United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

constitutional monarchyIndependence 1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)

United Kingdom as the 1993 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 83 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
LocationWestern Europe, bordering on the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea,
1993

Every edition of United Kingdom

Populationas each edition published it
57.97 million July 1993 est. · 57.37m in 1990
Population growth% a year
0.29% 1993 est. · 0.4% in 2025
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 38.4 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
76.5 years 1993 est. · 82.2 yrs in 2025
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.83 children per woman 1993 est. · 1.8 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births 1993 est. · 7 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$15,900 1992 · $52,500 in 2025
GDP real growth% a year
-0.6% 1992 · 1.1% in 2025

Geography

Western Europe, bordering on the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, | between Ireland and France

14 fields

Land useshare of 244,820 km2

arable land 29%permanent crops 0%meadows and pastures 48%forest and woodland 9%other 14%irrigated 1,570 km2 (1989)
Area
244,820km2
land area: 241,590 km2comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregonnote: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
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
total · Ireland 360 km

Location

Western Europe, bordering on the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, between Ireland and France

Map references

Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

International 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, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica

Environment

pollution control measures improving air and 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
57,970,200
(July 1993 est.)growth rate: 0.29% (1993 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1993 est.)

Birth
13.58Death
10.87Net migration
0.17
Labor force
28.048million
by occupation: services 62.8%, manufacturing and construction 25.0%, government 9.1%, energy 1.9%, agriculture 1.2% (June 1992)
Literacy
15and over can read and write
age · (1978)total population: 99%male: NA%female: NA%

Infant mortality rate

7.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population:
76.5 years
male:
73.71 years
female:
79.43 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.83 children born/woman (1993 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 million, Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000, Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.) note: the UK does not include a question on religion in its census

Languages

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

Government

Constitutional monarchy

25 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

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

Names

conventional long form:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
conventional short form:
United Kingdom

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, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater, Manchester*, Hampshire,, of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk,, Northampton, 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

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 on 1 July 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

Independence

1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)

Constitution

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

National holiday

Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)

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

Other political or pressure groups

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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

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

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)

Member of

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australian Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), 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, MINURSO, MTRC, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OECD, PCA, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNPROFOR, UNRWA, UN Security Council, UNTAC, UN Trusteeship Council, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission:
Ambassador Sir Robin RENWICK
chancery:
3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
(202) 462-1340
FAX:
(202) 898-4255
consulates general:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco,
consulates:
Dallas, Miami, and Seattle

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission:
Ambassador Raymond G. H. SEITZ
embassy:
24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE
mailing address:
PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040
telephone:
[44] (71) 499-9000
FAX:
[44] (71) 409-1637
consulates general:
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.

19 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$15,900
(1992)
Real growth rate
-0.6%
(1992)industrial production growth: growth rate 0.4% (1992 est.)

Budget

Revenues
$367.6 billionExpenditures
$439.3 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $32.5 billion (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; over the past thirteen years the ruling Tories have greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs.

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves, and primary energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation.

Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance, now employing only 25% of the work force and generating 21% of GDP. The economy is emerging out of its 3-year recession with only weak recovery expected in 1993.

Unemployment is hovering around 10% of the labor force. The government in 1992 adopted a pro-growth strategy, cutting interest rates sharply and removing the pound from the European exchange rate mechanism. Excess industrial capacity probably will moderate inflation which for the first time in a decade is below the EC average.

The major economic policy question for Britain in the 1990s is the terms on which it participates in the financial and economic integration of Europe.

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $920.6 billion (1992)

Exports

$187.4 billion (f.o.b., 1992)

commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment
partners:
EC countries 56.7% (Germany 14.0%, France 11.1%, Netherlands 7.9%), US 10.9%

Imports

$210.7 billion (c.i.f., 1992)

commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
partners:
EC countries 51.7% (Germany 14.9%, France 9.3%, Netherlands 8.4%), US 11.6%

External debt

$16.2 billion (June 1992)

Electricity

99,000,000 kW capacity; 317,000 million kWh produced, 5,480 kWh per capita (1992)

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)

Illicit drugs

increasingly important gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the European market

Economic aid

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

Currency

1 British pound (#) = 100 pence

Exchange rates

British pounds (#) per US$1 - 0.6527 (January 1993), 0.5664 (1992), 0.5652 (1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988)

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

Communications

8 fields

Merchant marine, 204 ships by type

passenger 7short-sea passenger 16cargo 37container 25roll-on/roll-off 14refrigerated cargo 5vehicle carrier 1oil tanker 65chemical tanker 1liquefied gas 8specialized tanker 1bulk 22combination bulk 1passenger cargo 1204 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,819,719 GRT/4,941,785 DWT

Railroads

  • UK, 16,914 km total;
  • Great Britain's British Railways (BR) operates 16,584 km 1.435-meter (standard) gauge (including 4,545 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 330 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

Pipelines

crude oil (almost all insignificant) 933 km, petroleum products 2,993 km, natural gas 12,800 km

Ports

London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe, Southampton

Airports

total:
496
usable:
385
with permanent-surface runways:
249
with runways over 3,659 m:
1
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
37
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
134

Telecommunications

  • 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), INMARSAT, and EUTELSAT systems;
  • at least 8 large international switching centers

Defense Forces

Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines), Royal Air Force

3 fields

Branches

Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines), Royal Air Force

Manpower availability

  • males age 15-49 14,445,998;
  • fit for military service 12,084,913 (1993 est.);
  • no conscription

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $42.5 billion, 3.8% of GDP (FY92/93)

Central Intelligence Agency. “United Kingdom.” The World Factbook 1993. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/united-kingdom/1993.

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