United Kingdom

constitutional monarchyIndependence 1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)

United Kingdom as the 1994 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 131 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
LocationWestern Europe, bordering on the North Atlantic Ocean and the North
1994

Every edition of United Kingdom

Populationas each edition published it
58.14 million July 1994 est. · 57.37m in 1990
Population growth% a year
0.28% 1994 est. · 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
1.83 children per woman 1994 est. · 1.8 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births 1994 est. · 7 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$16,900 1993 · $15,900 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
2.1% 1993 · -0.6% in 1993

Geography

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

25 fields
Coastline
12,429km
Land boundaries
360km
total · Ireland 360 km
Irrigated land
1,570sq km
(1989)

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

total area

244,820 sq km

land area

241,590 sq km

comparative area

slightly smaller than Oregon

note

includes Rockall and Shetland Islands

continental shelf

as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries

exclusive fishing zone

200 nm

territorial sea

12 nm

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

arable land

29%

permanent crops

0%

meadows and pastures

48%

forest and woodland

9%

other

14%

current issues

  • sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants contribute to air pollution;
  • some rivers polluted by agricultural wastes and coastal waters polluted because of large-scale disposal of sewage at sea

natural hazards

NA

international agreements

  • party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber, Wetlands, Whaling;
  • signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity

Note

  • lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes;
  • only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel;
  • because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

People

22 fields
Population
58,135,110
(July 1994 est.)growth rate: 0.28% (1994 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1994 est.)

Birth
13.39Death
10.76Net migration
0.17
Labor force
28.048million
Literacy
15and over can read and write
age · (1978 est.)

Infant mortality rate

7.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

total population

76.75 years

male

73.94 years

female

79.69 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.83 children born/woman (1994 est.)

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)

total population

99%

male

NA%

female

NA%

by occupation

services 62.8%, manufacturing and construction 25.0%, government 9.1%, energy 1.9%, agriculture 1.2% (June 1992)

Government

Constitutional monarchy

40 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

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

Legislature, 651 seatsseats by party

Conservative 336Labor 271Liberal Democratic 20other 24

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, 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

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)

National holiday

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

Constitution

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

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)

cabinet

Cabinet of Ministers

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament

House of Lords

consists of a 1,200-member body, four-fifths are hereditary peers, 2 archbishops, 24 other senior bishops, serving and retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, other life peers, Scottish peers

House of Commons

  • elections 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

Judicial branch

House of Lords

Political parties and leaders

Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party; 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), Sir 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

Member of

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australian Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, COCOM, 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

chief of mission

Ambassador Sir Robin RENWICK

chancery

3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone

(202) 462-1340

FAX

(202) 898-4255

consulate(s) general

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco,

consulate(s)

Dallas, Miami, Nuku'alofa, and Seattle

chief of mission

Ambassador-designate Adm. William CROWE

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

consulate(s) 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 Western | Europe.

26 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$16,900
(1993)
Real growth rate
2.1%
(1993)industrial production growth: growth rate 2.2% (1993 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 Western 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 only 21% of GDP. The economy is emerging out of its 3-year recession with only weak recovery in 1993;

even so, the economy fared better in 1993 than the economies of most other European countries. 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 - $980.2 billion (1993)

revenues

$325.5 billion

expenditures

$400.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $33 billion (1993 est.)

Exports

$190.1 billion (f.o.b., 1993)

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

$221.6 billion (c.i.f., 1993)

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)

capacity

99,000,000 kW

production

317 billion kWh

consumption per capita

5,480 kWh (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

Illicit drugs

  • gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the European market;
  • producer of synthetic drugs;
  • money-laundering center

donor

ODA and OOF commitments (1992-93), $3.2 billion

Currency

1 British pound (#) = 100 pence

Exchange rates

British pounds (#) per US$1 - 0.6699 (January 1994), 0.6033 (1993), 0.5664 (1992), 0.5652 (1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989)

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

Communications

15 fields

Railroads

  • UK, 16,914 km total;
  • Great Britain's British Railways (BR) operates 16,584 km 1,435-mm (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-mm gauge (including 190 km double track)

total

362,982 km (Great Britian 339,483 km; Northern Ireland 23,499 km)

paved

362,390 km (Great Britian 339,483 km, including 2,573 km limited access divided highway; Northern Ireland 22,907 km)

unpaved

gravel 592 km (in Northern Ireland)

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

Merchant marine

180 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,428,571 GRT/4,297,489 DWT, bulk 17, cargo 35, chemical tanker 2, combination bulk 1, container 24, liquefied gas 5, oil tanker 59, passenger 7, passenger cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 13, short-sea passenger 14, specialized tanker 1

total

497

usable

388

with permanent-surface runways

251

with runways over 3,659 m

1

with runways 2,440-3,659 m

37

with runways 1,220-2,439 m

133

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 14,432,081; fit for military service 12,056,828

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $34.8 billion, 3.7% of GDP (FY93/94)

Central Intelligence Agency. “United Kingdom.” The World Factbook 1994. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/united-kingdom/1994.

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