The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is
the official name—usually shortened to United Kingdom—of the
grouping of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The United Kingdom lies at the northwestern edge of Europe. It is separated from the European mainland by the English Channel and the North Sea. It consists of four distinct parts: the formerly separate kingdoms of England, Scotland, Wales and the six counties of Northern Ireland. England, Scotland and Wales together constitute Great Britain. Northern Ireland occupies a small area of the island of Ireland, which it shares with the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom has an area of 94,526 square miles (244,820 square kilometers) which is about the size of Oregon. Its capital and largest city is London.
The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at 60,776,238 in 2007 with an annual growth of 0.27 percent.
Even though the individual people of the United Kingdom may think of themselves as English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish they are together known as Britons or the British.
English is the country's official language and is the world's most widely used language today. Also, English literature is one of the world's best known.
The major religions are Anglicanism (Church of England), Roman Catholicism, and Presbyterianism (Church of Scotland). In addition, as a result of the immigration from Pakistan and India, Britain is now home to more than 1 million Muslims.
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. The head of state is a monarch and the head of government is a prime minister. The present British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, came to the throne in 1952. The current prime minister is Gordon Brown.
The unit of currency is the pound Sterling.
Web Sites
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for United Kingdom.
Databases
Enter United Kingdom in these databases: