buddhism
(0.5 per cent),
Judaism
(0.5 per cent), and all other religions (0.6 per cent). Of the respondents, 37.2 per cent stated that they had
no religion
and a further 6.0 per cent did not answer the optional question.
386
In the census of Northern Ireland, 42.3 per cent of the population was recorded as Catholic, 37.7% as Protestant or other Christian, 1.3 per cent as belonging to other religions, 17.4 per cent as having no religion and 1.6 per cent did not state a religion.
387
In Scotland's 2022 census, 51.1 per cent of the population stated that they had no religion, 20.4 per cent were recorded as Church of Scotland, 13.3 per cent as Catholic, 5.1 per cent as other Christian, 2.2 per cent as Muslim and 0.6 per cent as Hindu, with 1.2 per cent belonging to other religions and 6.2 per cent not stating a religion.
388
Tearfund
survey in 2007 showed that one Briton in ten attends church weekly.
389
Between the 2001 and 2011 censuses there was a 12 per cent decrease in those who identified as Christian, while the percentage reporting no religious affiliation doubled. This contrasted with growth in the other main religious group categories, with the number of
Muslims
increasing the most to about 5 per cent.
390
The
Church of England
is the
established church
in England.
391
It retains
representation
in the UK Parliament, and the British monarch is its
Supreme Governor
392
In
Scotland
the
Church of Scotland
is the
national church
. It is not subject to state control, and the British monarch is an ordinary member, required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the Protestant Religion and
Presbyterian Church Government
" upon his or her accession.
393
394
The
Church in Wales
was disestablished in 1920 and, because the
Church of Ireland
was disestablished in 1870 before the
partition of Ireland
, there is no established church in Northern Ireland.
395
Although there are no UK-wide data in the 2001 census on adherence to individual Christian denominations, it has been estimated that 62 per cent of Christians are Anglican, 13.5 per cent Catholic, 6 per cent Presbyterian, and 3.4 per cent Methodist, with smaller numbers of other denominations.
396
Migration
Main articles:
Historical immigration to Great Britain
and
Modern immigration to the United Kingdom
See also:
Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom
Estimated foreign-born population by country of birth from April 2007 to March 2008
Estimated number of British citizens living overseas by country in 2006:
Greater than or equal to 1,000,000
500,000 - 999,999
100,000 - 499,999
50,000 - 99,999
10,000 - 49,999
5,000 - 9,999
1,000 - 4,999
100 - 999
Less than 100 or no data
UK
Immigration is contributing to a rising population in the United Kingdom,
397
398
with arrivals and UK-born children of migrants accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. According to statistics released in 2015, 27 per cent of UK live births in 2014 were to mothers born outside the UK.
399
In 2013 approximately 208,000 foreign nationals were naturalised as British citizens, the highest number since 1962. This figure fell to around 125,800 in 2014. Between 2009 and 2013 the average number of British citizenships granted annually was 195,800. The most common origins of those naturalised in 2024 were Pakistani, Indian,
Nigerian
Filipino
Bangladeshi
, Italian, Turkish, Romanian and Iranian. The number of grants of settlement, which confer
permanent residence
in the UK but not
citizenship
400
was approximately 154,700 in 2013, higher than the previous two years.
401
Long-term net migration (the number of people immigrating minus the number emigrating) reached a record of 860,000 in 2023, with immigration at 1.326 million and emigration at 466,000. In comparison, in 2024 net migration was estimated to be 431,000 with immigration at 948,000 and emigration at 517,000.
402
Emigration
was an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930, around 11.4 million people emigrated from Britain and 7.3 million from Ireland.
403
404
Estimates show that by the end of the 20th century, some 300 million people of British and Irish descent were permanently settled around the globe.
404
In 2006 at least 5.5 million UK-born people lived abroad,
405
406
mainly in Australia, Spain, the United States and Canada.
405
407
Education
Main articles:
Education in the United Kingdom
and
Universities in the United Kingdom
Further information:
Education in England
Education in Scotland
Education in Wales
, and
Education in Northern Ireland
Education in the United Kingdom is a
devolved
matter, with each country having a separate education system. About 38 per cent of the United Kingdom population has a university or
college degree
, the highest percentage in Europe and one of the highest in the world.
408
The UK is home to
many universities
, including the
University of Oxford
and
University of Cambridge
, which often achieve first place on global rankings.
409
410
University education has varied
tuition fees
in different regions of the UK. England and Wales have a fixed maximum annual fee for all UK citizens, contingent on attaining a certain level of income. Only those who reach a certain salary threshold pay this fee through
general taxation
411
Northern Ireland and Scotland have a reduced maximum fee or no fee for citizens where it is their home region. Some NHS courses have bursaries which pay the fee and in 2017 it was stated that each doctor gets subsidised by £230,000 during their training.
412
413
In 2022 the
Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA), coordinated by the
OECD
, ranked the overall knowledge and skills of British 15-year-olds as 14th in the world in reading, mathematics and science. The average British student scored 494, above the OECD average of 478.
414
Health
Main articles:
Health in the United Kingdom
and
Healthcare in the United Kingdom
Further information:
Healthcare in England
Healthcare in Scotland
Healthcare in Wales
, and
Healthcare in Northern Ireland
NHS Scotland
's
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital
in Glasgow, the largest hospital campus in Europe
The modern system of
universal
publicly funded healthcare
in the United Kingdom has its origins in the creation of the
National Health Service
(NHS) in 1949 is the primary healthcare provider in the United Kingdom. The widespread popularity of the NHS has led to it being described as a "national religion".
415
416
Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a
devolved matter
and each country has its own system of universal publicly funded healthcare (
NHS England
NHS Scotland
Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland)
and
NHS Wales
), although private healthcare is also available. Public healthcare is provided to all
UK permanent residents
and is mostly free at the point of need, being paid for from
general taxation
. The
World Health Organization
, in 2000, ranked the provision of healthcare in the United Kingdom as fifteenth-best in Europe and eighteenth in the world.
417
Since 1979 expenditure on healthcare has increased significantly.
418
The 2018
OECD
data, which incorporates in health a chunk of what in the UK is classified as social care, has the UK spending £3,121 per person.
419
In 2017 the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, near the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
420
Regulatory bodies are organised on a UK-wide basis such as the
General Medical Council
, the
Nursing and Midwifery Council
and non-governmental-based, such as the
Royal Colleges
. Political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national
governments
; healthcare in England is the responsibility of the UK Government; healthcare in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive; healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government; and healthcare in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. Each National Health Service has different policies and priorities.
421
Culture
Main article:
Culture of the United Kingdom
Further information:
Culture of England
Culture of Scotland
Culture of Wales
, and
Culture of Northern Ireland
The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by the nation's island status, its history, and being a
political union
of four countries with each preserving distinctive traditions, customs and symbolism. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and
legal systems
of many of
its former colonies
, in particular the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland, a common culture known as the Anglosphere.
422
423
Most of its former colonies are Commonwealth countries, bonded by a shared British inheritance.
424
425
426
A global survey in 2024 ranked the UK third in the 'Most Influential Countries' rankings, behind the US and China.
427
Literature and drama
Main articles:
British literature
and
Theatre of the United Kingdom
Further information:
Literature of England
Scottish literature
Welsh literature
, and
Literature of Northern Ireland
Robert Burns
(1759–1796)
William Shakespeare
(1564–1616)
Burns and Shakespeare are considered the
national poets
of Scotland and England respectively.
British literature includes that associated with the United Kingdom, the
Isle of Man
and the
Channel Islands
. Most British literature is in English. In 2022, 669 million physical books were sold in the UK, the most ever.
428
Britain is renowned for
children's literature
; writers include
Daniel Defoe
Rudyard Kipling
Lewis Carroll
and
Beatrix Potter
, who also illustrated her own books. Other writers include
A. A. Milne
Enid Blyton
J. R. R. Tolkien
Roald Dahl
Terry Pratchett
and
J. K. Rowling
, who wrote
Harry Potter
, the
best-selling book series
of all time.
429
The playwright and poet
William Shakespeare
is generally regarded as the greatest dramatist ever and the
national poet
of England.
430
Theatre of United Kingdom plays an important part in British culture and has had a vibrant tradition of
theatre
since the Renaissance with roots going back to the Roman occupation. Other important figures in the literature of England are
Geoffrey Chaucer
, known for
The Canterbury Tales
, the poet
William Wordsworth
, and other
Romantic poets
, also the novelists
Charles Dickens
H. G. Wells
George Orwell
Aldous Huxley
and
Ian Fleming
. The 20th-century English crime writer
Agatha Christie
is the
best-selling novelist
in history.
431
Twelve of the top 25 of 100 novels by British writers chosen by a BBC poll of global critics were written by women; these included works by
George Eliot
Virginia Woolf
Charlotte Brontë
Emily Brontë
Mary Shelley
Jane Austen
Doris Lessing
and
Zadie Smith
432
Scottish literature includes
Arthur Conan Doyle
(the creator of
Sherlock Holmes
),
Sir Walter Scott
J. M. Barrie
Robert Louis Stevenson
(whose novel
Treasure Island
strongly influenced the portrayal of
pirates in the arts and popular culture
), and the poet
Robert Burns
, who is considered the national poet of Scotland. More recently
Hugh MacDiarmid
and
Neil M. Gunn
contributed to the
Scottish Renaissance
, with grimmer works from
Ian Rankin
and
Iain Banks
. Edinburgh was UNESCO's first worldwide
City of Literature
433
Welsh literature includes Britain's oldest known poem,
Y Gododdin
, most likely composed in the late 6th century. It was written in
Cumbric
or
Old Welsh
and contains the earliest known reference to
King Arthur
434
The
Arthurian legend
was further developed by
Geoffrey of Monmouth
435
Dafydd ap Gwilym
fl.
1320–1370) is widely regarded as one of the greatest European poets of his age.
436
Daniel Owen
is credited as the first Welsh-language novelist, publishing
Rhys Lewis
in 1885. The best-known of the
Anglo-Welsh poets
are
Dylan Thomas
and
R. S. Thomas
, the latter nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1996. Leading Welsh novelists of the twentieth century include
Richard Llewellyn
and
Kate Roberts
437
438
Northern Ireland's most popular writer is
C. S. Lewis
, who was born in Belfast and wrote
The Chronicles of Narnia
439
Irish writers, living at a time when all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, include
Oscar Wilde
440
Bram Stoker
(who wrote
Dracula
441
and
George Bernard Shaw
442
There have been many authors whose origins were from outside the United Kingdom but who moved to the UK, including
Joseph Conrad
443
T. S. Eliot
444
Kazuo Ishiguro
445
Sir
Salman Rushdie
446
and
Ezra Pound
447
Philosophy
Main article:
British philosophy
The United Kingdom is famous for "
British Empiricism
", a branch of the philosophy that states that only knowledge verified by experience is valid, and 'Scottish Philosophy', sometimes referred to as the '
Scottish School of Common Sense
'.
448
The most famous philosophers of British Empiricism are
John Locke
George Berkeley
and
David Hume
; while
Dugald Stewart
Thomas Reid
and
William Hamilton
were major exponents of the Scottish "common sense" school. Two Britons are also notable for the ethical theory of
utilitarianism
, a moral philosophy first used by
Jeremy Bentham
and later by
John Stuart Mill
in his short work
Utilitarianism
449
Media
Main articles:
Media of the United Kingdom
and
Censorship in the United Kingdom
Further information:
Media of England
Media of Scotland
Media of Wales
, and
Media of Northern Ireland
The
BBC
, founded in 1922, is the United Kingdom's publicly funded radio, television and Internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world.
450
451
452
It operates television and radio stations across the UK and abroad and its domestic services are funded by the
television licence
453
The
BBC World Service
is an
international broadcaster
owned and operated by the BBC, and the world's largest.
454
It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages.
455
Other major players in the UK media include
ITV
, which operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the
ITV Network
456
and
Sky
457
Newspapers produced in the United Kingdom include the
Daily Mail
The Guardian
The Telegraph
The Times
, and the
Financial Times
458
Magazines and journals published in the United Kingdom that have achieved worldwide circulation include
The Spectator
The Economist
New Statesman
and
Radio Times
MediaCityUK
in
Salford
Greater Manchester
, is one of the largest media production facilities in Europe.
London dominates the media sector in the UK: national newspapers and television and radio are largely based there, although
MediaCityUK
in Manchester is also a significant national media centre. Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Cardiff, are important centres of newspaper and broadcasting production in Scotland and Wales, respectively.
459
The UK publishing sector, including books, directories and databases, journals, magazines and business media, newspapers and news agencies, has a combined turnover of around £20 billion and employs 167,000 people.
460
In 2015 the UK published 2,710 book titles per million inhabitants, more than any other country, with much of this exported to other
Anglophone
countries.
461
In 2010, 82.5 per cent of the UK population were Internet users, the
highest proportion
amongst the 20 countries with the largest total number of users in that year.
462
The
British video game industry
is the largest in Europe, and since 2022 the UK has the
largest video game market
in Europe by sales, surpassing
Germany
463
It is the world's third-largest producer of video games after
Japan
and the
United States
464
Visual art
Main articles:
Art of the United Kingdom
and
Architecture of the United Kingdom
The
Angel of the North
sculpture by
Antony Gormley
has become a symbol of
Northern England
Major British artists include the
Romantic
artists
William Blake
John Constable
Samuel Palmer
, and
J. M. W. Turner
; the
portrait
painters
Sir Joshua Reynolds
and
Lucian Freud
; the landscape artists
Thomas Gainsborough
and
L. S. Lowry
; the pioneer of the
Arts and Crafts movement
William Morris
; the figurative painter
Francis Bacon
; the
Pop artists
Peter Blake
Richard Hamilton
and
David Hockney
; the pioneers of
conceptual art
movement
Art & Language
465
the collaborative duo
Gilbert and George
; the
abstract
artist
Howard Hodgkin
; and the sculptors
Antony Gormley
Anish Kapoor
and
Henry Moore
. During the late 1980s and 1990s the
Saatchi Gallery
in London helped to bring to public attention a group of multi-genre artists who would become known as the "
Young British Artists
":
Damien Hirst
Chris Ofili
Rachel Whiteread
Tracey Emin
Mark Wallinger
Steve McQueen
Sam Taylor-Wood
and the
Chapman Brothers
are amongst the better-known members of this loosely affiliated movement.
The
Royal Academy
in London is a key organisation for the promotion of the visual arts in the United Kingdom. Major schools of art in the UK include: the six-school
University of the Arts London
, which includes the
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
and
Chelsea College of Art and Design
Goldsmiths, University of London
; the
Slade School of Fine Art
(part of
University College London
); the
Glasgow School of Art
; the
Royal College of Art
; and
The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art
(part of the University of Oxford). The
Courtauld Institute of Art
is a leading centre for the teaching of the
history of art
. Important art galleries in the United Kingdom include the
National Gallery
National Portrait Gallery
Tate Britain
, and
Tate Modern
(the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year).
466
Music
Main article:
Music of the United Kingdom
Further information:
Music of England
Music of Scotland
Music of Wales
, and
Music of Northern Ireland
The Proms
is a classical music festival, most closely associated with
Henry Wood
and held at the
Royal Albert Hall
in London, which regularly plays music by
Edward Elgar
and other British composers.
Various styles of music have become popular in the UK, including the
folk music
of
England
Scotland
Wales
and
Northern Ireland
. English folk features melodic ballads with strong lyrics and music for country dancing often using accordion and fiddles.
467
Scottish folk features bagpipes and fiddles playing traditional dance tunes with bouncy tempos.
468
Welsh folk has harps and vocal harmonies often sung in Welsh.
469
Northern Irish folk blends fiddles with flutes merging Scottish and Irish influences.
470
Historically, there has been
Renaissance music
from the
Tudor period
, with
masses
madrigals
and
lute
music by
Thomas Tallis
John Taverner
William Byrd
Orlando Gibbons
and
John Dowland
. After the
Stuart Restoration
, an English tradition of dramatic
masques
, anthems and airs became established, led by
Henry Purcell
, followed by
Thomas Arne
and others.
George Frideric Handel
composed the anthem
Zadok the Priest
for the
coronation of George II
; it became the traditional ceremonial music for anointing all future monarchs. Handel's many oratorios, such as his famous
Messiah
, were written in English.
471
In the second half of the 19th century,
Arthur Sullivan
and his librettist
W. S. Gilbert
wrote their popular
Savoy operas
, and
Edward Elgar
composed a wide range of music. Increasingly, composers became inspired by the English countryside and its
folk music
, notably
Gustav Holst
Ralph Vaughan Williams
and
Benjamin Britten
, a pioneer of modern British opera. Amongst the many post-war composers, some of the most notable have made their own personal choice of musical identity:
Peter Maxwell Davies
(Orkney),
Harrison Birtwistle
(mythological), and
John Tavener
(religious).
472
Recent classical singers include
Alfie Boe
Bryn Terfel
Katherine Jenkins
Michael Ball
Roderick Williams
Russell Watson
and
Sarah Brightman
, while
Nicola Benedetti
and
Nigel Kennedy
are renowned for their violin ability.
473
According to
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
the term "
pop music
" originated in Britain in the mid-1950s to describe
rock and roll
's fusion with the "new youth music".
474
The Oxford Dictionary of Music
states that artists such as
the Beatles
and
the Rolling Stones
drove pop music to the forefront of popular music in the early 1960s.
475
Birmingham became known as the birthplace of
heavy metal
, with the band
Black Sabbath
starting there in the 1960s.
476
In the following years, Britain took part in the development of
rock music
, with British acts pioneering
hard rock
477
raga rock
, heavy metal,
478
space rock
glam rock
479
Gothic rock
480
psychedelic rock
481
and
punk rock
482
British acts also developed
neo soul
and created
dubstep
483
The UK has produced some of the most prominent English-speaking
rappers
along with the United States, including
Stormzy
Kano
Yxng Bane
Ramz
Little Simz
and
Skepta
484
The
OVO Hydro
in
Glasgow
, Scotland, a 14,500-capacity arena consistently ranked within the top ten busiest venues worldwide
485
The Beatles have international sales of over 1 billion units and are the
biggest-selling band
, in addition to being widely regarded as the
most influential band in the history of popular music
486
487
488
489
Other prominent British contributors to popular music over the last 50 years include the Rolling Stones,
Pink Floyd
Queen
Led Zeppelin
, the
Bee Gees
and
Elton John
, all of whom have worldwide record sales of 200 million or more.
490
The
Brit Awards
are the
BPI
's annual music awards, and some of the British recipients of the
Outstanding Contribution to Music
award include
the Who
David Bowie
Eric Clapton
Rod Stewart
the Police
and
Fleetwood Mac
(who are a British-American band).
491
More recent UK music acts that have had international success include
George Michael
Oasis
Spice Girls
Radiohead
Coldplay
Arctic Monkeys
Robbie Williams
Amy Winehouse
Susan Boyle
Adele
Ed Sheeran
Lewis Capaldi
One Direction
Harry Styles
and
Dua Lipa
492
As of 2024 the UK is the world's
third-largest music market
behind the US and Japan,
493
and in 2021 was the second-largest exporter of music behind the US.
494
Many British cities are known for their music. Acts from Liverpool have had 54 UK chart number 1 hit singles, more per capita than any other city worldwide.
495
Glasgow's contribution was recognised in 2008 when it was named a
City of Music
by
UNESCO
496
Manchester played a role in the spread of dance music such as
acid house
, and from the mid-1990s,
Britpop
. London and Bristol are closely associated with the origins of
electronic music
sub-genres such as
drum and bass
and
trip hop
497
UK dance music traces its roots back to the black British
Sound System Culture
and the
New Age Traveller
movement of the 60s and 70s,
498
it also has influences from the
Chicago House
and
Detroit Techno
scenes. In the late 80's, dance music exploded with
Rave
culture mainly
Acid House
tracks which were made mainstream with novelty records (such as Smart E's
Sesame's Treet
and the Prodigy's
Charly
499
and the
Balearic sound
brought back from the Ibiza club scene. This led on to genres such as
UK Garage
Speed Garage
Drum and bass
Jungle
Trance
, and
Dubstep
. Influential UK dance acts past and present include
808 State
Orbital
the Prodigy
Underworld
Roni Size
Leftfield
Massive Attack
Groove Armada
Fatboy Slim
Faithless
Basement Jaxx
Chemical Brothers
Sub Focus
Chase & Status
Disclosure
Calvin Harris
, and
Fred Again
500
Other influential UK DJs include
Judge Jules
Pete Tong
Carl Cox
Paul Oakenfold
John Digweed
and
Sasha
501
Cinema
Main articles:
Cinema of the United Kingdom
and
Independent cinema in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema. The British directors
Alfred Hitchcock
, whose film
Vertigo
is considered by some critics as the
best film of all time
502
and
David Lean
, who directed
Lawrence of Arabia
, are amongst the most critically acclaimed directors ever.
503
Recent popular directors include
Christopher Nolan
Sam Mendes
Steve McQueen
Richard Curtis
Danny Boyle
Tony Scott
and
Ridley Scott
504
505
506
507
Many British actors have achieved international fame and critical success. Some of the most commercially successful films have been produced in the United Kingdom, including two of the
highest-grossing film franchises
Harry Potter
and
James Bond
).
508
2019 was a particularly good year for British films which grossed around £10.3 billion globally, accounting for 28.7 per cent of global box office revenue.
509
UK box-office takings totalled £1.25 billion in 2019, with around 176 million admissions.
510
In 2023 UK film and television studio stage space stood at 6.9 million sq ft, with 1 million sq ft added in the past year with more in development.
511
The annual
BAFTA Film Awards
are hosted by the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
512
Cuisine
Main article:
British cuisine
Further information:
English cuisine
Scottish cuisine
Welsh cuisine
, and
Northern Irish cuisine
Fish and chips
, a traditional British dish, served with lemon, tartar sauce and mushy peas
British cuisine developed from influences reflective of its land, settlements,
arrivals of new settlers and immigrants
, trade and colonialism. The food of England has historically been characterised by simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce.
513
The traditional
Sunday roast
is one example, featuring a
roast joint
(usually of beef), lamb, chicken, or pork, often
free range
(and generally grass-fed, in the case of beef). Roasts are served with either roasted or boiled vegetables,
Yorkshire pudding
and
gravy
. Other traditional meals include
meat pies
and
stews
. A poll by
YouGov
in 2019 rated classic British food, with more than 80 per cent liking the Sunday roast, Yorkshire pudding,
fish and chips
crumpets
and the
full English breakfast
514
The UK is home to a large selection of
fine dining
. The nation hosts multiple restaurant guides such as
The Good Food Guide
and
Harden's
. In 2025 there were 197 restaurants with a
Michelin Star
ten of which have received a three-star rating
515
Sweet foods are common within British cuisine, and there is a long list of
British desserts
. Afternoon tea is a light afternoon meal served with tea in tea rooms and hotels around the United Kingdom, with the tradition dating back to around 1840.
516
A poll from July 2024 revealed that 3 per cent of the UK population follow a
vegan
diet, 6 per cent are
vegetarian
, and 13 per cent identify as
flexitarian
(following a mainly vegetarian diet).
517
The British Empire facilitated knowledge of
Indian cuisine
with its "strong, penetrating spices and herbs". British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influence of those who have settled in Britain, producing hybrid dishes, such as
chicken tikka masala
518
The British have embraced world cuisine and regularly eat recipes or fast food from other European countries, the Caribbean and Asia.
The UK has many
gastropubs
and is the birthplace of many alcoholic drinks including several beer styles such as
pale ale
India pale ale
bitter
brown ale
porter
, and
stout
. The number of
craft beers
and microbreweries has expanded rapidly in the last two decades.
519
Other popular alcoholic drinks produced in the UK include
Scotch whisky
English wine
gin
perry
and
cider
Sport
Main articles:
Sport in the United Kingdom
and
Great Britain at the Olympics
Further information:
Sport in England
Sport in Scotland
Sport in Wales
, and
Sport in Northern Ireland
The
2023 FA Cup final
at
Wembley Stadium
between
Manchester City
and
Manchester United
Golf originated from the
Old Course at St Andrews
in Scotland.
Association football
tennis
table tennis
badminton
rugby union
rugby league
rugby sevens
golf
boxing
netball
water polo
field hockey
billiards
darts
rowing
rounders
and
cricket
originated or were substantially developed in the UK, with the rules and codes of many modern sports invented and codified in the Victorian era.
A poll in 2003 found that football is the most popular sport in the UK.
522
England is recognised by
FIFA
as the birthplace of club football, and the
Football Association
is the oldest of its kind, with the
rules of football
first drafted in 1863 by
Ebenezer Cobb Morley
523
Each of the
Home Nations
(England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) has its own football association, national team and
league system
, and each is individually a governing member of the
International Football Association Board
alongside FIFA. The English top division, the
Premier League
, is the most watched football league in the world.
524
The first international football match was contested by
England
and
Scotland
on 30 November 1872.
525
England, Scotland,
Wales
and
Northern Ireland
usually compete as separate countries in international competitions.
526
In 2003 rugby union was ranked the second-most-popular sport in the UK.
522
The sport was created in
Rugby School
, Warwickshire, and the
first rugby international
took place on 27 March 1871 between
England
and
Scotland
527
528
England, Scotland,
Wales
Ireland
France
and
Italy
compete in the
Six Nations Championship
, the premier international rugby union tournament in the northern hemisphere.
Sports governing bodies
in
England
Scotland
Wales
and
Ireland
organise and regulate the game separately.
529
Every four years the Home Nations make a combined team known as the
British and Irish Lions
which tours Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The United Kingdom hosted the
Summer Olympic Games
in
1908
1948
and
2012
, with London acting as the host city on all three occasions. Birmingham hosted the
2022 Commonwealth Games
, the seventh time a country of the United Kingdom hosted the
Commonwealth Games
(England, Scotland and Wales have each hosted the Commonwealth Games at least once).
530
Symbols
Main article:
Symbols of the United Kingdom
Union Jack flags on
The Mall
, London
The
flag of the United Kingdom
is the
Union Flag
, which is also referred to as the Union Jack.
531
It was created in 1606 by the superimposition of the
flag of England
, representing
Saint George
, on the
flag of Scotland
, representing
Saint Andrew
, and was updated in 1801 with the addition of
Saint Patrick's Flag
532
Wales is not represented in the Union Flag, as Wales had been conquered and
annexed
to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. The possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales was discussed in 2007.
533
The
national anthem
of the United Kingdom is "
God Save the King
", with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman.
Britannia
is a
national personification
of the United Kingdom, originating from
Roman Britain
534
Beside
The Lion and the Unicorn
and the
dragon
of heraldry, the
bulldog
is an iconic animal and commonly represented with the Union Flag.
535
A rare personification is a character originating in the 18th century,
John Bull
536
England
Wales
and
Scotland
each have their own national symbols, including their national flags.
Northern Ireland
also has symbols, many of which are shared with the
Republic of Ireland
See also
United Kingdom portal
England portal
Northern Ireland portal
Scotland portal
Wales portal
Outline of the United Kingdom
Outline of England
Outline of Northern Ireland
Outline of Scotland
Outline of Wales
International rankings of the United Kingdom
Historiography of the United Kingdom
Historiography of the British Empire
United Kingdom–Crown Dependencies Customs Union
Notes
"God Save the King" is the
national anthem
by custom, not statute, and there is no authorised version. Typically only the first verse is usually sung, although the second verse is also often sung as well at state and public events.
The words
King, he, him, his
, used at present, are replaced by
Queen, she, her
when the monarch is female.
Scots, Ulster Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish Gaelic and Irish are classed as
regional
or
minority
languages under the
Council of Europe
's
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
These include defined obligations to promote those languages.
See also
Languages of the United Kingdom
. Welsh has limited
de jure
official status in Wales, as well as in the provision of national government services provided for Wales.
Whereas the censuses of England and Wales and of Northern Ireland went ahead as planned in 2021, the census in Scotland was postponed until 2022. The Office for National Statistics reports that these UK-wide statistics "have been created to provide an image of how UK census data may have looked if the most recent UK censuses had been conducted with an aligned date of 21 March 2021".
Although the United Kingdom has traditionally been seen as a
unitary state
, an alternative description of the UK as a "union state", put forward by, amongst others,
Vernon Bogdanor
has become increasingly influential since the adoption of devolution in the 1990s.
A union state is considered to differ from a unitary state in that while it maintains a central authority it also recognises the authority of historic rights and infrastructures of its component parts.
ONS
Standard Area Measurement, "area to mean high water excluding inland water". Excludes the
Crown Dependencies
and
British Overseas Territories
ONS
Standard Area Measurement, 'area to mean high water'. Excludes the
Crown Dependencies
and
British Overseas Territories
Some of the devolved countries, Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories issue their own sterling banknotes or currencies, or use another nation's currency. See
List of British currencies
Also observed by the
Crown Dependencies
. For further information, see
Time in the United Kingdom
The UK Government uses the
ISO 8601
format,
yyyy
mm
dd
, for machine-readable dates and times.
14
See
Date and time notation in the United Kingdom
Excludes most overseas territories. See
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom#Telephone numbers in Overseas Territories
The
.gb
domain is also reserved for the UK, but has been little used.
Except two overseas territories:
Gibraltar
and the
British Indian Ocean Territory
Usage is mixed.
The Guardian
15
and
The Telegraph
16
use
Britain
as a synonym for the United Kingdom. The British
Cabinet Office
's
Government Digital Service
style guide
17
for use on
gov.uk
recommends: "Use UK and United Kingdom in preference to Britain and British (UK business, UK foreign policy, ambassador and high commissioner). But British embassy, not UK embassy."
The
Isle of Man
Guernsey
and
Jersey
are
Crown Dependencies
and not part of the UK.
The United Kingdom does not have a codified constitution but an unwritten one formed of Acts of Parliament, court judgments, traditions, and conventions.
18
Compare to section 1 of both of the 1800
Acts of Union
which reads: "the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall
... be united into one kingdom, by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland".
"UK" embassies became "British" embassies in 1961.
33
Historically, the term
British
was used to refer to members and institutions within the British Empire and later Commonwealth and was not limited to the geographical British Isles. The UK Government adopted the term for its exclusive use only in 1961, but in recognition of its wider usage first sought the prior consent of Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
38
39
British
sovereignty
derives from the Crown, a
corporation sole
occupied by the monarch. It is therefore by and through the monarch that Parliament exercises supreme legislative authority over both the executive and judiciary. Distinguished Professor of
Public Law
Maurice Sunkin opined the Crown symbolically occupies "...what in other places would be a core element of a written constitution."
160
As a result of this state of constitutional affairs, the monarch is formally referred to as "
the Sovereign
" in legislation.
161
For instance, the monarch alone appoints the prime minister and confers
state honours
in the personal gift of the Crown. When necessary, the monarch may also refuse a
dissolution
or
prorogation of Parliament
, withhold
royal assent
to
primary legislation
, and prevent illegal use of the
British Armed Forces
, amongst other reserve powers.
168
Car brands here are classed as British based on several of the following criteria: historical heritage, cultural significance, design and engineering base, manufacturing location, headquarters location, UK registered company (even with overseas investors).
Berkeley is in fact Irish but was called a 'British empiricist' due to the territory of what is now known as the
Republic of Ireland
being in the UK at the time.
In 2012, the president of the IOC,
Jacques Rogge
, stated, "This great, sports-loving country is widely recognised as the birthplace of modern sport. It was here that the concepts of sportsmanship and fair play were first codified into clear rules and regulations. It was here that sport was included as an educational tool in the school curriculum."
520
521
References
"National Anthem"
The Royal Family
Archived
from the original on 20 May 2024
. Retrieved
10 April
2024
"List of declarations made with respect to treaty No. 148"
Council of Europe
. Archived from
the original
on 12 December 2013
. Retrieved
12 December
2013
"Welsh language on GOV.UK – Content design: planning, writing and managing content – Guidance"
gov.uk
Archived
from the original on 4 August 2018
. Retrieved
3 August
2018
"Welsh language scheme"
GOV.UK
Archived
from the original on 4 August 2018
. Retrieved
3 August
2018
"Welsh language scheme"
GOV.UK
Archived
from the original on 2 August 2018
. Retrieved
3 August
2018
"Table 06: UK06 - Ethnic group by sex by age, United Kingdom"
Census-based statistics UK: 2021
. Office for National Statistics. 27 June 2025
. Retrieved
28 March
2026
"Table 07: UK07 - Religion by sex by age, United Kingdom"
Census-based statistics UK: 2021
. Office for National Statistics. 27 June 2025
. Retrieved
28 March
2026
Bradbury, Jonathan (2021).
Constitutional Policy and Territorial Politics in the UK: Volume 1: Union and Devolution 1997–2012
. Policy Press. pp.
19–
20.
ISBN
978-1-5292-0588-6
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2024
. Retrieved
3 October
2021
Leith, Murray Stewart (2012).
Political Discourse and National Identity in Scotland
. Edinburgh University Press. p. 39.
ISBN
978-0-7486-8862-3
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2024
. Retrieved
3 October
2021
Gagnon, Alain-G.; Tully, James (2001).
Multinational Democracies
. Cambridge University Press. p. 47.
ISBN
978-0-521-80473-8
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2024
. Retrieved
3 October
2021
Bogdanor, Vernon (1998).
"Devolution: the Constitutional Aspects"
. In Beatson, Jack (ed.).
Constitutional Reform in the United Kingdom: Practice and Principles
. Oxford: Hart Publishing. p. 18.
ISBN
978-1-901362-84-8
"Standard Area Measurements for Administrative Areas (December 2023) in the UK"
Open Geography Portal
. Office for National Statistics. 31 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 7 June 2024
. Retrieved
7 June
2024
"Mid-Year Population Estimates, United Kingdom, June 2024"
Office for National Statistics
. 26 September 2025
. Retrieved
26 September
2025
"World Economic Outlook Database (April 2026 Edition)"
www.imf.org
International Monetary Fund
. 14 April 2026
. Retrieved
18 April
2026
"Income inequality"
OECD Data
OECD
Archived
from the original on 1 July 2022
. Retrieved
12 February
2024
"Human Development Report 2025"
(PDF)
United Nations Development Programme
. 6 May 2025.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 6 May 2025
. Retrieved
6 May
2025
"Formatting dates and times in data"
gov.uk
HM Government
. 9 August 2022.
Archived
from the original on 9 May 2024
. Retrieved
1 June
2024
"Guardian style guide: U"
The Guardian
. 23 April 2021.
ISSN
0261-3077
. Retrieved
29 December
2025
"Places"
The Telegraph
. 25 July 2025.
ISSN
0307-1235
Archived
from the original on 17 November 2025
. Retrieved
29 December
2025
"Style guide - A to Z - Guidance - GOV.UK"
www.gov.uk
Archived
from the original on 22 November 2024
. Retrieved
2 January
2026
What is the UK Constitution?
, The Constitution Unit of UCL, 9 August 2018,
archived
from the original on 7 November 2018
, retrieved
6 February
2020
"The Treaty (act) of the Union of Parliament 1706"
. Scots History Online. Archived from
the original
on 27 May 2019
. Retrieved
23 August
2011
Barnett, Hilaire; Jago, Robert (2011).
Constitutional & Administrative Law
(8th ed.). Abingdon: Routledge. p. 165.
ISBN
978-0-415-56301-7
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
"After the political union of England and Scotland in 1707, the nation's official name became 'Great Britain
",
The American Pageant, Volume 1
, Cengage Learning (2012); "From 1707 until 1801
Great Britain
was the official designation of the kingdoms of England and Scotland".
The Standard Reference Work: For the Home, School and Library, Volume 3
, Harold Melvin Stanford (1921); "In 1707, on the union with Scotland, 'Great Britain' became the official name of the British Kingdom, and so continued until the union with Ireland in 1801".
United States Congressional serial set, Issue 10; Issue 3265
(1895);
Gascoigne, Bamber
"History of Great Britain (from 1707)"
. History World.
Archived
from the original on 27 May 2019
. Retrieved
18 July
2011
Cottrell, P. (2008).
The Irish Civil War 1922–23
. Bloomsbury USA. p.
85
ISBN
978-1-84603-270-7
S. Dunn; H. Dawson (2000),
An Alphabetical Listing of Word, Name and Place in Northern Ireland and the Living Language of Conflict
Lewiston, New York
Edwin Mellen Press
One specific problem – in both general and particular senses – is to know what to call Northern Ireland itself: in the general sense, it is not a country, or a province, or a state – although some refer to it contemptuously as a statelet: the least controversial word appears to be jurisdiction, but this might change.
"Changes in the list of subdivision names and code elements"
(PDF)
ISO 3166-2
. International Organization for Standardization. 15 December 2011.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 19 September 2016
. Retrieved
28 May
2012
"Countries within a country"
. Prime Minister's Office. 10 January 2003. Archived from
the original
on 9 September 2008
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
"Statistical bulletin: Regional Labour Market Statistics"
. Archived from
the original
on 24 December 2014
. Retrieved
5 March
2014
"13.4% Fall In Earnings Value During Recession"
. Archived from
the original
on 3 January 2014
. Retrieved
5 March
2014
Dunn, Seamus; Dawson, Helen (2000).
An Alphabetical Listing of Word, Name and Place in Northern Ireland and the Living Language of Conflict
Lewiston, New York
Edwin Mellen Press
ISBN
978-0-7734-7711-7
Murphy, Dervla (1979).
A Place Apart
. London: Penguin.
ISBN
978-0-14-005030-1
Whyte, John
FitzGerald, Garret
(1991).
Interpreting Northern Ireland
. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-827380-6
"Guardian Unlimited Style Guide"
. London: Guardian News and Media Limited. 19 December 2008
. Retrieved
23 August
2011
"BBC style guide (Great Britain)"
BBC News
. 19 August 2002.
Archived
from the original on 15 February 2009
. Retrieved
23 August
2011
"Key facts about the United Kingdom"
Government, citizens and rights
. HM Government. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2012
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
New Oxford American Dictionary
: "Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland considered as a unit. The name is also often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom."
"When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles — but never England." —
George Mikes (1946),
How To Be An Alien
, Penguin
ISBN
978-0-582-41686-4
"England OR United Kingdom (UK)? | Vocabulary | EnglishClub"
englishclub.com
Archived
from the original on 16 October 2022
. Retrieved
16 October
2022
"Britain Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary"
dictionary.cambridge.org
Archived
from the original on 20 June 2018
. Retrieved
19 June
2018
"Definition of Britain in English by Oxford Dictionaries"
Oxford Dictionaries – English
. Archived from
the original
on 26 September 2016.
"Britain definition and meaning"
collinsdictionary.com
. Collins English Dictionary.
Archived
from the original on 20 June 2018
. Retrieved
19 June
2018
"Britain – Definition for English-Language Learners"
learnersdictionary.com
. Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary.
Archived
from the original on 20 June 2018
. Retrieved
19 June
2018
'Cold U.K.' Becomes British".
The Times
. 21 October 1961. p. 8.
"Style guide: A to Z"
. UK Government. 21 November 2024 [23 February 2016].
Archived
from the original on 22 November 2024.
Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (17 May 2023).
"Toponymic guidelines for the United Kingdom"
gov.uk
. UK Government.
Archived
from the original on 17 June 2018
. Retrieved
17 June
2018
"BBC News style guide – Names"
BBC Academy
. BBC. Archived from
the original
on 10 November 2019
. Retrieved
9 November
2019
"Alphabetical checklist"
BBC News
. BBC. Archived from
the original
on 26 March 2018
. Retrieved
17 June
2018
Bradley, Anthony Wilfred; Ewing, Keith D. (2007).
Constitutional and administrative law
. Vol. 1 (14th ed.). Harlow: Pearson Longman. p. 36.
ISBN
978-1-4058-1207-8
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
Curran, James; Ward, Stuart (2010).
The Unknown Nation: Australia after Empire
. Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Publishing. pp.
26–
7.
ISBN
978-0-522-85645-3
Ward, Stuart (2023).
Untied kingdom: A Global History of the End of Britain
. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1.
ISBN
978-1-107-14599-3
"Which of these best describes the way you think of yourself?"
Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2010
. ARK – Access Research Knowledge. 2010.
Archived
from the original on 23 September 2015
. Retrieved
1 July
2010
"Ethnicity and National Identity in England and Wales"
Office for National Statistics
Archived
from the original on 21 January 2022
. Retrieved
25 June
2020
Schrijver, Frans (2006).
Regionalism after regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom
. Amsterdam University Press. pp.
275–
277.
ISBN
978-90-5629-428-1
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
"Ancient skeleton was 'even older'
Archived
13 February 2021 at the
Wayback Machine
".
BBC News
. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
"A 12,000-year story - revealing the history of settlers in Britain from the end of the Ice Age to the present day | University of Oxford"
ox.ac.uk
. 9 February 2018
. Retrieved
6 July
2025
Koch, John T. (2006).
Celtic culture: A historical encyclopedia
. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. p.
973
ISBN
978-1-85109-440-0
Davies, John
Jenkins, Nigel
; Baines, Menna;
Lynch, Peredur I.
, eds. (2008).
The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales
. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 915.
ISBN
978-0-7083-1953-6
"Short Athelstan biography"
BBC History
Archived
from the original on 13 February 2007
. Retrieved
9 April
2013
Mackie, J.D.
(1991).
A History of Scotland
. London: Penguin. pp.
18–19
ISBN
978-0-14-013649-4
Campbell, Ewan (1999).
Saints and Sea-kings: The First Kingdom of the Scots
. Edinburgh: Canongate. pp.
8–
15.
ISBN
978-0-86241-874-8
Haigh, Christopher (1990).
The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland
. Cambridge University Press. p.
30
ISBN
978-0-521-39552-6
Ganshof, F.L. (1996).
Feudalism
. University of Toronto. p. 165.
ISBN
978-0-8020-7158-3
Chibnall, Marjorie
(1999).
The Debate on the Norman Conquest
. Manchester University Press. pp.
115–
122.
ISBN
978-0-7190-4913-2
Archived
from the original on 26 March 2023
. Retrieved
20 March
2023
"The Declaration of Arbroath"
NMS
. 3 June 2023
. Retrieved
6 July
2025
"Magna Carta"
. parliament.uk
. Retrieved
27 May
2024
"The contents of Magna Carta"
. parliament.uk.
Archived
from the original on 28 August 2022
. Retrieved
27 May
2024
"Magna Carta Key Facts"
. Britannica.
Archived
from the original on 27 May 2024
. Retrieved
27 May
2024
Keen, Maurice.
"The Hundred Years' War"
Archived
14 December 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
. BBC History.
The Reformation in England and Scotland
Archived
15 May 2015 at the
Wayback Machine
and
Ireland: The Reformation Period & Ireland under Elizabeth I
Archived
21 May 2015 at the
Wayback Machine
, Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
"English Reformation c1527-1590"
The National Archives
Archived
from the original on 2 December 2022
. Retrieved
20 January
2023
"British History in Depth – Wales under the Tudors"
BBC History
. 5 November 2009.
Archived
from the original on 7 February 2012
. Retrieved
21 September
2010
Nicholls, Mark (1999).
A history of the modern British Isles, 1529–1603: The two kingdoms
. Oxford: Blackwell. pp.
171–
172.
ISBN
978-0-631-19334-0
Canny, Nicholas P. (2003).
Making Ireland British, 1580–1650
. Oxford University Press. pp.
189–
200.
ISBN
978-0-19-925905-2
Ross, D. (2002).
Chronology of Scottish History
. Glasgow: Geddes & Grosset. p. 56.
ISBN
978-1-85534-380-1
; Hearn, J. (2002).
Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture
. Edinburgh University Press. p. 104.
ISBN
978-1-902930-16-9
"English Civil Wars"
Encyclopædia Britannica
Archived
from the original on 2 May 2015
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
"Scotland and the Commonwealth: 1651–1660"
. Archontology.org. 14 March 2010.
Archived
from the original on 16 July 2012
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
Lodge, Richard (2007) [1910].
The History of England – From the Restoration to the Death of William III (1660–1702)
. Read Books. p. 8.
ISBN
978-1-4067-0897-4
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
"Tudor Period and the Birth of a Regular Navy"
Royal Navy History
. Institute of Naval History. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
Canny, Nicholas (1998).
The Origins of Empire, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume I
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-924676-2
Archived
from the original on 11 January 2023
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
"Articles of Union with Scotland 1707"
. UK Parliament.
Archived
from the original on 8 June 2012
. Retrieved
19 October
2008
"Acts of Union 1707"
. UK Parliament.
Archived
from the original on 27 December 2010
. Retrieved
6 January
2011
"Treaty (act) of Union 1706"
. Scottish History online. Archived from
the original
on 27 May 2019
. Retrieved
3 February
2011
Library of Congress,
The Impact of the American Revolution Abroad
Archived
28 March 2024 at the
Wayback Machine
, p. 73.
Morgan, Kenneth (2007).
Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America
. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 12.
ISBN
978-0-19-156627-1
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
5 October
2020
Morgan, Kenneth (2007).
Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America
. Oxford University Press, US. p. 15.
ISBN
978-0-19-156627-1
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
5 October
2020
Sailing against slavery
Archived
3 November 2008 at the
Wayback Machine
. BBC Devon. 2007.;
Lovejoy, Paul E. (2000).
Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa
(2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. p.
290
ISBN
978-0-521-78012-4
"The Act of Union"
. Act of Union Virtual Library. Archived from
the original
on 15 April 2012
. Retrieved
15 May
2006
Tellier, L.-N. (2009).
Urban World History: an Economic and Geographical Perspective
. Quebec: PUQ. p. 463.
ISBN
978-2-7605-1588-8
Mathias, P. (2001).
The First Industrial Nation: the Economic History of Britain, 1700–1914
. London: Routledge.
ISBN
978-0-415-26672-7
Ferguson, Niall (2004).
Empire: The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power
. New York: Basic Books.
ISBN
978-0-465-02328-8
McDougall, Walter A.
(4 May 2023).
"20th-century international relations"
Encyclopædia Britannica
Archived
from the original on 12 July 2019
. Retrieved
6 May
2023
Sondhaus, L. (2004).
Navies in Modern World History
. London: Reaktion Books. p. 9.
ISBN
978-1-86189-202-7
Porter, Andrew (1998).
The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III
. Oxford University Press. p. 332.
ISBN
978-0-19-924678-6
Benn, David Wedgwood (March 2012). "The Crimean War and its lessons for today".
International Affairs
88
(2). Oxford University Press:
387–
391.
doi
10.1111/j.1468-2346.2012.01078.x
JSTOR
41428613
Porter, Andrew (1998).
The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III
. Oxford University Press. p. 8.
ISBN
978-0-19-924678-6
Marshall, P.J. (1996).
The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire
. Cambridge University Press. pp.
156–
157.
ISBN
978-0-521-00254-7
Archived
from the original on 16 January 2023
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
Tompson, Richard S. (2003).
Great Britain: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present
. New York: Facts on File. p. 63.
ISBN
978-0-8160-4474-0
Fromkin, David (1980).
"The Great Game in Asia"
Foreign Affairs
58
(4):
936–
951.
doi
10.2307/20040512
ISSN
0015-7120
JSTOR
20040512
Archived
from the original on 12 April 2021
. Retrieved
4 June
2023
Hosch, William L. (2009).
World War I: People, Politics, and Power
. America at War. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 21.
ISBN
978-1-61530-048-8
Zarembka, Paul (2013).
Contradictions: Finance, Greed, and Labor Unequally Paid
. Emerald Group Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-78190-670-5
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
21 October
2020
Sophia A. Van Wingerden,
The women's suffrage movement in Britain, 1866–1928
(1999) ch 1.
Turner, John (1988).
Britain and the First World War
. London: Unwin Hyman. pp. 22–35.
ISBN
978-0-04-445109-9
Westwell, I.; Cove, D. (eds) (2002).
History of World War I, Volume 3
. London: Marshall Cavendish. pp. 698, 705.
ISBN
978-0-7614-7231-5
Turner, J. (1988).
Britain and the First World War
. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 41.
ISBN
978-0-04-445109-9
"100 years of radio since Marconi's big breakthrough"
Ofcom
. 15 June 2020.
Archived
from the original on 4 August 2020
. Retrieved
17 November
2020
Linfoot, Matthew.
"History of the BBC: The origins of BBC Local Radio"
BBC
Archived
from the original on 20 September 2022
. Retrieved
18 September
2022
"History of the BBC: 1920s"
BBC
Archived
from the original on 26 September 2022
. Retrieved
18 September
2022
SR&O 1921
/533 of 3 May 1921.
"The Anglo-Irish Treaty, 6 December 1921"
CAIN Web Service
Archived
from the original on 14 May 2012
. Retrieved
15 May
2006
Rubinstein, W.D. (2004).
Capitalism, Culture, and Decline in Britain, 1750–1990
. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 11.
ISBN
978-0-415-03719-8
Edgerton, David (2012).
Britain's War Machine
. Penguin.
Archived
from the original on 28 April 2020
. Retrieved
10 May
2020
"Britain's War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War"
Reviews in History
Archived
from the original on 12 June 2020
. Retrieved
10 May
2020
Septimus H. Paul (2000).
Nuclear Rivals: Anglo-American Atomic Relations, 1941–1952
. Ohio State U.P. pp.
1–
5.
ISBN
978-0-8142-0852-6
Doenecke, Justus D.; Stoler, Mark A. (2005).
Debating Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policies, 1933–1945
. Rowman & Littlefield.
ISBN
978-0-8476-9416-7
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
19 March
2016
Kelly, Brian.
The Four Policemen and Postwar Planning, 1943–1945: The Collision of Realist and Idealist Perspectives
. Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Archived
from the original on 22 October 2015
. Retrieved
25 August
2015
"The "Special Relationship" between Great Britain and the United States Began with FDR"
Roosevelt Institute
. 22 July 2010. Archived from
the original
on 25 January 2018
. Retrieved
24 January
2018
and the joint efforts of both powers to create a new post-war strategic and economic order through the drafting of the Atlantic Charter; the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; and the creation of the United Nations.
"Remarks by the President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron in Joint Press Conference"
(Press release). The White House. 22 April 2016.
Archived
from the original on 8 June 2021
. Retrieved
24 January
2018
That's what we built after World War II. The United States and the UK designed a set of institutions – whether it was the United Nations, or the Bretton Woods structure, IMF, World Bank, NATO, across the board.
"Britain to make its final payment on World War II loan from U.S."
The New York Times
. 28 December 2006.
Archived
from the original on 20 August 2017
. Retrieved
25 August
2011
Reynolds, David (17 April 2011).
"Britain's War Machine by David Edgerton – review"
The Guardian
. London.
Archived
from the original on 12 June 2020
. Retrieved
10 May
2020
Francis, Martin (1997).
Ideas and policies under Labour, 1945–1951: Building a new Britain
. Manchester University Press. pp.
225–
233.
ISBN
978-0-7190-4833-3
Lee, Stephen J. (1996).
Aspects of British political history, 1914–1995
. London; New York: Routledge. pp.
173
–199.
ISBN
978-0-415-13103-2
Brown, Judith
(1998).
The Twentieth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume IV
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-924679-3
Archived
from the original on 3 January 2014
. Retrieved
22 July
2009
p. 319.
Louis, Wm. Roger (2006).
Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez and Decolonization
. I.B. Tauris.
ISBN
978-1-84511-347-6
Archived
from the original on 22 February 2017
. Retrieved
22 July
2009
p. 337.
Abernethy, David (2000).
The Dynamics of Global Dominance, European Overseas Empires 1415–1980
. Yale University Press.
ISBN
978-0-300-09314-8
Archived
from the original on 14 December 2011
. Retrieved
22 July
2009
p. 146.
Larres, Klaus (2009).
A companion to Europe since 1945
. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 118.
ISBN
978-1-4051-0612-2
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
"Country List"
Commonwealth Secretariat
. 19 March 2009. Archived from
the original
on 6 May 2013
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
Julios, Christina (2008).
Contemporary British identity: English language, migrants, and public discourse
. Studies in migration and diaspora. Aldershot: Ashgate. p. 84.
ISBN
978-0-7546-7158-9
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
Loughran, Thomas; Mycock, Andrew; Tonge, Jonathan (3 April 2021).
"A coming of age: how and why the UK became the first democracy to allow votes for 18-year-olds"
Contemporary British History
35
(2):
284–
313.
doi
10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589
ISSN
1361-9462
S2CID
233956982
Archived
from the original on 4 June 2023
. Retrieved
24 May
2024
"1975: UK embraces Europe in referendum"
BBC News
Archived
from the original on 20 June 2018
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
Aughey, Arthur (2005).
The Politics of Northern Ireland: Beyond the Belfast Agreement
. London: Routledge. p.
ISBN
978-0-415-32788-6
; "The troubles were over, but the killing continued. Some of the heirs to Ireland's violent traditions refused to give up their inheritance."
Holland, Jack (1999).
Hope against History: The Course of Conflict in Northern Ireland
. New York: Henry Holt. p.
221
ISBN
978-0-8050-6087-4
; Elliot, Marianne (2007).
The Long Road to Peace in Northern Ireland: Peace Lectures from the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University.
University of Liverpool Institute of Irish Studies, Liverpool University Press. p. 2.
ISBN
978-1-84631-065-2
Dorey, Peter (1995).
British politics since 1945
. Making contemporary Britain. Oxford: Blackwell. pp.
164–
223.
ISBN
978-0-631-19075-2
Griffiths, Alan; Wall, Stuart (2007).
Applied Economics
(PDF)
(11th ed.). Harlow: Financial Times Press. p. 6.
ISBN
978-0-273-70822-3
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 23 August 2009
. Retrieved
26 December
2010
Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain
– via
Wikisource
Keating, Michael (1 January 1998). "Reforging the Union: Devolution and Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom".
Publius: The Journal of Federalism
28
(1):
217–
234.
doi
10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a029948
McCourt, David (2014).
Britain and World Power Since 1945: Constructing a Nation's Role in International Politics
University of Michigan Press
ISBN
978-0-472-07221-7
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
21 October
2020
McSmith, Andy (5 July 2016).
"The inside story of how Tony Blair led Britain to war in Iraq"
Independent
. London.
Archived
from the original on 4 July 2016
. Retrieved
17 February
2022
Adams, Tim (11 February 2023).
'A beautiful outpouring of rage': did Britain's biggest ever protest change the world?"
The Observer
. London.
Archived
from the original on 6 April 2023
. Retrieved
5 June
2023
"Quarterly National Accounts – National accounts aggregates (ABMI Gross Domestic Product: chained volume measures: Seasonally adjusted £m, constant prices)"
. Office for National Statistics. 20 December 2013.
Archived
from the original on 29 September 2015
. Retrieved
28 July
2023
Harari, Daniel (16 July 2024).
"Low growth: The economy's biggest challenge"
House of Commons Library
. Retrieved
16 April
2025
Rees, Tom; Atkinson, Andrew; Aldrick, Philip (12 March 2023).
"A Lost Decade Worse Than Japan's Threatens to Change UK Forever"
Bloomberg News
Archived
from the original on 13 March 2023
. Retrieved
16 April
2025
"What is austerity and where could 'eye-watering' cuts fall now?"
BBC News
. 7 November 2022.
Archived
from the original on 28 July 2023
. Retrieved
28 July
2023
"Scottish independence referendum – Results"
BBC News
Archived
from the original on 18 September 2014
. Retrieved
18 February
2022
Witte, Griff; Adam, Karla; Balz, Dan (24 June 2016).
"In stunning decision, Britain votes to leave the E.U."
The Washington Post
Archived
from the original on 30 November 2022
. Retrieved
24 June
2016
"Brexit: New era for UK as it completes separation from European Union"
BBC News
. 1 January 2021.
Archived
from the original on 14 January 2021
. Retrieved
18 February
2022
"The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement"
. Archived from
the original
on 25 March 2023
. Retrieved
25 March
2023
"Free Trade Agreements EU-UK"
. Retrieved
12 September
2025
"Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK"
gov.uk
. Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from
the original
on 1 May 2021
. Retrieved
15 April
2020
"Coronavirus and the impact on output in the UK economy: April 2020"
ons.gov.uk
. Government of the United Kingdom.
Archived
from the original on 2 August 2020
. Retrieved
2 August
2020
Walker, Andrew (10 June 2020).
"Coronavirus: UK economy could be among worst hit of leading nations, says OECD"
BBC News
Archived
from the original on 18 August 2020
. Retrieved
2 August
2020
"Landmark moment as first NHS patient receives COVID-19 vaccination"
NHS
. 8 December 2020. Archived from
the original
on 25 February 2023.
"Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine approved"
UK Government
. Archived from
the original
on 25 February 2023.
Oxford English Dictionary: "British Isles: a geographical term for the islands comprising Great Britain and Ireland with all their offshore islands including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands."
"A Beginner's Guide to UK Geography (2023)"
Open Geography Portal
. Office for National Statistics. 4 February 2025
. Retrieved
14 May
2025
"United Kingdom"
The World Factbook
. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from
the original
on 9 January 2021
. Retrieved
21 January
2007
ROG Learning Team (23 August 2002).
"The Prime Meridian at Greenwich"
Royal Museums Greenwich
. Archived from
the original
on 7 November 2015
. Retrieved
11 September
2012
"Greenwich Royal Observatory: How the Prime Meridian line is actually 100 metres away from where it was believed to be"
Independent
. London. 13 August 2015.
Archived
from the original on 23 March 2019
. Retrieved
13 December
2018
"Northern Ireland Coastal and Marine Forum"
(PDF)
. Northern Ireland Costal and Marine Forum. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 23 November 2024
. Retrieved
13 March
2025
Darkes, Giles (January 2008).
"How long is the UK coastline?"
. The
British Cartographic Society
. Archived from
the original
on 22 May 2012
. Retrieved
24 January
2015
Weiner, Sophie (3 March 2018).
"Why it's Impossible to Accurately Measure a Coastline"
Popular Mechanics
Archived
from the original on 29 June 2024
. Retrieved
29 June
2024
"The Channel Tunnel"
. Eurotunnel. Archived from
the original
on 18 December 2010
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
Dinerstein, Eric; et al. (2017).
"An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm"
BioScience
67
(6):
534–
545.
doi
10.1093/biosci/bix014
ISSN
0006-3568
PMC
5451287
PMID
28608869
"Woodland Statistics, Key findings"
Forest Research
Archived
from the original on 2 August 2023
. Retrieved
8 July
2023
"Hottest day of each year from 1900"
trevorharley.com
Archived
from the original on 16 June 2023
. Retrieved
23 November
2019
"Coldest day of each year from 1900"
trevorharley.com
Archived
from the original on 9 July 2023
. Retrieved
23 November
2019
"English: A map of Köppen climate types in the United Kingdom (SVG version)"
. 9 August 2016.
Archived
from the original on 9 July 2023
. Retrieved
23 November
2019
"Atlantic Ocean Circulation (Gulf Stream)"
UK Climate Projections
. Met Office.
Archived
from the original on 17 October 2018
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
"UK 1971–2000 averages"
. Met Office. Archived from
the original
on 5 July 2009
. Retrieved
4 August
2007
"UK temperature, rainfall and sunshine time series"
Met Office
Archived
from the original on 17 October 2019
. Retrieved
31 December
2022
Smeeton, George (28 November 2023).
"Families hit by £605 food bill as extreme weather and energy crisis bites"
Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit
Archived
from the original on 16 July 2024
. Retrieved
19 July
2024
"2024 Environmental Performance Index"
Environmental Performance Index
Archived
from the original on 10 July 2024
. Retrieved
27 May
2025
"UK net zero target"
Institute for Government
. 20 April 2020
. Retrieved
20 March
2024
"England – Profile"
BBC News
. 11 February 2010.
Archived
from the original on 15 April 2018
. Retrieved
9 October
2010
Latimer Clarke Corporation Pty Ltd.
"United Kingdom – Atlapedia Online"
Atlapedia.com
Archived
from the original on 21 March 2012
. Retrieved
26 October
2010
better source needed
"Scotland Facts"
. Scotland Online Gateway. Archived from
the original
on 21 June 2008
. Retrieved
16 July
2008
Winter, Jon (1 June 2000).
"The complete guide to the ... Scottish Islands"
Independent
. London.
Archived
from the original on 2 April 2015
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
"Great Britain's tallest mountain is taller"
Ordnance Survey Blog
. Ordnance Survey. 18 March 2016.
Archived
from the original on 9 September 2018
. Retrieved
9 September
2018
"Ben Nevis Weather"
. Ben Nevis Weather. Archived from
the original
on 10 May 2012
. Retrieved
26 October
2008
"Profile: Wales"
BBC News
. 9 June 2010.
Archived
from the original on 26 August 2018
. Retrieved
7 November
2010
"Geography of Northern Ireland"
. University of Ulster.
Archived
from the original on 18 January 2012
. Retrieved
22 May
2006
The British Monarchy, "What is constitutional monarchy?"
Archived
4 June 2019 at the
Wayback Machine
. Retrieved 17 July 2013;
"United Kingdom"
Archived
9 January 2021 at the
Wayback Machine
CIA
The World Factbook
. Retrieved 17 July 2013
Stepan, Alfred; Linz, Juan J.; Minoves, Juli F. (2014).
"Democratic Parliamentary Monarchies"
Journal of Democracy
25
(2):
35–
36.
doi
10.1353/jod.2014.0032
ISSN
1086-3214
S2CID
154555066
Archived
from the original on 31 January 2026
. Retrieved
11 January
2023
Lewer, Andrew (5 May 2021).
"The UK is one of the most centralised advanced democracies – it's time that changed"
New Statesman
Archived
from the original on 3 July 2023
. Retrieved
3 July
2023
"Centralisation Nation: Britain's system of local government and its impact on the national economy"
Centre for Cities
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
3 July
2023
"Parliamentary Sovereignty"
parliament.uk
Archived
from the original on 11 August 2021
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
Polly Botsford (22 September 2022).
"Relationship between UK Crown and law in focus as Carolean era begins"
. International Bar Association.
Archived
from the original on 6 May 2023
. Retrieved
4 July
2023
"Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30, s. 10)"
. The National Archives.
Archived
from the original on 30 July 2023
. Retrieved
4 July
2023
"Parliament"
parliament.uk
Archived
from the original on 18 February 2026
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
"Royal Assent"
parliament.uk
Archived
from the original on 16 July 2021
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
Carter, Sarah.
"A Guide To the UK Legal System"
University of Kent
at Canterbury. Archived from
the original
on 5 May 2012
. Retrieved
16 May
2006
See
R_(Miller)_v_Prime_Minister
[2019] UKSC 41 (Parliamentary sovereignty),
R_(UNISON)_v_Lord_Chancellor
[2017]
UKSC 51
Archived
4 January 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
, [67] ff (rule of law),
R_(Animal_Defenders_International)_v_Secretary_of_State_for_Culture_Media_and_Sport
[2008] UKHL 15, [48] (democracy),
R_v_Lyons
[2002]
UKHL 44
Archived
22 January 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
, [27] (international law).
Robert Blackburn (2022). O. Lepsius; A. Nußberger; C. Schönberger; C. Waldhoff & C. Walter (eds.).
"The Constitutional Role and Working of the Monarchy in the United Kingdom"
Jahrbuch des Öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart
. Neue Folge.
70
. Mohr Siebeck (published 2 June 2022):
181–
201.
doi
10.1628/joer-2022-0009
S2CID
257830288
Archived
from the original on 19 June 2023
. Retrieved
19 June
2023
Bagehot, Walter
(1867).
The English Constitution
. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 103.
David Torrance (11 January 2023).
"The Crown and the Constitution"
(PDF)
. House of Commons Library. p. 22.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2 March 2023
. Retrieved
19 June
2023
"The Government, Prime Minister and Cabinet"
Public services all in one place
Directgov
. Archived from
the original
on 21 September 2012
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
Tim Durrant (25 March 2020).
"Cabinet"
. Institute for Government.
Archived
from the original on 4 July 2023
. Retrieved
4 July
2023
"Parliament and Government"
. UK Parliament.
Archived
from the original on 4 July 2023
. Retrieved
4 July
2023
Vernon Bogdanor (1995).
The Monarchy and the Constitution, Chapter 3 – The Basic Constitutional Rules: Influence and the Prerogative
. Clarendon Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-829334-7
. Retrieved
4 July
2023
Blick, Andrew; Jones, George (1 January 2012).
"The Institution of Prime Minister – History of government"
gov.uk
Archived
from the original on 21 July 2021
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
Brown, Jack (2020). Dale, Iain (ed.).
The Prime Ministers
Hodder & Stoughton
. p. 303.
ISBN
978-1-5293-1214-0
"Minister for the Civil Service"
gov.uk
Archived
from the original on 2 September 2017
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
Woodcock, Andrew (26 July 2021).
"Boris Johnson accused of 'cynical rebranding' after appointing himself 'Minister for the Union'
Independent
Archived
from the original on 27 July 2019
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
"Minister for the Union"
gov.uk
Archived
from the original on 19 July 2020
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
"The Cabinet Manual"
(PDF)
gov.uk
. October 2011. pp. 7, 21.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 15 April 2018
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
Norton, Philip (2020).
Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution
Manchester University Press
. p. 130.
ISBN
978-1-5261-4545-1
Palan, Rolen (2015).
"The second British Empire and the re-emergence of global finance"
. In Palan, Rolen; Halperin, Sandra (eds.).
Legacies of Empire: Imperial Roots of the Contemporary Global Order
. Cambridge University Press. p. 48.
ISBN
978-1-107-10946-9
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2024
. Retrieved
13 April
2024
"Democracy Report 2026, Unraveling The Democratic Era?"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
17 March
2026
"General elections"
parliament.uk
. Retrieved
19 July
2021
Raymond, C (2016).
"Why British Politics is Not a Two-Party System"
(PDF)
Queen's University Belfast
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 9 July 2023
. Retrieved
3 July
2023
Hackwood Frederick William:
The Story of the Shire, Being the Lore, History and Evolution of English County Institutions
(1851)
United Nations Economic and Social Council
(August 2007).
"Ninth UN Conference on the standardization of Geographical Names"
(PDF)
. UN Statistics Division.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 11 December 2009
. Retrieved
21 October
2008
Dewart, Megan (2019).
The Scottish Legal System
. London:
Bloomsbury Academic
. p. 57.
ISBN
978-1-5265-0633-7
Archived
from the original on 4 July 2023
. Retrieved
4 July
2023
The laws and legal institutions of Scotland and of England and Wales were not merged by the Union of 1707. Thus, they remain separate 'law areas', with separate court systems (as does Northern Ireland), and it is necessary to distinguish Scots law and English law (and Northern Irish law).
"The justice system and the constitution"
. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. Archived from
the original
on 21 May 2023
. Retrieved
13 June
2023
The United Kingdom has three separate legal systems; one each for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This reflects its historical origins and the fact that both Scotland and Ireland, and later Northern Ireland, retained their own legal systems and traditions under the Acts of Union 1707 and 1800.
Barlow, I.M. (1991).
Metropolitan Government
. London: Routledge.
ISBN
978-0-415-02099-2
"Welcome to the national site of the Government Office Network"
. Government Offices. Archived from
the original
on 6 June 2009
. Retrieved
3 July
2008
"A short history of London government"
. Greater London Authority. Archived from
the original
on 21 April 2008
. Retrieved
4 October
2008
"STV in Scotland: Local Government Elections 2007"
(PDF)
. Political Studies Association. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 22 February 2011
. Retrieved
2 August
2008
"Unitary authorities"
. Welsh Government. 2014. Archived from
the original
on 10 March 2015
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
Devenport, Mark (18 November 2005).
"NI local government set for shake-up"
BBC News
Archived
from the original on 12 December 2008
. Retrieved
15 November
2008
"Foster announces the future shape of local government"
(Press release). Northern Ireland Executive. 13 March 2008. Archived from
the original
on 25 July 2008
. Retrieved
20 October
2008
"Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland"
. United Kingdom Government.
Archived
from the original on 18 July 2013
. Retrieved
17 April
2013
In a similar way to how the government is formed from members from the two Houses of Parliament, members of the devolved legislatures nominate ministers from amongst themselves to comprise executives, known as the devolved administrations...
"Country Overviews: United Kingdom"
. Transport Research Knowledge Centre. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010
. Retrieved
28 March
2010
Le Sueur, Andrew; Sunkin, Maurice; Murkens, Jo Eric Khushal (2023).
Public Law: Text, Cases, and Materials
(5th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 147.
ISBN
978-0-19-287061-2
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2024
. Retrieved
13 April
2024
"The progress of devolution - Erskine May - UK Parliament"
erskinemay.parliament.uk
. Retrieved
1 March
2025
"David Mundell speech: 20 years of Scottish devolution"
GOV.UK
. Retrieved
1 March
2025
Burrows, N. (1999). "Unfinished Business: The Scotland Act 1998".
The Modern Law Review
62
(2): 241–260 [p. 249].
doi
10.1111/1468-2230.00203
The UK Parliament is sovereign and the Scottish Parliament is subordinate. The White Paper had indicated that this was to be the approach taken in the legislation. The Scottish Parliament is not to be seen as a reflection of the settled will of the people of Scotland or of popular sovereignty but as a reflection of its subordination to a higher legal authority. Following the logic of this argument, the power of the Scottish Parliament to legislate can be withdrawn or overridden...
Elliot, M. (2004).
"United Kingdom: Parliamentary sovereignty under pressure"
International Journal of Constitutional Law
(3):
545–
627,
553–
554.
doi
10.1093/icon/2.3.545
Notwithstanding substantial differences among the schemes, an important common factor is that the UK Parliament has not renounced legislative sovereignty in relation to the three nations concerned. For example, the Scottish Parliament is empowered to enact primary legislation on all matters, save those in relation to which competence is explicitly denied ... but this power to legislate on what may be termed "devolved matters" is concurrent with the Westminster Parliament's general power to legislate for Scotland on any matter at all, including devolved matters ... In theory, therefore, Westminster may legislate on Scottish devolved matters whenever it chooses...
"Scotland Act 2016"
Gov.uk
Archived
from the original on 28 June 2024
. Retrieved
28 June
2024
"Wales Act 2017"
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2024
. Retrieved
13 July
2024
Gamble, A. (2006). "The Constitutional Revolution in the United Kingdom".
Publius
36
(1): 19–35 [p. 29].
doi
10.1093/publius/pjj011
The British parliament has the power to abolish the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly by a simple majority vote in both houses, but since both were sanctioned by referenda, it would be politically difficult to abolish them without the sanction of a further vote by the people. In this way, several of the constitutional measures introduced by the Blair government appear to be entrenched and not subject to a simple exercise of parliamentary sovereignty at Westminster.
Meehan, E. (1999).
"The Belfast Agreement – Its Distinctiveness and Points of Cross-Fertilization in the UK's Devolution Programme"
Parliamentary Affairs
52
(1): 19–31 [p. 23].
doi
10.1093/pa/52.1.19
[T]he distinctive involvement of two governments in the Northern Irish problem means that Northern Ireland's new arrangements rest upon an intergovernmental agreement. If this can be equated with a treaty, it could be argued that the forthcoming distribution of power between Westminster and Belfast has similarities with divisions specified in the written constitutions of federal states...Although the Agreement makes the general proviso that Westminster's 'powers to make legislation for Northern Ireland' remains 'unaffected', without an explicit categorical reference to reserved matters, it may be more difficult than in Scotland or Wales for devolved powers to be repatriated. The retraction of devolved powers would not merely entail consultation in Northern Ireland backed implicitly by the absolute power of parliamentary sovereignty but also the renegotiation of an intergovernmental agreement.
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
"English devolution"
. Institute for Government. 21 June 2024.
Archived
from the original on 30 August 2024
. Retrieved
30 August
2024
"Devolution explained"
. Local Government Association.
Archived
from the original on 30 August 2024
. Retrieved
30 August
2024
"English devolution"
. Institute for Government. 6 March 2023.
Archived
from the original on 2 October 2024
. Retrieved
4 February
2024
"Combined County Authorities – key differences to Combined Authorities"
Local Government Lawyer
. 6 April 2023.
Archived
from the original on 4 February 2024
. Retrieved
4 February
2024
"Devolved and Reserved Powers"
parliament.scot
. Scottish Parliament.
Archived
from the original on 20 September 2023
. Retrieved
28 December
2023
"Scotland's Parliament – powers and structures"
BBC News
. 8 April 1999.
Archived
from the original on 18 February 2007
. Retrieved
21 October
2008
"Devolved and Reserved Matters - Visit & Learn Scottish Parliament"
. 22 July 2017. Archived from
the original
on 22 July 2017
. Retrieved
1 March
2025
"What the Scottish Government does"
. Scottish Government.
Archived
from the original on 8 July 2019
. Retrieved
8 August
2019
Keating, Michael (2 February 2021). "Taking back control? Brexit and the territorial constitution of the United Kingdom".
Journal of European Public Policy
28
(4). Abingdon:
Taylor & Francis
6–
7.
doi
10.1080/13501763.2021.1876156
hdl
1814/70296
S2CID
234066376
The UK Internal Market Act gives ministers sweeping powers to enforce mutual recognition and non-discrimination across the four jurisdictions. Existing differences and some social and health matters are exempted but these are much less extensive than the exemptions permitted under the EU Internal Market provisions. Only after an amendment in the House of Lords, the Bill was amended to provide a weak and non-binding consent mechanism for amendments (equivalent to the Sewel Convention) to the list of exemptions. The result is that, while the devolved governments retain regulatory competences, these are undermined by the fact that goods and services originating in, or imported into, England can be marketed anywhere.
Kenny, Michael
McEwen, Nicola
(1 March 2021).
"Intergovernmental Relations and the Crisis of the Union"
Political Insight
12
(1).
SAGE Publishing
12–
15.
doi
10.1177/20419058211000996
S2CID
232050477
That phase of joint working was significantly damaged by the UK Internal Market Act, pushed through by the Johnson government in December 2020...the Act diminishes the authority of the devolved institutions, and was vehemently opposed by them.
Wolffe, W James
(7 April 2021).
"Devolution and the Statute Book"
Statute Law Review
. Oxford:
Oxford University Press
doi
10.1093/slr/hmab003
Archived
from the original on 21 April 2021
. Retrieved
18 April
2021
the Internal Market Bill—a Bill that contains provisions which, if enacted, would significantly constrain, both legally and as a matter of practicality, the exercise by the devolved legislatures of their legislative competence; provisions that would be significantly more restrictive of the powers of the Scottish Parliament than either EU law or Articles 4 and 6 of the Acts of the Union...The UK Parliament passed the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 and the Internal Market Act 2020 notwithstanding that, in each case, all three of the devolved legislatures had withheld consent.
Wincott, Daniel
; Murray, C. R. G.; Davies, Gregory (17 May 2021).
"The Anglo-British imaginary and the rebuilding of the UK's territorial constitution after Brexit: unitary state or union state?"
Territory, Politics, Governance
10
(5). Abingdon/Brighton:
Taylor & Francis
Regional Studies Association
696–
713.
doi
10.1080/21622671.2021.1921613
Taken as a whole, the Internal Market Act imposes greater restrictions upon the competences of the devolved institutions than the provisions of the EU Single Market which it replaced, in spite of pledges to use common frameworks to address these issues.
Lord Hope
, responsible for many of the leading judgments relating to the first two decades of devolution, regarded the legislation's terms as deliberately confrontational: 'this Parliament can do what it likes, but a different approach is essential if the union is to hold together'.
Dougan, Michael
Hayward, Katy
; Hunt, Jo;
McEwen, Nicola
; McHarg, Aileen;
Wincott, Daniel
(2020).
UK and the Internal Market, Devolution and the Union
. Centre on Constitutional Change (Report).
University of Edinburgh
University of Aberdeen
. pp.
2–
3.
Archived
from the original on 18 October 2020
. Retrieved
16 October
2020
Dougan, Michael
(2020).
Briefing Paper. United Kingdom Internal Market Bill: Implications for Devolution
(PDF)
(Report). Liverpool:
University of Liverpool
. pp.
4–
5.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 26 October 2020
. Retrieved
15 October
2020
Dougan, Michael
; Hunt, Jo;
McEwen, Nicola
; McHarg, Aileen (2022).
"Sleeping with an Elephant: Devolution and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020"
Law Quarterly Review
. London:
Sweet & Maxwell
ISSN
0023-933X
SSRN
4018581
Archived
from the original on 2 August 2022
. Retrieved
4 March
2022
– via
Durham Research Online
The Act has restrictive – and potentially damaging – consequences for the regulatory capacity of the devolved legislatures...This was not the first time since the Brexit referendum that the Convention had been set aside, but it was especially notable given that the primary purpose of the legislation was to constrain the capacity of the devolved institutions to use their regulatory autonomy...in practice, it constrains the ability of the devolved institutions to make effective regulatory choices for their territories in ways that do not apply to the choices made by the UK government and parliament for the English market.
"Humza Yousaf's precarious position puts the SNP – and Scotland – at a crossroads"
Institute for Government
. 26 April 2024.
Archived
from the original on 26 April 2024
. Retrieved
26 April
2024
"Structure and powers of the Assembly"
BBC News
. 9 April 1999.
Archived
from the original on 7 February 2004
. Retrieved
21 October
2008
"Good Friday Agreement: What is it?"
BBC News
. 3 April 2023.
Archived
from the original on 15 May 2024
. Retrieved
11 April
2024
"Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland"
GOV.UK
. 8 May 2019.
Archived
from the original on 7 March 2023
. Retrieved
11 June
2024
"Your Executive"
. Northern Ireland Executive. 25 September 2015.
Archived
from the original on 21 August 2016
. Retrieved
14 August
2016
"Stormont: Why were NI leaders given unequal job titles?"
BBC News
. 15 May 2022. Archived from
the original
on 2 February 2024
. Retrieved
2 February
2024
"Northern Ireland Executive: Ministerial Code"
. 28 September 2015. Archived from
the original
on 2 February 2024
. Retrieved
2 February
2024
May, Theresa
(29 March 2017).
"Prime Minister's letter to Donald Tusk triggering Article 50"
Archived
from the original on 5 June 2017
. Retrieved
19 June
2017
– via Gov.uk.
Paul, T.V.; Wirtz, James; Fortmann, Michel (2004).
Balance of Power: Theory and Practice in the 21st century
. Stanford University Press. p. 59.
ISBN
978-0-8047-5017-2
"United Kingdom country profile"
BBC News
. 10 May 2012.
Archived
from the original on 3 January 2023
. Retrieved
6 July
2025
Swaine, Jon (13 January 2009).
"Barack Obama presidency will strengthen special relationship, says Gordon Brown"
The Telegraph
London
Archived
from the original on 4 July 2020
. Retrieved
30 May
2011
Kirchner, Emil Joseph; Sperling, James (2007).
Global Security Governance: Competing Perceptions of Security in the 21st century
(illustrated ed.). London:
Routledge
. p. 100.
ISBN
978-0-415-39162-7
The Committee Office, House of Commons (19 February 2009).
"DFID's expenditure on development assistance"
. UK Parliament. Archived from
the original
on 12 January 2013
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
"Ministry of Defence"
. Ministry of Defence.
Archived
from the original on 19 February 2012
. Retrieved
21 February
2012
"Speaker addresses Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II"
. UK Parliament. 30 March 2012.
Archived
from the original on 1 May 2013
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
"House of Commons Hansard"
. UK Parliament. Archived from
the original
on 9 March 2009
. Retrieved
23 October
2008
"House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 17 Jun 2013 (pt 0002)"
. Publications.parliament.uk. Archived from
the original
on 14 February 2015
. Retrieved
4 March
2015
"Trends in Military Expenditure 2024"
(PDF)
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
. April 2025.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 27 April 2025
. Retrieved
28 April
2025
"The Military Balance 2025: Defence Spending and Procurement Trends"
IISS
. Retrieved
14 February
2025
"Rishi Sunak vows to boost UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030"
. BBC News. 24 April 2024.
Archived
from the original on 23 April 2024
. Retrieved
24 April
2024
UK 2005: The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
. Office for National Statistics. p. 89.
"UK Supreme Court judges sworn in"
BBC News
. 1 October 2009.
Archived
from the original on 7 February 2020
. Retrieved
6 October
2009
"Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom"
(PDF)
. Department for Constitutional Affairs. July 2003. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 17 January 2009
. Retrieved
13 May
2013
"Role of the JCPC"
. Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Archived
from the original on 14 January 2014
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
Bainham, Andrew (1998).
The international survey of family law: 1996
. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. p. 298.
ISBN
978-90-411-0573-8
Archived
from the original on 28 March 2024
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
"Common Law"
. Britannica. 19 May 2024.
Archived
from the original on 6 May 2021
. Retrieved
27 May
2024
"The Australian courts and comparative law"
. Australian Law Postgraduate Network. Archived from
the original
on 14 April 2013
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"Court of Session – Introduction"
. Scottish Courts. Archived from
the original
on 31 July 2008
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
"High Court of Justiciary – Introduction"
. Scottish Courts. Archived from
the original
on 12 September 2008
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"House of Lords – Practice Directions and Standing Orders Applicable to Civil Appeals"
. UK Parliament. Archived from
the original
on 6 December 2013
. Retrieved
8 March
2015
"Crime in England and Wales, Year Ending June 2015"
(PDF)
UK Government Web Archive
. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023
. Retrieved
16 March
2023
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link
Sturge, Georgina
"UK Prison Population Statistics"
(PDF)
. House of Commons Library.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 24 February 2020
. Retrieved
17 October
2023
"Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Total"
World Prison Brief
Archived
from the original on 18 November 2023.
"World Prison Brief data"
World Prison Brief
Archived
from the original on 6 November 2023.
Wratten, Marcus (3 July 2023).
"Tom Allen to host vital new BBC show marking 10th anniversary of same-sex marriage"
PinkNews
Archived
from the original on 2 September 2023
. Retrieved
2 September
2023
"The 203 Worst (& Safest) Countries for LGBTQ+ Travel in 2023"
Asher & Lyric
. 5 June 2023.
Archived
from the original on 10 September 2021
. Retrieved
20 August
2023
R. Flores, Andrew.
"Social Acceptance of LGBTI People in 175 Countries and Locations"
Williams Institute
Archived
from the original on 13 September 2023
. Retrieved
11 September
2023
"Disputes under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement"
. Institute for Government. November 2021
. Retrieved
26 January
2025
"Sandeel fishing ban to remain in place"
bbc.co.uk
. 2 May 2025. Archived from
the original
on 4 May 2025
. Retrieved
4 May
2025
"Good Faith in Public Law"
ox.ac.uk
. 20 January 2022. Archived from
the original
on 13 May 2025
. Retrieved
13 May
2025
Yanatma, Servet (16 March 2024).
"Europe's top financial centres: Where's best to do business?"
Euronews
. Retrieved
16 August
2025
While the US dominates the upper end of the list, with New York taking the number one spot, London continues to lead in Europe.
Thane, Pat (2019).
"The Origins of the British Welfare State"
The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
50
(3):
427–
433.
doi
10.1162/jinh_a_01448
S2CID
208223636
Griffiths, Alan; Wall, Stuart (16 July 2011).
"Applied Economics"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 20 June 2013
. Retrieved
25 September
2014
"United Kingdom: 2023 Article IV Consultation"
(Press release). IMF. 11 July 2023.
Archived
from the original on 9 March 2024
. Retrieved
9 March
2024
"World Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves"
IMF Data
Archived
from the original on 12 May 2016
. Retrieved
10 October
2021
"Exports of goods and services (BoP, current US$)"
World Bank
. Retrieved
22 September
2025
"Imports of goods and services (current US$)"
World Bank
Archived
from the original on 13 September 2025
. Retrieved
22 September
2025
"House of Commons Research Briefing on Income inequality in the UK"
UK Parliament
Archived
from the original on 10 February 2022
. Retrieved
1 July
2023
"Inequality – Income inequality – OECD Data"
theOECD
. Archived from
the original
on 29 June 2023
. Retrieved
3 July
2023
Labiak, Mitchell; Smith, Oliver (17 July 2025).
"UK jobs market weakens as unemployment rate rises"
www.bbc.com
Archived
from the original on 15 September 2025
. Retrieved
25 September
2025
"Celebrating Concorde"
. Archived from
the original
on 17 March 2023
. Retrieved
30 March
2023
Hutton, Georgina (3 October 2024).
"Industries in the UK"
UK Parliament: House of Commons Library
Archived
from the original on 7 October 2021
. Retrieved
19 May
2025
"Service exports (BoP, current US$)"
World Bank Open Data
Archived
from the original on 17 March 2023
. Retrieved
19 May
2025
"UK leads world in financial services trade surplus"
TheCityUK
. 15 January 2025
. Retrieved
2 June
2025
"BIS Triennial Survey of Foreign Exchange and Over-The-Counter Interest Rate Derivatives Markets in April 2025 – UK Data"
. Bank of England. 30 September 2025
. Retrieved
7 December
2025
Florida, Richard (16 March 2017).
"The Economic Power of Cities Compared to Nations"
Bloomberg
Archived
from the original on 8 March 2024
. Retrieved
22 February
2024
"World Cities 2024"
GaWC
Archived
from the original on 3 July 2025
. Retrieved
21 September
2025
"GFCI 36 Rank - Long Finance"
www.longfinance.net
Archived
from the original on 25 September 2024
. Retrieved
19 May
2025
"World Bank Open Data"
World Bank Open Data
Archived
from the original on 7 January 2020
. Retrieved
5 August
2025
"Manufacturing industries: Economic indicators"
House of Commons Library
. 22 May 2025
. Retrieved
1 June
2025
Hennik Research.
Annual Manufacturing Report: 2017
(Dec. 2016)
Archived
31 January 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
Chan, Kelvin (25 April 2023).
"King Charles' coronation is bringing millions of tourists and a cash infusion to London but it probably won't save the British economy"
fortune.com
. The Associated Press. Archived from
the original
on 2 May 2023
. Retrieved
9 May
2023
"DCMS Economic Estimates 2019 (provisional): Gross Value Added"
gov.uk
Archived
from the original on 31 January 2023
. Retrieved
31 January
2023
"UK's Creative Industries contributes almost £13 million to the UK economy every hour"
. UK Government. 2020.
Archived
from the original on 21 February 2023
. Retrieved
21 February
2023
"Lloyd's of London – value proposition"
Lloyd's of London
. Archived from
the original
on 27 February 2023.
"Rankings 2025 - Creative 100"
WARC
. Archived from
the original
on 12 June 2025
. Retrieved
12 June
2025
"Retail"
. great.gov.uk.
Archived
from the original on 18 January 2024
. Retrieved
18 January
2024
"Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current US$)"
World Bank Group
Archived
from the original on 12 June 2018
. Retrieved
17 August
2024
"Employee owned businesses - What the evidence tells us"
Archived
from the original on 2 December 2023
. Retrieved
18 January
2024
"SMMT Motor Industry Facts 2025"
SMMT
. 15 May 2025.
Archived
from the original on 26 May 2025
. Retrieved
26 May
2025
"Best British cars: Top 50 all-time greatest British-built cars revealed - page 2"
Auto Express
. 19 November 2020.
Archived
from the original on 16 March 2024
. Retrieved
9 March
2024
"Combustion Engines"
OEC - The Observatory of Economic Complexity
Archived
from the original on 26 May 2025
. Retrieved
26 May
2025
"UK motorsport industry in pole position for F1's 70th anniversary"
. UK Government. 2020.
Archived
from the original on 19 February 2023
. Retrieved
19 February
2023
"United Kingdom - Country Commercial Guide: Aerospace and Defense"
International Trade Administration
. 3 November 2023.
Archived
from the original on 12 June 2023
. Retrieved
17 December
2024
Tovey, Alan (29 June 2016).
"Britain's aerospace sector soars amid fears Brexit could clip its wings"
The Telegraph
. London.
Archived
from the original on 10 January 2022.
"UK space sector income reaches £17.5 billion as jobs and services grow"
UKspace
. 27 March 2023.
"UK space sector income reaches £17.5 billion as jobs and services grow"
gov.uk
. 29 March 2023
. Retrieved
10 August
2025
"New funding to support space exploration using Moon resources and nuclear power"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 March 2023
. Retrieved
11 March
2023
"UK Food Security Index 2024"
. Department for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs.
Archived
from the original on 18 May 2024
. Retrieved
19 May
2024
"Agricultural workforce in England at 1 June 2023"
. Department for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs.
Archived
from the original on 19 May 2024
. Retrieved
19 May
2024
"Sustainable fisheries: fish stocks harvested within safe limits"
JNCC
. Retrieved
14 December
2024
"Marine accounts, natural capital, UK: 2021"
ONS
. 6 April 2021. Archived from
the original
on 21 May 2025
. Retrieved
21 May
2025
"Coal"
BGS Minerals UK
Archived
from the original on 26 April 2009
. Retrieved
7 July
2015
WIPO (2022).
Global Innovation Index 2022, 15th Edition
. World Intellectual Property Organization.
doi
10.34667/tind.46596
ISBN
978-92-805-3432-0
Archived
from the original on 3 December 2022
. Retrieved
16 November
2022
"Global Innovation Index 2021"
World Intellectual Property Organization
United Nations
Archived
from the original on 5 March 2022
. Retrieved
5 March
2022
"Release of the Global Innovation Index 2020: Who Will Finance Innovation?"
World Intellectual Property Organization
Archived
from the original on 3 June 2021
. Retrieved
2 September
2021
"Global Innovation Index 2019"
World Intellectual Property Organization
Archived
from the original on 2 September 2021
. Retrieved
2 September
2021
"RTD – Item"
ec.europa.eu
Archived
from the original on 2 September 2021
. Retrieved
2 September
2021
Gascoin, J. "A reappraisal of the role of the universities in the Scientific Revolution", in Lindberg, David C. and Westman, Robert S., eds (1990),
Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution
. Cambridge University Press. p. 248.
ISBN
978-0-521-34804-1
Reynolds, E.E.; Brasher, N.H. (1966).
Britain in the Twentieth Century, 1900–1964
. Cambridge University Press. p. 336.
OCLC
474197910
Burtt, E.A. (2003) 1924.
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science
Archived
26 March 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
. Mineola, NY: Courier Dover. p. 207.
ISBN
978-0-486-42551-1
Hatt, C. (2006).
Scientists and Their Discoveries
Archived
26 March 2023 at the
Wayback Machine
. London: Evans Brothers. pp. 16, 30 and 46.
ISBN
978-0-237-53195-9
Castells, M.; Hall, P.; Hall, P.G. (2004).
Technopoles of the World: the Making of Twenty-First-Century Industrial Complexes
. London: Routledge. pp. 98–100.
ISBN
978-0-415-10015-1
"International comparison of the UK research base, 2025"
GOV.UK
. Retrieved
7 December
2025
McCook, Alison (2006).
"Is peer review broken?"
The Scientist
20
(2): 26. Archived from
the original
on 16 August 2011
. Retrieved
22 June
2011
"UK tech sector retains #1 spot in Europe and #3 in world as sector resilience brings continued growth"
gov.uk
. 21 December 2022. Archived from
the original
on 27 May 2025
. Retrieved
27 May
2025
"UK AI sector most valuable in Europe, new report reveals"
Holyrood
. 11 June 2024
. Retrieved
20 July
2025
"Global AI Power Rankings: Stanford HAI Tool Ranks 36 Countries in AI"
hai.stanford.edu
. 21 November 2024
. Retrieved
1 January
2025
"GII Innovation Ecosystems & Data Explorer 2025"
WIPO
. Retrieved
16 October
2025
Dutta, Soumitra; Lanvin, Bruno (2025).
Global Innovation Index 2025: Innovation at a Crossroads
World Intellectual Property Organization
. p. 19.
doi
10.34667/tind.58864
ISBN
978-92-805-3797-0
. Retrieved
17 October
2025
Moran, Joe (16 November 2005).
Reading the Everyday
. Routledge. p.
95
ISBN
978-1-134-37216-4
"General facts and figures about roads and road use"
. Archived from
the original
on 18 May 2025
. Retrieved
31 May
2025
Sylvain Duranton; Agnès Audier; Joël Hazan; Mads Peter Langhorn; Vincent Gauche (18 April 2017).
"The 2017 European Railway Performance Index"
. Boston Consulting Group.
Archived
from the original on 31 May 2020
. Retrieved
4 February
2019
"London to Paris Trains"
. Eurostar. Archived from
the original
on 11 May 2024
. Retrieved
11 May
2024
"Channel Tunnel, Tunnel, Europe"
. Britannica. 10 May 2024
. Retrieved
11 May
2024
"Crossrail's giant tunnelling machines unveiled"
BBC News
. 2 January 2012.
Archived
from the original on 10 April 2016
. Retrieved
20 June
2018
Leftly, Mark (29 August 2010).
"Crossrail delayed to save £1bn"
Independent
. London.
Archived
from the original on 16 November 2020
. Retrieved
22 August
2017
"Crossrail to become the Elizabeth line in honour of Her Majesty the Queen"
Transport for London
. Archived from
the original
on 25 February 2023.
"What is HS2"
HS2
Archived
from the original on 21 June 2022
. Retrieved
22 June
2022
"HS2 Trains"
HS2
Archived
from the original on 24 February 2023
. Retrieved
24 February
2023
"Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2023 Domestic Travel"
gov.uk
. 19 December 2024
. Retrieved
14 March
2025
"Our Collection"
. icons.org.uk
. Retrieved
16 August
2014
London Buses
, Transport for London. Accessed 10 May 2007.
"Size of Reporting Airports 2024"
. Civil Aviation Authority
. Retrieved
17 January
2025
"Heathrow 'needs a third runway'
BBC News
. 25 June 2008
. Retrieved
17 October
2008
"Statistics: Top 30 World airports"
(PDF)
(Press release). Airports Council International. July 2008
. Retrieved
15 October
2008
"BMI being taken over by Lufthansa"
BBC News
. 29 October 2008
. Retrieved
23 December
2009
"Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2023 International Travel"
gov.uk
. 19 December 2024
. Retrieved
4 March
2025
"United Kingdom Energy Profile"
. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Archived from
the original
on 28 February 2023
. Retrieved
28 February
2023
Mason, Rowena (24 October 2009).
"Let the battle begin over black gold"
The Telegraph
. London.
Archived
from the original on 10 January 2022
. Retrieved
26 November
2010
Heath, Michael (26 November 2010).
"RBA Says Currency Containing Prices, Rate Level 'Appropriate' in Near Term"
Bloomberg
. New York
. Retrieved
26 November
2010
'Success story': Which European countries are leading the way on wind?"
Euronews
. 13 September 2023
. Retrieved
15 August
2025
Britain's Electricity Explained: 2024 Review
(Report). NESO. Archived from
the original
on 26 January 2025
. Retrieved
26 January
2025
Wind energy in the UK: June 2021
UK Government
(Report). 14 June 2021
. Retrieved
8 May
2023
"Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom"
. World Nuclear Association. Archived from
the original
on 28 February 2023
. Retrieved
28 February
2023
"Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom"
. World Nuclear Association. April 2013. Archived from
the original
on 14 February 2013
. Retrieved
9 April
2013
"Nuclear energy: What you need to know"
. UK Government. Archived from
the original
on 28 February 2023
. Retrieved
28 February
2023
Belderbos, Harriet (7 March 2024).
"UKAEA implementing the UK's fusion energy strategy"
Open Access Government
. Retrieved
27 May
2024
"UK nuclear fusion reactor sets new world record for energy output"
New Scientist
. Retrieved
27 May
2024
UK Oil and Gas Reserves and Resources
(PDF)
(Report). North Sea Transition Authority. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 13 January 2025
. Retrieved
1 February
2025
"North Sea oil and gas claims fact-checked"
BBC
. 22 January 2024. Archived from
the original
on 1 February 2025
. Retrieved
1 February
2025
"UK's last fracking wells to be filled with cement despite dwindling gas stocks"
City AM
. 29 January 2025. Archived from
the original
on 1 February 2025
. Retrieved
1 February
2025
"Sewage Treatment in the UK"
(PDF)
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
. DEFRA. March 2022. p. 3. PB 6655
. Retrieved
8 April
2023
"Environment Agency"
. Archived from
the original
on 25 November 2009.
"About Us"
. niwater.com
. Retrieved
29 August
2020
"Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Mid-2015"
. Office for National Statistics. 23 June 2016.
"Population estimates for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2021"
. Office for National Statistics. 21 December 2022
. Retrieved
16 April
2025
"Mid-Year Population Estimates, United Kingdom, June 2024"
Office for National Statistics
. 26 September 2025
. Retrieved
26 September
2025
Khan, Urmee (16 September 2008).
"England is most crowded country in Europe"
The Telegraph
. London. Archived from
the original
on 18 September 2008
. Retrieved
5 September
2009
"Major Agglomerations"
Archived
from the original on 4 October 2023
. Retrieved
16 October
2023
"Vital statistics: population and health reference tables"
Office for National Statistics
. Retrieved
6 March
2018
Boseley, Sarah (14 July 2008).
"The question: What's behind the baby boom?"
The Guardian
. London. p. 3
. Retrieved
28 August
2009
Roser, Max (2014),
"Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last centuries"
Our World in Data
Gapminder Foundation
, archived from
the original
on 5 July 2019
, retrieved
10 December
2019
Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table
. Eurostat (26 February 2013). Retrieved 12 July 2013.
"Sexual identity, UK: 2015 – Experimental Official Statistics on sexual identity in the UK in 2015 by region, sex, age, marital status, ethnicity and NS-SEC"
Office for National Statistics
. 5 October 2016
. Retrieved
19 January
2017
"Research report 27: Trans research review"
equalityhumanrights.com
. p. v. Archived from
the original
on 6 July 2015
. Retrieved
26 November
2021
"2011 Census - Built-up areas"
ONS
. Retrieved
1 July
2013
"NRS – Background Information Settlements and Localities"
(PDF)
National Records of Scotland
. Retrieved
29 September
2020
The UK's major urban areas
Office for National Statistics (Urban area of Belfast and connected settlements, Table 3.1, page 47)
"Welsh people could be most ancient in UK, DNA suggests"
BBC News
. 19 June 2012
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
Winder, Robert (2010).
Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain
. Little, Brown Book.
ISBN
978-0-7481-2396-4
Costello, Ray (2001).
Black Liverpool: The Early History of Britain's Oldest Black Community 1730–1918
. Liverpool: Picton Press.
ISBN
978-1-873245-07-1
"Culture and Ethnicity Differences in Liverpool – Chinese Community"
. Chambré Hardman Trust. Archived from
the original
on 24 July 2009
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"Regional ethnic diversity"
. Office for National Statistics. 22 December 2022
. Retrieved
28 March
2026
"Ethnicity"
. National Records of Scotland. 4 February 2025
. Retrieved
28 March
2026
"MS-B01: Ethnic group"
. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 30 November 2023
. Retrieved
28 March
2026
"English language – Government, citizens and rights"
Directgov
. Archived from
the original
on 15 October 2012
. Retrieved
23 August
2011
Mac Sithigh, Daithí (17 May 2018).
"Official status of languages in the UK and Ireland"
(PDF)
Common Law World Review
47
(1). Queen's University, Belfast:
77–
102.
doi
10.1177/1473779518773642
S2CID
219987922
British Council
"British Council | the UK's international culture and education organisation"
Archived
from the original on 1 February 2023
. Retrieved
5 December
2018
(last checked 6 February 2023)
"About BBC Learning English"
BBC
Archived
from the original on 4 February 2023
. Retrieved
9 February
2023
"British English Pronunciations"
OED
. Archived from
the original
on 5 June 2025
. Retrieved
5 June
2025
"10 British dialects you need to know"
EF
. Retrieved
5 June
2025
Track, Robert Lawrence; Stockwell, Peter (2007).
Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts
. Routledge. p. 63.
ISBN
978-0-415-41358-9
. Retrieved
4 August
2019
"Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Strasbourg, 1.II.1995"
. Council of Europe. Archived from
the original
on 22 February 2005
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Strasbourg, 5.XI.1992"
. Council of Europe. Archived from
the original
on 26 February 2011
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"Welsh language in Wales (Census 2021)"
gov.wales
. 6 December 2022
. Retrieved
6 December
2022
Wynn Thomas, Peter (March 2007).
"Welsh today"
Voices
. BBC
. Retrieved
5 July
2011
"Census 2021: Main statistics for Northern Ireland"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 10 February 2024
. Retrieved
10 February
2024
"Scotland's Census 2001 – Gaelic Report"
. General Register Office for Scotland. Archived from
the original
on 22 May 2013
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
"Local UK languages 'taking off'
BBC News
. 12 February 2009.
"Language Data – Scots"
. European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages. Archived from
the original
on 23 June 2007
. Retrieved
2 November
2008
Brown, Hannah (23 April 2020).
'People are dying because of this': Calls for UK Gov to follow Scotland with sign language interpreter at Covid-19 briefing"
The Scotsman
. Retrieved
19 December
2021
"Languages across Europe: United Kingdom"
BBC
. Retrieved
4 February
2013
Carl Skutsch (2013).
Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities
. pp.1261. Routledge. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
Booth, Robert (30 January 2013).
"Polish becomes England's second language"
The Guardian
. London
. Retrieved
4 February
2012
"The teenagers who translate for their parents"
BBC News
. 23 April 2019
. Retrieved
23 April
2019
Cannon, John, ed. (2nd edn., 2009).
A Dictionary of British History
. Oxford University Press. p. 144.
ISBN
978-0-19-955037-1
Field, Clive D. (November 2009).
"British religion in numbers"
. BRIN Discussion Series on Religious Statistics, Discussion Paper 001. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
Yilmaz, Ihsan (2005).
Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey, and Pakistan
. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 55–56.
ISBN
978-0-7546-4389-0
Brown, Callum G. (2006).
Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain
. Harlow: Pearson Education. p. 291.
ISBN
978-0-582-47289-1
Norris, Pippa; Inglehart, Ronald (2004).
Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide
. Cambridge University Press. p. 84.
ISBN
978-0-521-83984-6
Fergusson, David (2004).
Church, State and Civil Society
. Cambridge University Press. p. 94.
ISBN
978-0-521-52959-4
Roskams, Michael (29 November 2022).
"Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021"
. Office for National Statistics
. Retrieved
28 March
2026
"MS-B19: Religion"
. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 30 November 2023.
"Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion"
. National Records of Scotland. 21 May 2024
. Retrieved
28 March
2026
"United Kingdom: New Report Finds Only One in 10 Attend Church"
News.adventist.org
. 4 April 2007. Archived from
the original
on 13 December 2011
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
Philby, Charlotte (12 December 2012).
"Less religious and more ethnically diverse: Census reveals a picture of Britain today"
Independent
. London.
"The History of the Church of England"
The Church of England
. 2004. Archived from
the original
on 21 February 2010
. Retrieved
23 November
2008
"Queen and Church of England"
. British Monarchy Media Centre. Archived from
the original
on 8 October 2006
. Retrieved
5 June
2010
"Queen and the Church"
. The British Monarchy (Official Website).
Archived
from the original on 5 June 2011.
"Our structure"
churchofscotland.org.uk
. 22 February 2010.
Archived
from the original on 25 January 2020.
Weller, Paul (2005).
Time for a Change: Reconfiguring Religion, State, and Society
. London: Continuum. pp. 79–80.
ISBN
978-0-567-08487-3
Peach, Ceri,
"United Kingdom, a major transformation of the religious landscape"
, in H. Knippenberg. ed. (2005).
The Changing Religious Landscape of Europe
. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis. pp. 44–58.
ISBN
978-90-5589-248-8
"Immigration and births to non-British mothers pushes British population to record high"
London Evening Standard
. 21 August 2008.
"Migration: How many people come to the UK and how are the salary rules changing?"
BBC News
. 23 May 2024.
"Births in England and Wales: 2014"
Office for National Statistics
. 15 July 2015.
Blinder, Scott (11 June 2014).
"Settlement in the UK"
. The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Archived from
the original
on 6 September 2015
. Retrieved
1 August
2015
Blinder, Scott (27 March 2015).
"Naturalisation as a British Citizen: Concepts and Trends"
(PDF)
. The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 16 September 2015
. Retrieved
1 August
2015
"Long-term international migration, provisional: year ending December 2024"
gov.uk
. 22 May 2025
. Retrieved
22 May
2025
Hammar, Tomas (1985).
European Immigration Policy: A Comparative Study
. Comparative Ethnic and Race Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
978-0-521-12437-9
Richards, Eric (2018).
The genesis of international mass migration: The British case, 1750-1900
(1 ed.). Manchester University Press.
JSTOR
j.ctvnb7rj2
Sriskandarajah, Dhananjayan; Drew, Catherine (11 December 2006).
"Brits Abroad: Mapping the scale and nature of British emigration"
. Institute for Public Policy Research. Archived from
the original
on 28 August 2007
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"Brits Abroad: world overview"
. BBC
. Retrieved
20 April
2007
Casciani, Dominic (11 December 2006).
"5.5 m Britons 'opt to live abroad'
BBC News
. Retrieved
20 April
2007
"Brits Abroad: Country-by-country"
BBC News
. 11 December 2006.
"The Most Educated Countries in the World"
Yahoo Finance
. 24 September 2012. Archived from
the original
on 4 February 2016
. Retrieved
20 April
2016
"And the World's Most Educated Country Is..."
Time
. New York. 27 September 2012
. Retrieved
20 April
2016
"The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024"
. 25 September 2023
. Retrieved
17 April
2024
"QS World University Rankings 2024"
. Retrieved
17 April
2024
"Repaying your student loan"
gov.uk
. Retrieved
21 June
2025
"Undergraduate Tuition Fess and Student Loans"
UCAS
. 20 October 2014
. Retrieved
24 February
2024
"More undergraduate medical education places"
gov.uk
. Retrieved
24 February
2024
"PISA 2022 UK Results"
OECD
. 4 December 2023
. Retrieved
24 February
2024
Gill, Martha (9 July 2023).
"To those who claim the NHS has turned into a British religion, I say: keep the faith"
The Observer
. Retrieved
16 July
2023
"Is the NHS our new national religion? – Religion Media Centre"
religionmediacentre.org.uk
. 14 April 2020
. Retrieved
16 July
2023
Haden, Angela; Campanini, Barbara, eds. (2000).
The world health report 2000 – Health systems: improving performance
. Geneva: World Health Organization.
ISBN
978-92-4-156198-3
. Retrieved
5 July
2011
World Health Organization
"Measuring overall health system performance for 191 countries"
(PDF)
. New York University
. Retrieved
5 July
2011
Fisher, Peter.
"The NHS from Thatcher to Blair"
NHS Consultants Association
. Archived from
the original
on 20 November 2018
. Retrieved
19 December
2018
The Budget ... was even more generous to the NHS than had been expected amounting to an annual rise of 7.4 per cent above the rate of inflation for the next five years. This would take us to 9.4 per cent of GDP spent on health ie around EU average.
"Swindells: They aren't 'your' patients"
. Health Service Journal. 24 September 2019
. Retrieved
19 November
2019
"How does UK healthcare spending compare with other countries?"
. Office of National Statistics. 29 August 2019
. Retrieved
5 October
2019
'Huge contrasts' in devolved NHS"
BBC News
. 28 August 2008.
Triggle, Nick (2 January 2008).
"NHS now four different systems"
BBC News
Julian Go (2007).
"A Globalizing Constitutionalism?, Views from the Postcolony, 1945–2000"
. In Arjomand, Saïd Amir (ed.).
Constitutionalism and political reconstruction
. Brill. pp.
92–
94.
ISBN
978-90-04-15174-1
Ferguson 2004
, p. 307.
"The Commonwealth"
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
. Retrieved
8 January
2024
"Commonwealth of Nations"
. UK Parliament
. Retrieved
22 February
2026
Mazrui, Ali Al Amin; Taylor, D.; Bradley, Kenneth (1967).
Anglo-African Commonwealth
. Pergamon. pp.
40–
41.
ISBN
978-0-08-012253-3
...in the ultimate analysis, what could a New Zealander have in common with a Jamaican or a Zambian, if not the bonds of a shared British-ness?
"Most Influential Countries"
U.S. News & World Report
. Retrieved
22 September
2025
"UK publishing industry reports record-breaking year in 2022"
The Guardian
. 17 April 2023
. Retrieved
9 May
2024
"Best-selling Book Series Of All Time"
. Wordsrated. 20 July 2023
. Retrieved
18 May
2024
"William Shakespeare (English author)"
. Britannica Online encyclopedia
. Retrieved
26 February
2006
MSN Encarta Encyclopedia article on Shakespeare
. Archived from
the original
on 9 February 2006
. Retrieved
26 February
2006
"William Shakespeare"
TheFreeDictionary.com
. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
. Retrieved
26 February
2006
"Mystery of Christie's success is solved"
The Telegraph
. London. 19 December 2005.
Archived
from the original on 10 January 2022
. Retrieved
14 November
2010
Ciabattari, Jane (December 2015).
"The 25 greatest British novels"
BBC Culture
. Retrieved
29 December
2021
"Edinburgh, United Kingdom, UNESCO City of Literature"
Unesco
. 2004. Archived from
the original
on 28 May 2013
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"Early Welsh poetry"
BBC Wales
. Retrieved
29 December
2010
Lang, Andrew (2003) [1913].
History of English Literature from Beowulf to Swinburne
. Holicong, PA: Wildside Press. p. 42.
ISBN
978-0-8095-3229-2
"Dafydd ap Gwilym"
Academi.org
. 2011. Archived from
the original
on 24 March 2012
. Retrieved
3 January
2011
Dafydd ap Gwilym is widely regarded as one of the greatest Welsh poets of all time, and amongst the leading European poets of the Middle Ages.
"True birthplace of Wales's literary hero"
BBC News
. 5 December 1999. Archived from
the original
on 16 March 2020
. Retrieved
28 April
2012
"Kate Roberts: Biography"
BBC Wales
. Archived from
the original
on 8 March 2013
. Retrieved
19 February
2017
"The Chronicles of Narnia Book Series Statistics"
. Wordsrated. 19 July 2023
. Retrieved
18 May
2024
Varty, Anne (2014).
A Preface to Oscar Wilde
. Routledge. pp.
231–232
ISBN
978-1-317-89231-1
"Oscar Wilde"
Encyclopedia.com
Cengage
. Retrieved
10 December
2019
Moss, Joyce (2001).
British and Irish Literature and Its Times: The Victorian Era to the Present (1837–)
. Gale Group. p.
107
ISBN
978-0-7876-3729-3
Holroyd, Michael (1989).
Bernard Shaw, Volume 2: 1898–1918: The Pursuit of Power
. Chatto & Windus. p.
384
ISBN
978-0-7011-3350-4
"G B Shaw"
Discovering Literature: 20th century
British Library
. Archived from
the original
on 9 August 2020
. Retrieved
10 December
2019
Middleton, Tim (2006).
Joseph Conrad
. Routledge. p. 159.
ISBN
978-0-415-26851-6
Cooper, John Xiros (2006).
The Cambridge Introduction to T. S. Eliot
. Cambridge University Press. p. 111.
ISBN
978-1-139-45790-3
Sim, Wai-chew (2009).
Kazuo Ishiguro
. Routledge. p. 201.
ISBN
978-1-135-19867-1
"Salman Rushdie"
Oxford Reference
Oxford University Press
. Retrieved
10 December
2019
Campbell, James (17 May 2008).
"Home from home"
The Guardian
. Retrieved
10 December
2019
Nadel, Ira (2004).
Ezra Pound: A Literary Life
. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 90.
ISBN
978-0-230-37881-0
Fieser, James, ed. (2000).
A bibliography of Scottish common sense philosophy: Sources and origins
(PDF)
. Bristol: Thoemmes Press. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 9 April 2023
. Retrieved
17 December
2010
Palmer, Michael (1999).
Moral Problems in Medicine: A Practical Coursebook
. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press. p. 66.
ISBN
978-0-7188-2978-0
Scarre, Geoffrey (1995).
Utilitarianism
. London: Routledge. p. 82.
ISBN
978-0-415-12197-2
"BBC: World's largest broadcaster & Most trusted media brand"
. Media Newsline. Archived from
the original
on 5 October 2010
. Retrieved
23 September
2010
"Digital license"
. Prospect. Archived from
the original
on 7 November 2011
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"About the BBC – What is the BBC"
BBC Online
. Archived from
the original
on 16 January 2010
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"BBC: World's largest broadcaster & Most trusted media brand"
Media Newsline
. 13 August 2009. Archived from
the original
on 10 May 2011
. Retrieved
19 June
2011
"TV Licence Fee: facts & figures"
. BBC Press Office. April 2010.
Archived
from the original on 27 April 2011.
"Microsoft Word – The Work of the BBC World Service 2008–09 HC 334 FINAL.doc"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 21 October 2020
. Retrieved
16 February
2011
"News in your language – BBC News"
Bbc.co.uk
"BBC World Service"
Facebook.com
"Publications & Policies: The History of ITV"
ITV.com
. Archived from
the original
on 11 April 2011.
"Direct Broadcast Satellite Television"
News Corporation
. Archived from
the original
on 4 June 2011.
"ABCs: National daily newspaper circulation September 2008"
The Guardian
. London. 10 October 2008
. Retrieved
17 October
2008
William, D. (2010).
UK Cities: A Look at Life and Major Cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
. Eastbourne: Gardners Books.
ISBN
978-9987-16-021-1
, pp. 22, 46, 109 and 145.
"Publishing"
. Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
Archived
from the original on 5 May 2011.
"Annual Report 2015–2016"
(PDF)
internationalpublishers.org
. International Publishers Association. 2016. p. 16. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 31 August 2023
. Retrieved
14 January
2021
"Top 20 countries with the highest number of Internet users"
Internet World Stats
. Archived from
the original
on 10 June 2011
. Retrieved
19 June
2011
Dring, Christopher (12 January 2023).
"European console and PC game sales fall 7.1% in 2022"
GamesIndustry.biz
. Retrieved
30 September
2023
"About UK Video Games Industry"
TIGA
. Retrieved
6 June
2023
Tate.
"Art & Language – Art Term | Tate"
Tate
. Retrieved
8 September
2018
Bayley, Stephen (24 April 2010).
"The startling success of Tate Modern"
The Times
. London. Archived from
the original
on 29 April 2011
. Retrieved
19 January
2011
(subscription required)
"Songs of England"
. Retrieved
15 September
2025
"The influence of traditional Scottish Music"
. Retrieved
15 September
2025
"Celtic connections: the story of folk music in Wales"
. 17 February 2020
. Retrieved
15 September
2025
"Why you should experience traditional music in Ireland"
. Retrieved
15 September
2025
"British Citizen by Act of Parliament: George Frideric Handel"
. UK Parliament. 20 July 2009. Archived from
the original
on 26 March 2010
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
Andrews, John (14 April 2006).
"Handel all'inglese"
Playbill
. New York. Archived from
the original
on 16 May 2008
. Retrieved
11 September
2009
Iemperley, Nicholas (2002).
"Great Britain"
Grove Music Online
(8th ed.).
Oxford University Press
ISBN
978-1-56159-263-0
(subscription,
Wikilibrary
access, or
UK public library membership
required)
Banfield, Stephen; Russell, Ian (2001).
"England (i)"
Grove Music Online
(8th ed.).
Oxford University Press
ISBN
978-1-56159-263-0
(subscription,
Wikilibrary
access, or
UK public library membership
required)
Lewis, Geraint; Davies, Lyn; Kinney, Phyllis (2001).
"Wales"
Grove Music Online
(8th ed.).
Oxford University Press
ISBN
978-1-56159-263-0
(subscription,
Wikilibrary
access, or
UK public library membership
required)
Elliott, Kenneth; Collinson, Francis; Duesenberry, Peggy (2001).
"Scotland"
Grove Music Online
(8th ed.).
Oxford University Press
ISBN
978-1-56159-263-0
(subscription,
Wikilibrary
access, or
UK public library membership
required)
White, Harry; Carolan, Nicholas (2011).
"Ireland"
Grove Music Online
(8th ed.).
Oxford University Press
ISBN
978-1-56159-263-0
(subscription,
Wikilibrary
access, or
UK public library membership
required)
"British 20th century composers"
BBC
. Retrieved
21 April
2022
"30 of the greatest violinists on record"
Gramophone
. 21 June 2022
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
"Katherine Jenkins has officially sold the most classical albums this century"
Classic FM
. 1 January 2020
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
"Who is Roderick Williams, the British baritone and composer at the King's coronation?"
Classic FM
. 6 May 2023
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
"Michael Ball"
English National Opera
. 23 February 2024
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
"Alfie Bow"
Classic FM
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
"Sarah Brightman facts"
Smooth Radio
. 11 July 2023
. Retrieved
4 March
2024
R. Middleton, et al.,
"Pop"
Grove music online
, retrieved 14 March 2010.
(subscription required)
Archived
13 January 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
"Pop",
The Oxford Dictionary of Music
, retrieved 9 March 2010.
(subscription required)
Archived
12 November 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
Allsop, Laura (1 July 2011).
"Birmingham, England ... the unlikely birthplace of heavy metal"
CNN
. Retrieved
28 February
2022
Bentley, David (4 June 2013).
"Midlands rocks! How Birmingham's industrial heritage made it the birthplace of heavy metal"
Birmingham Post
. Retrieved
28 February
2022
"The Rolling Stones | Biography & History"
AllMusic
. Retrieved
22 July
2020
Tom Larson (2004).
History of Rock and Roll
. Kendall/Hunt Pub. pp.
183–
187.
ISBN
978-0-7872-9969-9
"Glam Rock"
Encarta
. Archived from
the original
on 28 August 2009
. Retrieved
21 December
2008
"NME Originals: Goth"
NME
. 2004. Archived from
the original
on 26 January 2008
. Retrieved
30 September
2013
"Pop/Rock » Psychedelic/Garage"
AllMusic
. Retrieved
6 August
2020
Charles M. Young (20 October 1977).
"Rock is Sick and Living in London"
Rolling Stone
. Archived from
the original
on 28 March 2025
. Retrieved
23 February
2026
Henderson, Alex (1 August 2003).
British Soul
. Allmusic. Retrieved 6 March 2011.;
AllMusic – Dubstep
Archived
23 September 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
"Absorbed and transfigured elements of techno, drum'n' bass and dub";
Goldman, Vivien (31 January 2012).
"Local Groove Does Good: The Story Of Trip-Hop's Rise From Bristol"
NPR
"5 U.K. Rappers Primed to Take Over America in 2018"
Billboard
. Retrieved
18 June
2018
"OVO Hydro | SEC"
www.sec.co.uk
. Retrieved
9 February
2026
"1960–1969"
. EMI Group. Archived from
the original
on 25 April 2014
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
"Paul At Fifty"
Time
. New York. 8 June 1992. Archived from
the original
on 6 February 2009.
Most Successful Group
The Guinness Book of Records
1999, p. 230. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
"Beatles a big hit with downloads"
Belfast Telegraph
. 25 November 2010
. Retrieved
16 May
2011
"British rock legends get their own music title for PlayStation3 and PlayStation2"
(Press release).
EMI
. 2 February 2009. Archived from
the original
on 23 April 2014
. Retrieved
9 March
2015
Khan, Urmee (17 July 2008).
"Sir Elton John honoured in Ben and Jerry ice cream"
The Telegraph
. London. Archived from
the original
on 30 July 2008.
Alleyne, Richard (19 April 2008).
"Rock group Led Zeppelin to reunite"
The Telegraph
. London.
Archived
from the original on 10 January 2022
. Retrieved
31 March
2010
"Floyd 'true to Barrett's legacy'
BBC News
. 11 July 2006.
Holton, Kate (17 January 2008).
"Rolling Stones sign Universal album deal"
Reuters
. Retrieved
26 October
2008
Walker, Tim (12 May 2008).
"Jive talkin': Why Robin Gibb wants more respect for the Bee Gees"
Independent
. London. Archived from
the original
on 13 October 2011
. Retrieved
26 October
2008
"Brit awards winners list 2012: every winner since 1977"
The Guardian
(London). Retrieved 28 February 2012.
"Harry Styles Has Weathered the Post-Boy Band Storm Better Than Most"
Consequence of Sound
. 12 January 2020
. Retrieved
15 September
2020
"10 Years of One Direction: The Story of the World's Biggest Boy Band, Told With the Fans Who Made It Happen"
Billboard
. 16 July 2020
. Retrieved
15 September
2020
Corner, Lewis (16 February 2012).
"Adele, Coldplay biggest-selling UK artists worldwide in 2011"
Digital Spy
. Retrieved
22 March
2012
Magliola, Anna Sky (30 November 2022).
"Ed Sheeran's career journey: From street busker to global superstar"
PlanetRadio.co.uk
. Retrieved
7 January
2023
"Dua Lipa, 77.5M Monthly listeners"
. Spotify. 6 May 2024.
Paine, Andre (10 September 2024).
"IFPI report reveals EU risks falling behind in global market - UK still among top music exporters"
Music Week
. Retrieved
17 November
2025
Savage, Mark (16 June 2021).
"British music exports reach a record high"
BBC
. Retrieved
17 November
2025
Hughes, Mark (14 January 2008).
"A tale of two cities of culture: Liverpool vs Stavanger"
Independent
. London. Archived from
the original
on 18 June 2018
. Retrieved
2 August
2009
"Glasgow gets city of music honour"
BBC News
. 20 August 2008
. Retrieved
2 August
2009
"Out of the melting pot: The origins and evolution of drum'n'bass"
Red Bull
. 25 June 2020
. Retrieved
1 August
2021
"Parties, protest and police: the neglected histories of UK dance music"
Dazed
. 3 August 2023
. Retrieved
27 February
2024
"Rave"
Oxford Music Online
. 20 January 2001
. Retrieved
27 February
2024
"Mixmag's Greatest Dance Act of all Time Revealed"
. 19 January 2012. Archived from
the original
on 14 April 2012.
"Fred Again: who is the DJ who has thousands queuing for a 'secret rave' at the Sydney Opera House?"
The Guardian
. 26 February 2024
. Retrieved
27 February
2024
"Top 100 DJs Poll results 2003"
. Archived from
the original
on 7 December 2003.
"Vertigo is named 'greatest film of all time'
BBC News
. 2 August 2012
. Retrieved
18 August
2012
"The Directors' Top Ten Directors"
. British Film Institute. Archived from
the original
on 17 May 2012.
"The 24 Best British Directors of All Time"
. Movieweb. 13 May 2023
. Retrieved
17 February
2024
"Top 22 U.K. Film Directors"
. IMDB
. Retrieved
17 February
2024
"5 of the best ... Richard Curtis films"
The Times
. 17 April 2024
. Retrieved
4 June
2024
"The UK's top 50 film directors"
. Televisual. 23 May 2012
. Retrieved
17 February
2024
"Harry Potter becomes highest-grossing film franchise"
The Guardian
. London. 11 September 2007
. Retrieved
2 November
2010
"UK Film Industry Statistics 2023"
. 10 April 2023. Archived from
the original
on 17 February 2024
. Retrieved
17 February
2024
"The UK box office in 2019"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 17 February 2024
. Retrieved
17 February
2024
"UK Film and Television Studios Market Report"
(PDF)
. Knight Frank
. Retrieved
17 February
2024
"Baftas fuel Oscars race"
BBC News
. 26 February 2001
. Retrieved
14 February
2011
Else, David (2007).
Inghilterra
. EDT srl. p. 76.
ISBN
978-88-6040-136-6
"Classic British cuisine ranked by Britons"
. 11 June 2019.
"United Kingdom"
. Michelin Guide
. Retrieved
12 May
2025
"The tea-rific history of Victorian afternoon tea"
The British Museum
. Retrieved
11 April
2023
"Dietary choices of Brits (e.g. vegeterian, flexitarian, meat-eater etc)"
YouGov.co.uk
. 8 July 2024
. Retrieved
26 November
2024
"Robin Cook's chicken tikka masala speech"
The Guardian
. London. 19 April 2001
. Retrieved
7 September
2021
BBC E-Cyclopedia (20 April 2001).
"Chicken tikka masala: Spice and easy does it"
. BBC
. Retrieved
28 September
2007
"A guide to British Beer"
Expatica
. Retrieved
25 November
2024
"Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad"
(PDF)
Olympic.org
. 27 July 2012. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 19 August 2013
. Retrieved
30 November
2013
Mehaffey, John.
"Unparalleled Sporting History"
Reuters
. London. Archived from
the original
on 25 May 2017
. Retrieved
30 November
2013
"Rugby Union 'Britain's Second Most Popular Sport'
. Ipsos-Mori. 22 December 2003
. Retrieved
28 April
2013
Rudd, Alyson (7 April 2008).
"The father of football deserves much more"
The Times
. London. Archived from
the original
on 4 June 2011
. Retrieved
29 January
2015
"Sheffield FC: 150 years of history"
FIFA
. 24 October 2007. Archived from
the original
on 25 October 2007
. Retrieved
29 January
2015
Ebner, Sarah (2 July 2013).
"History and time are key to power of football, says Premier League chief"
The Times
. London
. Retrieved
30 November
2013
Mitchell, Paul
(November 2005).
"The first international football match"
. BBC Sport Scotland
. Retrieved
15 December
2013
Harlow, Phil (5 August 2008).
"Why is there no GB Olympics football team?"
BBC Sport
. Retrieved
31 December
2010
"Six ways the town of Rugby helped change the world"
BBC News
. 1 February 2014
. Retrieved
29 January
2015
Godwin, Terry; Rhys, Chris (1981).
The Guinness Book of Rugby Facts & Feats
. Guinness Superlatives. p. 10.
ISBN
978-0-85112-214-4
Louw, Jaco; Nesbit, Derrick (2008).
The Girlfriends Guide to Rugby
. Johannesburg: South Publishers.
ISBN
978-0-620-39541-0
"The journey of India in Commonwealth Games in 2022"
The Times of India
. Retrieved
29 June
2023
"Union Jack or Union Flag?"
The Flag Institute
. Retrieved
26 September
2022
"college-of-arms.gov.uk"
. The College of Arms
. Retrieved
14 January
2022
"Welsh dragon call for Union flag"
BBC News
. 27 November 2007
. Retrieved
17 October
2008
"Britannia on British Coins"
. Chard
. Retrieved
25 June
2006
Baker, Steve (2001).
Picturing the Beast
. University of Illinois Press. p. 52.
ISBN
978-0-252-07030-3
"Who is John Bull"
. The Library of Congress
. Retrieved
11 January
2022
External links
United Kingdom
at Wikipedia's
sister projects
Media
from Commons
News
from Wikinews
Quotations
from Wikiquote
Travel information
from Wikivoyage
United Kingdom
from
BBC News
United Kingdom
The World Factbook
Central Intelligence Agency
United Kingdom
from
UCB Libraries GovPubs
(archived 6 April 2009)
Wikimedia Atlas of United Kingdom
Geographic data related to
United Kingdom
at
OpenStreetMap
Key Development Forecasts for the United Kingdom
from
International Futures
Government
Official website of HM Government
Official website of the British Monarchy
Official website of the British Prime Minister's Office
Travel
Official tourist guide to Britain
United Kingdom
articles
History
Chronology
Formation
Union of England and Scotland Act 1603
Treaty of Union
Acts of Union 1707
Union with Scotland (Amendment) Act 1707
Georgian era
Victorian era
Edwardian era
First World War
Interwar
Second World War
civilian
military
Postwar
political
social
Since 1979
political
social
Membership of the European Union (1973–2020)
By topic
Economic
Empire
Foreign relations
1814–1919
Law enforcement
Maritime
Mass surveillance
Military
Taxation
Women's history
Geography
Administrative
Counties of the United Kingdom
Countries of the United Kingdom
Crown Dependencies
Overseas territories
City status
Towns
Former colonies
Physical
British Isles
terminology
Great Britain
Climate
change
effects on health
Coastline
Geology
Lakes and lochs
Mountains
Rivers
Volcanoes
Resources
Agriculture
Energy
biodiesel
coal
geothermal
hydraulic frac.
hydroelectricity
marine
North Sea oil
Renewable energy
solar
wind
Fishing
Scottish
Welsh
Hunting
Materials
forestry
mining
Wildlife
fauna
flora
Politics
Constitution
Corruption
Devolution
Elections
By-elections
Foreign relations
Human rights
LGBTQ
Judiciary
Law
Law enforcement
Local government
Monarchy
monarchs
republicanism
Nationality
Parliament
House of Commons
House of Lords
Political parties
Female party leaders
Political scandals
Shadow Cabinet
Government
Cabinet
list
Civil service
Departments
Ministers
list
Prime Minister
list
Military
His Majesty's Naval Service
Royal Navy
Royal Marines
British Army
Royal Air Force
Weapons of mass destruction
Rights
Human
Speech
Religion or belief
LGBTQ
Transgender
Intersex
Economy
Banks
Bank of England
Budget
Economic geography
Free trade agreements
Income
Manufacturing
Pound sterling
(currency)
Science and technology
Stock exchanges
London Exchange
Taxation
Telecommunications
Tourism
Transport
Air transport
Bus transport
Driving
Roads
Rail transport
Great Britain
Northern Ireland
Society
Cannabis
Crime
Demography
Drug policy
Education
Environmental inequality
Environmental issues
Ethnic groups
Health
Healthcare
effects of climate change
Homelessness
Housing
Hunger
Immigration
Innovation
Languages
Life expectancy
Mental health
Poverty
Prostitution
Public holidays
Racism
Social care
Social class
Suicide
Universal basic income (UBI)
Water supply and sanitation
Waste
Welfare state
Culture
Art
Anthem
Cinema
Cuisine
Fashion
Wine
Identity
Libraries
Literature
Media
Music
Religion
Sport
Symbols
Theatre
Stereotypes of British people
World Heritage Sites
Anglosphere
Outline
Category
Portal
Links to related articles
Countries, territories and dependencies of the
British Crown
Countries
of the
United Kingdom
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Crown Dependencies
Bailiwick of Guernsey
Alderney
Guernsey
Sark
Bailiwick of Jersey
Isle of Man
Overseas territories
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Ascension Island
Saint Helena
Tristan da Cunha
Gough Island
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands
Former colonies
List of countries that have gained independence from the United Kingdom
Sovereign Base Areas
Partial suspension of sovereignty due to the
Antarctic Treaty
British Isles
Names
Terminology
Alba
Albion
Cymru
Prydain
Britain
Éire
Hibernia
Politics
Sovereign states
Ireland
United Kingdom
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Crown Dependencies
Bailiwick of Guernsey
Jersey
Isle of Man
Political cooperation
Ireland–United Kingdom relations
British–Irish Council
British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference
British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly
Common Travel Area
Geography
Island groups
Channel Islands
Islands of the Clyde
Great Britain
Hebrides
Inner
Outer
Ireland
Isle of Man
Northern Isles
Orkney
Shetland
Isles of Scilly
Lists of islands of
Bailiwick of Guernsey
Ireland
Bailiwick of Jersey
Isle of Man
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
Wales
History
outline
Island groups
Ireland
Current states
Ireland
United Kingdom
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Guernsey
Jersey
Isle of Man
Former states
Irish Free State
Kingdom of England
Principality of Wales
Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Ireland
Kingdom of Scotland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Society
Modern languages
Germanic
Scots
Celtic
Cornish
Scottish Gaelic
Irish
Manx
Welsh
Romance
Auregnais
French
Guernésiais
Jèrriais
Sercquiais
Other
British Sign Language
Irish Sign Language
Northern Ireland Sign Language
Shelta
People
British
Cornish
English Gypsies
Irish
Irish Travellers
Kale
Manx
Northern Irish
Scottish
Scottish travellers
Ulster-Scots
Welsh
Sovereign states and dependencies of Europe
Sovereign states
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Vatican City
States with limited
recognition
Abkhazia
Kosovo
Northern Cyprus
South Ossetia
Transnistria
Dependent
territories
Denmark
Faroe Islands
autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark
United Kingdom
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
(Sovereign Base Areas)
Gibraltar
British Overseas Territory
Crown Dependencies
Bailiwick of Guernsey
Alderney
Guernsey
Sark
Bailiwick of Jersey
Isle of Man
Special areas
of internal
sovereignty
Finland
Åland
autonomous region
subject to the
Åland convention
of 1921)
Norway
Svalbard
unincorporated area
subject to the
Svalbard Treaty
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
country of the United Kingdom
subject to the
British-Irish Agreement
Spans the conventional boundary between Europe and another continent.
Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia.
Oceanic islands
within the vicinity of Europe are usually grouped with the continent even though they are not situated on its continental shelf.
Governed by the
Holy See
which has sovereignty over Vatican City.
Category
Europe portal
Commonwealth realms
and
dominions
Current
Antigua and Barbuda
monarchy
Australia
monarchy
Bahamas
monarchy
Belize
monarchy
Canada
monarchy
Grenada
monarchy
Jamaica
monarchy
Realm of New Zealand
Cook Islands
New Zealand
Niue
Papua New Guinea
monarchy
Saint Kitts and Nevis
monarchy
Saint Lucia
monarchy
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
monarchy
Solomon Islands
monarchy
Tuvalu
monarchy
United Kingdom
monarchy
Former
Barbados
monarchy
Ceylon
monarchy
Fiji
monarchy
The Gambia
monarchy
Ghana
monarchy
Guyana
monarchy
India
Ireland
monarchy
Kenya
monarchy
Malawi
monarchy
Malta
monarchy
Mauritius
monarchy
Newfoundland
Nigeria
monarchy
Pakistan
monarchy
Rhodesia
monarchy
Sierra Leone
monarchy
South Africa
monarchy
Tanganyika
monarchy
Trinidad and Tobago
monarchy
Uganda
monarchy
Annexed by Canada in 1949
Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence
in 1965, but this was not recognised internationally. Declared itself a republic in 1970.
English-speaking world
English speaking countries
Further links
Articles
English-speaking world
History of the English language
British Empire
English in the Commonwealth of Nations
Anglosphere
Lists
List of countries by English-speaking population
List of countries where English is an official language
Countries and territories where English is the national language or the native language of the majority
Africa
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Americas
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Canada
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Falkland Islands
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
Montserrat
Saba
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sint Eustatius
Sint Maarten
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
United States
United States Virgin Islands
Europe
Guernsey
Ireland
Isle of Man
Jersey
United Kingdom
Oceania
Australia
New Zealand
Norfolk Island
Pitcairn Islands
Countries and territories where English is an official language, but not the majority first language
Africa
Botswana
Cameroon
Eswatini
The Gambia
Ghana
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Malawi
Mauritius
Namibia
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sierra Leone
Somaliland
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Americas
Puerto Rico
Asia
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Hong Kong
India
Pakistan
Philippines
Singapore
Europe
Gibraltar
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Malta
Oceania
American Samoa
Cook Islands
Fiji
Guam
Kiribati
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Nauru
Niue
Northern Mariana Islands
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tokelau
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Dependencies
shown in
italics
Members
of the
Commonwealth of Nations
Sovereign states
(members)
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brunei
Cameroon
Canada
Cyprus
Dominica
Eswatini (Swaziland)
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Tanzania
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Kingdom
Vanuatu
Zambia
Associated states
Cook Islands
Niue
Dependent territories
Australia
Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Australian Antarctic Territory
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Coral Sea Islands
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Norfolk Island
New Zealand
Ross Dependency
Tokelau
United Kingdom
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Jersey
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Turks and Caicos Islands
Source:
Commonwealth Secretariat – Member Countries
Authority control databases
International
ISNI
VIAF
GND
FAST
WorldCat
National
United States
France
BnF data
Japan
Czech Republic
Spain
Norway
Croatia
Greece
Korea
Sweden
Israel
Catalonia
Geographic
MusicBrainz area
Academics
CiNii
Artists
KulturNav
People
UK Parliament
Other
IdRef
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine
Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
Yale LUX
55°N
3°W
 / 
55°N 3°W
 /
55; -3
Retrieved from "
Categories
United Kingdom
British Islands
Countries in Europe
Countries and territories where English is an official language
G20 members
Island countries
Member states of NATO
Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
Member states of the Council of Europe
Member states of the United Nations
OECD members
States and territories established in 1707
States and territories established in 1801
States and territories established in 1922
Hidden categories:
Webarchive template wayback links
CS1: unfit URL
All articles lacking reliable references
Articles lacking reliable references from July 2023
CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown
Pages containing links to subscription-only content
Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template
Wikipedia articles incorporating the Cite Grove template with a url parameter
Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
Articles with short description
Short description is different from Wikidata
Wikipedia extended-confirmed-protected pages
Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages
Use British English from April 2012
All Wikipedia articles written in British English
Use dmy dates from November 2025
Pages using infobox country or infobox former country with the flag caption or type parameters
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from May 2025
Wikipedia articles scheduled for update tagging
Articles containing Welsh-language text
Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images
Articles with unsourced statements from April 2026
Coordinates on Wikidata
United Kingdom
Add topic