United Kingdom

constitutional monarchyIndependence 1 January 1801, United Kingdom established

United Kingdom as the 1992 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 77 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

57.8 million July 1992 · 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 1992 · 1.8 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

8 deaths per 1,000 live births 1992 · 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

13 fields

Total area

244,820km2

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon

Coastline

12,429km

Continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundariesExclusive fishing zone: 200 nmTerritorial sea: 12 nm

Land boundaries

360km

Ireland 360 km

Land area

241,590 km2; includes Rockall and Shetland Islands

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

57,797,514

(July 1992), growth rate 0.3% (1992)

Per 1,000 population(1992)

Birth

14Death

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%

Religions

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

Languages

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

Labor force

26,177,000; services 60.6%, manufacturing and construction 27.2%, government 8.9%, energy 2.1%, agriculture 1.2% (June 1991)

Government

Constitutional monarchy

22 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

41.9%

Conservative 41.9%Labor 34.5%Liberal Democratic 17.9%other 5.7%

Long-form name

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; abbreviated UK

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

Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong, 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)

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

Leaders

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)

Political parties and leaders

Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party, John SMITH; Liberal Democrats (LD), Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN; Scottish National Party, Alex SALMOND; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru), Dafydd Iwan WIGLEY; 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; Democratic Left, Nina TEMPLE

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Elections

House of Commons:: last held 9 April 1992 (next to be held by NA April 1997);
results - Conservative 41.9%, Labor 34.5%, Liberal Democratic 17.9%, other 5.7%;
seats - (651 total) Conservative 336, Labor 271, Liberal Democratic 20, other 24

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 Robin RENWICK;
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 G. H. SEITZ;
Embassy at 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE, (mailing address is FPO AE 09498-4040);
telephone [44] (71) 499-9000;
FAX 409-1637;
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

Note

Hong Kong is scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997

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

Inflation, consumer prices

5.8%

(1991)

Unemployment rate

8.1%

(1991)

External debt

$10.5billion

(1990)

Budget

Revenues

$435 billionExpenditures

$469 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92 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. Prime Minister MAJOR has continued the basic thrust of THATCHER's efforts to halt the expansion of welfare measures and promote 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, declined significantly in 1991.

Between 1986 and 1990 unemployment fell from 11% to about 6%, but crept back up to 8% in 1991 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.

GDP

purchasing power equivalent - $915.5 billion, per capita $15,900; real growth rate -1.9% (1991 est.)

Exports

$186.4 billion (f.o.b., 1991)

commodities:: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment
partners:: EC 53.2% (FRG 12.7%, France 10.5%, Netherlands 7.0%), US 12.4%

Imports

$211.9 billion (c.i.f., 1991)

commodities:: manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
partners:: EC 52.2% (FRG 15.6%, France 9.3%, Netherlands 8.4%), US 11.5%

Industrial production

growth rate 0% (1991)

Electricity

98,000,000 kW capacity; 316,500 million kWh produced, 5,520 kWh per capita (1991)

Industries

production machinery including machine tools, electric power equipment, equipment for the automation of production, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods

Agriculture

accounts for only 1.5% of GDP 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 (#) = 100 pence

Exchange rates

British pounds (#) per US$1 - 0.5799 (March 1992), 0.5652 (1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987)

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 224 ships by type

passenger 7short-sea passenger 21cargo 37container 27roll-on/roll-off 14refrigerated cargo 10vehicle carrier 1railcar carrier 1petroleum tanker 66chemical tanker 2liquefied gas 9combination ore/oil 1specialized tanker 1bulk 26combination bulk 1224 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,905,571 GRT/4,840,862 DWT

Airports, 498 total, 385 usable

permanent-surface runways

249runways | over 3,659 m

1runways 2,440-3,659 m

37runways 1,220-2,439 m

133

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, including 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

technologically advanced domestic and international system;
30,200,000 telephones;
equal mix of buried cables, microwave and optical-fiber systems;
excellent countrywide broadcast systems;
broadcast stations - 225 AM, 525 (mostly repeaters) FM, 207 (3,210 repeaters) TV;
40 coaxial submarine cables;
5 satellite ground stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems;
at least 8 large international switching centers