United Kingdom

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

agricultural land:

71%;

• arable land 25.1%;
• permanent crops 0.2%;
• permanent pasture 45.7%

forest:

11.9%

other:

17.1% (2011 est.)

• continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• 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 (the Channel Tunnel or Chunnel);
• because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

noun:

Briton(s), British (collective plural)

adjective:

British

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.81 male(s)/female

total population:

0.99 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

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

conventional short form:

United Kingdom

abbreviation:

UK

etymology:

• self-descriptive country name;
• the designation "Great Britain," in the sense of "Larger Britain," dates back to medieval times and was used to distinguish the island from "Little Britain," or Brittany in modern France;
• the name Ireland derives from the Gaelic "Eriu," the matron goddess of Ireland (goddess of the land)

name:

London

geographic coordinates:

51 30 N, 0 05 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 and Northern Ireland)

• unwritten;
• partly statutes, partly common law and practice;
• note - recent additions include the Human Rights Act of 1998, the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, and the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of the United Kingdom

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

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 Theresa MAY (since 13 July 2016)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• the monarchy is hereditary;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually becomes the prime minister;
• Theresea MAY (Conservative) assumed office 13 July 2016

description:

bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Lords (760 seats - membership not fixed (there are 815 lords eligible for taking part in the work of the House of Lords consisting of 701 life peers, 88 hereditary peers, and 26 clergy - as of October 2015; members appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister and non-party political members recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission) and the House of Commons (650 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by first-past-the-post vote to serve 5-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)

elections:

• House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise);
• House of Commons - last held on 8 May 2015 (next to be held by May 2020)

election results:

• House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Conservative 36.8%, Labor 30.5%, UKIP 12.7%, Lib Dems 7.9%, SNP 4.7%, Greens 3.8%, DUP 0.6%, Sinn Fein 0.6%, Plaid Cymru 0.6%, SDLP 0.3%, Ulster Unionist Party 0.4%, other 1.1%;
• seats by party - Conservative 330, Labor 232, SNP 56, Lib Dems 8, DUP 8, Sinn Fein 4, Plaid Cymru 3, SDLP 3, Ulster Unionist Party 2, UKIP 1, Greens 1, other 2

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court (consists of 12 justices including the court president and deputy president);
• note - the Supreme Court was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and implemented in October 2009, replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as the highest court in the United Kingdom

judge selection and term of office:

judge candidates selected by an independent committee of several judicial commissions, followed by their recommendations to the prime minister, and appointed by Her Majesty The Queen; justices appointed for life

subordinate courts:

• England and Wales - Court of Appeal (civil and criminal divisions);
• High Court;
• Crown Court;
• County Courts;
• Magistrates' Courts;
• Scotland - Court of Sessions;
• Sheriff Courts;
• High Court of Justiciary;
• tribunals;
• Northern Ireland - Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland;
• High Court;
• county courts;
• magistrates' courts;
• specialized tribunals

• Alliance Party (Northerm Ireland) [David FORD]
• Conservative and Unionist Party [Theresea MAY]
• Democratic Unionist Party or DUP (Northern Ireland) [Peter ROBINSON; note - expected to be replaced by Arlene FOSTER around 11 January 2016]
• Green Party of England and Wales or Greens [Caroline LUCAS and Jonathan BARTLEY]
• Labor Party [Jeremy CORBYN]
• Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) [Tim FARRON]
• Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Leanne WOOD]
• Scottish National Party or SNP [Nicola STURGEON]
• Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]
• Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Colum EASTWOOD]
• Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Mike NESBITT]
• UK Independence Party or UKIP [Nigel FARAGE]

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

chief of mission:

Ambassador Sir Nigel Kim DARROCH (since 28 January 2016)

chancery:

3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 588-6500

FAX:

[1] (202) 588-7870

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco

consulate(s):

Orlando (FL), San Juan (PR)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Matthew Winthrop BARZUN (since 27 November 2013)

embassy:

24 Grosvenor Square, London, W1K 6AH; note - a new embassy is scheduled to open by the end of 2017 in the Nine Elms area of Wandsworth

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

• lion (Britain in general);
• lion, Tudor rose, oak (England);
• lion, unicorn, thistle (Scotland);
• dragon, daffodil, leek (Wales);
• shamrock, flax (Northern Ireland);
• national colors: red, white, blue (Britain in general);
• red, white (England);
• blue, white (Scotland);
• red, white, green (Wales)

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 UK; 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

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

agriculture:

1.3%

industry:

15.2%

services:

83.5% (2014 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.7%

highest 10%:

31.1% (2012)

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 (2015)

• public service broadcaster, British Broadcasting Corporation (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)

number of registered air carriers:

28; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1,242

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

131,449,680

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

5,466,504,676 mt-km (2015)

• condensate 502 km;
• condensate/gas 9 km;
• gas 28,603 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 59 km;
• oil 5,256 km;
• oil/gas/water 175 km;
• refined products 4,919 km;
• water 255 km (2013)

total:

16,837 km

broad gauge:

303 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)

standard gauge:

16,534 km 1.435-m gauge (5,357 km electrified) (2015)

country comparison to the world: 9

total:

394,428 km

paved:

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

country comparison to the world: 17

major seaport(s):

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

oil terminals:

Fawley Marine terminal, Liverpool Bay terminal (England); Braefoot Bay terminal, Finnart oil terminal, Hound Point terminal (Scotland)

container port(s) (TEUs):

Felixstowe (3,248,592), London (1,932,000), Southampton (1,324,581)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Isle of Grain, Milford Haven, Teesside

• 16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18);
• no conscription;
• women serve in military services including some ground combat roles;
• the UK’s Defense Ministry is expected to further ease existing women's restrictions by the end of 2016;
• must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland;
• reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55;
• 17 years 6 months 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 (2016)

• in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain;
• the Government of Gibraltar insisted on equal participation in talks between the two countries;
• Spain disapproved of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy;
• Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory);
• in 2001, the former inhabitants of the archipelago, evicted 1967 - 1973, were granted UK citizenship and the right of return, followed by Orders in Council in 2004 that banned rehabitation, a High Court ruling reversed the ban, a Court of Appeal refusal to hear the case, and a Law Lords' decision in 2008 denied the right of return;
• in addition, the UK created the world's largest marine protection area around the Chagos islands prohibiting the extraction of any natural resources therein;
• 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

refugees (country of origin):

• 12,383 (Eritrea);
• 12,667 (Iran);
• 9,045 (Zimbabwe);
• 9,354 (Afghanistan);
• 6,977 (Somalia);
• 6,319 (Pakistan);
• 5,279 (Sri Lanka);
• 6,076 (Sudan);
• 6,496 (Syria) (2015)

stateless persons:

41 (2015)

• 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