United Kingdom

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

total:

11.75 cu km/yr (22%/75%/3%)

per capita:

197 cu m/yr (1994)

• 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 toward a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010);
• by 2005 the government reduced the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and recycled or composted at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015

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

at birth:

1.052 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.76 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

noun:

Briton(s), British (collective plural)

adjective:

British

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

name:

London

geographic coordinates:

51 30 N, 0 10 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

note: applies to the United Kingdom proper, not to its overseas dependencies or territories

• 12 April 1927 (Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act establishes current name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland);
• notable earlier dates: 927 (minor English kingdoms united);
• 3 March 1284 (enactment of the Statute of Rhuddlan uniting England and Wales);
• 1536 (Act of Union formally incorporates England and Wales);
• 1 May 1707 (Acts of Union formally unite England and Scotland as Great Britain);
• 1 January 1801 (Acts of Union formally unite Great Britain and Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland);
• 6 December 1921 (Anglo-Irish Treaty formalizes partition of Ireland; six counties remain part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland)

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

• Supreme Court of the UK (established in October 2009 taking over appellate jurisdiction formerly vested in the House of Lords);
• Senior Courts of England and Wales (comprising the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the Crown Courts);
• Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland);
• Scotland's Court of Session and High Court of the Justiciary

• Conservative [David CAMERON];
• Democratic Unionist Party or DUP (Northern Ireland) [Peter ROBINSON];
• Labor Party [Ed MILIBAND];
• Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) [Nick CLEGG];
• Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Ieuan Wyn JONES];
• Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND];
• Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS];
• Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Margaret RICHIE];
• Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Tom ELLIOTT]

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador Sir Nigel E. SHEINWALD

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, Miami, New York, San Francisco

consulate(s):

Dallas, Denver, Orlando

chief of mission:

Ambassador Louis B. SUSMAN

embassy:

24 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, and British overseas territories

name:

"God Save the Queen"

lyrics/music:

unknown

note: in use since 1745; by tradition, the song serves as both the national and royal anthem of the United Kingdom; it is known as either "God Save the Queen" or "God Save the King," depending on the gender of the reigning monarch; it also serves as the royal anthem of many Commonwealth nations

agriculture:

1.4%

industry:

18.2%

services:

80.4% (2006 est.)

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;
• numerous submarine cables provide links throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and US;
• 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

• public service broadcaster BBC is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world;
• BBC operates multiple TV networks with regional and local TV service;
• a mixed system of public and commercial TV broadcasters along with satellite and cable systems provide access to hundreds of TV stations throughout the world;
• BBC operates multiple national, regional, and local radio networks with multiple transmission sites;
• a large number of commercial radio stations as well as satellite radio services are available (2008)

• condensate 43 km;
• gas 7,992 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 59 km;
• oil 699 km;
• refined products 4,417 km (2009)

total:

16,454 km

country comparison to the world: 17

broad gauge:

303 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)

standard gauge:

16,151 km 1.435-m gauge (5,248 km electrified) (2008)

total:

394,428 km

country comparison to the world: 16

paved:

394,428 km (includes 3,519 km of expressways) (2009)

• Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Teesport (England);
• Forth Ports, Hound Point (Scotland);
• Milford Haven (Wales)

• 16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18);
• women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings;
• as of October 2009, women comprised 12.1% of officers and 9% of enlisted personnel in the regular forces;
• must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland;
• reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55;
• 16 years of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of Gurkhas;
• 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens (2009)

males age 16-49:

14,732,445

females age 16-49:

14,118,320 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

12,113,310

females age 16-49:

11,604,784 (2010 est.)

male:

386,492

female:

369,185 (2010 est.)

• in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain;
• the Government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks between the two countries;
• 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 Chagossians reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship, where some have since resettled;
• in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed the UK Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands;
• 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