United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Prime Minister: Gordon Brown (2007)

Current government officials

Land area: 93,278 sq mi (241,590 sq km); total area: 94,526 sq mi (244,820 sq km)

Population (2007 est.): 60,776,238 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 10.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 5.0/1000; life expectancy: 78.7; density per sq km: 652

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): London, 7,615,000 (metro. area), 7,429,200 (city proper)

Other large cities: Glasgow, 1,099,400; Birmingham, 971,800; Liverpool, 461,900; Edinburgh, 460,000; Leeds, 417,000; Bristol, 406,500; Manchester, 390,700; Bradford, 288,400

Monetary unit: Pound sterling (£)

Languages: English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic

Ethnicity/race: English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%; Northern Irish 2.9%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001)

Religions: Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001)

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $2.137 trillion; per capita $35,100. Real growth rate: 3.1%. Inflation: 2.3%. Unemployment: 5.4%. Arable land: 23%. Agriculture: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish. Labor force: 30.07 million; agriculture 1.5%, industry 19.1%, services 79.5% (2004). Industries: machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods. Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land. Exports: $468.8 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco. Imports: $603 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs. Major trading partners: U.S., Germany, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, China (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 32.943 million (2005); mobile cellular: 61.1 million (2004). Radio broadcast stations: AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3 (1998). Radios: 84.5 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 228 (plus 3,523 repeaters) (1995). Televisions: 30.5 million (1997). Internet Hosts: 6.1 million (2006). Internet users: 37.6 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 17,156 km (2005). Highways: total: 388,008 km; paved: 371,913 km (including 3,520 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2005). Waterways: 3,200 km. Ports and harbors: Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Felixstowe, Glasgow, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Scapa Flow, Southampton, Sullom Voe, Teesport, Tyne. Airports: 471 (2006).

International disputes: Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against “total shared sovereignty” arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; Argentina claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark and Iceland; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; disputes with Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM.

Major sources and definitions

Ruler

Rulers of England and Great Britain

British Prime Ministers Since 1770

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies of the United Kingdom