United Kingdom

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

• continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move towards a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010);
• by 2005 the government aims to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and to recycle or compost at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015;
• between 1998-99 and 1999-2000, household recycling increased from 8.8% to 10.3%

• 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

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.74 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

noun:

Briton(s), British (collective plural)

adjective:

British

definition:

age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling

total population:

99% (2000 est.)

male:

NA%

female:

NA%

conventional long form:

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales

conventional short form:

United Kingdom

abbreviation:

UK

• England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century;
• the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union;
• in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain;
• the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland;
• the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland;
• six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927

• common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences;
• has judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

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 Anthony (Tony) BLAIR (since 2 May 1997)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister

elections:

• none;
• the monarchy is hereditary;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister

• House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life);
• Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts);
• Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary

Conservative and Unionist Party [Michael HOWARD]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) BLAIR]; Liberal Democrats [Charles KENNEDY]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd IWAN]; Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Mark DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Sir Reg EMPEY]

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

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador David G. MANNING

chancery:

3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 588-6500

FAX:

[1] (202) 588-7870

consulate(s) general:

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

consulate(s):

Dallas, Denver, Miami, and Seattle

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires David T. JOHNSON

embassy:

24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE

mailing address:

PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040

telephone:

[44] (0) 20 7499-9000

FAX:

[44] (0) 20 7629-9124

consulate(s) general:

Belfast, Edinburgh

• blue field 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);
• properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack;
• the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, as well as British overseas territories

lowest 10%:

2.1%

highest 10%:

28.5% (1999)

• cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables;
• cattle, sheep, poultry;
• fish

general assessment:

technologically advanced domestic and international system

domestic:

equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optic systems

international:

• country code - 44;
• 40 coaxial submarine cables;
• satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Eutelsat;
• at least 8 large international switching centers

total:

17,274 km

standard gauge:

16,814 km 1.435-m gauge (5,296 km electrified)

broad gauge:

460 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland) (2004)

total:

392,931 km

paved:

392,931 km (including 3,431 km of expressways)

unpaved:

0 km (2003)

• condensate 370 km;
• gas 21,446 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 59 km;
• oil 6,420 km;
• oil/gas/water 63 km;
• refined products 4,474 km (2004)

• in 2003, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to remain a British colony and against a "total shared sovereignty" arrangement while demanding participation in talks between the UK and Spain;
• Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy;
• Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965;
• most Chagosians reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship but no right to patriation in the UK;
• UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands;
• territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim;
• Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

• producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals;
• major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs;
• money-laundering center