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Background Note: United Kingdom
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland
Geography
Area: 243,000 sq. km. (93,000 sq. mi.); slightly
smaller than Oregon.
Cities: Capital--London (metropolitan
pop. about 7.2 million). Other cities--Birmingham,
Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Bradford,
Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Belfast.
Terrain: 30% arable, 50% meadow and pasture, 12%
waste or urban, 7% forested, 1% inland water.
Land use: 25% arable, 46% meadows and pastures,
10% forests and woodland, 19% other.
Climate: Generally mild and temperate; weather
is subject to frequent changes but to few
extremes of temperature.
People
Nationality: Noun--Briton(s).
Adjective--British.
Population (2004 est.): 60.27 million.
Annual population growth rate (2004 est.):
0.29%.
Major ethnic groups: British, Irish, West
Indian, South Asian.
Major religions: Church of England (Anglican),
Roman Catholic, Church of Scotland
(Presbyterian), Muslim.
Major languages: English, Welsh, Irish Gaelic,
Scottish Gaelic.
Education: Years compulsory--12.
Attendance--nearly 100%. Literacy--99%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2004
est.)--5.22/1,000. Life expectancy (2004
est.)--males 75.84 yrs.; females 80.83 yrs.;
total 78.27 years
Work force (2003, 29.8 million): Services--80.4%;
industry--18.7%; agriculture--0.9%.
Government
Type: Constitutional monarchy.
Constitution: Unwritten; partly statutes, partly
common law and practice.
Branches: Executive--monarch (head of
state), prime minister (head of government),
cabinet. Legislative--bicameral
Parliament: House of Commons, House of Lords;
Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and
Northern Ireland Assembly. Judicial--magistrates'
courts, county courts, high courts, appellate
courts, House of Lords.
Subdivisions: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
(municipalities, counties, and parliamentary
constituencies).
Political parties: Great Britain--Conservative,
Labour, Liberal Democrats; also, in
Scotland--Scottish National Party. Wales--Plaid
Cymru (Party of Wales). Northern Ireland--Ulster
Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour
Party, Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Fein,
Alliance Party, and other smaller parties.
Suffrage: British subjects and citizens of other
Commonwealth countries and the Irish Republic
resident in the U.K., at 18.
Economy
GDP (at current market prices, 2003 est.):
$1.664 trillion.
Annual growth rate (2003 est.): 2.1%.
Per capita GDP (2003 est.): $27,700.
Natural resources: Coal, oil, natural gas, tin,
limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum,
lead, silica.
Agriculture (1.1% of GDP): Products--cereals,
oilseed, potatoes, vegetables, cattle, sheep,
poultry, fish.
Industry: Types--steel, heavy engineering
and metal manufacturing, textiles, motor
vehicles and aircraft, construction (5.2% of
GDP), electronics, chemicals.
Trade (2003 est.): Exports of goods and
services--$304.5 billion: manufactured
goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages,
tobacco. Major markets--U.S., European
Union. Imports of goods and services--$363.6
billion: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels,
foodstuffs. Major suppliers--U.S.,
European Union, Japan.
PEOPLE
The United Kingdom's population in
2004 surpassed 60 million--the third-largest in
the European Union and the 21st-largest in the
world. Its overall population density is one of
the highest in the world. Almost one-third of
the population lives in England's prosperous and
fertile southeast and is predominantly urban and
suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital
of London, which remains the largest city in
Europe. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate
(99%) is attributable to universal public
education introduced for the primary level in
1870 and secondary level in 1900. Education is
mandatory from ages 5 through 16. About
one-fifth of British students go on to
post-secondary education. The Church of England
and the Church of Scotland are the official
churches in their respective parts of the
country, but most religions found in the world
are represented in the United Kingdom.
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