United Kingdom

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United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
A flag featuring both cross and saltire in red, white and blue Coat of arms containing shield and crown in centre, flanked by lion and unicorn
Anthem: 
File:United States Navy Band - God Save the Queen.ogg

"God Save the Queen"[note 1]
Two islands to the north-west of continental Europe. Highlighted are the larger island and the north-eastern fifth of the smaller island to the west.
Location of  United Kingdom  (dark green)

– on the European continent  (green & dark grey)
– in the European Union  (green)  —  [Legend]
Capital
(and largest city)		London
51°30′N 0°7′W / 51.5°N 0.117°W / 51.5; -0.117
Official language(s) English[1][2]
Recognised regional languages Irish, Ulster Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Welsh, Cornish[note 2]
Ethnic groups (2001
See: UK ethnic groups list[4])		 92.1% White
4.0% South Asian
2.0% Black
1.2% Mixed
0.4% Chinese
0.4% Other
Demonym British or Briton
Government Unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
 -  Monarch Elizabeth II
 -  Prime Minister David Cameron MP
Legislature Parliament
 -  Upper House House of Lords
 -  Lower House House of Commons
Formation
 -  Acts of Union 1707 1 May 1707 
 -  Acts of Union 1800 1 January 1801 
 -  Anglo-Irish Treaty 12 April 1922 
EU accession 1 January 1973
Area
 -  Total 243,610 km2 (79th)
94,060 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 1.34
Population
 -  2010 estimate 62,008,048[5] (22nd)
 -  2001 census 58,789,194[6] 
 -  Density 254.7/km2 (51st)
659.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2010 estimate
 -  Total $2.173 trillion[7] (7th)
 -  Per capita $34,920[7] (21st)
GDP (nominal) 2010 estimate
 -  Total $2.247 trillion[7] (6th)
 -  Per capita $36,120[7] (22nd)
Gini (2008–09) 41[8] 
HDI (2010) 0.849[9] (very high) (26th)
EFI (2011) decrease 74.5[10] (high) (16th)
CPI (2010) decrease 7.6[11] (high) (20th)
DBR (2011) Steady[12] (very high) (4th)
Currency Pound sterling (GBP)
Time zone GMT (UTC+0)
 -  Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Date formats dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on the left[note 3]
Internet TLD .uk[note 4]
Calling code 44

The United Kingdom has historically played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith in the 19th century, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars and the Irish republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy. The UK is also an active member of the EU, although it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union. Devolution and constitutional reform have been significant recent issues in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter was suspended until May 2007 due to wrangling over the peace process.[13]

See also: Bank of England

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Pound sterling (ISO code: GBP)
  • Central bank discount rate: 0.86% (31 December 2008)[13]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 4.63% (31 December 2008)[13]
  • Stock of money (M1): $NA[13]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA[13]

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: 1810, 1815-1817, 1825-1826, 1837-1839, 1847-1848, August 1857, May 1866, October 1878, November 1890, 1974-1976, 1984, 1991, 1995; in Scotland: 1857-1858, 1878-1880, 1908[14]; 2007
  • Years in inflation: 2.4% (share of years 1800-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
  • Public default: 1822, 1834, 1888-1889, 1932 (domestic)[15]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[16] 1 502 560 1 477 580 1 470 890 1 612 060 1 860 810 2 198 090 2 280 180 2 435 710 2 803 460 2 674 060
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[17] 47.484 47.469 42.507 42.528 42.598 44.905 47.300 47.133 47.863 57.523
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[18] 36.560 37.114 37.082 35.498 35.096 35.918 36.985 37.708 37.380 38.408
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[19] 35.652 36.204 36.651 37.633 38.809 39.200 41.222 40.378 40.005 42.827
Debt to revenue (years) 1.299 1.279 1.146 1.198 1.214 1.250 1.279 1.250 1.280 1.498


Points of interest

For economists, Henry VIII of England should be almost as famous for clipping his kingdom's coins as he was for chopping off the heads of its queens. Despite inheriting a vast fortune from his father, Henry VII, and even after confiscating the church's assets, he found himself in such desperate need of funds that he resorted to an epic debasement of the currency. This debasement began in 1542 and continued through the end of Henry's reign in 1547 and on into that of his successor, Edward VI. Cumulatively, the pound lost 83 percent of its silver content during this period.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ No law was passed making God Save the Queen the official anthem. In the British tradition, such laws are not necessary; proclamation and usage are sufficient to make it the official national anthem. God Save the Queen also serves as the Royal anthem for several other countries.
  2. ↑ Under the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Irish, Scots and its regional variant Ulster Scots are officially recognised as Regional or Minority languages by the UK Government for the purposes of the Charter.[3] See also Languages of the United Kingdom.
  3. ↑ British dependencies drive on the left except for BIOT and Gibraltar.
  4. ↑ ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 states that this should be GB and .gb was initially used by the Government, but registration has been suppressed in favour of .uk. The .eu domain is shared with other European Union member states.

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012519
  2. ↑ http://www.thecommonwealth.org/YearbookHomeInternal/139560/
  3. ↑ "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages". Scottish Government. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/ArtsCulture/gaelic/gaelic-english/17910/europeancharter. Retrieved 11 December 2010. 
  4. ↑ "United Kingdom population by ethnic group" (XLS). United Kingdom Census 2001. Office for National Statistics. 1 April 2001. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D6588.xls. Retrieved 15 April 2009. 
  5. ↑ "Total population at 1 January". Eurostat. 11 March 2011. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=tps00001&tableSelection=1&footnotes=yes&labeling=labels&plugin=1. Retrieved 29 April 2011. 
  6. ↑ "Census 2001: Population estimates". Office for National Statistics. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pop2001/united_kingdom.asp. Retrieved 21 April 2011. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "United Kingdom". International Monetary Fund. April 2011. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2007&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=112&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=25&pr.y=6. Retrieved 8 May 2011. 
  8. ↑ "Income inequalities". The Poverty Site. http://www.poverty.org.uk/09/index.shtml. Retrieved 21 April 2011. 
  9. ↑ "Human Development Report 2010". United Nations. p. 143 ff. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Table1.pdf. Retrieved 21 April 2011. 
  10. ↑ "Index of Economic Freedom 2011". The Heritage Foundation. 2011. http://www.heritage.org/Index/Country/UnitedKingdom. Retrieved 2011-05-22. 
  11. ↑ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2010". Transparency International. 2010. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/in_detail. Retrieved 2011-05-22. 
  12. ↑ "Doing Business Report 2011". International Finance Corporation, World Bank. 2011. http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/united-kingdom/. Retrieved 2011-05-22. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 CIA - The World Factbook. "United Kingdom", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  14. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 381, 387-388. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  15. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 114. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  16. ↑ World Bank. "United Kingdom: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  17. ↑ World Bank. "United Kingdom: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  18. ↑ World Bank. "United Kingdom: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  19. ↑ World Bank. "United Kingdom: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  20. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6. Referenced 2011-07-13, p. 175.

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