United Kingdom

constitutional monarchyIndependence 1 January 1801, United Kingdom established

United Kingdom as the 1991 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 71 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalLondon

Area244,820 km2

Populationas each edition published it

57.52 million July 1991 · 57.37m in 1990

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition 0.29% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 38.4 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 76.5 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

1.8 children per woman 1991 · 1.8 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

7 deaths per 1,000 live births 1991 · 7 in 1990

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $15,900 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition -0.6% in 1993

Geography

11 fields

Total area

244,820km2

land area: 241,590 km2; includes Rockall and Shetland IslandsComparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundary

360km

Ireland

Coastline

12,429 km Continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes

Northern Ireland question with Ireland;
Gibraltar question with Spain;
Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas);
Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;
Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory;
Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area);
territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)

Climate

temperate;
moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current;
more than half of the days are overcast

Terrain

mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast

Natural resources

coal, crude oil, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica

Land use

arable land 29%;
permanent crops NEGL%;
meadows and pastures 48%;
forest and woodland 9%;
other 14%;
includes irrigated 1%

Environment

pollution control measures improving air, water quality; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

Note

lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now being linked by tunnel under the English Channel

People

14 fields

Population

57,515,307

(July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)

Per 1,000 population(1991)

Birth

14Death

11Net migration

Literacy

99%

(male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1978 est.)

Nationality

noun--Briton(s), British (collective pl.); adjective--British

Ethnic divisions

English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%

Religion

Anglican 27.0 million, Roman Catholic 5.3 million, Presbyterian 2.0 million, Methodist 760,000, Jewish 410,000

Language

English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Labor force

28,966,000; services 60.6%, manufacturing and construction 27.2%, government 8.9%, energy 2.1%, agriculture 1.2% (June 1990)

Government

Constitutional monarchy

18 fields

House of Commons, 650 seats, elected 11 June 1987seats by party

Conservative 376Labor 228Liberal/Social Democratic 22Ulster Unionist (Northern Ireland) 9Scottish National 4Welsh National 3Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland) 3Social Democratic and Labor (Northern Ireland) 3Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland) 1Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) 1

Percent of vote

Conservative 43%Labor 32%Liberal/Social Democratic 23%other 2%

Long-form name

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; abbreviated UK

Type

constitutional monarchy

Capital

London

Administrative divisions

47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas;
England--39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*;
Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire;
Northern Ireland--26 districts;
Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane;
Scotland--9 regions, 3 islands areas*;
Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside, Western Isles*;
Wales--8 counties;
Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan

Independence

1 January 1801, United Kingdom established

Constitution

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Dependent areas

Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong (scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

Legal system

common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences;
no judicial review of Acts of Parliament;
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday

Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June), 10 June 1989

Executive branch

monarch, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Lords and a lower house or House of Commons

Judicial branch

House of Lords Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the Queen, born 14 November 1948); Head of Government--Prime Minister John MAJOR (since 28 November 1990) Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party, Neil KINNOCK;

Social and Liberal Democratic Party (SLDP; formed from the merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party), Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN; Scottish National Party, Alex SALMOND; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru), Dafydd THOMAS; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), James MOLYNEAUX;

Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), Rev. Ian PAISLEY; Ulster Popular Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), James KILFEDDER; Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP, Northern Ireland), John HUME; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), Gerry ADAMS; Alliance Party (Northern Ireland), John ALDERDICE; Communist Party, Nina TEMPLE

Suffrage

universal at age 18 House of Commons--last held 11 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992);
results--Conservative 43%, Labor 32%, Liberal/Social Democratic 23%, other 2%;
seats--(650 total) Conservative 376, Labor 228, Liberal/Social Democratic 22, Ulster Unionist (Northern Ireland) 9, Scottish National 4, Welsh National 3, Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland) 3, Social Democratic and Labor (Northern Ireland) 3, Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland) 1, Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) 1;
note--the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party merged to become the Social and Liberal Democratic Party in 1988

Communists

15,961

Other political or pressure groups

Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers' Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Member of

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BIS, C, CCC, CDB, CE, CERN, COCOM, CP, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESCAP, ESA, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OECD, PCA, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UN Security Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Sir Antony ACLAND;
Chancery at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 462-1340;
there are British Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Dallas, Miami, and Seattle;
US--Ambassador Raymond SEITZ;
Embassy at 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE, (mailing address is FPO New York 09509);
telephone [44] (71) 499-9000;
there are US Consulates General in Belfast and Edinburgh

Flag

blue with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland);
known as the Union Flag or Union Jack;
the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and others

Economy

The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe.

16 fields

GDP, purchasing power parity

$858.3billion

per capita $15,000; real growth rate 0.8% (1990)

Inflation, consumer prices

9.3%

(1990)

Unemployment rate

5.7%

(1990)

External debt

$10.5billion

(1990)

Budget

Revenues

$385.0 billionExpenditures

$385.5 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $35.0 billion (FY91 est.)

Overview

The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe. The economy is essentially capitalistic with a generous admixture of social welfare programs and government ownership. Over the last decade the Thatcher government halted the expansion of welfare measures and promoted extensive reprivatization of the government economic sector.

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labor force. Industry is a mixture of public and private enterprises, employing about 27% of the work force and generating 22% of GDP. The UK is an energy-rich nation with large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves;

primary energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. In mid-1990 the economy fell into recession after eight years of strong economic expansion, which had raised national output by one quarter. Britain's inflation rate, which has been consistently well above those of her major trading partners, is expected to decline in 1991.

Between 1986 and 1990 unemployment fell from 11% to about 6%, but it is now rising rapidly because of the economic slowdown. As a major trading nation, the UK will continue to be greatly affected by world boom or recession, swings in the international oil market, productivity trends in domestic industry, and the terms on which the economic integration of Europe proceeds.

Exports

$188.9 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment;
partners--EC 50.7% (FRG 11.9%, France 10.2%, Netherlands 7.0%), US 13.1%

Imports

$222 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods;
partners--EC 52.6% (FRG 16.6%, France 8.9%, Netherlands 7.9%), US 10.8%

Industrial production

growth rate 0% (1990)

Electricity

98,000,000 kW capacity; 316,500 million kWh produced, 5,520 kWh per capita (1990)

Industries

machinery and transportation equipment, metals, food processing, paper and paper products, textiles, chemicals, clothing, other consumer goods, motor vehicles, aircraft, shipbuilding, petroleum, coal

Agriculture

accounts for only 1.5% of GNP and 1% of labor force;
highly mechanized and efficient farms;
wide variety of crops and livestock products produced;
about 60% self-sufficient in food and feed needs;
fish catch of 665,000 metric tons (1987)

Economic aid

donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $21.0 billion

Currency

British pound or pound sterling (plural--pounds); 1 British pound (5) = 100 pence

Exchange rates

British pounds (5) per US$1--0.5171 (January 1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987), 0.6817 (1986), 0.7714 (1985)

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 251 ships by type

passenger 7short-sea passenger 21cargo 39container 34roll-on/roll-off cargo 22refrigerated cargo 10vehicle carrier 1railcar carrier 1petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 74chemical tanker 4liquefied gas 9combination ore/oil 1specialized tanker 1bulk 25combination bulk 2251 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,643,056 GRT/6,214,450 DWT

Airports, 520 total, 388 usable

permanent-surface runways

252runways over 3,659 m

1runways 2,440-3,659 m

37runways 1,220-2,439 m

133

Networkskm

Inland waterways

2,291Pipelines

933

Inland waterways: ; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km; other, 979 km · Pipelines: , almost all insignificant; 2,993 km refined products; 12,800 km natural gas

Railroads

Great Britain--16,629 km total;
British Railways (BR) operates 16,629 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (4,205 km electrified and 12,591 km double or multiple track);
several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge lines are privately owned and operated;
Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, 190 km double track

Highways

UK, 362,982 km total;
Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km limited-access divided highway);
Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved, 592 km gravel)

Inland waterways

2,291 total;
British Waterways Board, 606 km;
Port Authorities, 706 km;
other, 979 km

Pipelines

933 km crude oil, almost all insignificant;
2,993 km refined products;
12,800 km natural gas

modern, efficient domestic and international system;
30,200,000 telephones;
excellent countrywide broadcast systems;
stations--223 AM, 165 (401 relays) FM, 207 (3,210 relays) TV;
40 coaxial submarine cables;
satellite communication ground stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems