United Kingdom

{{Anchor|Etymology}}

{{See also|Britain (place name)|Terminology of the British Isles}}

The Acts of Union 1707 declared that the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain".{{Efn|Compare to section 1 of both of the 1800 Acts of Union which reads: "the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall{{spaces}}... be united into one kingdom, by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland".}}{{Cite web |title=The Treaty (act) of the Union of Parliament 1706 |url=http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527074630/http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-date=27 May 2019 |access-date=23 August 2011 |publisher=Scots History Online |postscript=; }} {{Cite book |last1=Barnett, Hilaire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LYc1tSYonrQC&pg=PA165 |title=Constitutional & Administrative Law |last2=Jago, Robert |publisher=Routledge |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-415-56301-7 |edition=8th |location=Abingdon |page=165 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328140722/https://books.google.com/books?id=LYc1tSYonrQC&pg=PA165 |url-status=live }} The term "United Kingdom" has occasionally been used as a description for the former Kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was simply "Great Britain"."After the political union of England and Scotland in 1707, the nation's official name became 'Great Britain{{'"}}, The American Pageant, Volume 1, Cengage Learning (2012); "From 1707 until 1801 Great Britain was the official designation of the kingdoms of England and Scotland". The Standard Reference Work: For the Home, School and Library, Volume 3, Harold Melvin Stanford (1921); "In 1707, on the union with Scotland, 'Great Britain' became the official name of the British Kingdom, and so continued until the union with Ireland in 1801". United States Congressional serial set, Issue 10; Issue 3265 (1895); {{Cite web |last=Gascoigne, Bamber |author-link=Bamber Gascoigne |title=History of Great Britain (from 1707) |url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab07 |access-date=18 July 2011 |publisher=History World |archive-date=27 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527205230/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab07 |url-status=live }} The Acts of Union 1800 formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed in 1927 to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".{{Cite book |last=Cottrell, P. |url=https://archive.org/details/irishcivilwar00cott_573 |title=The Irish Civil War 1922–23 |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84603-270-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/irishcivilwar00cott_573/page/n85 85] |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |url-access=limited}}

Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also widely referred to as countries.{{Citation |last1=S. Dunn |title=An Alphabetical Listing of Word, Name and Place in Northern Ireland and the Living Language of Conflict |year=2000 |place=Lewiston, New York |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |quote=One specific problem – in both general and particular senses – is to know what to call Northern Ireland itself: in the general sense, it is not a country, or a province, or a state – although some refer to it contemptuously as a statelet: the least controversial word appears to be jurisdiction, but this might change. |last2=H. Dawson}}; {{Cite web |date=15 December 2011 |title=Changes in the list of subdivision names and code elements |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_3166-2_newsletter_ii-3_2011-12-13.pdf |access-date=28 May 2012 |website=ISO 3166-2 |publisher=International Organization for Standardization |archive-date=19 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919073956/http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_3166-2_newsletter_ii-3_2011-12-13.pdf |url-status=live }} The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.{{Cite web |date=10 January 2003 |title=Countries within a country |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080909013512/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823 |archive-date=9 September 2008 |access-date=8 March 2015 |publisher=Prime Minister's Office}} Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions, refer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions".{{Cite web |title=Statistical bulletin: Regional Labour Market Statistics |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_346117.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224045523/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_346117.xml |archive-date=24 December 2014 |access-date=5 March 2014}}; {{Cite web |title=13.4% Fall In Earnings Value During Recession |url=http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/fall-in-earnings-value-during-recession |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103194604/http://www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/fall-in-earnings-value-during-recession |archive-date=3 January 2014 |access-date=5 March 2014}} Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province".{{Cite book |last1=Dunn, Seamus |title=An Alphabetical Listing of Word, Name and Place in Northern Ireland and the Living Language of Conflict |last2=Dawson, Helen |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7734-7711-7 |location=Lewiston, New York}}; {{Cite book |last=Murphy, Dervla |title=A Place Apart |publisher=Penguin |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-14-005030-1 |location=London}} With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences".{{Cite book |last1=Whyte |first1=John |title=Interpreting Northern Ireland |last2=FitzGerald |first2=Garret |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-19-827380-6 |location=Oxford |author-link=John Henry Whyte |author-link2=Garret FitzGerald}}

The term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination.{{Cite news |date=19 December 2008 |title=Guardian Unlimited Style Guide |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/styleguide/page/0,,184840,00.html |access-date=23 August 2011 }}; {{Cite news |date=19 August 2002 |title=BBC style guide (Great Britain) |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/radio_newsroom/1099593.stm#g |access-date=23 August 2011 |archive-date=15 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215074832/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/radio_newsroom/1099593.stm#g |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Key facts about the United Kingdom |url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517 |archive-date=15 October 2012 |access-date=8 March 2015 |website=Government, citizens and rights |publisher=HM Government }} It is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.New Oxford American Dictionary: "Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland considered as a unit. The name is also often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom." The word England is occasionally used incorrectly to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole, a mistake principally made by people from outside the UK."When people say England, they sometimes mean Great Britain, sometimes the United Kingdom, sometimes the British Isles — but never England." — {{Citation |last=George Mikes |title=How To Be An Alien |year=1946 |publisher=Penguin}} {{ISBN|978-0-582-41686-4}}; {{Cite web |title=England OR United Kingdom (UK)? {{!}} Vocabulary {{!}} EnglishClub |url=https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-uk-england.htm |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=englishclub.com |archive-date=16 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016192638/https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-uk-england.htm |url-status=live }}

The term "Britain" is used as a synonym for Great Britain,{{Cite web |title=Britain Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/britain |website=dictionary.cambridge.org |access-date=19 June 2018 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620024348/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/britain |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Definition of Britain in English by Oxford Dictionaries |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/britain |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926204707/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/britain |archive-date=26 September 2016 |website=Oxford Dictionaries – English }}{{Cite web |title=Britain definition and meaning |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/britain |website=collinsdictionary.com |publisher=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=19 June 2018 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620024837/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/britain |url-status=live }} but also sometimes for the United Kingdom.{{Cite web |title=Britain – Definition for English-Language Learners |url=http://learnersdictionary.com/definition/Britain |website=learnersdictionary.com |publisher=Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary |access-date=19 June 2018 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620024648/http://learnersdictionary.com/definition/Britain |url-status=live }} Usage is mixed: the UK Government style guide prefers the term "UK" rather than "Britain" or "British" (except when referring to embassies{{Efn|"UK" embassies became "British" embassies in 1961.{{Cite news |date=21 October 1961 |title='Cold U.K.' Becomes British |work=The Times |page=8}}}}),{{Cite web |date=21 November 2024 |orig-date=23 February 2016 |title=Style guide: A to Z |url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241122222025/https://www.gov.uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z |archive-date=22 November 2024 |publisher=UK Government}} while other government documents acknowledge that both terms refer to the United Kingdom and that elsewhere "British government" is used at least as frequently as "United Kingdom government".{{Cite web |last=Permanent Committee on Geographical Names |title=Toponymic guidelines for the United Kingdom |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/toponymic-guidelines |website=gov.uk |date=17 May 2023 |publisher=UK Government |access-date=17 June 2018 |archive-date=17 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617165832/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/toponymic-guidelines |url-status=live }} The UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names recognises "United Kingdom", "UK" and "U.K." as shortened and abbreviated geopolitical terms for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in its toponymic guidelines; it does not list "Britain" but notes that "it is only the one specific nominal term 'Great Britain' which invariably excludes Northern Ireland". The BBC historically preferred to use "Britain" as shorthand only for Great Britain, though the present style guide does not take a position except that "Great Britain" excludes Northern Ireland.{{Cite web |title=BBC News style guide – Names |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20130702112133537 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110082858/https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20130702112133537 |archive-date=10 November 2019 |access-date=9 November 2019 |website=BBC Academy |publisher=BBC}}; {{Cite web |title=Alphabetical checklist |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide/article/art20130702112133551 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326162901/http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide/article/art20130702112133551 |archive-date=26 March 2018 |access-date=17 June 2018 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}

The adjective "British" is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom and is used in law to refer to United Kingdom citizenship and nationality.{{Cite book |last1=Bradley, Anthony Wilfred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HT_GS2zgN5QC&pg=PA36 |title=Constitutional and administrative law |last2=Ewing, Keith D. |publisher=Pearson Longman |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4058-1207-8 |edition=14th |volume=1 |location=Harlow |page=36 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328140723/https://books.google.com/books?id=HT_GS2zgN5QC&pg=PA36 |url-status=live }}{{Efn|Historically, the term British was used to refer to members and institutions within the British Empire and later Commonwealth and was not limited to the geographical British Isles. The UK Government adopted the term for its exclusive use only in 1961, but in recognition of its wider usage first sought the prior consent of Australia, Canada and New Zealand.{{Cite book |last1=Curran |first1=James |title=The Unknown Nation: Australia after Empire |last2=Ward |first2=Stuart |date=2010 |publisher=Melbourne University Publishing |isbn=978-0-522-85645-3 |location=Carlton, Vic |pages=26–7}}{{Cite book |last=Ward |first=Stuart |title=Untied kingdom: A Global History of the End of Britain |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-14599-3 |at=Chapter 1 |language=en}}}} People of the United Kingdom use several different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being British, English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, or Irish;{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=Which of these best describes the way you think of yourself? |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2010/Community_Relations/NINATID.html |access-date=1 July 2010 |website=Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2010 |publisher=ARK – Access Research Knowledge |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175111/http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2010/Community_Relations/NINATID.html |url-status=live }} or as having a combination of different national identities.{{Cite web |title=Ethnicity and National Identity in England and Wales |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/ethnicityandnationalidentityinenglandandwales/2012-12-11 |access-date=25 June 2020 |website=Office for National Statistics |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121012603/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/ethnicityandnationalidentityinenglandandwales/2012-12-11 |url-status=live }}; {{Cite book |last=Schrijver, Frans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u8gZklxHTMUC&pg=PA275 |title=Regionalism after regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-90-5629-428-1 |pages=275–277 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328140905/https://books.google.com/books?id=u8gZklxHTMUC&pg=PA275#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|History of the British Isles}}

{{Further|History of the constitution of the United Kingdom|Timeline of British history}}

{{Main|History of England|History of Wales|History of Scotland|History of Ireland}}

{{see|Kingdom of England|Kingdom of Scotland}}

File:Stonehenge, Condado de Wiltshire, Inglaterra, 2014-08-12, DD 18.JPG in Wiltshire is a ring of stones, each about {{Cvt|13|ft|0|order=flip}} high, {{Cvt|7|ft|0|order=flip}} wide and 25 tonnes, erected 2400–2200 BC.]]

Settlement by Cro-Magnons of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7069001.stm "Ancient skeleton was 'even older'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213081240/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/7069001.stm |date=13 February 2021}}". BBC News. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2011. The island has been continuously inhabited only since the last retreat of the ice around 11,500 years ago. By the end of the region's prehistoric period, the population is thought to have belonged largely to a culture termed Insular Celtic, comprising Brittonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland.{{Cite book |last=Koch, John T. |url=https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128 |title=Celtic culture: A historical encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |location=Santa Barbara, CA |page=[https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128/page/n1016 973] |url-access=limited}}

The Roman conquest, beginning in 43 AD, and the 400-year rule of southern Britain, was followed by an invasion by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers, reducing the Brittonic area mainly to what was to become Wales, Cornwall and, until the latter stages of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the Hen Ogledd (northern England and parts of southern Scotland).{{Cite book |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6 |editor-last=Davies |editor-first=John |editor-link=John Davies (historian) |location=Cardiff |page=915 |editor-last2=Jenkins |editor-first2=Nigel |editor-link2=Nigel Jenkins |editor-last3=Baines |editor-first3=Menna |editor-last4=Lynch |editor-first4=Peredur I. |editor-link4=Peredur Lynch}} Most of the region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.{{Cite magazine |title=Short Athelstan biography |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/athelstan.shtml |magazine=BBC History |access-date=9 April 2013 |archive-date=13 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213191353/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/athelstan.shtml |url-status=live }} Meanwhile, Gaelic speakers in north-west Britain (with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in the 5th century){{Cite book |last=Mackie, J.D. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofscotlan00mack_0/page/18 |title=A History of Scotland |publisher=Penguin |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-14-013649-4 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofscotlan00mack_0/page/18 18–19] |author-link=J.D. Mackie}}; {{Cite book |last=Campbell, Ewan |title=Saints and Sea-kings: The First Kingdom of the Scots |publisher=Canongate |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-86241-874-8 |location=Edinburgh |pages=8–15}} united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century.{{Cite book |last=Haigh |first=Christopher |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistori0000unse_a9n8/page/30 |title=The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-521-39552-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistori0000unse_a9n8/page/30 30]}}

File:Baños Romanos, Bath, Inglaterra, 2014-08-12, DD 39-41 HDR.JPG in Bath, Somerset, are a well-preserved thermae from Roman Britain.]]

In 1066, the Normans invaded England from northern France. After conquering England, they seized large parts of Wales, conquered much of Ireland and were invited to settle in Scotland, bringing to each country feudalism on the Northern French model and Norman-French culture.{{Cite book |last=Ganshof, F.L. |url=https://archive.org/details/feudalism0000gans_j4b5 |title=Feudalism |publisher=University of Toronto |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8020-7158-3 |page=165 |url-access=registration}} The Anglo-Norman ruling class greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, the local cultures.{{Cite book |last=Chibnall, Marjorie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJl5Jm-IndUC&pg=PA115 |title=The Debate on the Norman Conquest |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7190-4913-2 |pages=115–122 |author-link=Marjorie Chibnall |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164802/https://books.google.com/books?id=qJl5Jm-IndUC&pg=PA115 |url-status=live }} Subsequent medieval English kings completed the conquest of Wales and tried unsuccessfully to annex Scotland. Asserting its independence in the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland maintained its independence thereafter, albeit in near-constant conflict with England.

In 1215, the Magna Carta was the first document to state that no government was above the law, that citizens have rights protecting them, and that they were entitled to a fair trial.{{Cite web |title=Magna Carta |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/birthofparliament/overview/magnacarta/ |access-date=27 May 2024 |publisher=parliament.uk }} {{Cite web |title=The contents of Magna Carta |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/birthofparliament/overview/magnacarta/magnacartaclauses/ |access-date=27 May 2024 |publisher=parliament.uk |archive-date=28 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828101448/https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/originsofparliament/birthofparliament/overview/magnacarta/magnacartaclauses/ |url-status=live }} {{Cite web |title=Magna Carta Key Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Magna-Carta-Key-Facts |access-date=27 May 2024 |publisher=Britannica |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527191804/https://www.britannica.com/summary/Magna-Carta-Key-Facts |url-status=live }}

The English monarchs, through inheritance of substantial territories in France and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the Hundred Years' War, while the Kings of Scots were in an alliance with the French during this period.Keen, Maurice. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/hundred_years_war_01.shtml "The Hundred Years' War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214092949/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/hundred_years_war_01.shtml |date=14 December 2013 }}. BBC History.

Early modern Britain saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country.[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/479892/Protestantism/41558/The-Reformation-in-England-and-Scotland The Reformation in England and Scotland] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150515015218/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/479892/Protestantism/41558/The-Reformation-in-England-and-Scotland |date=15 May 2015 }} and [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293754/Ireland/22978/The-Reformation-period Ireland: The Reformation Period & Ireland under Elizabeth I] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521133445/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293754/Ireland/22978/The-Reformation-period |date=21 May 2015 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica Online. The English Reformation ushered in political, constitutional, social and cultural change in the 16th century and established the Church of England. Moreover, it defined a national identity for England and slowly, but profoundly, changed people's religious beliefs.{{Cite web |title=English Reformation c1527-1590 |url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/the-english-reformation-c1527-1590/ |access-date=20 January 2023 |website=The National Archives |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202002512/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/the-english-reformation-c1527-1590/ |url-status=live }} Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England,{{Cite magazine |date=5 November 2009 |title=British History in Depth – Wales under the Tudors |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/wales_tudors_01.shtml |magazine=BBC History |access-date=21 September 2010 |archive-date=7 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207145836/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/wales_tudors_01.shtml |url-status=live }} and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.{{Cite book |last=Nicholls |first=Mark |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernb0000nich |title=A history of the modern British Isles, 1529–1603: The two kingdoms |publisher=Blackwell |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-631-19334-0 |location=Oxford |pages=171–172 |url-access=registration}} In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.{{Cite book |last=Canny |first=Nicholas P. |url=https://archive.org/details/makingirelandbri00cann |title=Making Ireland British, 1580–1650 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-925905-2 |pages=189–200 |url-access=registration}}

File:Bayeux Tapestry WillelmDux.jpg depicts the Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.]]

In 1603, the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a personal union when James VI, King of Scots, inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political, legal, and religious institutions.Ross, D. (2002). Chronology of Scottish History. Glasgow: Geddes & Grosset. p. 56. {{ISBN|978-1-85534-380-1}}; Hearn, J. (2002). Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture. Edinburgh University Press. p. 104. {{ISBN|978-1-902930-16-9}}.

In the mid-17th century, all three kingdoms were involved in a series of connected wars (including the English Civil War) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy, with the execution of King Charles I, and the establishment of the short-lived unitary republic of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=English Civil Wars |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/187936/English-Civil-Wars |access-date=28 April 2013 |archive-date=2 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502204708/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/187936/English-Civil-Wars |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |date=14 March 2010 |title=Scotland and the Commonwealth: 1651–1660 |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/scotland/01_laws.php |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Archontology.org |archive-date=16 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716194016/http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/scotland/01_laws.php |url-status=live }}

Although the monarchy was restored, the Interregnum along with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the subsequent Bill of Rights 1689 in England and Claim of Right Act 1689 in Scotland ensured that, unlike much of the rest of Europe, royal absolutism would not prevail, and a professed Catholic could never accede to the throne. The British constitution would develop on the basis of constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary system.{{Cite book |last=Lodge |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBSpvBxGyqcC |title=The History of England – From the Restoration to the Death of William III (1660–1702) |publisher=Read Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4067-0897-4 |page=8 |orig-date=1910 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328140723/https://books.google.com/books?id=EBSpvBxGyqcC |url-status=live }} With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. During this period, particularly in England, the development of naval power and the interest in voyages of discovery led to the acquisition and settlement of overseas colonies, particularly in North America and the Caribbean.{{Cite web |title=Tudor Period and the Birth of a Regular Navy |url=http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103013901/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Tudor_Period_and_the_Birth_of_a_Regular_Navy_Part_Two |archive-date=3 November 2011 |access-date=8 March 2015 |website=Royal Navy History |url-status=usurped |publisher=Institute of Naval History }}; {{Cite book |last=Canny |first=Nicholas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQHSivGzEEMC |title=The Origins of Empire, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume I |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-924676-2 |ref=refOHBEv1 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111135256/https://books.google.com/books?id=eQHSivGzEEMC |url-status=live }}

Though previous attempts at uniting the two kingdoms within Great Britain in 1606, 1667, and 1689 had proved unsuccessful, the attempt initiated in 1705 led to the Treaty of Union of 1706 being agreed and ratified by both parliaments.

{{Clear left}}

{{Main|Treaty of Union|Kingdom of Great Britain}}

File:Articles of Union between England and Scotland 28 Jan 1707.png which unified the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707]]

On 1 May 1707, the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed, the result of the Acts of Union 1707 between the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland.{{Cite web |title=Articles of Union with Scotland 1707 |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/docs/articles_union.htm |access-date=19 October 2008 |publisher=UK Parliament |archive-date=8 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608152446/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/docs/articles_union.htm |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Acts of Union 1707 |url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny |access-date=6 January 2011 |publisher=UK Parliament |archive-date=27 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227033859/http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/ |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Treaty (act) of Union 1706 |url=http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527074630/http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-date=27 May 2019 |access-date=3 February 2011 |publisher=Scottish History online }} In the 18th century, cabinet government developed under Robert Walpole, in practice the first prime minister (1721–1742). A series of Jacobite uprisings sought to remove the Protestant House of Hanover from the throne and restore the Catholic House of Stuart. The Jacobites were finally defeated at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, after which the Scottish Highlanders were forcibly assimilated into Scotland by revoking the feudal independence of clan chiefs. The British colonies in North America that broke away in the American War of Independence became the United States. British imperial ambition turned towards Asia, particularly to India.Library of Congress, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BQDgr_XvsHoC&pg=PA73 The Impact of the American Revolution Abroad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328140724/https://books.google.com/books?id=BQDgr_XvsHoC&pg=PA73 |date=28 March 2024 }}, p. 73.

British merchants played a leading part in the Atlantic slave trade, mainly between 1662 and 1807 when British or British-colonial slave ships transported nearly 3.3 million slaves from Africa.{{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA12 |title=Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-156627-1 |page=12 |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141229/https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} The slaves were taken to work on plantations, principally in the Caribbean but also North America.{{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA15 |title=Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America |publisher=Oxford University Press, US |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-156627-1 |page=15 |access-date=5 October 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141229/https://books.google.com/books?id=SGcwgJz5rQMC&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} However, with pressure from the abolitionist movement, Parliament banned the trade in 1807, banned slavery in the British Empire in 1833, and Britain took a leading role in the movement to abolish slavery worldwide through the blockade of Africa and pressing other nations to end their trade with a series of treaties.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103004954/https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml |date=3 November 2008 }}. BBC Devon. 2007.; {{Cite book |last=Lovejoy |first=Paul E. |url=https://archive.org/details/transformationsi0000love/page/290 |title=Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-521-78012-4 |edition=2nd |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/transformationsi0000love/page/290 290] }}

{{Main|History of the United Kingdom|Acts of Union (1800)|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}

File:Victoria in her Coronation robes.jpg reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India during the 19th century.]]

In 1800, the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland each passed an Act of Union, uniting the two kingdoms and creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801.{{Cite web |title=The Act of Union |url=http://www.actofunion.ac.uk/actofunion.htm#act |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415061235/http://www.actofunion.ac.uk/actofunion.htm#act |archive-date=15 April 2012 |access-date=15 May 2006 |publisher=Act of Union Virtual Library}}

After the defeat of France at the end of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815), the United Kingdom emerged as the principal naval and imperial power (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830).Tellier, L.-N. (2009). Urban World History: an Economic and Geographical Perspective. Quebec: PUQ. p. 463. {{ISBN|978-2-7605-1588-8}}. Unchallenged at sea, British dominance was later described as Pax Britannica ("British Peace"), a period of relative peace among the great powers (1815–1914) during which the British Empire became the global hegemon and foremost power{{Cite book |last=Mathias |first=P. |title=The First Industrial Nation: the Economic History of Britain, 1700–1914 |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-415-26672-7 |location=London}}; {{Cite book |last=Ferguson |first=Niall |url=https://archive.org/details/empire00nial |title=Empire: The rise and demise of the British world order and the lessons for global power |publisher=Basic Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-465-02328-8 |location=New York |url-access=registration}}{{Cite encyclopedia |title=20th-century international relations |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/20th-century-international-relations-2085155 |access-date=6 May 2023 |last=McDougall |first=Walter A. |date=4 May 2023 |author-link=Walter A. McDougall |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712124130/https://www.britannica.com/topic/20th-century-international-relations-2085155 |archive-date=12 July 2019 |url-status=live}} and adopted the role of global policeman.Sondhaus, L. (2004). Navies in Modern World History. London: Reaktion Books. p. 9. {{ISBN|978-1-86189-202-7}}.{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo3F2X8IDeEC |title=The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-924678-6 |page=332 |ref=refOHBEv3}} From 1853 to 1856, Britain took part in the Crimean War, allied with the Ottoman Empire against Tsarist Russia,{{Cite journal|last=Benn |first=David Wedgwood |title=The Crimean War and its lessons for today |journal=International Affairs |volume=88 |issue=2 |date=March 2012 |pages=387–391 |jstor=41428613 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2346.2012.01078.x }} participating in the naval battles of the Baltic Sea known as the Åland War in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland, among others.[https://runeberg.org/nfbs/0252.html Nordisk familjebok (1913), s. 435] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209123019/https://runeberg.org/nfbs/0252.html |date=9 December 2023 }} (in Swedish) Following the Indian Rebellion in 1857, the British government led by Lord Palmerston assumed direct rule over India. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of regions such as East Asia and Latin America.{{Cite book |last=Porter |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oo3F2X8IDeEC |title=The Nineteenth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume III |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-924678-6 |page=8 |ref=refOHBEv3 }}; {{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=P.J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2EXN8JTwAEC |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-521-00254-7 |pages=156–157 |ref=refMarshall |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116094154/https://books.google.com/books?id=S2EXN8JTwAEC |url-status=live }}

Throughout the Victorian era, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies. Beginning with the Great Reform Act in 1832, Parliament gradually widened the voting franchise, with the 1884 Reform Act championed by William Gladstone granting suffrage to a majority of males for the first time. The British population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, causing significant social and economic stresses.{{Cite book |last=Tompson |first=Richard S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5kcJqmXk2oC&pg=PA63 |title=Great Britain: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present |publisher=Facts on File |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8160-4474-0 |location=New York |page=63}} By the late 19th century, the Conservatives under Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Salisbury initiated a period of imperial expansion in Africa, maintained a policy of splendid isolation in Europe, and attempted to contain Russian influence in Afghanistan and Persia, in what came to be known as the Great Game.{{Cite journal |last=Fromkin |first=David |date=1980 |title=The Great Game in Asia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20040512 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=936–951 |doi=10.2307/20040512 |jstor=20040512 |issn=0015-7120 |access-date=4 June 2023 |archive-date=12 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412053528/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20040512 |url-status=live }} During this time, Canada, Australia and New Zealand were granted self-governing dominion status.{{Cite book |last=Hosch, William L. |title=World War I: People, Politics, and Power |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-61530-048-8 |series=America at War |location=New York |page=21}} At the turn of the century, Britain's industrial dominance became challenged by the German Empire and the United States.{{Cite book |last=Zarembka |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NSrwpggmHigC&pg=PP1 |title=Contradictions: Finance, Greed, and Labor Unequally Paid |date=2013 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |isbn=978-1-78190-670-5 |access-date=21 October 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141231/https://books.google.com/books?id=NSrwpggmHigC&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} The Edwardian era saw social reform and home rule for Ireland become important domestic issues, while the Labour Party emerged from an alliance of trade unions and small socialist groups in 1900, and suffragettes campaigned for women's right to vote.Sophia A. Van Wingerden, The women's suffrage movement in Britain, 1866–1928 (1999) ch 1.

{{Main|History of the United Kingdom during the First World War|Partition of Ireland|Interwar Britain|United Kingdom home front during the Second World War|Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II}}

File:Wreaths Are Laid at the Cenotaph, London During Remembrance Sunday Service MOD 45152052.jpg service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London]]

Britain was one of the principal Allies that defeated the Central Powers in the First World War (1914–1918). Alongside their French, Russian and (after 1917) American counterparts,Turner, John (1988). Britain and the First World War. London: Unwin Hyman. pp. 22–35. {{ISBN|978-0-04-445109-9}}. British armed forces were engaged across much of the British Empire and in several regions of Europe, particularly on the Western Front. The high fatalities of trench warfare caused the loss of much of a generation of men, with lasting social effects in the nation and a great disruption in the social order. Britain had suffered 2.5 million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt.Westwell, I.; Cove, D. (eds) (2002). History of World War I, Volume 3. London: Marshall Cavendish. pp. 698, 705. {{ISBN|978-0-7614-7231-5}}. The consequences of the war persuaded the government to expand the right to vote in national and local elections to all adult men and most adult women with the Representation of the People Act 1918. After the war, Britain became a permanent member of the Executive Council of the League of Nations and received a mandate over a number of former German and Ottoman colonies. Under the leadership of David Lloyd George, the British Empire reached its greatest extent, covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population.Turner, J. (1988). Britain and the First World War. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 41. {{ISBN|978-0-04-445109-9}}.

By the mid-1920s, most of the British population could listen to BBC radio programmes.{{Cite web |date=15 June 2020 |title=100 years of radio since Marconi's big breakthrough |url=https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/100-years-of-radio |access-date=17 November 2020 |website=Ofcom |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804031332/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/100-years-of-radio |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=History of the BBC: The origins of BBC Local Radio |url=https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/local-radio |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=BBC |last=Linfoot |first=Matthew |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920232207/https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/research/local-radio/ |url-status=live }} Experimental television broadcasts began in 1929 and the first scheduled BBC Television Service commenced in 1936.{{Cite web |title=History of the BBC: 1920s |url=https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/timelines/1920s |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=BBC |language=en |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926064808/https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/timelines/1920s |url-status=live }} The rise of Irish nationalism, and disputes within Ireland over the terms of Irish Home Rule, led eventually to the partition of the island in 1921.SR&O 1921/533 of 3 May 1921. A period of conflict in what is now Northern Ireland occurred from June 1920 until June 1922. The Irish Free State became independent, initially with Dominion status in 1922, and unambiguously independent in 1931. Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.{{Cite web |title=The Anglo-Irish Treaty, 6 December 1921 |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/ait1921.htm |access-date=15 May 2006 |website=CAIN Web Service |archive-date=14 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514145108/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/ait1921.htm |url-status=live }} The 1928 Equal Franchise Act gave women electoral equality with men in national elections. Strikes in the mid-1920s culminated in the General Strike of 1926. Britain had still not recovered from the effects of the First World War when the Great Depression (1929–1932) led to considerable unemployment and hardship in the old industrial areas, as well as political and social unrest with rising membership in communist and socialist parties. A coalition government was formed in 1931.Rubinstein, W.D. (2004). Capitalism, Culture, and Decline in Britain, 1750–1990. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 11. {{ISBN|978-0-415-03719-8}}.

File:Spitfire and Hurricane in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.jpg and Hurricane as flown in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War]]

Nonetheless, "Britain was a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests and sitting at the heart of a global production system."{{Cite book|last=Edgerton|first=David|date=2012|title=Britain's War Machine|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/55731/britain-s-war-machine/9780141026107.html|access-date=10 May 2020|publisher=Penguin|language=en|postscript=none|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428080558/https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/55731/britain-s-war-machine/9780141026107.html|url-status=live}}; {{Cite web |title=Britain's War Machine: Weapons, Resources and Experts in the Second World War |url=https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1114 |access-date=10 May 2020 |website=Reviews in History |language=en |archive-date=12 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612173058/https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1114 |url-status=live }} After Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Winston Churchill became prime minister and head of a coalition government in 1940. Despite the defeat of its European allies in the first year, Britain and its Empire continued the war against Germany. Churchill engaged industry, scientists and engineers to support the government and the military in the prosecution of the war effort.

In 1940, the Royal Air Force defeated the German Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. Urban areas suffered heavy bombing during the Blitz. The Grand Alliance of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union formed in 1941, leading the Allies against the Axis powers. There were eventual hard-fought victories in the Battle of the Atlantic, the North Africa campaign and the Italian campaign. British forces played important roles in the Normandy landings of 1944 and the liberation of Europe. The British Army led the Burma campaign against Japan, and the British Pacific Fleet fought Japan at sea. British scientists contributed to the Manhattan Project whose task was to build an atomic weapon.{{cite book |author=Septimus H. Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSZpgW-N628C&pg=PA1 |title=Nuclear Rivals: Anglo-American Atomic Relations, 1941–1952 |publisher=Ohio State U.P. |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8142-0852-6 |pages=1–5}} Once built, it was decided, with British consent, to use the weapon against Japan.{{cite web |title=Minutes of a Meeting of the Combined Policy Committee, Washington, July 4, 1945 |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv01/d619 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918063918/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1945Berlinv01/d619 |archive-date=18 September 2017 |access-date=22 November 2017 |publisher=United States Department of State}}

{{Main|Post-war Britain (1945–1979)|Social history of post-war Britain (1945–1979)}}

File:British Empire 1921.png at its territorial peak in 1921]]

The UK was one of the Big Three powers (along with the US and the Soviet Union) who met to plan the post-war world;{{Cite book |last1=Doenecke |first1=Justus D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdMF9rX6mX8C&pg=PA62 |title=Debating Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policies, 1933–1945 |last2=Stoler |first2=Mark A. |year=2005 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8476-9416-7 |access-date=19 March 2016 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141231/https://books.google.com/books?id=xdMF9rX6mX8C&pg=PA62#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}; {{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Brian |url=https://www.iup.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=37681 |title=The Four Policemen and Postwar Planning, 1943–1945: The Collision of Realist and Idealist Perspectives |publisher=Indiana University of Pennsylvania |access-date=25 August 2015 |archive-date=22 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022125442/https://www.iup.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=37681 |url-status=live }} it drafted the Declaration by United Nations with the United States and became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. It worked closely with the United States to establish the IMF, World Bank and NATO.{{Cite web |date=22 July 2010 |title=The "Special Relationship" between Great Britain and the United States Began with FDR |work=Roosevelt Institute |url=http://rooseveltinstitute.org/special-relationship-between-great-britain-and-united-states-began-fdr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125021103/http://rooseveltinstitute.org/special-relationship-between-great-britain-and-united-states-began-fdr |archive-date=25 January 2018 |access-date=24 January 2018 |quote=and the joint efforts of both powers to create a new post-war strategic and economic order through the drafting of the Atlantic Charter; the establishment of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; and the creation of the United Nations. }}; {{Cite press release |title=Remarks by the President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron in Joint Press Conference |date=22 April 2016 |publisher=The White House |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/22/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-cameron-joint-press |quote=That's what we built after World War II. The United States and the UK designed a set of institutions – whether it was the United Nations, or the Bretton Woods structure, IMF, World Bank, NATO, across the board. |access-date=24 January 2018 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608110653/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/22/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-cameron-joint-press |url-status=live }} The war left the UK severely weakened and financially dependent on the Marshall Plan,{{Cite news |date=28 December 2006 |title=Britain to make its final payment on World War II loan from U.S. |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/business/worldbusiness/28iht-nazi.4042453.html |access-date=25 August 2011 |archive-date=20 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820022220/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/business/worldbusiness/28iht-nazi.4042453.html |url-status=live }} but it was spared the total war that devastated eastern Europe.{{Cite news |last=Reynolds |first=David |date=17 April 2011 |title=Britain's War Machine by David Edgerton – review |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/apr/17/britains-war-machine-david-edgerton-review |access-date=10 May 2020 |archive-date=12 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612130213/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/apr/17/britains-war-machine-david-edgerton-review |url-status=live }}

In the immediate post-war years, the Labour government under Clement Attlee initiated a radical programme of reforms, which significantly impacted British society in the following decades.{{Cite book |last=Francis |first=Martin |title=Ideas and policies under Labour, 1945–1951: Building a new Britain |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7190-4833-3 |pages=225–233}} Major industries and public utilities were nationalised, a welfare state was established, and a comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare system, the National Health Service, was created.{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Stephen J. |url=https://archive.org/details/aspectsbritishpo00lees |title=Aspects of British political history, 1914–1995 |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-415-13103-2 |location=London; New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/aspectsbritishpo00lees/page/n183 173]–199 |url-access=limited}} The rise of nationalism in the colonies coincided with Britain's much-diminished economic position after its involvement in the First World War and the Second World War, so that a policy of decolonisation was unavoidable.{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Judith |author-link=Judith M. Brown |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpSvK3An3hwC |title=The Twentieth Century, The Oxford History of the British Empire Volume IV |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-924679-3 |ref=refOHBEv4 |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103114315/http://books.google.com/books?id=CpSvK3An3hwC |archive-date=3 January 2014 |url-status=live}} p. 319.{{cite book |last=Louis |first=Wm. Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC |title=Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez and Decolonization |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511-347-6 |ref=refLouis2006 |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222045215/https://books.google.com/books?id=NQnpQNKeKKAC |archive-date=22 February 2017 |url-status=live}} p. 337.{{cite book |last=Abernethy |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ennqNS1EOuMC |title=The Dynamics of Global Dominance, European Overseas Empires 1415–1980 |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-300-09314-8 |ref=refAbernethy2000 |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214082531/http://books.google.com/books?id=ennqNS1EOuMC |archive-date=14 December 2011 |url-status=live}} p. 146. Independence was granted to India and Pakistan in 1947.{{Cite book |last=Larres |first=Klaus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7D66_9YOof4C&pg=PA118 |title=A companion to Europe since 1945 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4051-0612-2 |location=Chichester |page=118 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141350/https://books.google.com/books?id=7D66_9YOof4C&pg=PA118 |url-status=live }} Over the next three decades, most colonies of the British Empire gained their independence, and many became members of the Commonwealth of Nations.{{Cite web |date=19 March 2009 |title=Country List |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/System/YearbookHomePage.asp?NodeID=152099&load=countrylist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506071236/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Templates/System/YearbookHomePage.asp?NodeID=152099&load=countrylist |archive-date=6 May 2013 |access-date=8 March 2015 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat}}

File:British Airways Concorde G-BOAC 03.jpg was a supersonic airliner that reduced transatlantic flight time from 8 hours to 3.5 hours.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/about-ba/history-and-heritage/celebrating-concorde|access-date=30 March 2023|title=Celebrating Concorde|archive-date=17 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317103939/https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/about-ba/history-and-heritage/celebrating-concorde}}]]

The UK was the third country to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal (with its first atomic bomb test, Operation Hurricane, in 1952), but the post-war limits of Britain's international role were illustrated by the Suez Crisis of 1956. The international spread of the English language, the world's most widely spoken language and third-most spoken native language,{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=What are the top 200 most spoken languages? |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/insights/ethnologue200/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618053740/https://www.ethnologue.com/insights/ethnologue200/ |archive-date=18 June 2023 |access-date=25 August 2023 |website=Ethnologue}} ensured the continuing international influence of its literature and culture. As a result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s, the government encouraged immigration from Commonwealth countries. In the following decades, the UK became a more multi-ethnic society.{{Cite book |last=Julios |first=Christina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s3RQ4dsFEkoC&pg=PA84 |title=Contemporary British identity: English language, migrants, and public discourse |publisher=Ashgate |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7546-7158-9 |series=Studies in migration and diaspora |location=Aldershot |page=84 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141350/https://books.google.com/books?id=s3RQ4dsFEkoC&pg=PA84 |url-status=live }} Despite rising living standards in the late 1950s and 1960s, the UK's economic performance was less successful than many of its main competitors such as France, West Germany and Japan. The UK was the first democratic nation to lower its voting age to 18 in 1969.{{Cite journal |last1=Loughran |first1=Thomas |last2=Mycock |first2=Andrew |last3=Tonge |first3=Jonathan |date=3 April 2021 |title=A coming of age: how and why the UK became the first democracy to allow votes for 18-year-olds |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589 |journal=Contemporary British History |language=en |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=284–313 |doi=10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589 |issn=1361-9462 |s2cid=233956982 |access-date=24 May 2024 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604093606/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13619462.2021.1890589 |url-status=live }}

In the decades-long process of European integration, the UK was a founding member of the Western European Union, established with the London and Paris Conferences in 1954. In 1960 the UK was one of the seven founding members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but in 1973 it left to join the European Communities (EC). In a 1975 referendum 67% voted to stay in it.{{Cite news |title=1975: UK embraces Europe in referendum |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499297.stm |access-date=8 March 2015 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620044520/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499297.stm |url-status=live }} When the EC became the European Union (EU) in 1992, the UK was one of the 12 founding member states.

From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary violence (sometimes affecting other parts of the UK) conventionally known as the Troubles. It is usually considered to have ended with the 1998 Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement.{{Cite book |last=Aughey |first=Arthur |url=https://archive.org/details/politicsnorthern00augh |title=The Politics of Northern Ireland: Beyond the Belfast Agreement |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-415-32788-6 |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/politicsnorthern00augh/page/n15 7] |url-access=limited}}; "The troubles were over, but the killing continued. Some of the heirs to Ireland's violent traditions refused to give up their inheritance." {{Cite book |last=Holland |first=Jack |url=https://archive.org/details/hopeagainsthisto00holl/page/221 |title=Hope against History: The Course of Conflict in Northern Ireland |publisher=Henry Holt |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8050-6087-4 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/hopeagainsthisto00holl/page/221 221]}}; Elliot, Marianne (2007). The Long Road to Peace in Northern Ireland: Peace Lectures from the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University. University of Liverpool Institute of Irish Studies, Liverpool University Press. p. 2. {{ISBN|978-1-84631-065-2}}. Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, the Conservative government of the 1980s led by Margaret Thatcher initiated a radical policy of monetarism, deregulation, particularly of the financial sector (for example, the Big Bang in 1986) and labour markets, the sale of state-owned companies (privatisation), and the withdrawal of subsidies to others.{{Cite book |last=Dorey |first=Peter |title=British politics since 1945 |publisher=Blackwell |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-631-19075-2 |series=Making contemporary Britain |location=Oxford |pages=164–223}}

File:HMS Invincible Returns From Falklands War.jpg in 1982.]]

In 1982, Argentina invaded the British territories of South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, leading to the 10-week Falklands War in which Argentine forces were defeated. The inhabitants of the islands are predominantly descendants of British settlers, and strongly favour British sovereignty, expressed in a 2013 referendum. From 1984, the UK economy was helped by the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues.{{Cite book |last1=Griffiths, Alan |url=http://vig.pearsoned.co.uk/catalog/uploads/Griffiths_C01.pdf |title=Applied Economics |last2=Wall, Stuart |publisher=Financial Times Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-273-70822-3 |edition=11th |location=Harlow |page=6 |access-date=26 December 2010 |archive-date=23 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823124048/http://vig.pearsoned.co.uk/catalog/uploads/Griffiths_C01.pdf |url-status=dead }} Another British Overseas Territory, Gibraltar, ceded to Great Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht,{{cite wikisource|title=Peace and Friendship Treaty of Utrecht between Spain and Great Britain}} is a key military base. A referendum in 2002 on shared sovereignty with Spain was rejected by 98.97% of voters in the territory.

Around the end of the 20th century, there were major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of devolved administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.{{Cite journal |last=Keating |first=Michael |date=1 January 1998 |title=Reforging the Union: Devolution and Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom |journal=Publius: The Journal of Federalism |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=217–234 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a029948}} The statutory incorporation followed acceptance of the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK remained a great power with global diplomatic and military influence and a leading role in the United Nations and NATO.{{Cite book |last=McCourt |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwpOnwEACAAJ&q=Britain+and+World+Power+Since+1945:+Constructing+a+Nation%27s+Role+in+International+Politics |title=Britain and World Power Since 1945: Constructing a Nation's Role in International Politics |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-472-07221-7 |access-date=21 October 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141741/https://books.google.com/books?id=lwpOnwEACAAJ&q=Britain+and+World+Power+Since+1945:+Constructing+a+Nation%27s+Role+in+International+Politics |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)|Social history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)}}

File:Johnson signed Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.jpg signs the Brexit withdrawal agreement, formally withdrawing the UK from the European Union (EU).]]

The UK broadly supported the United States' approach to the "war on terror" in the early 21st century.{{Cite news |last=McSmith |first=Andy |date=5 July 2016 |title=The inside story of how Tony Blair led Britain to war in Iraq |work=Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-iraq-war-inquiry-tony-blair-george-bush-us-uk-what-happened-a7119761.html |access-date=17 February 2022 |archive-date=4 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704200931/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-iraq-war-inquiry-tony-blair-george-bush-us-uk-what-happened-a7119761.html |url-status=live }} British troops fought in the War in Afghanistan, but controversy surrounded Britain's military deployment in Iraq, which saw the largest protest in British history in opposition to the government led by Tony Blair.{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Tim |date=11 February 2023 |title='A beautiful outpouring of rage': did Britain's biggest ever protest change the world? |work=The Observer |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/11/slugs-iraq-war-london-protest-2003-legacy |access-date=5 June 2023 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406052000/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/11/slugs-iraq-war-london-protest-2003-legacy |url-status=live }}

The Great Recession severely affected the UK economy.{{cite web |date=20 December 2013 |title=Quarterly National Accounts – National accounts aggregates (ABMI Gross Domestic Product: chained volume measures: Seasonally adjusted £m, constant prices) |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data-selector.html?cdid=ABMI&dataset=qna&table-id=A2 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=28 July 2023 |archive-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929150429/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/datasets-and-tables/data-selector.html?cdid=ABMI&dataset=qna&table-id=A2 |url-status=live }} The Cameron–Clegg coalition government of 2010 introduced austerity measures intended to tackle the substantial public deficits.{{Cite news |date=7 November 2022 |title=What is austerity and where could 'eye-watering' cuts fall now? |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/63304224 |access-date=28 July 2023 |archive-date=28 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728105646/https://www.bbc.com/news/63304224 |url-status=live }} A referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 resulted in the Scottish electorate voting by 55.3 to 44.7% to remain part of the United Kingdom.{{Cite web |title=Scottish independence referendum – Results |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results |access-date=18 February 2022 |website=BBC News |archive-date=18 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918212409/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results |url-status=live }}

In 2016, 51.9% of voters in the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.{{Cite news |date=24 June 2016 |title=In stunning decision, Britain votes to leave the E.U. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/britons-head-to-the-polls-for-historic-vote-on-eu/2016/06/23/0d466fb0-34a7-11e6-ab9d-1da2b0f24f93_story.html |access-date=24 June 2016 |first1=Griff |last1=Witte |first2=Karla |last2=Adam |first3=Dan |last3=Balz |archive-date=30 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130215030/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/britons-head-to-the-polls-for-historic-vote-on-eu/2016/06/23/0d466fb0-34a7-11e6-ab9d-1da2b0f24f93_story.html |url-status=live }} The UK left the EU in 2020.{{Cite news |date=1 January 2021 |title=Brexit: New era for UK as it completes separation from European Union |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55502781 |access-date=18 February 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114212309/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-55502781 |url-status=live }} On 1 May 2021, the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force.{{Cite web |title=The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement |url=https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/relations-non-eu-countries/relations-united-kingdom/eu-uk-trade-and-cooperation-agreement_en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325155905/https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/relations-non-eu-countries/relations-united-kingdom/eu-uk-trade-and-cooperation-agreement_en |archive-date=25 March 2023 |access-date=25 March 2023}}

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the UK's economy, caused major disruptions to education and had far-reaching impacts on society and politics in 2020 and 2021.{{cite web |url=https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ |title=Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK |website=gov.uk |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |access-date=15 April 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200414184317/https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|title=Coronavirus and the impact on output in the UK economy: April 2020|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/articles/coronavirusandtheimpactonoutputintheukeconomy/april2020|access-date=2 August 2020|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|website=ons.gov.uk|archive-date=2 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802031859/https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/articles/coronavirusandtheimpactonoutputintheukeconomy/april2020|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|last=Walker|first=Andrew|date=10 June 2020|title=Coronavirus: UK economy could be among worst hit of leading nations, says OECD|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52991913|access-date=2 August 2020|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818031423/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52991913|url-status=live}} The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to use an approved COVID-19 vaccine, developing its own vaccine through a collaboration between Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which allowed the UK's vaccine rollout to be among the fastest in the world.{{Cite web |title=Landmark moment as first NHS patient receives COVID-19 vaccination |url=https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/12/landmark-moment-as-first-nhs-patient-receives-covid-19-vaccination/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225194320/https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/12/landmark-moment-as-first-nhs-patient-receives-covid-19-vaccination/|archive-date=25 February 2023|website=NHS|date=8 December 2020 }}{{Cite web |title=Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine approved |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/oxford-universityastrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-approved |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225194442/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/oxford-universityastrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-approved |archive-date=25 February 2023|website=UK Government}}

{{Main|Geography of the United Kingdom|Fauna of Great Britain|Flora of Great Britain and Ireland}}

File:MODIS - Great Britain and Northern Ireland - 2012-06-04 during heat wave (cropped).jpg of the United Kingdom (excluding Shetland)]]

The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately {{Convert|244376|km2|sqmi|order=flip}},{{efn|name=ONSArea}} with a land area of {{convert|242741|km2|sqmi|order=flip}}. The country occupies the major part of the British IslesOxford English Dictionary: "British Isles: a geographical term for the islands comprising Great Britain and Ireland with all their offshore islands including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands." archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands, meaning it comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.{{cite web |author= |date=24 August 2023 |title=A Beginners Guide to UK Geography (2023) |url=https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/a-beginners-guide-to-uk-geography-2023/about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209115545/https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/a-beginners-guide-to-uk-geography-2023/about |archive-date=9 December 2023 |access-date=9 December 2023 |website=Open Geography Portal |publisher=Office for National Statistics}} It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with the southeast coast coming within {{Convert|35|km|mi|0|order=flip}} of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the English Channel.{{Cite web |title=United Kingdom |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom |access-date=21 January 2007 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109221834/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom |url-status=live }}

The Royal Greenwich Observatory in London was chosen as the defining point of the Prime Meridian{{Cite web |last=ROG Learning Team |date=23 August 2002 |title=The Prime Meridian at Greenwich |url=http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/the-prime-meridian-at-greenwich |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107023957/http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/astronomy-and-time/astronomy-facts/history/the-prime-meridian-at-greenwich |archive-date=7 November 2015 |access-date=11 September 2012 |website=Royal Museums Greenwich }} at the International Meridian Conference in 1884.{{Cite news |date=13 August 2015 |title=Greenwich Royal Observatory: How the Prime Meridian line is actually 100 metres away from where it was believed to be |work=Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/greenwich-royal-observatory-how-the-prime-meridian-line-is-actually-100-metres-away-from-where-it-10452386.html |access-date=13 December 2018 |archive-date=23 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323081414/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/greenwich-royal-observatory-how-the-prime-meridian-line-is-actually-100-metres-away-from-where-it-10452386.html |url-status=live }}

The United Kingdom lies between latitudes 49° and 61° N, and longitudes 9° W and 2° E. Northern Ireland shares a {{Convert|499|km|mi|0|adj=on|order=flip}} land boundary with the Republic of Ireland and has a {{Convert|650|km|mi|0|adj=on|order=flip}} coastline.{{Cite web |title=Northern Ireland Coastal and Marine Forum |url=https://library2.nics.gov.uk/pdf/dard/2014/EEUD.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241123094028/https://library2.nics.gov.uk/pdf/dard/2014/EEUD.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2024 |access-date=13 March 2025 |publisher=Northern Ireland Costal and Marine Forum}} The length of coastline of Great Britain plus its principal islands is about {{Convert|31368|km|mi|0|order=flip}} long, with the coastline of the main island Great Britain being {{Convert|17820|km|mi|0|order=flip}} of that,{{Cite web |last=Darkes |first=Giles |date=January 2008 |title=How long is the UK coastline? |url=http://www.cartography.org.uk/default.asp?contentID=749 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522042745/http://www.cartography.org.uk/default.asp?contentID=749 |archive-date=22 May 2012 |access-date=24 January 2015 |publisher=The British Cartographic Society}} though measurements can vary greatly due to the coastline paradox.{{Cite web |last=Weiner |first=Sophie |date=3 March 2018 |title=Why it's Impossible to Accurately Measure a Coastline |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a19068718/why-its-impossible-to-accurately-measure-a-coastline/ |access-date=29 June 2024 |website=Popular Mechanics |language=en-US |archive-date=29 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240629025825/https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a19068718/why-its-impossible-to-accurately-measure-a-coastline/ |url-status=live }} It is connected to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel, which at {{Convert|50|km|mi|0|order=flip}} ({{Convert|38|km|mi|0|order=flip}} underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world.{{Cite web |title=The Channel Tunnel |url=http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcP3Main/ukcCorporate/ukcTunnelInfrastructure/ukcInfrastructure |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218114514/http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcP3Main/ukcCorporate/ukcTunnelInfrastructure/ukcInfrastructure |archive-date=18 December 2010 |access-date=8 March 2015 |publisher=Eurotunnel}}

The UK contains four terrestrial ecoregions: Celtic broadleaf forests, English Lowlands beech forests, North Atlantic moist mixed forests, and Caledonian conifer forests.{{Cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant |last10=Noss |first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |last15=Barber |first15=Charles Victor |display-authors=1 |year=2017 |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=BioScience |volume=67 |issue=6 |pages=534–545 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |issn=0006-3568 |pmc=5451287 |pmid=28608869 |doi-access=free |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first17=Cyril |last18=Martin |first18=Vance |last19=Crist |first19=Eileen |last20=Sechrest |first20=Wes |last21=Price |first21=Lori |last22=Baillie |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last23=Weeden |first23=Don |last24=Suckling |first24=Kierán |last25=Davis |first25=Crystal |last26=Sizer |first26=Nigel |last27=Moore |first27=Rebecca |last28=Thau |first28=David |last29=Birch |first29=Tanya |last30=Potapov |first30=Peter |last31=Turubanova |first31=Svetlana |last32=Tyukavina |first32=Alexandra |last33=de Souza |first33=Nadia |last34=Pintea |first34=Lilian |last35=Brito |first35=José C. |last36=Llewellyn |first36=Othman A. |last37=Miller |first37=Anthony G. |last38=Patzelt |first38=Annette |last39=Ghazanfar |first39=Shahina A. |last40=Timberlake |first40=Jonathan |last41=Klöser |first41=Heinz |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first42=Yara |last43=Kindt |first43=Roeland |last44=Lillesø |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last45=van Breugel |first45=Paulo |last46=Graudal |first46=Lars |last47=Voge |first47=Maianna |last48=Al-Shammari |first48=Khalaf F. |last49=Saleem |first49=Muhammad}} The area of woodland in the UK in 2023 is estimated to be 3.25 million hectares, which represents 13% of the total land area in the UK.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/statistics-by-topic/woodland-statistics/|title=Woodland Statistics, Key findings|access-date=8 July 2023|archive-date=2 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230802030149/https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/statistics-by-topic/woodland-statistics/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Climate of the United Kingdom|Climate change in the United Kingdom}}

{{see|Climate of England|Climate of Scotland|Climate of Northern Ireland|Climate of Wales}}

File:Puffin (Fratercula arctica) with lesser sand eels (Ammodytes tobianus).jpg with its distinctive orange-striped beak feeding on the British coastline{{Cite web|url=https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/puffin|title=Puffin Bird Facts|website=RSPB|access-date=6 January 2025}}]]

Most of the United Kingdom has a temperate climate, with generally cool temperatures and plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below {{Convert|0|C|lk=on}} or rising above {{Convert|30|C}}.{{Cite web |title=Hottest day of each year from 1900 |url=https://www.trevorharley.com/hottest-day-of-each-year-from-1900.html |website=trevorharley.com |access-date=23 November 2019 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616173152/https://www.trevorharley.com/hottest-day-of-each-year-from-1900.html |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Coldest day of each year from 1900 |url=https://www.trevorharley.com/coldest-days-of-each-year-from-1900.html |website=trevorharley.com |access-date=23 November 2019 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709173537/https://www.trevorharley.com/coldest-days-of-each-year-from-1900.html |url-status=live }} Some parts, away from the coast, of upland England, Wales, Northern Ireland and most of Scotland, experience a subpolar oceanic climate. Higher elevations in Scotland experience a continental subarctic climate and the mountains experience a tundra climate.{{Cite web |date=9 August 2016 |title=English: A map of Köppen climate types in the United Kingdom (SVG version) |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_K%C3%B6ppen.svg |access-date=23 November 2019 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709202702/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UK_K%C3%B6ppen.svg |url-status=live }}

The prevailing wind is from the southwest and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean, although the eastern parts are mostly sheltered from this wind. Since the majority of the rain falls over the western regions, the eastern parts are the driest. Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream, bring mild winters, especially in the west where winters are wet and even more so over high ground. Summers are warmest in the southeast of England and coolest in the north. Heavy snowfall can occur in winter and early spring on high ground, and occasionally settles to great depth away from the hills.{{Cite web |title=Atlantic Ocean Circulation (Gulf Stream) |url=http://ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk/23152 |access-date=8 March 2015 |website=UK Climate Projections |publisher=Met Office |archive-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017162552/http://ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk/23152 |url-status=live }}

The average total annual sunshine in the United Kingdom is 1,339.7 hours, which is just under 30% of the maximum possible.{{cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/uk.html |title=UK 1971–2000 averages |access-date=4 August 2007 |publisher=Met Office |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705140124/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/uk.html |archive-date=5 July 2009 }} The hours of sunshine vary from 1,200 to about 1,580 hours per year, and since 1996 the UK has been and still is receiving above the 1,981 to 2,010 average hours of sunshine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-temperature-rainfall-and-sunshine-time-series|title=UK temperature, rainfall and sunshine time series|website=Met Office|access-date=31 December 2022|archive-date=17 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191017203556/https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-temperature-rainfall-and-sunshine-time-series|url-status=live}}

Climate change has a serious impact on the country. A third of food price rise in 2023 is attributed to climate change.{{cite web |last1=Smeeton |first1=George |title=Families hit by £605 food bill as extreme weather and energy crisis bites |url=https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2023/families-hit-by-605-food-bill-as-extreme-weather-and-energy-crisis-bites |website=Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit |date=28 November 2023 |access-date=19 July 2024 |archive-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240716124143/https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2023/families-hit-by-605-food-bill-as-extreme-weather-and-energy-crisis-bites |url-status=live }} As of 2022, the United Kingdom is ranked 2nd out of 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index.{{Cite web |title=2022 EPI Results |url=https://epi.yale.edu/epi-results/2022/component/epi |access-date=25 March 2023 |website=Environmental Performance Index |date=3 June 2020 |archive-date=10 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610151325/https://epi.yale.edu/epi-results/2022/component/epi |url-status=live }} A law has been passed that UK greenhouse gas emissions will be net zero by 2050.{{Cite web |title=UK net zero target |url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/net-zero-target#:~:text=In%20June%202019%2C%20parliament%20passed,to%201990%20levels%20by%202050.&text=Prior%20to%20this%2C%20the%20UK,1990%20levels%2C%20also%20by%202050. |access-date=20 March 2024 |website=Institute for Government| date=20 April 2020 |archive-date=20 March 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240320042051/https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/explainer/uk-net-zero-target |url-status=live}}{{Update after|2050|01|01|category|reason=Hello from 2024! By the time you're reading this, that law will be a little older than 30 years old. Could you check if the UK ever ended up hitting that net zero GHG target?}}

File:uk topo en.jpg

England accounts for 53% of the UK, covering {{Convert|130395|km2|sqmi|order=flip|-1}}.{{Cite news |date=11 February 2010 |title=England – Profile |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/7327029.stm |access-date=9 October 2010 |archive-date=15 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415064122/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/7327029.stm |url-status=live }} Most of the country consists of lowland terrain,{{Cite web |last=Latimer Clarke Corporation Pty Ltd |title=United Kingdom – Atlapedia Online |url=http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/unitedki.htm |access-date=26 October 2010 |website=Atlapedia.com |archive-date=21 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321191308/http://www.atlapedia.com/online/countries/unitedki.htm |url-status=live }}{{better source needed|date=July 2023}} with upland and mountainous terrain northwest of the Tees–Exe line which roughly divides the UK into lowland and upland areas. Lowland areas include Cornwall, the New Forest, the South Downs and the Norfolk Broads. Upland areas include the Lake District, the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor, and Dartmoor. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn, and the Humber. England's highest mountain is Scafell Pike, at {{Convert|978|m|ft|0}} in the Lake District; its largest island is the Isle of Wight.

Scotland accounts for 32% of the UK, covering {{Convert|78772|km2|sqmi|order=flip|-1}}.{{Cite web |title=Scotland Facts |url=http://www.scotland.org/about/fact-file/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621045248/http://www.scotland.org/about/fact-file/index.html |archive-date=21 June 2008 |access-date=16 July 2008 |publisher=Scotland Online Gateway}} This includes nearly 800 islands,{{Cite news |last=Winter |first=Jon |date=1 June 2000 |title=The complete guide to the ... Scottish Islands |work=Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/the-complete-guide-to-the--scottish-islands-633851.html |access-date=8 March 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402164423/http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/the-complete-guide-to-the--scottish-islands-633851.html |url-status=live }} notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. Scotland is the most mountainous constituent country of the UK, the Highlands to the north and west are the more rugged region containing the majority of Scotland's mountainous land, including the Cairngorms, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs and Ben Nevis which at {{Convert|1345|m|ft|0}}{{Cite web |date=18 March 2016 |title=Great Britain's tallest mountain is taller |work=Ordnance Survey Blog |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2016/03/britains-tallest-mountain-is-taller |access-date=9 September 2018 |publisher=Ordnance Survey |archive-date=9 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909000504/https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2016/03/britains-tallest-mountain-is-taller/ |url-status=live }} is the highest point in the British Isles.{{Cite web |title=Ben Nevis Weather |url=http://www.bennevisweather.co.uk/index.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510193022/http://www.bennevisweather.co.uk/index.asp |archive-date=10 May 2012 |access-date=26 October 2008 |publisher=Ben Nevis Weather}} Wales accounts for less than 9% of the UK, covering {{Convert|20779|km2|sqmi|order=flip|-1}}.{{Cite news |date=9 June 2010 |title=Profile: Wales |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/6233450.stm |access-date=7 November 2010 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826085704/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/6233450.stm |url-status=live }} Wales is mostly mountainous, though South Wales is less mountainous than North and mid Wales. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia and include Snowdon ({{Langx|cy|Yr Wyddfa}}) which, at {{Convert|1085|m|ft|0}}, is the highest peak in Wales. Wales has over {{Convert|1680|mi|0|abbr=off}} of coastline including the Pembrokeshire Coast. Several islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest of which is Anglesey (Ynys Môn).

Northern Ireland, separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea and North Channel, has an area of {{Convert|14160|km2|sqmi|order=flip|-1}} and is mostly hilly. It includes Lough Neagh which, at {{Convert|388|km2|sqmi|order=flip|0}}, is the largest lake in the British Isles by area,{{Cite web |title=Geography of Northern Ireland |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/geog.htm |access-date=22 May 2006 |publisher=University of Ulster |archive-date=18 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118133131/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/geog.htm |url-status=live }} Lough Erne which has over 150 islands and the Giant's Causeway which is a World Heritage Site. The highest peak in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard in the Mourne Mountains at {{Convert|852|m|ft|0}}.

{{Main|Politics of the United Kingdom|Government of the United Kingdom|Monarchy of the United Kingdom}}{{Further|Constitution of the United Kingdom}}{{multiple image

| align = right

| total_width = 320

| image1 = King Charles III (July 2023).jpg

| alt1 = King Charles III

| caption1 = Charles III,
king since 2022

| image2 = Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer Official Portrait (cropped).jpg

| alt2 = Keir Starmer

| caption2 = Keir Starmer,
prime minister since 2024

}}

The UK is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy[http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/HowtheMonarchyworks/Whatisconstitutionalmonarchy.aspx The British Monarchy, "What is constitutional monarchy?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604151257/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/HowtheMonarchyworks/Whatisconstitutionalmonarchy.aspx|date=4 June 2019}}. Retrieved 17 July 2013; [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/ "United Kingdom"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109221834/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/|date=9 January 2021}} CIA The World Factbook. Retrieved 17 July 2013 operating under the Westminster system, otherwise known as a "democratic parliamentary monarchy".{{Cite journal |last1=Stepan |first1=Alfred |last2=Linz |first2=Juan J. |last3=Minoves |first3=Juli F. |date=2014 |title=Democratic Parliamentary Monarchies |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/content/crossref/journals/journal_of_democracy/v025/25.2.stepan.html |journal=Journal of Democracy |language=en |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=35–36 |doi=10.1353/jod.2014.0032 |issn=1086-3214 |s2cid=154555066}} It is a centralised, unitary state{{Cite web |last=Lewer |first=Andrew |date=5 May 2021 |title=The UK is one of the most centralised advanced democracies – it's time that changed |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/2021/05/the-uk-is-one-of-the-most-centralised-advanced-democracies-its-time-that-changed |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US |archive-date=3 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703131907/https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/2021/05/the-uk-is-one-of-the-most-centralised-advanced-democracies-its-time-that-changed |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Centralisation Nation: Britain's system of local government and its impact on the national economy |url=https://www.centreforcities.org/?post_type=publication&p=40951 |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=Centre for Cities |language=en-US |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141833/https://www.centreforcities.org/publication/centralisation-nation/ |url-status=live }} wherein the Parliament of the United Kingdom is sovereign.{{Cite web |title=Parliamentary Sovereignty |url=https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/parliamentary-sovereignty |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=parliament.uk |archive-date=11 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811195135/https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/parliamentary-sovereignty/ |url-status=live }} Parliament is made up of the elected House of Commons, the appointed House of Lords and the Crown (as personified by the monarch).{{Efn|British sovereignty derives from the Crown, a corporation sole occupied by the monarch. It is therefore by and through the monarch that Parliament exercises supreme legislative authority over both the executive and judiciary. Distinguished Professor of Public Law Maurice Sunkin opined the Crown symbolically occupies "…what in other places would be a core element of a written constitution."{{Cite web|url=https://www.ibanet.org/Relationship-between-UK-Crown-and-law-in-focus-as-Carolean-era-begins|title=Relationship between UK Crown and law in focus as Carolean era begins|author=Polly Botsford|publisher=International Bar Association|publication-date=22 September 2022|access-date=4 July 2023|archive-date=6 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506211218/https://www.ibanet.org/Relationship-between-UK-Crown-and-law-in-focus-as-Carolean-era-begins|url-status=live}} As a result of this state of constitutional affairs, the monarch is formally referred to as "the Sovereign" in legislation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/section/10|title=Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30, s. 10)|publisher=The National Archives|access-date=4 July 2023|archive-date=30 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730073659/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/30/section/10|url-status=live}}}}{{Cite web |title=Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=parliament.uk}} The main business of parliament takes place in the two houses, but royal assent is required for a bill to become an act of parliament (that is, statute law).{{Cite web |title=Royal Assent |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/lords/lrds-royal-assent |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=parliament.uk |archive-date=16 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716022947/https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/lords/lrds-royal-assent/ |url-status=live }} As a result of parliamentary sovereignty, the British constitution is uncodified, consisting mostly of disparate written sources, including parliamentary statutes, judge-made case law and international treaties, together with constitutional conventions.{{Cite web |last=Carter, Sarah |title=A Guide To the UK Legal System |url=http://www.llrtwitter.com/features/uk2.htm#UK%20Legal%20System |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505115306/http://www.llrtwitter.com/features/uk2.htm |archive-date=5 May 2012 |access-date=16 May 2006 |publisher=University of Kent at Canterbury}} Nevertheless, the Supreme Court recognises a number of principles underlying the British constitution, such as parliamentary sovereignty, the rule of law, democracy, and upholding international law.See R (Miller) v Prime Minister [2019] UKSC 41 (Parliamentary sovereignty), R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor [2017] [http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2017/51.html UKSC 51] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104095357/https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2017/51.html|date=4 January 2023}}, [67] ff (rule of law), R (Animal Defenders International) v Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport [2008] UKHL 15, [48] (democracy), R v Lyons [2002] [https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/2002/44.html UKHL 44] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122064021/https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/2002/44.html|date=22 January 2023}}, [27] (international law).

King Charles III is the monarch and head of state of the UK and of 14 other independent countries. These 15 countries are referred to as "Commonwealth realms". The monarch is formally vested with all executive authority as the personal embodiment of the Crown and is "fundamental to the law and working of government in the UK".{{Cite journal |url=https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/the-constitutional-role-and-working-of-the-monarchy-in-the-united |title=The Constitutional Role and Working of the Monarchy in the United Kingdom |author=Robert Blackburn |journal=Jahrbuch des Öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart |series=Neue Folge |year=2022 |volume=70 |pages=181–201 |editor=O. Lepsius |editor2=A. Nußberger |editor3=C. Schönberger |editor4=C. Waldhoff |editor5=C. Walter |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |doi=10.1628/joer-2022-0009 |s2cid=257830288 |publication-date=2 June 2022 |access-date=19 June 2023 |archive-date=19 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619174428/https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/the-constitutional-role-and-working-of-the-monarchy-in-the-united |url-status=live }} The disposition of such powers however, including those belonging to the royal prerogative, is generally exercised only on the advice of ministers of the Crown responsible to Parliament and thence to the electorate. Nevertheless, in the performance of official duties, the monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn".Bagehot, Walter (1867). The English Constitution. London: Chapman and Hall. p. 103. In addition, the monarch has a number of reserve powers at his disposal to uphold responsible government and prevent constitutional crises.{{Efn|For instance, the monarch alone appoints the prime minister and confers state honours in the personal gift of the Crown. When necessary, the monarch may also refuse a dissolution or prorogation of Parliament, withhold royal assent to primary legislation, and prevent illegal use of the British Armed Forces, among other reserve powers.{{Cite web|url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8885/CBP-8885.pdf|title=The Crown and the Constitution|author=David Torrance|publisher=House of Commons Library|publication-date=11 January 2023|access-date=19 June 2023|pages=22|archive-date=2 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302033737/https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8885/CBP-8885.pdf|url-status=live}}}}

For general elections (elections to the House of Commons), the UK is divided into 650 constituencies, each of which is represented by one member of Parliament (MP) elected by the first-past-the-post system.{{Cite web |title=General elections |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/general |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=parliament.uk}} MPs hold office for up to five years and must then stand for re-election if they wish to continue to be an MP. The Conservative Party, colloquially known as the Tory Party or the Tories, and the Labour Party have been the dominant political parties in the UK since the 1920s, leading to the UK being described as a two-party system. However, since the 1920s other political parties have won seats in the House of Commons, although never more than the Conservatives or Labour.{{Cite web |last=Raymond |first=C |date=2016 |title=Why British Politics is Not a Two-Party System |url=https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/107735631/The_United_Kingdom_is_Not_a_Two_Party_System.pdf |website=Queen's University Belfast |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=9 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709172832/https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/107735631/The_United_Kingdom_is_Not_a_Two_Party_System.pdf |url-status=live }}

File:Houses of Parliament in 2022 (cropped).jpg in London is the seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.]]

The prime minister is the head of government in the UK.{{Cite web |title=The Government, Prime Minister and Cabinet |url=http://direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/Centralgovernmentandthemonarchy/DG_073444 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921004951/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/UKgovernment/Centralgovernmentandthemonarchy/DG_073444 |archive-date=21 September 2012 |access-date=9 March 2015 |website=Public services all in one place |publisher=Directgov}} Acting under the direction and supervision of a Cabinet of senior ministers selected and led by the prime minister, the Government serves as the principal instrument for public policymaking, administers public services and, through the Privy Council, promulgates statutory instruments and tenders advice to the monarch.{{Cite web|url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/cabinet|title=Cabinet|author=Tim Durrant|date=25 March 2020|publisher=Institute for Government|publication-date=25 March 2020|access-date=4 July 2023|archive-date=4 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704112925/https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/cabinet|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/relations-with-other-institutions/parliament-government/|title=Parliament and Government|publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=4 July 2023|archive-date=4 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704112925/https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/relations-with-other-institutions/parliament-government/|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mN6SzMefot4C|title=The Monarchy and the Constitution, Chapter 3 – The Basic Constitutional Rules: Influence and the Prerogative|author=Vernon Bogdanor|year=1995 |publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-829334-7 |publication-date=1995|access-date=4 July 2023}} Nearly all prime ministers have served concurrently as First Lord of the Treasury{{Cite web |last1=Blick |first1=Andrew |last2=Jones |first2=George |date=1 January 2012 |title=The Institution of Prime Minister – History of government |url=https://history.blog.gov.uk/2012/01/01/the-institution-of-prime-minister |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=gov.uk |archive-date=21 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721060401/https://history.blog.gov.uk/2012/01/01/the-institution-of-prime-minister/ |url-status=live }} and all prime ministers have continuously served as First Lord of the Treasury since 1905,{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Jack |title=The Prime Ministers |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5293-1214-0 |editor-last=Dale |editor-first=Iain |page=303}} Minister for the Civil Service since 1968,{{Cite web |title=Minister for the Civil Service |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-civil-service |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=gov.uk |archive-date=2 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902233116/https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-civil-service |url-status=live }} and Minister for the Union since 2019.{{Cite news |last=Woodcock |first=Andrew |date=26 July 2021 |title=Boris Johnson accused of 'cynical rebranding' after appointing himself 'Minister for the Union' |work=Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-minister-union-scotland-independence-referendum-snp-a9022356.html |access-date=19 July 2021 |archive-date=27 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727080405/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-minister-union-scotland-independence-referendum-snp-a9022356.html |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Minister for the Union |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-union |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=gov.uk |archive-date=19 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719053618/https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-for-the-union |url-status=live }} While appointed by the monarch, in modern times the prime minister is, by convention, an MP, the leader of the political party with the most seats in the House of Commons, and holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons.{{Cite web |date=October 2011 |title=The Cabinet Manual |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60641/cabinet-manual.pdf |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=gov.uk |page=7 |archive-date=15 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415090557/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60641/cabinet-manual.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=October 2011 |title=The Cabinet Manual |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60641/cabinet-manual.pdf |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=gov.uk |page=21 |archive-date=15 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415090557/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60641/cabinet-manual.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Norton |first=Philip |title=Governing Britain: Parliament, Ministers and Our Ambiguous Constitution |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5261-4545-1 |page=130}} The Prime Minister as of July 2024 is Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party.

Although not part of the United Kingdom, the three Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man and 14 British Overseas Territories across the globe are subject to the sovereignty of the British Crown. The Crown exercises its responsibilities in relation to the Crown Dependencies mainly through the British government's Home Office and for the British Overseas Territories principally through the Foreign Office.{{cite book|last= Palan|first= Rolen|editor-last1= Palan|editor-first1= Rolen|editor-last2= Halperin|editor-first2= Sandra|chapter= The second British Empire and the re-emergence of global finance|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=76QyCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22British+overseas+territories%22+%22crown+dependencies%22+UK+%22British+crown%22&pg=PA48|title= Legacies of Empire: Imperial Roots of the Contemporary Global Order|year= 2015|publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-1-107-10946-9|page= 48|access-date= 13 April 2024|archive-date= 2 October 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241002212946/https://books.google.com/books?id=76QyCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22British+overseas+territories%22+%22crown+dependencies%22+UK+%22British+crown%22&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q=%22British%20overseas%20territories%22%20%22crown%20dependencies%22%20UK%20%22British%20crown%22&f=false|url-status= live}}

{{Main|Countries of the United Kingdom|Administrative geography of the United Kingdom|List of counties in the United Kingdom}}

File:United Kingdom labelled map7 vector.svg

The geographical division of the United Kingdom into counties or shires began in England and Scotland in the early Middle Ages, and was completed throughout Great Britain and Ireland by the early Modern Period.Hackwood Frederick William: The Story of the Shire, Being the Lore, History and Evolution of English County Institutions (1851) Modern local government by elected councils, partly based on the ancient counties, was established by separate Acts of Parliament: in England and Wales in 1888, Scotland in 1889 and Ireland in 1898, meaning there is no consistent system of administrative or geographic demarcation across the UK,{{Cite web |last=United Nations Economic and Social Council |author-link=United Nations Economic and Social Council |date=August 2007 |title=Ninth UN Conference on the standardization of Geographical Names |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/9th-uncsgn-docs/report%20of%209th%20uncsgn%20n0750902%20en.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211213055/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/9th-UNCSGN-Docs/E-CONF-98-48-Add1.pdf |archive-date=11 December 2009 |access-date=21 October 2008 |publisher=UN Statistics Division}} and England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland each have their own distinct jurisdictions.{{Cite book |last1=Dewart |first1=Megan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XW_EtwEACAAJ |title=The Scottish Legal System |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-5265-0633-7 |location=London |page=57 |quote=The laws and legal institutions of Scotland and of England and Wales were not merged by the Union of 1707. Thus, they remain separate 'law areas', with separate court systems (as does Northern Ireland), and it is necessary to distinguish Scots law and English law (and Northern Irish law). |access-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704040048/https://books.google.com/books?id=XW_EtwEACAAJ |archive-date=4 July 2023 |url-status=live}}; {{Cite web |title=The justice system and the constitution |url=https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/our-justice-system/jud-acc-ind/justice-sys-and-constitution/#:~:text=The%20United%20Kingdom%20has%20three,of%20Union%201707%20and%201800. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521180341/https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/our-justice-system/jud-acc-ind/justice-sys-and-constitution/ |archive-date=21 May 2023 |access-date=13 June 2023 |publisher=Courts and Tribunals Judiciary |quote=The United Kingdom has three separate legal systems; one each for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This reflects its historical origins and the fact that both Scotland and Ireland, and later Northern Ireland, retained their own legal systems and traditions under the Acts of Union 1707 and 1800.}} Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.{{Cite book |last=Barlow |first=I.M. |title=Metropolitan Government |publisher=Routledge |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-415-02099-2 |location=London}}

Local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to local arrangements. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine regions, used primarily for statistical purposes.{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the national site of the Government Office Network |url=http://www.gos.gov.uk/national |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606073647/http://www.gos.gov.uk/national |archive-date=6 June 2009 |access-date=3 July 2008 |publisher=Government Offices}} One of the regions, Greater London, has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a 1998 referendum.{{Cite web |title=A short history of London government |url=http://www.london.gov.uk/london-life/city-government/history.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421023053/http://www.london.gov.uk/london-life/city-government/history.jsp |archive-date=21 April 2008 |access-date=4 October 2008 |publisher=Greater London Authority}}

Local government in Scotland is divided into 32 council areas with a wide variation in size and population. The cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas, as is the Highland Council, which includes a third of Scotland's area but only just over 200,000 people. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223.{{Cite web |title=STV in Scotland: Local Government Elections 2007 |url=http://www.psa.ac.uk/2007/pps/Bennie.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222124635/http://www.psa.ac.uk/2007/pps/Bennie.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2011 |access-date=2 August 2008 |publisher=Political Studies Association}}

Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities, each led by a leader and cabinet elected by the council itself. These include the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, which are unitary authorities in their own right.{{Cite web |year=2014 |title=Unitary authorities |url=http://gov.wales/topics/localgovernment/local-authorities/?lang=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310210146/http://gov.wales/topics/localgovernment/local-authorities/?lang=en |archive-date=10 March 2015 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Welsh Government}} Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.

Local government in Northern Ireland since 1973, has been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as waste collection, dog control, and maintaining parks and cemeteries.{{Cite news |last=Devenport |first=Mark |date=18 November 2005 |title=NI local government set for shake-up |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4449092.stm |access-date=15 November 2008 |archive-date=12 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212221731/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4449092.stm |url-status=live }} In 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils to replace the existing system.{{Cite press release |title=Foster announces the future shape of local government |date=13 March 2008 |publisher=Northern Ireland Executive |url=http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-doe/news-doe-130308-foster-announces-the.htm |access-date=20 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725002254/http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-doe/news-doe-130308-foster-announces-the.htm |archive-date=25 July 2008}}

{{Main|Devolution in the United Kingdom}}

{{see|Devolved, reserved and excepted matters}}

File:Council of Nations and Regions (54059219744) (cropped).jpg summit.]]

In the United Kingdom a process of devolution has transferred various powers from the UK Government to three of the four UK countries—Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales—as well as to the regions of England, which since 1999 have their own governments and parliaments which control various devolved matters.{{Cite web |title=Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland |url=https://www.gov.uk/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland#devolved-administrations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718065448/https://www.gov.uk/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland#devolved-administrations |archive-date=18 July 2013 |access-date=17 April 2013 |publisher=United Kingdom Government |quote=In a similar way to how the government is formed from members from the two Houses of Parliament, members of the devolved legislatures nominate ministers from among themselves to comprise executives, known as the devolved administrations...}}; {{Cite web |title=Country Overviews: United Kingdom |url=http://www.transport-research.info/web/countryprofiles/uk.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404062853/http://www.transport-research.info/web/countryprofiles/uk.cfm |archive-date=4 April 2010 |access-date=28 March 2010 |url-status=usurped |publisher=Transport Research Knowledge Centre}} These powers vary and have been moved to the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority, Combined Authorities and Combined County Authorities.{{cite book |last1=Le Sueur |first1=Andrew |last2=Sunkin |first2=Maurice |last3=Murkens |first3=Jo Eric Khushal |title=Public Law: Text, Cases, and Materials |year=2023 |edition=5th |isbn=978-0-19-287061-2 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=147 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6sLDEAAAQBAJ&dq=Le+sueur+Public+Law%C2%A0fifth+edition&pg=PR3 |access-date=13 April 2024 |archive-date=2 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002213048/https://books.google.com/books?id=6sLDEAAAQBAJ&dq=Le+sueur+Public+Law%C2%A0fifth+edition&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q=Le%20sueur%20Public%20Law%C2%A0fifth%20edition&f=false |url-status=live }} Amongst the devolved parliaments across the United Kingdom, the Scottish Parliament has the most extensive responsibilities for devolved powers, and has been described as "one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world".{{cite web |title=The progress of devolution - Erskine May - UK Parliament |url=https://erskinemay.parliament.uk/section/4537/the-progress-of-devolution |website=erskinemay.parliament.uk |access-date=1 March 2025 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=David Mundell speech: 20 years of Scottish devolution |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/david-mundell-speech-20-years-of-scottish-devolution |website=GOV.UK |access-date=1 March 2025 |language=en}}

The UK has an uncodified constitution and constitutional matters are not among the powers that have been devolved. Under the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, the UK Parliament could, in theory, therefore, abolish the Scottish Parliament, Senedd or Northern Ireland Assembly.{{Cite journal |last=Burrows |first=N. |year=1999 |title=Unfinished Business: The Scotland Act 1998 |journal=The Modern Law Review |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=241–260 [p. 249] |doi=10.1111/1468-2230.00203 |quote=The UK Parliament is sovereign and the Scottish Parliament is subordinate. The White Paper had indicated that this was to be the approach taken in the legislation. The Scottish Parliament is not to be seen as a reflection of the settled will of the people of Scotland or of popular sovereignty but as a reflection of its subordination to a higher legal authority. Following the logic of this argument, the power of the Scottish Parliament to legislate can be withdrawn or overridden...}}; {{Cite journal |last=Elliot |first=M. |year=2004 |title=United Kingdom: Parliamentary sovereignty under pressure |journal=International Journal of Constitutional Law |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=545–627, 553–554 |doi=10.1093/icon/2.3.545 |quote=Notwithstanding substantial differences among the schemes, an important common factor is that the UK Parliament has not renounced legislative sovereignty in relation to the three nations concerned. For example, the Scottish Parliament is empowered to enact primary legislation on all matters, save those in relation to which competence is explicitly denied ... but this power to legislate on what may be termed "devolved matters" is concurrent with the Westminster Parliament's general power to legislate for Scotland on any matter at all, including devolved matters ... In theory, therefore, Westminster may legislate on Scottish devolved matters whenever it chooses... |doi-access=free}} Though in the Scotland Act 2016 and the Wales Act 2017 it states that the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government "are a permanent part of the United Kingdom's constitutional arrangements".{{cite web |title=Scotland Act 2016 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/part/1/crossheading/the-scottish-parliament-and-the-scottish-government#:~:text=(1)The%20Scottish%20Parliament%20and,the%20United%20Kingdom's%20constitutional%20arrangements. |website=Gov.uk |access-date=28 June 2024 |archive-date=28 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628211304/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/part/1/crossheading/the-scottish-parliament-and-the-scottish-government#:~:text=(1)The%20Scottish%20Parliament%20and,the%20United%20Kingdom's%20constitutional%20arrangements. |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Wales Act 2017 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/4/section/1/enacted |access-date=13 July 2024 |archive-date=2 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002212916/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/4/section/1/enacted |url-status=live }}

In practice, it would be politically difficult for the UK Parliament to abolish devolution to the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd, because these institutions were created by referenda.{{Cite journal |last=Gamble |first=A. |year=2006 |title=The Constitutional Revolution in the United Kingdom |journal=Publius |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=19–35 [p. 29] |doi=10.1093/publius/pjj011 |quote=The British parliament has the power to abolish the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly by a simple majority vote in both houses, but since both were sanctioned by referenda, it would be politically difficult to abolish them without the sanction of a further vote by the people. In this way, several of the constitutional measures introduced by the Blair government appear to be entrenched and not subject to a simple exercise of parliamentary sovereignty at Westminster.}} The political constraints placed upon the UK Parliament's power to interfere with devolution in Northern Ireland are greater still, because devolution in Northern Ireland rests upon an international agreement with the Government of Ireland.{{Cite journal |last=Meehan |first=E. |year=1999 |title=The Belfast Agreement – Its Distinctiveness and Points of Cross-Fertilization in the UK's Devolution Programme |journal=Parliamentary Affairs |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=19–31 [p. 23] |doi=10.1093/pa/52.1.19 |quote=[T]he distinctive involvement of two governments in the Northern Irish problem means that Northern Ireland's new arrangements rest upon an intergovernmental agreement. If this can be equated with a treaty, it could be argued that the forthcoming distribution of power between Westminster and Belfast has similarities with divisions specified in the written constitutions of federal states...Although the Agreement makes the general proviso that Westminster's 'powers to make legislation for Northern Ireland' remains 'unaffected', without an explicit categorical reference to reserved matters, it may be more difficult than in Scotland or Wales for devolved powers to be repatriated. The retraction of devolved powers would not merely entail consultation in Northern Ireland backed implicitly by the absolute power of parliamentary sovereignty but also the renegotiation of an intergovernmental agreement.|doi-access=free }} The UK Parliament restricts the three devolved parliaments' legislative powers in economic policy matters through an act passed in 2020.

Unlike Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, England does not have a separate devolved government or national parliament,{{cite web |title=English devolution |url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/english-devolution#:~:text=After%201997%20Labour%20governments%20devolved,assembly%20were%20created%20in%202000. |publisher=Institute for Government |access-date=30 August 2024 |date=21 June 2024 |archive-date=30 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240830150949/https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/english-devolution#:~:text=After%201997%20Labour%20governments%20devolved,assembly%20were%20created%20in%202000. |url-status=live }} rather a process of devolution of powers from the central government to local authorities has taken place, first in 1998.{{cite web |title= Devolution explained |url= https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/devolution/devolution-hub/devolution-explained |publisher= Local Government Association |access-date= 30 August 2024 |archive-date= 30 August 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240830152450/https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/devolution/devolution-hub/devolution-explained |url-status= live }} The Greater London Authority (GLA) was set up following a referendum in 1998. Colloquially known as City Hall, it is the devolved regional government body for Greater London. It consists of two political branches: an Executive Mayor and the London Assembly, which serves as a check and balance on the Mayor.

A Combined Authority (CA) is a type of local government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. CAs allow a group of local authorities to pool appropriate responsibility and receive certain devolved functions from central government in order to deliver transport and economic policy more effectively over a wider area.{{Cite web |date= 6 March 2023 |title= English devolution |url= https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/english-devolution |access-date= 4 February 2024 |publisher= Institute for Government |archive-date= 2 October 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241002212917/https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/english-devolution |url-status= live }}

A Combined County Authority (CCA) is a similar type of local-government institution introduced in England outside Greater London by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, but may only be formed by upper-tier authorities: county councils and unitary authorities.{{Cite web |date=6 April 2023 |title=Combined County Authorities – key differences to Combined Authorities |url=https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/governance/314-governance-a-risk-articles/53464-combined-county-authorities-key-differences-to-combined-authorities |access-date=4 February 2024 |website=Local Government Lawyer |archive-date=4 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204170903/https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/governance/314-governance-a-risk-articles/53464-combined-county-authorities-key-differences-to-combined-authorities |url-status=live }}

{{main|Responsibilities of the Scottish Government}}

File:First Minister meets Prime Minister (53840421342).jpg John Swinney, the head of the Scottish Government, at Bute House, Edinburgh.]]

Since 1999, Scotland has had a devolved national government and parliament with wide-ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically reserved to the UK Parliament.{{cite web |title=Devolved and Reserved Powers |url=https://www.parliament.scot/about/how-parliament-works/devolved-and-reserved-powers |website=parliament.scot |access-date=11 April 2024 |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920053732/https://www.parliament.scot/about/how-parliament-works/devolved-and-reserved-powers |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=8 April 1999 |title=Scotland's Parliament – powers and structures |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/scotland_99/the_scottish_parliament/310036.stm |access-date=21 October 2008 |archive-date=18 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218234816/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/scotland_99/the_scottish_parliament/310036.stm |url-status=live }} Scotland has the most devolved powers of any of the three devolved parliaments in the United Kingdom, with full legislative control over education, law and order, the economy, healthcare, elections, the crown estate, the planning system and housing.{{cite web |title=Devolved and Reserved Matters - Visit & Learn Scottish Parliament |url=http://www.parliament.scot/visitandlearn/Education/18642.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722092046/http://www.parliament.scot/visitandlearn/Education/18642.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-07-22 |access-date=1 March 2025 |date=22 July 2017}} Additional powers were transferred to the Scottish Parliament as a result of both the Scotland Act 2012 and Scotland Act 2016, such as some taxation powers, including full control of Income Tax on income earned through employment, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, Landfill Tax, Aggregates Levy, Air Departure Tax and Revenue Scotland, as well as aspects of the energy network, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and onshore oil and gas licensing.{{cite web| url=https://www.gov.scot/about/what-the-government-does/| title=What the Scottish Government does| publisher=Scottish Government| access-date=8 August 2019| archive-date=8 July 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708045359/https://www.gov.scot/about/what-the-government-does/| url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Devolved and Reserved Powers |url=https://www.parliament.scot/about/how-parliament-works/devolved-and-reserved-powers |website=Parliament.scot |publisher=Scottish Parliament |access-date=28 December 2023}} Their power over economic issues is significantly constrained by an act of the UK parliament passed in 2020.{{refn|name=UKIM|Attributed to multiple sources:{{Cite journal |last=Keating |first=Michael |date=2 February 2021 |title=Taking back control? Brexit and the territorial constitution of the United Kingdom |journal=Journal of European Public Policy |location=Abingdon |publisher=Taylor & Francis |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=6–7 |doi=10.1080/13501763.2021.1876156 |quote=The UK Internal Market Act gives ministers sweeping powers to enforce mutual recognition and non-discrimination across the four jurisdictions. Existing differences and some social and health matters are exempted but these are much less extensive than the exemptions permitted under the EU Internal Market provisions. Only after an amendment in the House of Lords, the Bill was amended to provide a weak and non-binding consent mechanism for amendments (equivalent to the Sewel Convention) to the list of exemptions. The result is that, while the devolved governments retain regulatory competences, these are undermined by the fact that goods and services originating in, or imported into, England can be marketed anywhere. |hdl-access=free |hdl=1814/70296 |s2cid=234066376}}{{Cite journal |last1=Kenny |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Kenny (political scientist) |last2=McEwen |first2=Nicola |author-link2=Nicola McEwen |date=1 March 2021 |title=Intergovernmental Relations and the Crisis of the Union |journal=Political Insight |publisher=SAGE Publishing |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=12–15 |doi=10.1177/20419058211000996 |quote=That phase of joint working was significantly damaged by the UK Internal Market Act, pushed through by the Johnson government in December 2020...the Act diminishes the authority of the devolved institutions, and was vehemently opposed by them. |doi-access=free |s2cid=232050477}}{{Cite journal |last=Wolffe |first=W James |author-link=James Wolffe |date=7 April 2021 |title=Devolution and the Statute Book |url=https://academic.oup.com/slr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/slr/hmab003/6213886 |journal=Statute Law Review |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/slr/hmab003 |access-date=18 April 2021 |quote=the Internal Market Bill—a Bill that contains provisions which, if enacted, would significantly constrain, both legally and as a matter of practicality, the exercise by the devolved legislatures of their legislative competence; provisions that would be significantly more restrictive of the powers of the Scottish Parliament than either EU law or Articles 4 and 6 of the Acts of the Union...The UK Parliament passed the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 and the Internal Market Act 2020 notwithstanding that, in each case, all three of the devolved legislatures had withheld consent. |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421145355/https://academic.oup.com/slr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/slr/hmab003/6213886 |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Wincott |first1=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Wincott |last2=Murray |first2=C. R. G. |last3=Davies |first3=Gregory |date=17 May 2021 |title=The Anglo-British imaginary and the rebuilding of the UK's territorial constitution after Brexit: unitary state or union state? |journal=Territory, Politics, Governance |location=Abingdon/Brighton |publisher=Taylor & Francis; Regional Studies Association |volume=10 |issue=5 |pages=696–713 |doi=10.1080/21622671.2021.1921613 |quote=Taken as a whole, the Internal Market Act imposes greater restrictions upon the competences of the devolved institutions than the provisions of the EU Single Market which it replaced, in spite of pledges to use common frameworks to address these issues. Lord Hope, responsible for many of the leading judgments relating to the first two decades of devolution, regarded the legislation's terms as deliberately confrontational: 'this Parliament can do what it likes, but a different approach is essential if the union is to hold together'. |doi-access=free}}{{Cite report |url=https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/publications/uk-and-internal-market-devolution-and-union |title=UK and the Internal Market, Devolution and the Union |last1=Dougan |first1=Michael |last2=Hayward |first2=Katy |date=2020 |publisher=University of Edinburgh; University of Aberdeen |pages=2–3 |last3=Hunt |first3=Jo |last4=McEwen |first4=Nicola |last5=McHarg |first5=Aileen |last6=Wincott |first6=Daniel |author-link=Michael Dougan |author-link2=Katy Hayward |access-date=16 October 2020 |author-link4=Nicola McEwen |author-link6=Daniel Wincott |department=Centre on Constitutional Change |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018185830/https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/publications/uk-and-internal-market-devolution-and-union |url-status=live }}{{Cite report |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/law/2-research/eull/UKIM,Briefing,Paper,-,Prof,Michael,Dougan,15,September,2020.pdf |title=Briefing Paper. United Kingdom Internal Market Bill: Implications for Devolution |last=Dougan |first=Michael |date=2020 |publisher=University of Liverpool |location=Liverpool |pages=4–5 |author-link=Michael Dougan |access-date=15 October 2020 |archive-date=26 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026161836/https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/law/2-research/eull/UKIM,Briefing,Paper,-,Prof,Michael,Dougan,15,September,2020.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite journal|last1=Dougan|first1=Michael|last2=Hunt|first2=Jo|last3=McEwen|first3=Nicola|last4=McHarg|first4=Aileen|author-link1=Michael Dougan|author-link3=Nicola McEwen|title=Sleeping with an Elephant: Devolution and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020|journal=Law Quarterly Review|date=2022|url=https://dro.dur.ac.uk/35167/|location=London|publisher=Sweet & Maxwell|ssrn=4018581|via=Durham Research Online|access-date=4 March 2022|quote=The Act has restrictive – and potentially damaging – consequences for the regulatory capacity of the devolved legislatures...This was not the first time since the Brexit referendum that the Convention had been set aside, but it was especially notable given that the primary purpose of the legislation was to constrain the capacity of the devolved institutions to use their regulatory autonomy...in practice, it constrains the ability of the devolved institutions to make effective regulatory choices for their territories in ways that do not apply to the choices made by the UK government and parliament for the English market.|issn=0023-933X|archive-date=2 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802185022/https://dro.dur.ac.uk/35167/|url-status=live}}}}

The Scottish Government is a Scottish National Party minority government,{{cite web |title=Humza Yousaf's precarious position puts the SNP – and Scotland – at a crossroads |url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/humza-yousaf-snp-scotland-crossroads |website=Institute for Government |access-date=26 April 2024 |language=en |date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=26 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240426221203/https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/humza-yousaf-snp-scotland-crossroads |url-status=live }} led by First Minister John Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party. In 2014, the Scottish independence referendum was held, with 55.3% voting against independence from the United Kingdom and 44.7% voting in favour, resulting in Scotland staying within the United Kingdom. Local government in Scotland is divided into 32 council areas with a wide variation in size and population. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223.

The Scottish Parliament is separate from the Scottish Government. It is made up of 129 elected Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). It is the law-making body of Scotland, and thus it scrutinises the work of the incumbent Scottish Government and considers any piece of proposed legislation through parliamentary debates, committees and parliamentary questions.{{cite web |title=What the Scottish Government does |url=https://www.gov.scot/about/what-the-government-does/ |website=gov.scot |access-date=11 April 2024 |language=en |archive-date=8 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708045359/https://www.gov.scot/about/what-the-government-does/ |url-status=live }}

Since 1999, Wales has had a devolved national government and legislature, known as the Senedd. Elections to the Senedd use the additional member system. It has more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.{{Cite news |date=9 April 1999 |title=Structure and powers of the Assembly |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/wales_99/the_welsh_assembly/309033.stm |access-date=21 October 2008 |archive-date=7 February 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040207162926/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/wales_99/the_welsh_assembly/309033.stm |url-status=live }} The Senedd can legislate on any matter not specifically reserved to the UK Parliament by Acts of Senedd Cymru. The Welsh Government is Labour, led by First Minister Eluned Morgan, who has been the First Minister since 2024. Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities, each led by a leader and cabinet elected by the council itself.

The devolved form of government in Northern Ireland is based on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought to an end a 30-year period of unionist-nationalist communal conflict known as The Troubles. The Agreement was confirmed by referendum and implemented later that year. It established power sharing arrangements for a devolved government and legislature, referred to as the Executive and Assembly respectively.{{cite web|title= Good Friday Agreement: What is it?|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61968177|website= BBC News|date= 3 April 2023|access-date= 11 April 2024|archive-date= 15 May 2024|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240515131233/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61968177|url-status= live}} Elections to the Assembly use the single transferable vote system. The Executive and Assembly have powers similar to those devolved to Scotland.{{Cite web |date=8 May 2019 |title=Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland |url=https://www.gov.uk/guidance/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland |access-date=11 June 2024 |website=GOV.UK |language=en |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307093336/https://www.gov.uk/guidance/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland |url-status=live }} The Executive is led by a diarchy representing unionist and nationalist members of the Assembly.{{Cite web |date=25 September 2015 |title=Your Executive |url=https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive |publisher=Northern Ireland Executive |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821135048/https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive |url-status=live }} The First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland are the joint heads of government of Northern Ireland.{{Cite news |title=Stormont: Why were NI leaders given unequal job titles? |work=BBC News |date=15 May 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61393736 | access-date=2 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202190001/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61393736 |archive-date=2 February 2024}}{{Cite web |title=Northern Ireland Executive: Ministerial Code |date=28 September 2015 |url=https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive/ministerial-code | access-date=2 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202191115/https://www.northernireland.gov.uk/topics/your-executive/ministerial-code |archive-date=2 February 2024}} Local government in Northern Ireland since 2015 has been divided between 11 councils with limited responsibilities.

{{Main|Foreign relations of the United Kingdom}}

File:Trump-Starmer bilateral 2025-02-27-16-07.jpg share a "Special Relationship".]]

The UK is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of NATO, AUKUS, the Commonwealth of Nations, the G7 finance ministers, the G7 forum, the G20, the OECD, the WTO, the Council of Europe and the OSCE.{{Cite web |last=May |first=Theresa |author-link=Theresa May |date=29 March 2017 |title=Prime Minister's letter to Donald Tusk triggering Article 50 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prime-ministers-letter-to-donald-tusk-triggering-article-50/prime-ministers-letter-to-donald-tusk-triggering-article-50 |website= |via=Gov.uk |access-date=19 June 2017 |archive-date=5 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605184239/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prime-ministers-letter-to-donald-tusk-triggering-article-50/prime-ministers-letter-to-donald-tusk-triggering-article-50 |url-status=live }} The UK has the British Council which is a British organisation in over 100 countries specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. The UK is said to have a "Special Relationship" with the United States and a close partnership with France – the "Entente cordiale" – and shares nuclear weapons technology with both countries;{{Cite web |last=Swaine |first=Jon |date=13 January 2009 |title=Barack Obama presidency will strengthen special relationship, says Gordon Brown |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/4226246/Barack-Obama-presidency-will-strengthen-special-relationship-says-Gordon-Brown.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 May 2011 |website=The Telegraph |publication-place=London |archive-date=4 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704192159/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/4226246/Barack-Obama-presidency-will-strengthen-special-relationship-says-Gordon-Brown.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last1=Kirchner |first1=Emil Joseph |title=Global Security Governance: Competing Perceptions of Security in the 21st century |last2=Sperling |first2=James |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-39162-7 |edition=illustrated |location=London |page=100 |language=en}} the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance is considered to be the oldest binding military alliance in the world. The UK is also closely linked with the Republic of Ireland; the two countries share a Common Travel Area and co-operate through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the British-Irish Council. Britain's global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, foreign investments, official development assistance and military engagements.{{Cite web |last=The Committee Office, House of Commons |date=19 February 2009 |title=DFID's expenditure on development assistance |url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmintdev/220/22007.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112222226/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmintdev/220/22007.htm |archive-date=12 January 2013 |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=UK Parliament}} Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all of which are former colonies of the British Empire which share King Charles as their head of state, are the most favourably viewed countries in the world by British people.{{Cite web |date=4 July 2017 |title=Sharp Drop in World Views of US, UK: Global Poll – GlobeScan |url=https://globescan.com/sharp-drop-in-world-views-of-us-uk-global-poll/ |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-date=3 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103213529/https://globescan.com/sharp-drop-in-world-views-of-us-uk-global-poll/ |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=From the Outside In: G20 views of the UK before and after the EU referendum' |url=https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/from_the_outside_in.pdf |publisher=British Council |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-date=9 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109225947/https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/from_the_outside_in.pdf |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |date=26 October 2020 |title=New Zealand is Britons' favourite country |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/travel/articles-reports/2020/10/26/new-zealand-britons-favourite-country |access-date=8 November 2021 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205213020/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/travel/articles-reports/2020/10/26/new-zealand-britons-favourite-country |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Law of the United Kingdom|Censorship in the United Kingdom|Crime in the United Kingdom}}

{{further|English law|Northern Ireland law|Scots law}}

File:Middlesex Guildhall (cropped).jpg is the final court of appeal for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and for civil cases only in Scotland.]]

The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system as Article 19 of the 1706 Treaty of Union provided for the continuation of Scotland's separate legal system.{{Cite web |title=The Treaty (act) of the Union of Parliament 1706 |url=http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527074630/http://www.scotshistoryonline.co.uk/union.html |archive-date=27 May 2019 |access-date=5 October 2008 |publisher=Scottish History Online}} The UK has three distinct systems of law: English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law. A new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom came into being in October 2009 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.{{Cite news |date=1 October 2009 |title=UK Supreme Court judges sworn in |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8283939.stm |access-date=6 October 2009 |archive-date=7 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207160453/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8283939.stm |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |date=July 2003 |title=Constitutional reform: A Supreme Court for the United Kingdom |url=http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/supremecourt/supreme.pdf |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090117132005/http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/supremecourt/supreme.pdf |archive-date=17 January 2009 |access-date=13 May 2013 |publisher=Department for Constitutional Affairs }} The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, including the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies.{{Cite web |title=Role of the JCPC |url=http://www.jcpc.uk/about/role-of-the-jcpc.html |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=Judicial Committee of the Privy Council |archive-date=14 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114165910/http://www.jcpc.uk/about/role-of-the-jcpc.html |url-status=live }}

Both English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law are based on common law (or case law) principles.{{Cite book |last=Bainham |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AF303DEl0MkC&pg=PA298 |title=The international survey of family law: 1996 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |year=1998 |isbn=978-90-411-0573-8 |location=The Hague |page=298 |access-date=29 September 2020 |archive-date=28 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328141743/https://books.google.com/books?id=AF303DEl0MkC&pg=PA298#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} It originated in England in the Middle Ages and is the basis for many legal systems around the world.{{Cite web |title=Common Law |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/common-law |access-date=27 May 2024 |publisher=Britannica |date=19 May 2024 |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506134920/https://www.britannica.com/topic/common-law |url-status=live }} The courts of England and Wales are headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases).{{Cite web |title=The Australian courts and comparative law |url=http://www.alpn.edu.au/node/66 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414202207/http://alpn.edu.au/node/66 |archive-date=14 April 2013 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Australian Law Postgraduate Network}} Scots law is a hybrid system based on common-law and civil-law principles. The chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases,{{Cite web |title=Court of Session – Introduction |url=http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/session/index.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731094308/http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/session/index.asp |archive-date=31 July 2008 |access-date=8 March 2015 |publisher=Scottish Courts}} and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases.{{Cite web |title=High Court of Justiciary – Introduction |url=http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/justiciary/index.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912204821/http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/justiciary/index.asp |archive-date=12 September 2008 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Scottish Courts}} The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom serves as the highest court of appeal for civil cases under Scots law.{{Cite web |title=House of Lords – Practice Directions and Standing Orders Applicable to Civil Appeals |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199697/ldinfo/ld08judg/bluebook/bluebk03.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206120915/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199697/ldinfo/ld08judg/bluebook/bluebk03.htm |archive-date=6 December 2013 |access-date=8 March 2015 |publisher=UK Parliament}}

Crime in England and Wales increased in the period between 1981 and 1995, though since that peak there has been an overall fall of 66% in recorded crime from 1995 to 2015,{{Cite web |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_419450.pdf |title=Crime in England and Wales, Year Ending June 2015 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |website=UK Government Web Archive |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=16 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316221317/https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_419450.pdf |url-status=live }} according to crime statistics. As of June 2023, the United Kingdom has the highest per-capita incarceration rate in Western Europe.{{cite web |last1=Sturge |first1=Georgina |title=UK Prison Population Statistics |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=17 October 2023 |archive-date=24 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224031328/https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Total |url=http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118142542/https://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total |archive-date=18 November 2023 |website=World Prison Brief}}{{Cite web |title=World Prison Brief data |url=http://www.prisonstudies.org/world-prison-brief |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106135950/https://www.prisonstudies.org/world-prison-brief-data |archive-date=6 November 2023 |website=World Prison Brief}}

UK labour laws establish employment rights including a minimum wage, a minimum of 28 days annual holiday, parental leave, statutory sick pay and a pension. Same-sex marriage has been legal in England, Scotland, and Wales since 2014, and in Northern Ireland since 2020.{{cite web |last1=Wratten |first1=Marcus |title=Tom Allen to host vital new BBC show marking 10th anniversary of same-sex marriage |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/03/tom-allen-bbc-my-big-gay-wedding-same-sex-marriage/ |website=PinkNews |date=3 July 2023 |access-date=2 September 2023 |archive-date=2 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902195143/https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/07/03/tom-allen-bbc-my-big-gay-wedding-same-sex-marriage/ |url-status=live }} LGBT equality in the United Kingdom is considered advanced by modern standards.{{Cite web |date=5 June 2023 |title=The 203 Worst (& Safest) Countries for LGBTQ+ Travel in 2023 |url=https://www.asherfergusson.com/lgbtq-travel-safety/ |access-date=20 August 2023 |website=Asher & Lyric |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910063408/https://www.asherfergusson.com/lgbtq-travel-safety/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=R. Flores |first1=Andrew |title=Social Acceptance of LGBTI People in 175 Countries and Locations |url=https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/global-acceptance-index-lgbt/ |website=Williams Institute |access-date=11 September 2023 |archive-date=13 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913091254/https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/global-acceptance-index-lgbt/ |url-status=live }}

Since leaving the EU, most disputes under UK-EU agreements are addressed through consultation between the parties. If consultation fails to resolve the issue, either party can request arbitration, typically at the PCA in The Hague.{{Cite web |title=Disputes under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement |date=November 2021 |url=https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/disputes-trade-and-cooperation-agreement |access-date=26 January 2025 |publisher=Institute for Government}} Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland matters requiring interpretation of EU law go to the ECJ, though the Stormont Brake can prevent new EU rules from taking effect.

{{Main|British Armed Forces|Military history of the United Kingdom}}

[[File:United Kingdom overseas military installations and operations.png|thumb|upright=1.4|

{{Legend|#0000FF|Overseas military installations of the United Kingdom, and locally raised units of the British Overseas Territories}}

{{Legend|#F0002B|Military interventions since 2000: Palliser (Sierra Leone); Herrick (Afghanistan); Enduring Freedom (Horn of Africa); Telic (Iraq); Ellamy (Libya); and Shader (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).}}]]

The British Armed Forces consist of three professional service branches: the Royal Navy and Royal Marines (forming the Naval Service), the British Army and the Royal Air Force.{{Cite web |title=Ministry of Defence |url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Home |access-date=21 February 2012 |publisher=Ministry of Defence |archive-date=19 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219194140/http://mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Home/ |url-status=live }} The armed forces of the United Kingdom are managed by the Ministry of Defence and controlled by the Defence Council, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The Commander-in-Chief is the British monarch, to whom members of the forces swear an oath of allegiance.{{Cite web |date=30 March 2012 |title=Speaker addresses Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II |url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2012/march/speaker-addresses-hm-the-queen |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=UK Parliament |archive-date=1 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501221305/http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2012/march/speaker-addresses-hm-the-queen/ |url-status=live }} The Armed Forces are charged with protecting the UK and its overseas territories, promoting the UK's global security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO (including the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps), the Five Power Defence Arrangements, RIMPAC and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained in Ascension Island, Bahrain, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, Oman, Qatar and Singapore.{{Cite web |title=House of Commons Hansard |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/newhtml_hl?DB=semukparl&STEMMER=en&WORDS=raf%20diego%20garcia&ALL=RAF&ANY=&PHRASE=%22Diego%20Garcia%20%22&CATEGORIES=&SIMPLE=&SPEAKER=&COLOUR=red&STYLE=s&ANCHOR=50221w33.html_spnew0&URL=/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/vo050221/text/50221w33.htm#50221w33.html_spnew0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309114107/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/cgi-bin/newhtml_hl?DB=semukparl&STEMMER=en&WORDS=raf%20diego%20garcia&ALL=RAF&ANY=&PHRASE=%22Diego%20Garcia%20%22&CATEGORIES=&SIMPLE=&SPEAKER=&COLOUR=red&STYLE=s&ANCHOR=50221w33.html_spnew0&URL=%2Fpa%2Fcm200405%2Fcmhansrd%2Fvo050221%2Ftext%2F50221w33.htm#50221w33.html_spnew0 |archive-date=9 March 2009 |access-date=23 October 2008 |publisher=UK Parliament}}; {{Cite web |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 17 Jun 2013 (pt 0002) |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130617/text/130617w0002.htm#13061746000236 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214025754/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm130617/text/130617w0002.htm#13061746000236 |archive-date=14 February 2015 |access-date=4 March 2015 |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk}}

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute{{Cite report |url=https://www.sipri.org/publications/2022/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-world-military-expenditure-2021 |title=Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2021 |last1=da Silva |first1=Diego Lopes |last2=Tian |first2=Nan |last3=Béraud-Sudreau |first3=Lucie |last4=Marksteiner |first4=Alexandra |last5=Liang |first5=Xiao |date=April 2022 |publisher=SIPRI |doi=10.55163/DZJD8826 |access-date=3 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425064753/https://www.sipri.org/publications/2022/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-world-military-expenditure-2021 |archive-date=25 April 2022 |url-status=live |doi-access=free |type=fact sheet |s2cid=248305949}} and the International Institute for Strategic Studies,{{Cite journal |date=January 2021 |title=IISS Military Balance 2021 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/04597222.2021.1868791?journalCode=tmib20 |url-status=live |journal=The Military Balance |volume=121 |issue=1 |pages=23–29 |doi=10.1080/04597222.2021.1868791 |issn=0459-7222 |s2cid=232050862 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001220232/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/04597222.2021.1868791?journalCode=tmib20 |archive-date=1 October 2021 |access-date=1 October 2021}} the UK has the fourth- or fifth-highest military expenditure. Total defence spending in 2024 is estimated at 2.3% of GDP.{{Cite web |title=Rishi Sunak vows to boost UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68880171 |access-date=24 April 2024 |publisher=BBC News |date=24 April 2024 |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423233438/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68880171 |url-status=live }} Following the end of the Cold War, defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" will be undertaken as part of a coalition.UK 2005: The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Office for National Statistics. p. 89.

{{Main|Economy of the United Kingdom}}

{{further|Economy of England|Economy of Scotland|Economy of Northern Ireland|Economy of Wales}}

File:Bank junction - 2020-09-20 (2).jpg is the largest urban economy in Europe{{Cite web |last=Florida |first=Richard |date=16 March 2017 |title=The Economic Power of Cities Compared to Nations |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-16/top-metros-have-more-economic-power-than-most-nations |access-date=22 February 2024 |website=Bloomberg |archive-date=8 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308074221/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-16/top-metros-have-more-economic-power-than-most-nations |url-status=live }} and, alongside New York, the city in the world most integrated with the global economy.{{Cite web |website=GaWC |title=The World According to GaWC 2020 |url=https://www.lboro.ac.uk/microsites/geography/gawc/world2020t.html |date=21 August 2020 |access-date=3 June 2023 |publisher=Loughborough University |archive-date=12 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612112616/https://www.lboro.ac.uk/microsites/geography/gawc/world2020t.html |url-status=live }}]]

File:Evening view across Carlton Hill towards the Castle (13164472813).jpg is the financial centre of Scotland and is ranked the 4th largest in Europe and 13th largest internationally.{{cite web |title=Edinburgh 4th in Europe in new Financial Centres index – Scottish Financial Review |url=https://scottishfinancialreview.com/2020/09/25/edinburgh-4th-in-europe-in-new-financial-centres-index/ |website=scottishfinancialreview.com |access-date=15 December 2024}}]]

The UK has a regulated social market economy.{{Cite web |date=April 2011 |title=Principles for Economic Regulation |url=http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/better-regulation/docs/p/11-795-principles-for-economic-regulation |access-date=1 May 2011 |publisher=Department for Business, Innovation & Skills |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517134052/http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/better-regulation/docs/p/11-795-principles-for-economic-regulation |archive-date= 17 May 2011 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Thane |first1=Pat |year=2019 |title=The Origins of the British Welfare State |journal=The Journal of Interdisciplinary History |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=427–433 |doi=10.1162/jinh_a_01448 |s2cid=208223636 |doi-access=free}}{{cite web |last1=Griffiths |first1=Alan |last2=Wall |first2=Stuart |date=16 July 2011 |title=Applied Economics |url=http://www.ftms.edu.my/pdf/Download/UndergraduateStudent/BusinessEconomics/BC215001S%20-%20BE%20Key%20Text%20-%20Applied%20Economics.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620120524/http://www.ftms.edu.my/pdf/Download/UndergraduateStudent/BusinessEconomics/BC215001S%20-%20BE%20Key%20Text%20-%20Applied%20Economics.pdf |archive-date=20 June 2013 |access-date=25 September 2014}} Based on market exchange rates, the UK is the sixth-largest economy in the world and the second-largest in Europe, both by nominal GDP. Its currency, the pound sterling, is the fourth most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market and the world's fourth-largest reserve currency (after the United States dollar, euro, and yen).{{Cite web |title=World Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves |url=https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=41175 |access-date=10 October 2021 |website=IMF Data |language=en |archive-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512202858/https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=41175 |url-status=live }} Sterling was the 2nd best-performing G10 currency against the dollar in 2023 with a gain of about 5%, with only the Swiss franc performing better.{{Cite web |title=Sterling steady but set for 5% rally in 2023 |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/sterling-steady-set-5-rally-2023-2023-12-27/}}{{Cite web |title=Nikkei Asia - Currency |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Currencies/Yen-is-worst-performing-G10-currency-for-3rd-straight-year |access-date=23 January 2024 |archive-date=23 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123142941/https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Currencies/Yen-is-worst-performing-G10-currency-for-3rd-straight-year |url-status=live }} London is the world capital for foreign exchange trading, with a market share of 38.1% in 2022{{Cite web |title=BIS Triennial Survey of Foreign Exchange and Over-The-Counter Interest Rate Derivatives Markets in April 2022 – UK Data |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2022/october/bis-triennial-survey-of-foreign-exchange-and-over-the-counter-interest-rate-derivatives-markets |date=27 October 2022 |access-date=21 February 2023 |publisher=Bank of England |archive-date=21 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221135740/https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2022/october/bis-triennial-survey-of-foreign-exchange-and-over-the-counter-interest-rate-derivatives-markets |url-status=live }} of the daily $7.5 trillion global turnover.{{Cite news |title=Global FX trading hits record $7.5 trln a day – BIS survey |date=27 October 2022 |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-fx-trading-hits-record-75-trln-day-bis-survey-2022-10-27/ |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=Reuters |last1=Jones |first1=Marc |last2=John |first2=Alun |archive-date=21 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221135739/https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/global-fx-trading-hits-record-75-trln-day-bis-survey-2022-10-27/ |url-status=live }} The UK has among the highest levels of income inequality in the OECD, but has a very high HDI ranking.{{Cite web |title=House of Commons Research Briefing on Income inequality in the UK. |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7484/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210104536/https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7484/ |archive-date=10 February 2022 |access-date=1 July 2023 |website=UK Parliament}}{{Cite web |title=Inequality – Income inequality – OECD Data |url=http://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629183322/https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm |archive-date=29 June 2023 |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=theOECD |language=en}}

HM Treasury, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Department for Business and Trade is responsible for business, international trade, and enterprise. The Bank of England is the UK's central bank and is responsible for issuing notes and coins in the pound sterling. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover their issue. The Bank of England is exploring a digital pound (CBDC) to enable instant settlement and improve payment infrastructure.{{Cite web |title=The digital pound |date=29 January 2025 |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/the-digital-pound |access-date=2025-03-04}} In 2022, the UK became the world's fourth-largest exporter behind only China, the US, and Germany.{{Cite news |url= https://www.cityam.com/services-trade-sees-uk-become-worlds-fourth-largest-exporter/ |date= 9 April 2024 |title= Services trade sees UK become world's fourth largest exporter |work= City A.M. |location= London |first= Jessica |last= Frank-Keyes |access-date= 2 May 2024 |archive-date= 2 May 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240502182204/https://www.cityam.com/services-trade-sees-uk-become-worlds-fourth-largest-exporter/ |url-status= live }} The estimated nominal GDP of the UK for 2024 is £2.765 trillion.{{Cite press release |date=11 July 2023 |title= United Kingdom: 2023 Article IV Consultation |url= https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2023/07/10/United-Kingdom-2023-Article-IV-Consultation-Press-Release-Staff-Report-and-Statement-by-the-535878 |access-date=9 March 2024 |publisher=IMF |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240309143322/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2023/07/10/United-Kingdom-2023-Article-IV-Consultation-Press-Release-Staff-Report-and-Statement-by-the-535878 |url-status=live }} This value is 23% higher than the 2019 figure of £2.255 trillion{{Cite press release |date=February 2022 |title=2021 Article IV Consultation |url= https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Publications/CR/2022/English/1GBREA2022001.ashx |access-date=9 March 2024 |publisher=IMF |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240309143322/https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Publications/CR/2022/English/1GBREA2022001.ashx |url-status=live }} before leaving the EU (at similar US and EU exchange rates to 2019).{{Cite web |title=Sterling Exchange Rates |url= https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Rates.asp |access-date=9 March 2024 |publisher=Bank of England |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240309143322/https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/boeapps/database/Rates.asp |url-status=live }}{{Efn|Real GDP is an inflation-adjusted GDP, which is needed to study changes in volume rather than value, especially if the currency devalues due to the inflation but does not show current market values.{{Cite web |title=Real GDP growth |url=https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/the-economy-forecast/real-gdp-growth/ |access-date=9 March 2024 |website=OBR |archive-date=9 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309143323/https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/the-economy-forecast/real-gdp-growth/ |url-status=live }}}}

The service sector made up around 80% of the UK's GVA in 2021.{{Cite web |last=Hutton |first=Georgina |date=6 December 2022 |title=Industries in the UK |url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8353/ |access-date=31 January 2023 |website=UK Parliament: House of Commons Library |archive-date=7 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007134640/https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8353/ |url-status=live }} As of 2022, the UK is the world's second-largest exporter of services.{{Cite web |title=Service exports (BoP, current US$) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.GSR.NFSV.CD?most_recent_value_desc=true&year_high_desc=false |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526025607/https://data.worldbank.org/ |archive-date=26 May 2023 |access-date=25 August 2023 |website=World Bank Open Data}} London is one of the world's largest financial centres, ranking second in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index in 2022. London also has the largest city GDP in Europe.{{Cite web |title=Global city GDP rankings 2008–2025 |url=http://www.ukmediacentre.pwc.com/Media-Library/Global-city-GDP-rankings-2008-2025-61a.aspx |date=2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428032945/http://www.ukmediacentre.pwc.com/Media-Library/Global-city-GDP-rankings-2008-2025-61a.aspx |archive-date=28 April 2011 |access-date=16 November 2010 |publisher=PricewaterhouseCoopers}} Edinburgh ranks 17th in the world, and sixth in Western Europe in the Global Financial Centres Index in 2020.{{Cite web |title=GFCI 27 Rank |url=https://www.longfinance.net/programmes/financial-centre-futures/global-financial-centres-index/gfci-27-explore-data/gfci-27-rank |access-date=29 August 2020 |website=Long Finance |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815191828/https://www.longfinance.net/programmes/financial-centre-futures/global-financial-centres-index/gfci-27-explore-data/gfci-27-rank/ |url-status=live }}

The country's tourism sector is very important to the British economy; London was named as Europe's most popular destination for 2022.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/london-best-europe-city-tripadvisor-2022-b1996028.html |title=London named Europe's most popular destination for 2022 |website=Independent.co.uk |date=19 January 2022 |first1=Helen |last1=Coffey |access-date=11 March 2023 |archive-date=11 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311142939/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/london-best-europe-city-tripadvisor-2022-b1996028.html }}{{Cite web |url=https://fortune.com/2023/04/25/king-charles-coronation-tourists-money-london-british-economy/ |title=King Charles' coronation is bringing millions of tourists and a cash infusion to London but it probably won't save the British economy |website=fortune.com |date=25 April 2023 |first1=Kelvin |last1=Chan |agency=The Associated Press |access-date=9 May 2023 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502144950/https://fortune.com/2023/04/25/king-charles-coronation-tourists-money-london-british-economy/ }} The creative industries accounted for 5.9% of the UK's GVA in 2019, having grown by 43.6% in real terms from 2010.{{Cite web |title=DCMS Economic Estimates 2019 (provisional): Gross Value Added |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-2019-gross-value-added/dcms-economic-estimates-2019-provisional-gross-value-added |access-date=31 January 2023 |website=gov.uk |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131001226/https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-economic-estimates-2019-gross-value-added/dcms-economic-estimates-2019-provisional-gross-value-added |url-status=live }} Creative industries contributed more than £111bn to the UK economy in 2018, growth in the sector is more than five times larger than growth across the UK economy as a whole as reported in 2018.{{Cite web |year=2020 |title=UK's Creative Industries contributes almost £13 million to the UK economy every hour |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-creative-industries-contributes-almost-13-million-to-the-uk-economy-every-hour |access-date=21 February 2023 |publisher=UK Government |archive-date=21 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221131518/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-creative-industries-contributes-almost-13-million-to-the-uk-economy-every-hour |url-status=live }} Lloyd's of London is the world's largest insurance and reinsurance market and is located in London.{{Cite web |title=Lloyd's of London – value proposition |url=https://www.lloyds.com/about-lloyds/value-proposition-coverholder |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227100951/https://www.lloyds.com/about-lloyds/value-proposition-coverholder |archive-date=27 February 2023|website=Lloyd's of London}} WPP plc, the world's biggest advertising company, is also based in the UK. The UK is one of the leading retail markets in Europe and is home to Europe's largest e-commerce market.{{Cite web|url=https://www.great.gov.uk/international/content/investment/sectors/retail/|access-date=18 January 2024|title=Retail|publisher=great.gov.uk|archive-date=18 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118084416/https://www.great.gov.uk/international/content/investment/sectors/retail/|url-status=live}} With consumption expenditures of over $2 trillion in 2023, the UK has the second-largest consumer market in Europe.{{Cite web |date= |title=Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current US$) |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.CD?year_high_desc=true |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=World Bank Group |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143614/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.PRVT.CD?year_high_desc=true |url-status=live }} John Lewis is the UK's largest employee-owned business.{{Cite web|url=https://employeeownership.co.uk/resources/what-the-evidence-tells-us/|access-date=18 January 2024|title=Employee owned businesses - What the evidence tells us|archive-date=2 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231202155249/https://employeeownership.co.uk/resources/what-the-evidence-tells-us/|url-status=live}}

File:Bank-of-England.jpg is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based.]]

The British automotive industry employs around 800,000 people, with a turnover in 2022 of £67 billion, generating £27 billion of exports (10% of the UK's total export of goods). In 2023, the UK produced around 905,100 passenger vehicles and 120,400 commercial vehicles, output was up 17.0% on the previous year.{{Cite web | date=24 January 2024 | title=December 2023 UK Car Manufacturing | url=https://media.smmt.co.uk/december-2023-uk-car-manufacturing/ | access-date=16 March 2024 | website=SMMT | archive-date=16 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316184018/https://media.smmt.co.uk/december-2023-uk-car-manufacturing/ | url-status=live }} Britain is known for iconic cars such as Mini and Jaguar,{{Cite web | date=19 November 2020 | title=Best British cars: Top 50 all-time greatest British-built cars revealed - page 2 | url=https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars-vans/351729/best-british-cars-top-50-all-time-greatest-british-built-cars-revealed/page-2 | access-date=9 March 2024 | website=Auto Express | archive-date=16 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316184015/https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars-vans/351729/best-british-cars-top-50-all-time-greatest-british-built-cars-revealed/page-2 | url-status=live }} as well as luxury cars such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Range Rover. The UK is a major centre for engine manufacturing: in 2022 around 1.5 million engines were produced.{{cite web |url=https://www.smmt.co.uk/industry-topics/uk-automotive/ |title=UK Automotive |author= |date= |website= |publisher=The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders |access-date=14 November 2023 |quote= |archive-date=13 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113163440/https://www.smmt.co.uk/industry-topics/uk-automotive/ |url-status=live }} It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter of engines, as of 2021.{{Cite web |title=Combustion Engines |url=https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/combustion-engines |access-date=30 September 2023 |website=OEC - The Observatory of Economic Complexity |language=en |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003014526/https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/combustion-engines |url-status=live }} The UK motorsport industry employs more than 40,000 people, comprises around 4,300 companies and has an annual turnover of around £10 billion.{{Cite web |year=2020 |title=UK motorsport industry in pole position for F1's 70th anniversary |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-motorsport-industry-in-pole-position-for-f1s-70th-anniversary |access-date=19 February 2023 |publisher=UK Government |archive-date=19 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219100712/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-motorsport-industry-in-pole-position-for-f1s-70th-anniversary |url-status=live }} 7 of the 10 Formula One teams are based in the UK, with their technology being used in supercars and hypercars from McLaren, Aston Martin and Lotus.{{Efn|Car brands here are classed as British based on several of the following criteria: historical heritage, cultural significance, design and engineering base, manufacturing location, headquarters location, UK registered company (even with overseas investors).}}

The aerospace industry of the UK is the second-largest national aerospace industry in the world{{cite web |title=United Kingdom - Country Commercial Guide: Aerospace and Defense |url=https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/united-kingdom-aerospace-and-defense |website=International Trade Administration |date=3 November 2023 |access-date=17 December 2024}} and has an annual turnover of around £30 billion.{{Cite news |last=Tovey |first=Alan |date=29 June 2016 |title=Britain's aerospace sector soars amid fears Brexit could clip its wings |work=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/06/29/britains-aerospace-sector-soars-amid-fears-brexit-could-clip-its |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/06/29/britains-aerospace-sector-soars-amid-fears-brexit-could-clip-its |archive-date=10 January 2022}}{{Cbignore}} The UK space industry was worth £17.5bn in 2020/21 and employed 48,800 people. Since 2012, the number of space organisations has grown on average nearly 21% per year, with 1,293 organisations reported in 2021.{{Cite web |year=2022 |title=Size & Health of the UK Space Industry 2022 Summary Report |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2022/size-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2022 |access-date=1 April 2023 |publisher=UK Government |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331072353/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2022/size-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2022 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |year=2021 |title=Size and Health of the UK Space Industry 2021 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2021/size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2021 |access-date=21 February 2023 |publisher=UK Government |archive-date=21 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221103315/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2021/size-and-health-of-the-uk-space-industry-2021 |url-status=live }} The UK Space Agency has stated in 2023 that it is investing £1.6 billion in space-related projects.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-funding-to-support-space-exploration-using-moon-resources-and-nuclear-power |title=New funding to support space exploration using Moon resources and nuclear power |access-date=11 March 2023 |archive-date=11 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311195622/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-funding-to-support-space-exploration-using-moon-resources-and-nuclear-power }}

British agriculture industry is intensive, highly mechanised and efficient by European standards, producing approximately 60% of the country's overall food requirements and 73% of its indigenous food needs, utilising around 0.9% of the labour force (292,000 workers).{{Cite web |title=UK Food Security Index 2024 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-food-security-index-2024/uk-food-security-index-2024 |access-date=19 May 2024 |publisher=Department for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs |archive-date=18 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518072412/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-food-security-index-2024/uk-food-security-index-2024 |url-status=live }};{{Cite web |title=Agricultural workforce in England at 1 June 2023 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-workforce-in-england-at-1-june/agricultural-workforce-in-england-at-1-june-2023 |access-date=19 May 2024 |publisher=Department for the Environment Food & Rural Affairs |archive-date=19 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519211112/https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-workforce-in-england-at-1-june/agricultural-workforce-in-england-at-1-june-2023 |url-status=live }} Around two-thirds of production is devoted to livestock, one-third to arable crops. The UK retains a significant, though much reduced fishing industry, with at least 49% of UK fish sustainably caught in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/ukbi-b2-sustainable-fisheries|title=Sustainable fisheries: fish stocks harvested within safe limits|website=JNCC|access-date=2024-12-14}} The UK gains sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone from July 2026, enabling it to enforce sustainable fishing practices and protect marine habitats. It is rich in a variety of other natural resources including coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica and an abundance of arable land.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/mines/coal/home.html |title=Coal |website=BGS Minerals UK |access-date=7 July 2015 |archive-date=26 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426141109/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/ |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Science and technology in the United Kingdom|Telecommunications in the United Kingdom}}

File:Cambridge Science Park Napp.jpg is the most intensive research cluster for science and technology in the world.{{Cite book |last=WIPO |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2022/index.html |title=Global Innovation Index 2022, 15th Edition |publisher=World Intellectual Property Organization |year=2022 |isbn=978-92-805-3432-0 |language=en |doi=10.34667/tind.46596 |access-date=16 November 2022 |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203061259/https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2022/index.html |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2021 |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2021 |access-date=5 March 2022 |website=World Intellectual Property Organization |publisher=United Nations |language=en |archive-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305010458/https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2021/ |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Release of the Global Innovation Index 2020: Who Will Finance Innovation? |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2020/index.html |access-date=2 September 2021 |website=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |archive-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603121259/https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2020/index.html |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2019 |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2019/index.html |access-date=2 September 2021 |website=World Intellectual Property Organization |language=en |archive-date=2 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902101818/https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2019/index.html |url-status=live }}; {{Cite web |title=RTD – Item |url=https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/rtd/items/691898 |access-date=2 September 2021 |website=ec.europa.eu |archive-date=2 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902140715/https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/rtd/items/691898 |url-status=live }}]]

England and Scotland were leading centres of the Scientific Revolution from the 17th century.Gascoin, J. "A reappraisal of the role of the universities in the Scientific Revolution", in Lindberg, David C. and Westman, Robert S., eds (1990), Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution. Cambridge University Press. p. 248. {{ISBN|978-0-521-34804-1}}. The United Kingdom led the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century, and has continued to produce scientists and engineers credited with important advances.Reynolds, E.E.; Brasher, N.H. (1966). Britain in the Twentieth Century, 1900–1964. Cambridge University Press. p. 336. {{OCLC|474197910}} Major theorists from the 17th and 18th centuries include Isaac Newton, whose laws of motion and illumination of gravity have been seen as a keystone of modern science;Burtt, E.A. (2003) 1924.[https://books.google.com/books?id=G9WBMa1Rz_kC&pg=PA207 The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164803/https://books.google.com/books?id=G9WBMa1Rz_kC&pg=PA207 |date=26 March 2023 }}. Mineola, NY: Courier Dover. p. 207. {{ISBN|978-0-486-42551-1}}. from the 19th century Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution by natural selection was fundamental to the development of modern biology, and James Clerk Maxwell, who formulated classical electromagnetic theory; and more recently Stephen Hawking, who advanced major theories in the fields of cosmology, quantum gravity and the investigation of black holes.Hatt, C. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BVBvehqrAPQC Scientists and Their Discoveries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164803/https://books.google.com/books?id=BVBvehqrAPQC |date=26 March 2023 }}. London: Evans Brothers. pp. 16, 30 and 46. {{ISBN|978-0-237-53195-9}}.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is responsible for helping to encourage, develop and manage the UK's scientific, research, and technological outputs. Scientific research and development remains important in British universities, with many establishing science parks to facilitate production and co-operation with industry.Castells, M.; Hall, P.; Hall, P.G. (2004). Technopoles of the World: the Making of Twenty-First-Century Industrial Complexes. London: Routledge. pp. 98–100. {{ISBN|978-0-415-10015-1}}. In 2022, the UK retained its number one spot for technology in Europe reaching a combined market value of $1 trillion. Cambridge was named the number one university in the world for producing successful technology founders.{{Cite web |date=21 July 2021 |title=London Has Officially Become the Technology Capital of Europe |url=https://brainstation.io/magazine/london-technology-capital-of-europe-100-unicorns |access-date=10 July 2023 |website=BrainStation |language=en-US |archive-date=7 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007093133/https://brainstation.io/magazine/london-technology-capital-of-europe-100-unicorns |url-status=live }} The UK ranked third globally in a 2024 report on artificial intelligence development.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-21 |title=Global AI Power Rankings: Stanford HAI Tool Ranks 36 Countries in AI |url=https://hai.stanford.edu/news/global-ai-power-rankings-stanford-hai-tool-ranks-36-countries-ai |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=hai.stanford.edu |language=en}}

In 2024, the UK ranked 5th in the Global Innovation Index, a position determined by approximately 80 indicators encompassing the political environment, education, infrastructure, and knowledge creation, among others.{{Cite web |title=Global Innovation Index 2024 : Unlocking the Promise of Social Entrepreneurship |url=https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2024/en/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=www.wipo.int |language=en}} During 2022, the UK produced 6.3% of the world's scientific research papers and had a 10.5% share of scientific citations, the third highest in the world for both. The UK ranked 1st in the world for Field-Weighted Citation Impact.{{Cite web |title=International comparison of the UK research base, 2022 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1078073/international-comparison-uk-research-base-2022-accompanying-note.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305235208/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1078073/international-comparison-uk-research-base-2022-accompanying-note.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2023 |access-date=11 March 2023}} (last checked 11 March 2023) Scientific journals produced in the UK include publications by the Royal Society, Nature, the British Medical Journal and The Lancet.{{Cite journal |last=McCook, Alison |year=2006 |title=Is peer review broken? |url=http://gaia.pge.utexas.edu/Good/Materials/scientist_02_28_2006.htm |journal=The Scientist |volume=20 |issue=2 |page=26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816230933/http://gaia.pge.utexas.edu/Good/Materials/scientist_02_28_2006.htm |archive-date=16 August 2011 |access-date=22 June 2011}}

{{Main|Transport in the United Kingdom}}

{{see|Transport in England|Transport in Scotland|Transport in Northern Ireland|Transport in Wales}}

File:An LNER Azuma train on the East Coast Railway Line, geograph 6275180 by Walter Baxter.jpg train in Northumberland]]

File:Heathrow Terminal 5C Iwelumo-1.jpg has the busiest city airport system in the world.]]

A radial road network totals {{Convert|29145|mi|km}} of main roads, {{Convert|2173|mi|km}} of motorways and {{Convert|213750|mi|km}} of paved roads. The M25, encircling London, is the largest and busiest bypass in the world.{{Cite book |last=Moran |first=Joe |url=https://archive.org/details/readingeveryday00mora |title=Reading the Everyday |date=16 November 2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-37216-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/readingeveryday00mora/page/n107 95] |url-access=limited}} In 2022, there were a total of 40.8 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain.{{cite web |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Freddie |title=RAC foundation traffic stats |url=https://www.racfoundation.org/motoring-faqs/mobility#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20Kingdom%2C%20there,the%20end%20of%20September%202022. |access-date=24 February 2023 |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224202503/https://www.racfoundation.org/motoring-faqs/mobility#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20Kingdom%2C%20there,the%20end%20of%20September%202022. |url-status=live }}

The UK has an extensive railway network of {{Convert|10072|mi|0|abbr=out}}. In Great Britain, the British Rail network was privatised between 1994 and 1997, followed by a rapid rise in passengers. Great British Railways is a planned state-owned public body that will oversee rail transport in Great Britain. The UK was ranked eighth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index assessing intensity of use, quality of service and safety.{{Cite web |last1=Sylvain Duranton |last2=Agnès Audier |last3=Joël Hazan |last4=Mads Peter Langhorn |last5=Vincent Gauche |date=18 April 2017 |title=The 2017 European Railway Performance Index |url=https://www.bcg.com/en-ch/publications/2017/transportation-travel-tourism-2017-european-railway-performance-index.aspx |publisher=Boston Consulting Group |access-date=4 February 2019 |archive-date=31 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531104458/https://www.bcg.com/en-ch/publications/2017/transportation-travel-tourism-2017-european-railway-performance-index.aspx |url-status=live }}

The UK has a train direct from London to Paris which takes 2hrs 16mins{{Cite web |title=London to Paris Trains |url=https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/train/london-to-paris |access-date=11 May 2024 |publisher=Eurostar|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511114452/https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/train/london-to-paris |archive-date=11 May 2024}} called the Eurostar, it travels through the Channel Tunnel under the English Channel, at 23.5 miles long it is the world's longest undersea tunnel.{{Cite web |title=Channel Tunnel, Tunnel, Europe |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Channel-Tunnel |access-date=11 May 2024 |publisher=Britannica|date=10 May 2024}} There is also a car service through the tunnel to France called LeShuttle. The Elizabeth line, a rail link running between East and West London, was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II in 2016 and opened in 2022. It was Europe's largest construction project at the time and is estimated to bring in £42 billion to the UK economy.{{Cite news |date=2 January 2012 |title=Crossrail's giant tunnelling machines unveiled |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16289051 |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-date=10 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410034914/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16289051 |url-status=live }}; {{Cite news |last=Leftly |first=Mark |date=29 August 2010 |title=Crossrail delayed to save £1bn |work=Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/crossrail-delayed-to-save-1631bn-2064629.html |access-date=22 August 2017 |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116062835/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/crossrail-delayed-to-save-1631bn-2064629.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Crossrail to become the Elizabeth line in honour of Her Majesty the Queen |url=https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2016/february/crossrail-to-become-the-elizabeth-line-in-honour-of-her-majesty-the-queen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225110413/https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2016/february/crossrail-to-become-the-elizabeth-line-in-honour-of-her-majesty-the-queen|archive-date=25 February 2023|website=Transport for London}} Another major infrastructure project is High Speed 2 (HS2), a new high speed railway under construction. It will link London with Birmingham, with the potential to extend further north and capable of speeds of up to 225 mph.{{Cite web |title=What is HS2 |url=https://www.hs2.org.uk/what-is-hs2 |website=HS2 |access-date=22 June 2022 |archive-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621190841/https://www.hs2.org.uk/what-is-hs2/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=HS2 Trains |url=https://www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/trains/ |website=HS2 |access-date=24 February 2023 |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224183953/https://www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/trains/ |url-status=live }}

In 2023, there were 4 billion bus journeys in the UK, 1.8 billion of which were in London.{{Cite web |title=Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2023 Domestic Travel |date=2024-12-19|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2024/transport-statistics-great-britain-2023-domestic-travel | website=gov.uk|access-date=2025-03-14}} The red double-decker bus has entered popular culture as an internationally recognised icon of England.{{Cite web |title=Our Collection |url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/index.html |access-date=16 August 2014 |publisher=icons.org.uk}} The London bus network is extensive, with over 6,800 scheduled services every weekday carrying about 6 million passengers on over 700 different routes making it one of the most extensive bus systems in the world and the largest in Europe.[http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/modesoftransport/1548.aspx London Buses], Transport for London. Accessed 10 May 2007.

During 2024, UK airports handled a total of 292.5 million passengers.{{Cite web |title=Size of Reporting Airports 2024 |url=https://www.caa.co.uk/Documents/Download/11910/4d230d1f-dab6-4c1a-992a-431b9cca89a2/16918 |access-date=17 January 2025 |publisher=Civil Aviation Authority}} In that period the three largest airports were London Heathrow Airport (83.9 million passengers), Gatwick Airport (43.2 million passengers) and Manchester Airport (30.8 million passengers). London Heathrow Airport, located {{Convert|15|mi|km|}} west of the capital, is the world's second busiest airport by international passenger traffic and has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world;{{Cite news |date=25 June 2008 |title=Heathrow 'needs a third runway' |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7472432.stm |access-date=17 October 2008}}; {{Cite press release |title=Statistics: Top 30 World airports |date=July 2008 |publisher=Airports Council International |url=http://www.aci.aero/aci/aci/file/Press%20Releases/2008/TOP30_International%20Passengers_2007.pdf |access-date=15 October 2008}} it is the hub for the UK flag carrier British Airways, as well as Virgin Atlantic.{{Cite news |date=29 October 2008 |title=BMI being taken over by Lufthansa |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7697261.stm |access-date=23 December 2009}} During 2023, 18.3 million passengers travelled internationally by rail and 18.1 million travelled internationally by sea.{{Cite web |title=Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2023 International Travel |date=2024-12-19|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2024/transport-statistics-great-britain-2023-international-travel|website=gov.uk|access-date=2025-03-04}}

{{Main|Energy in the United Kingdom}}

{{see|Energy in England|Energy in Scotland|Energy in Northern Ireland|Energy in Wales}}

File:Ardrossan's fan club. - panoramio.jpg in Scotland. The UK is the best site in Europe for wind energy, and its wind power production is its fastest-growing supply.]]

In 2021, the UK was the world's 14th-largest consumer of energy and the 22nd-largest producer.{{Cite web |title=United Kingdom Energy Profile |url=https://www.eia.gov/international/overview/country/GBR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228165225/https://www.eia.gov/international/overview/country/GBR |archive-date=28 February 2023 |access-date=28 February 2023 |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration}} The UK is home to many large energy companies, including two of the six major oil and gas companies{{snd}}BP and Shell.{{Cite news |last=Mason |first=Rowena |date=24 October 2009 |title=Let the battle begin over black gold |work=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/6424030/Let-the-battle-begin-over-black-gold.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=26 November 2010 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/6424030/Let-the-battle-begin-over-black-gold.html |archive-date=10 January 2022}}{{Cbignore}}; {{Cite news |last=Heath |first=Michael |date=26 November 2010 |title=RBA Says Currency Containing Prices, Rate Level 'Appropriate' in Near Term |work=Bloomberg |location=New York |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-25/rba-s-stevens-says-inflation-unlikely-to-fall-much-further.html |url-status=live |access-date=26 November 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722062837/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-25/rba-s-stevens-says-inflation-unlikely-to-fall-much-further.html |archive-date=22 July 2012}}

Renewable electricity sources provided 51% of the electricity generated in the UK in 2024. Wind power was the largest source of electricity in 2024, generating 30% of the UK's total electricity.{{Cite report |title=Britain's Electricity Explained: 2024 Review |url=https://www.neso.energy/news/britains-electricity-explained-2024-review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250126085830/https://www.neso.energy/news/britains-electricity-explained-2024-review |archive-date=26 January 2025 |access-date=26 January 2025 |publisher=NESO}} The UK has the largest offshore wind farm in the world, which is located off the coast of Yorkshire.{{Cite report |date=14 June 2021 |title=Wind energy in the UK: June 2021 |work=UK Government |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/windenergyintheuk/june2021 |access-date=8 May 2023}}

In 2023, the UK had nine nuclear reactors generating about 15% of the UK's electricity.{{Cite web |title=Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/united-kingdom.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228175735/https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/united-kingdom.aspx |archive-date=28 February 2023 |access-date=28 February 2023 |publisher=World Nuclear Association}} Unlike Germany and Japan, there are two reactors under construction and more planned.{{Cite web |date=April 2013 |title=Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom |url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf84.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214061431/http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf84.html |archive-date=14 February 2013 |access-date=9 April 2013 |publisher=World Nuclear Association}}{{Cite news |title=Nuclear energy: What you need to know |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuclear-energy-what-you-need-to-know |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228181113/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuclear-energy-what-you-need-to-know |archive-date=28 February 2023 |access-date=28 February 2023 |publisher=UK Government}} In the late 1990s, nuclear power plants contributed around 25% of the total annual electricity generation in the UK, but this has gradually declined as old plants have been shut down. The UK government is investing in small modular reactors that operate via nuclear fission, as well as in research and development toward commercial fusion reactors. To that end, the government entered into a partnership with the US in late 2023 to collaborate on fusion technology, with "a commercial grid-ready fusion reactor by 2040" stated as a goal.{{Cite news |title=UKAEA implementing the UK's fusion energy strategy |work=Open Access Government |date=7 March 2024 |url=https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/ukaea-implementing-the-uks-fusion-energy-strategy/174384/ |access-date=27 May 2024 |last1=Belderbos |first1=Harriet }};{{Cite magazine |title=UK nuclear fusion reactor sets new world record for energy output |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2415909-uk-nuclear-fusion-reactor-sets-new-world-record-for-energy-output/ |magazine=New Scientist |access-date=27 May 2024}}

At the end of 2023 it was estimated that there was 1.1 billion boe (barrels of oil equivalent) of "proven" and "probable" gas reserves and 2.3 billion boe of "proven" and "probable" oil reserves offshore, reducing reliance on imports for energy security and transitioning to renewables.{{Cite report |title=UK Oil and Gas Reserves and Resources |url=https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/media/vtjkyqnf/uk-reserves-and-resources-report-as-at-end-2023.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250113172052/https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/media/vtjkyqnf/uk-reserves-and-resources-report-as-at-end-2023.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2025 |access-date=1 February 2025 |publisher=North Sea Transition Authority}} Emissions from UK gas production are roughly four times lower than imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to the UK's oil and gas regulator.{{Cite news |title=North Sea oil and gas claims fact-checked |work=BBC |date=22 January 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67945281 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201182137/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67945281 |archive-date=1 February 2025 |access-date=1 February 2025}}

In September 2024 the last coal power station was closed, making coal no longer a power source in the UK. The UK currently has no fracking (hydraulic fracturing) for shale gas despite a large supply, due to environmental concerns.{{Cite news |title=UK's last fracking wells to be filled with cement despite dwindling gas stocks |date=29 January 2025 |url=https://www.cityam.com/uks-last-fracking-wells-to-be-filled-with-cement-despite-dwindling-gas-stocks/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201182917/https://www.cityam.com/uks-last-fracking-wells-to-be-filled-with-cement-despite-dwindling-gas-stocks/ |archive-date=1 February 2025 |access-date=1 February 2025 |work=City AM}}

{{Main|Water supply and sanitation in the United Kingdom}}

Access to improved water supply and sanitation in the UK is universal. It is estimated that 96% of households are connected to the sewer network.{{Cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69582/pb6655-uk-sewage-treatment-020424.pdf |title=Sewage Treatment in the UK |publisher=DEFRA |website=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |date=March 2022 |page=3 |id=PB 6655 |access-date=8 April 2023}} According to the Environment Agency, total water abstraction for public water supply in the UK was 16,406 megalitres per day in 2007.{{Cite web |title=Environment Agency |url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/data/112185.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125040346/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/data/112185.aspx |archive-date=25 November 2009}}

In England and Wales, water and sewerage services are provided by 10 private regional water and sewerage companies and 13 mostly smaller private "water only" companies. In Scotland, water and sewerage services are provided by a single public company, Scottish Water. In Northern Ireland, water and sewerage services are also provided by a single public entity, Northern Ireland Water.{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.niwater.com/about |access-date=29 August 2020 |publisher=niwater.com}}

{{Main|Demographics of the United Kingdom|British people}}

{{see|Ceremonial counties of England|Subdivisions of Scotland|Counties of Northern Ireland|Subdivisions of Wales}}

In the 2021 census, the population of the United Kingdom was 67,026,292.{{Cite web |date=21 December 2022 |title=Population estimates for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2021 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2021 |access-date=16 April 2025 |publisher=Office for National Statistics}} It is the fourth-largest in Europe (after Russia, Germany and France), the fifth-largest in the Commonwealth and the 22nd-largest in the world. In 2012 and 2013, births contributed the most to population growth. In 2014 and 2015, net international migration contributed more to population growth.{{Cite web |date=23 June 2016 |title=Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Mid-2015 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/latest |publisher=Office for National Statistics}} Between 2001 and 2011, the population increased at an average annual rate of 0.7%. The 2011 census also showed that, over the previous 100 years, the proportion of the population aged 0–14 fell from 31 to 18%, and the proportion of people aged 65 and over rose from 5 to 16%. In 2018, the median age of the UK population was 41.7 years.{{Citation |title=World Factbook EUROPE: United Kingdom |date=12 July 2018 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom}}

{{UK population table}}

England's population in 2021 was 56 million, representing some 84% of the UK total. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 434 people per square kilometre in mid-2021, with a particular concentration in London and the south-east.{{Cite news |last=Khan |first=Urmee |date=16 September 2008 |title=England is most crowded country in Europe |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2967374/England-is-most-crowded-country-in-Europe.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918221002/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2967374/England-is-most-crowded-country-in-Europe.html |archive-date=18 September 2008 |access-date=5 September 2009 |work=The Telegraph |location=London}} London's wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million in 2024.{{Cite web |title=Major Agglomerations |url=http://citypopulation.de/en/world/agglomerations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004094531/https://www.citypopulation.de/en/world/agglomerations/ |archive-date=4 October 2023 |access-date=16 October 2023}} The 2021 census put Scotland's population at 5.48 million, Wales at 3.1 million and Northern Ireland at 1.9 million.

In 2021, the total fertility rate across the UK was 1.53 children born per woman.{{Cite web |title=Vital statistics: population and health reference tables |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/vitalstatisticspopulationandhealthreferencetables |access-date=6 March 2018 |website=Office for National Statistics}} While a rising birth rate is contributing to population growth, it remains considerably below the baby boom peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964,{{Cite news |last=Boseley |first=Sarah |date=14 July 2008 |title=The question: What's behind the baby boom? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/14/familyandrelationships.women |access-date=28 August 2009 |work=The Guardian |location=London |page=3}} or the high of 6.02 children born per woman in 1815,{{Citation |last=Roser |first=Max |title=Total Fertility Rate around the world over the last centuries |date=2014 |work=Our World in Data, Gapminder Foundation |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=GBR |access-date=10 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705121623/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/children-born-per-woman?year=1800&country=GBR |archive-date=5 July 2019}} below the replacement rate of 2.1, but higher than the 2001 record low of 1.63.{{Cite web |title=Vital Statistics: Population and Health Reference Tables (February 2014 Update): Annual Time Series Data |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/vital-statistics--population-and-health-reference-tables/spring-2014-update/annual-table.xls |access-date=27 April 2014 |publisher=ONS}} In 2011, 47.3% of births in the UK were to unmarried women.[http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&plugin=0&language=en&pcode=tps00018 Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table]. Eurostat (26 February 2013). Retrieved 12 July 2013. The Office for National Statistics reported in 2015 that among the UK population aged 16 and over, 1.7% identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (2.0% of males and 1.5% of females); 4.5% of respondents responded with "other", "I don't know", or did not respond.{{Cite web |date=5 October 2016 |title=Sexual identity, UK: 2015 – Experimental Official Statistics on sexual identity in the UK in 2015 by region, sex, age, marital status, ethnicity and NS-SEC |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/sexuality/bulletins/sexualidentityuk/2015 |access-date=19 January 2017 |publisher=Office for National Statistics}} The number of transgender people in the UK was estimated to be between 65,000 and 300,000 by research between 2001 and 2008.{{Cite web |title=Research report 27: Trans research review |url=http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/our-work/key-projects/trans-inequalities-reviewed/introduction-to-the-review |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706020643/http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/our-work/key-projects/trans-inequalities-reviewed/introduction-to-the-review |archive-date=6 July 2015 |access-date=26 November 2021 |website=equalityhumanrights.com |page=v}}

{{Largest Urban Areas of the United Kingdom}}

{{Main|Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom}}

File:Ethnic demography of the United Kingdom from 1951 - 2021.gif

Historically, indigenous British people were thought to be descended from ethnic groups that settled there before the 12th century: the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Norse and the Normans. Welsh people could be the oldest ethnic group in the UK.{{Cite news |date=19 June 2012 |title=Welsh people could be most ancient in UK, DNA suggests |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18489735 |access-date=28 April 2013 |work=BBC News}} The UK has a history of non-white immigration with Liverpool having the oldest black population in the country, dating back to at least the 1730s during the African slave trade. During this period, it is estimated the Afro-Caribbean population of Great Britain was 10,000 to 15,000{{Cite web |date=13 January 2011 |title=Victoria and Albert Museum Black Presence |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/silver-service-slavery-the-black-presence-in-the-white-home/}} which later declined after the abolition of slavery.{{Cite book |last=Winder |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ORcaQIgdcEC&q=combed&pg=PT94 |title=Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain |publisher=Little, Brown Book |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-7481-2396-4}}; {{Cite book |last=Costello |first=Ray |title=Black Liverpool: The Early History of Britain's Oldest Black Community 1730–1918 |publisher=Picton Press |date=2001 |isbn=978-1-873245-07-1 |location=Liverpool}} The UK also has the oldest Chinese community in Europe, dating to the arrival of Chinese seamen in the 19th century.{{Cite web |title=Culture and Ethnicity Differences in Liverpool – Chinese Community |url=http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.1369 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724204513/http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server.php?show=ConWebDoc.1369 |archive-date=24 July 2009 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Chambré Hardman Trust}} In 2021, 83% of the UK population identified themselves as white, meaning 17% of the UK population identify themselves as of one of an ethnic minority group.{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/3/filter-outputs/2c225a7b-0b5a-4a56-825e-2d6df1c6be93 |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Office for National Statistics |language=en}}

Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. 46.2% of London's population and 59.1% of Leicester's was estimated to be non-white {{As of|lc=y|2021|}},{{Cite web |last=Post |first=HEPI Guest |date=2023-01-10 |title=Leicester – A super diverse-city |url=https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2023/01/10/leicester-a-super-diverse-city/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=HEPI |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Plumplot |title=London Census 2021. |url=https://www.plumplot.co.uk/London-census-2021.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=www.plumplot.co.uk |language=en}} whereas less than 10% of the populations of North East England, Wales and the South West were from ethnic minorities, according to the 2001 census.{{Cite web |title=Census 2001 – Ethnicity and religion in England and Wales |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/commentaries/ethnicity.asp |access-date=23 April 2008 |publisher=Office for National Statistics}} {{As of|2024|alt=In 2024}}, 37.4% of primary and 36.6% of secondary pupils at state schools in England were members of an ethnic minority.{{Cite web |title=Schools, pupils and their characteristics, Academic year 2023/24 |url=https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk |language=en}}

{{Main|Languages of the United Kingdom}}

The English language is the de facto official and most widely spoken language in the United Kingdom.{{Cite web |title=English language – Government, citizens and rights |url=http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012519 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121015000000/http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012519 |archive-date=15 October 2012 |access-date=23 August 2011 |website=Directgov}}{{Cite journal |last=Mac Sithigh |first=Daithí |date=17 May 2018 |title=Official status of languages in the UK and Ireland |url=https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/141540053/Status_OA_Feb_2018.pdf |journal=Common Law World Review |publisher=Queen's University, Belfast |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=77–102 |doi=10.1177/1473779518773642 |s2cid=219987922}} The United Kingdom promotes the language globally to build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.British Council {{Cite web |title=British Council | the UK's international culture and education organisation |url=https://www.britishcouncil.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201181104/https://www.britishcouncil.org/ |archive-date=1 February 2023 |access-date=5 December 2018}} (last checked 6 February 2023){{Cite web |title=About BBC Learning English |url=https://www.bbc.com/learningenglish/english/hygiene |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204204233/https://www.bbc.com/learningenglish/english/hygiene |archive-date=4 February 2023 |access-date=9 February 2023 |website=BBC}} It is estimated that 95% of the UK's population are monolingual English speakers.{{Cite web |title=Languages across Europe: United Kingdom |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/uk.shtml |access-date=4 February 2013 |website=BBC}} Over 5% of the population are estimated to speak languages brought to the UK as a result of immigration. South Asian languages are the largest group, which includes Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Sylheti, Hindi, Pahari-Pothwari, Tamil, and Gujarati.Carl Skutsch (2013). Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities. pp.1261. Routledge. Retrieved 3 December 2020. According to the 2011 census, Polish has become the second-largest language spoken in England and has 546,000 speakers.{{Cite news |last=Booth |first=Robert |date=30 January 2013 |title=Polish becomes England's second language |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jan/30/polish-becomes-englands-second-language |access-date=4 February 2012 |work=The Guardian |location=London}} In 2019, some three-quarters of a million people spoke little or no English.{{Cite news |date=23 April 2019 |title=The teenagers who translate for their parents |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-47982494/the-teenagers-who-translate-for-their-parents |access-date=23 April 2019 |work=BBC News}}

File:Bilingual welcome sign Newry.jpg (Irish and English) in Newry, Northern Ireland]]

Three indigenous Celtic languages are spoken in the UK: Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Cornish, which became extinct as a first language in the late 18th century, is being revived and has a small group of second language speakers.{{Cite book |last1=Track |first1=Robert Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLx9AgAAQBAJ&q=%E2%80%9Cthese+people+speak+the+dead+language+as+a+second+language%E2%80%9D&pg=PA63 |title=Language and Linguistics: The Key Concepts |last2=Stockwell, Peter |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-41358-9 |page=63 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=4 August 2019}}; {{Cite web |title=Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Strasbourg, 1.II.1995 |url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Council of Europe}}; {{Cite web |title=European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Strasbourg, 5.XI.1992 |url=http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/148.htm |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Council of Europe}} According to the 2021 census, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%).{{Cite web |date=6 December 2022 |title=Welsh language in Wales (Census 2021) |url=https://gov.wales/welsh-language-wales-census-2021-html |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=gov.wales |language=en}} In addition, it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England.{{Cite web |last=Wynn Thomas |first=Peter |date=March 2007 |title=Welsh today |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/welsh.shtml |access-date=5 July 2011 |website=Voices |publisher=BBC}} In the 2021 census in Northern Ireland 12.4% of people had some Irish language ability and 10.4% of people had some facility in the Ulster-Scots language.{{Cite web |title=Census 2021: Main statistics for Northern Ireland |url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-main-statistics-for-northern-ireland-phase-1-statistical-bulletin-language.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210110853/https://www.nisra.gov.uk/system/files/statistics/census-2021-main-statistics-for-northern-ireland-phase-1-statistical-bulletin-language.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2024 |access-date=10 February 2024}} Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides.{{Cite web |title=Scotland's Census 2001 – Gaelic Report |url=http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/news2005/scotlands-census-2001-gaelic-report.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522110328/http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/news2005/scotlands-census-2001-gaelic-report.html |archive-date=22 May 2013 |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=General Register Office for Scotland}} The number of children being taught either Welsh or Scottish Gaelic is increasing.{{Cite news |date=12 February 2009 |title=Local UK languages 'taking off' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7885493.stm |work=BBC News}} Scots, a language descended from early northern Middle English, has limited recognition alongside its regional variant, Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland, without specific commitments to protection and promotion.{{Cite web |title=Language Data – Scots |url=http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2449&Itemid=52&lang=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623185445/http://eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2449&Itemid=52&lang=en |archive-date=23 June 2007 |access-date=2 November 2008 |publisher=European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages}} As of April 2020, there are around 151,000 users of British Sign Language (BSL), a sign language used by deaf people, in the UK.{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Hannah |date=23 April 2020 |title='People are dying because of this': Calls for UK Gov to follow Scotland with sign language interpreter at Covid-19 briefing |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/people-are-dying-because-calls-uk-gov-follow-scotland-sign-language-interpreter-covid-19-briefing-2547989 |access-date=19 December 2021 |work=The Scotsman}}

{{Main|Religion in the United Kingdom}}

{{Pie chart

|thumb = right

|caption = Religion in the United Kingdom (2022 census){{Cite web |title=Religion - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS030/editions/2021/versions/1/filter-outputs/ab7776bd-b2ec-44f9-8acc-4c48a21eb41e#get-data |access-date=29 November 2022 |website=ons.gov.uk}}

|label1= Christianity

|value1 = 46.53

|color1 = DodgerBlue

|label2 = No religion

|value2 = 37.75

|color2 = Gold

|label3 = Islam

|value3 = 5.97

|color3 = Green

|label4 = Hinduism

|value4 = 1.59

|color4 = DarkOrange

|label5 = Sikhism

|value5 = 0.79

|color5 = Red

|label6 = Buddhism

|value6 = 0.43

|color6 = Yellow

|label7 = Judaism

|value7 = 0.41

|color7 = Indigo

|label8 = Other religion

|value8 = 0.58

|color8 = Black

|label9 = Not stated

|value9 = 5.91

|color9 = Brown

}}

Christianity has dominated religious life in the United Kingdom for more than 1,400 years.Cannon, John, ed. (2nd edn., 2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=TYnfhTq2M7EC&pg=PA144 A Dictionary of British History]. Oxford University Press. p. 144. {{ISBN|978-0-19-955037-1}}. Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,Field, Clive D. (November 2009). [http://www.brin.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/development-of-religious-statistics.pdf "British religion in numbers"]. BRIN Discussion Series on Religious Statistics, Discussion Paper 001. Retrieved 7 March 2015. while immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of Islam and other faiths.Yilmaz, Ihsan (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ryrD2YODzxUC&pg=PA291 Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey, and Pakistan]. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 55–56. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-4389-0}}. This has led some commentators to describe the UK as a multi-faith,Brown, Callum G. (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ryrD2YODzxUC&pg=PA291 Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain]. Harlow: Pearson Education. p. 291. {{ISBN|978-0-582-47289-1}}. secularised,Norris, Pippa; Inglehart, Ronald (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=dto-P2YfWJIC&pg=PA84 Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide]. Cambridge University Press. p. 84. {{ISBN|978-0-521-83984-6}}. or post-Christian society.Fergusson, David (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Owz4aBSEINgC&pg=PA94 Church, State and Civil Society]. Cambridge University Press. p. 94. {{ISBN|978-0-521-52959-4}}.

In the 2021 census, 46.5% of respondents reported that they were Christians, with the next largest faiths being Islam (5.9%), Hinduism (1.6%), Sikhism (0.8%), Buddhism (0.4%), Judaism (0.4%), and all other religions (0.6%). Of the respondents, 38% stated that they had no religion and a further 6% stated no religious preference. A Tearfund survey in 2007 showed that only one in ten Britons attend church weekly.{{Cite web |date=4 April 2007 |title=United Kingdom: New Report Finds Only One in 10 Attend Church |url=http://news.adventist.org/2007/04/uite-kigom-ew-report-fis-oly-oe-i-10-atte-church.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213155625/http://news.adventist.org/2007/04/uite-kigom-ew-report-fis-oly-oe-i-10-atte-church.html |archive-date=13 December 2011 |access-date=9 March 2015 |website=News.adventist.org}} Between the 2001 and 2011 census, there was a 12% decrease in those who identified as Christian, while the percentage reporting no religious affiliation doubled. This contrasted with growth in the other main religious group categories, with the number of Muslims increasing the most to about 5%.{{Cite news |last=Philby |first=Charlotte |date=12 December 2012 |title=Less religious and more ethnically diverse: Census reveals a picture of Britain today |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/less-religious-and-more-ethnically-diverse-census-reveals-a-picture-of-britain-today-8406506.html |work=Independent |location=London}} The Muslim population has increased from 1.6 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2011, making it the second-largest religious group in the UK.{{Cite web |date=4 April 2013 |title=The percentage of the population with no religion has increased in England and Wales |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-england-and-wales/sty-religion.html |website=Office for National Statistics}}

The Church of England is the established church.{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=The History of the Church of England |url=http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221212004/http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/history |archive-date=21 February 2010 |access-date=23 November 2008 |website=The Church of England}} It retains representation in the UK Parliament, and the British monarch is its Supreme Governor.{{Cite web |title=Queen and Church of England |url=http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page4708.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008203611/http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page4708.asp |archive-date=8 October 2006 |access-date=5 June 2010 |publisher=British Monarchy Media Centre}} In Scotland, the Church of Scotland is the national church. It is not subject to state control, and the British monarch is an ordinary member, required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government" upon his or her accession.{{Cite web |title=Queen and the Church |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/QueenandChurch/History.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605025533/http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/QueenandChurch/History.aspx |archive-date=5 June 2011 |publisher=The British Monarchy (Official Website)}}{{Cite web |date=22 February 2010 |title=Our structure |url=https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about-us/our-structure |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125192732/https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/about-us/our-structure |archive-date=25 January 2020 |website=churchofscotland.org.uk}} The Church in Wales was disestablished in 1920 and, because the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1870 before the partition of Ireland, there is no established church in Northern Ireland.Weller, Paul (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=tHc88PzAPLMC&pg=PA80 Time for a Change: Reconfiguring Religion, State, and Society]. London: Continuum. pp. 79–80. {{ISBN|978-0-567-08487-3}}. Although there are no UK-wide data in the 2001 census on adherence to individual Christian denominations, it has been estimated that 62% of Christians are Anglican, 13.5% Catholic, 6% Presbyterian, and 3.4% Methodist, with smaller numbers of other denominations.Peach, Ceri, [https://books.google.com/books?id=i6ER_z8gcD4C "United Kingdom, a major transformation of the religious landscape"], in H. Knippenberg. ed. (2005). The Changing Religious Landscape of Europe. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis. pp. 44–58. {{ISBN|978-90-5589-248-8}}.

{{Main|Historical immigration to Great Britain|Modern immigration to the United Kingdom}}

{{See also|Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom}}

File:United Kingdom foreign born population by country of birth.png

File:British expats countrymap.svg

Immigration is contributing to a rising UK population,{{Cite news |date=21 August 2008 |title=Immigration and births to non-British mothers pushes British population to record high |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/immigration-and-births-to-nonbritish-mothers-pushes-british-population-to-record-high-6816318.html |work=London Evening Standard}}{{cite news |title=Migration: How many people come to the UK and how are the salary rules changing? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48785695 |work=BBC News |date=23 May 2024}} with arrivals and UK-born children of migrants accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. According to statistics released in 2015, 27% of UK live births in 2014 were to mothers born outside the UK.{{Cite web |date=15 July 2015 |title=Births in England and Wales: 2014 |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/birth-summary-tables--england-and-wales/2014/index.html |website=Office for National Statistics}} The ONS reported that net migration rose from 2009 to 2010 by 21% to 239,000.{{Cite news |last=Travis |first=Alan |date=25 August 2011 |title=UK net migration rises 21 per cent |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/aug/25/uk-net-migration-rises-21 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}

In 2013, approximately 208,000 foreign nationals were naturalised as British citizens, the highest number since 1962. This figure fell to around 125,800 in 2014. Between 2009 and 2013, the average number of British citizenships granted annually was 195,800. The most common origins of those naturalised in 2024 were, Pakistani, Indian, Nigerian, Filipino, Bangladeshi, Italian, Turkish, Romanian, Iranian and Iranian. The number of grants of settlement, which confer permanent residence in the UK but not citizenship,{{Cite web |last=Blinder |first=Scott |date=11 June 2014 |title=Settlement in the UK |url=http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/settlement-uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906232123/http://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/briefings/settlement-uk |archive-date=6 September 2015 |access-date=1 August 2015 |publisher=The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford}} was approximately 154,700 in 2013, higher than the previous two years.{{Cite web |last=Blinder |first=Scott |date=27 March 2015 |title=Naturalisation as a British Citizen: Concepts and Trends |url=http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/migobs/Briefing%20-%20Naturalisation%20as%20a%20British%20Citizen%20-%20Concepts%20and%20Trends_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150916052200/http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/migobs/Briefing%20-%20Naturalisation%20as%20a%20British%20Citizen%20-%20Concepts%20and%20Trends_0.pdf |archive-date=16 September 2015 |access-date=1 August 2015 |publisher=The Migration Observatory, University of Oxford}} Long-term net migration (the number of people immigrating minus the number emigrating) reached a record of 764,000 in 2022, with immigration at 1.26 million and emigration at 493,000.{{cite news |title=Net migration drops to 685,000 after hitting record levels, as even more arrived in UK last year than previously thought |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/net-migration-drops-to-685-000/ |date=23 May 2024 |work=LBC}} In 2023, net migration was 685,000; 10% of the total who came to the UK in that year were EU Nationals. More EU Nationals left the UK than arrived.

Emigration was an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930, around 11.4 million people emigrated from Britain and 7.3 million from Ireland. Estimates show that by the end of the 20th century, some 300 million people of British and Irish descent were permanently settled around the globe.Richards (2004), pp. 6–7. In 2006 at least 5.5 million UK-born people lived abroad,{{Cite web |last1=Sriskandarajah |first1=Dhananjayan |last2=Drew |first2=Catherine |date=11 December 2006 |title=Brits Abroad: Mapping the scale and nature of British emigration |url=http://www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=509 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828011816/http://www.ippr.org/publicationsandreports/publication.asp?id=509 |archive-date=28 August 2007 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Institute for Public Policy Research}}{{Cite news |title=Brits Abroad: world overview |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html/default.stm |access-date=20 April 2007 |publisher=BBC}}; {{Cite news |last=Casciani |first=Dominic |date=11 December 2006 |title=5.5 m Britons 'opt to live abroad' |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6210358.stm |access-date=20 April 2007}} mainly in Australia, Spain, the United States and Canada.{{Cite news |date=11 December 2006 |title=Brits Abroad: Country-by-country |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6161705.stm |work=BBC News}}

{{Main|Education in the United Kingdom|Universities in the United Kingdom}}

{{Further|Education in England|Education in Scotland|Education in Wales|Education in Northern Ireland}}

File:1 christ church hall 2012.jpg is widely regarded as one of the world's leading universities.]]

Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with each country having a separate education system. About 38% of the United Kingdom population has a university or college degree, which is the highest percentage in Europe, and among the highest percentage in the world.{{Cite web |date=24 September 2012 |title=The Most Educated Countries in the World |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-most-educated-countries-in-the-world.html;_ylt=AlaWy8IcyeBaviKi7_.WJyhE6odG;_ylu=X3oDMTJrY2d2NGZyBG1pdANDeFMgRmluYW5jaWFsbHkgRml0IEFydGljbGUgQXJ0aWNsZSBCb2R5IFByb2QEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQXJ0aWNsZUJvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTNjdGVoaXJqBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDY2IyOTRhMGEtYmY2OS0zYTdlLThlYTUtZWFlNTU3YWI1ZTc3BHBzdGNhdANleGNsdXNpdmVzfGZpbmFuY2lhbGx5Zml0BHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3?page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204213400/http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-most-educated-countries-in-the-world.html%3B_ylt%3DAlaWy8IcyeBaviKi7_.WJyhE6odG%3B_ylu%3DX3oDMTJrY2d2NGZyBG1pdANDeFMgRmluYW5jaWFsbHkgRml0IEFydGljbGUgQXJ0aWNsZSBCb2R5IFByb2QEcG9zAzMEc2VjA01lZGlhQXJ0aWNsZUJvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--%3B_ylg%3DX3oDMTNjdGVoaXJqBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDY2IyOTRhMGEtYmY2OS0zYTdlLThlYTUtZWFlNTU3YWI1ZTc3BHBzdGNhdANleGNsdXNpdmVzfGZpbmFuY2lhbGx5Zml0BHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--%3B_ylv%3D3?page=1 |archive-date=4 February 2016 |access-date=20 April 2016 |website=Yahoo Finance}}; {{Cite magazine |date=27 September 2012 |title=And the World's Most Educated Country Is… |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/09/27/and-the-worlds-most-educated-country-is/ |magazine=Time |location=New York |access-date=20 April 2016}} The United Kingdom is home to many universities, including the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge which often achieve first place on global rankings.{{Cite web |title=The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 |date=25 September 2023 |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2024/world-ranking |access-date=17 April 2024 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=QS World University Rankings 2024|url=https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2024 |access-date=17 April 2024 |language=en}}

University education has varied tuition fees in different regions of the UK. England and Wales have a fixed maximum annual fee for all UK citizens, contingent on attaining a certain level of income. Only those who reach a certain salary threshold (£21,000) pay this fee through general taxation. Northern Ireland and Scotland have a reduced maximum fee or no fee for citizens where it is their home region. Some NHS courses have bursaries which pay the fee and in 2017 it was stated that each doctor gets subsidised by £230,000 during their training.{{Cite web |date=20 October 2014 |title=Undergraduate Tuition Fess and Student Loans |url=https://www.ucas.com/money-and-student-life/money/student-finance/undergraduate-tuition-fees-and-student-loans |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=UCAS}}{{Cite web |title=More undergraduate medical education places |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-undergraduate-medical-education-places |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=gov.uk}}

In 2022, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, ranked the overall knowledge and skills of British 15-year-olds as 14th in the world in reading, mathematics and science. The average British student scored 494, above the OECD average of 478.{{Cite web |title=PISA 2022 Results |url=https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/pisa-scores-by-country |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=Data Pandas}}{{Cite web |title=PISA 2022 UK Results |url=https://www.oecd.org/publication/pisa-2022-results/country-notes/united-kingdom-9c15db47#chapter-d1e11 |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=OECD|date=4 December 2023 }}

{{Main||Healthcare in the United Kingdom}}{{Further|Healthcare in England|Healthcare in Scotland|Healthcare in Wales|}}File:QEUH.jpg's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, the largest hospital campus in Europe]]

The modern system of universal publicly funded healthcare in the United Kingdom has its origins in the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1949, which still exists and is the primary healthcare provider in the United Kingdom. The widespread popularity of the NHS has led to it being described as a "national religion".{{Cite news |last=Gill |first=Martha |date=9 July 2023 |title=To those who claim the NHS has turned into a British religion, I say: keep the faith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/09/nhs-british-religion-keep-faith-nhs-at-75 |access-date=16 July 2023 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=14 April 2020 |title=Is the NHS our new national religion? – Religion Media Centre |url=https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/news/is-the-nhs-our-new-national-religion/ |access-date=16 July 2023 |website=religionmediacentre.org.uk}} Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter and each country has its own system of universal publicly funded healthcare, although private healthcare is also available. Public healthcare is provided to all UK permanent residents and is mostly free at the point of need, being paid for from general taxation. The World Health Organization, in 2000, ranked the provision of healthcare in the United Kingdom as fifteenth best in Europe and eighteenth in the world.{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/worldhealthrepor00worl |title=The world health report 2000 – Health systems: improving performance |publisher=World Health Organization |date=2000 |isbn=978-92-4-156198-3 |editor-last=Haden |editor-first=Angela |location=Geneva |access-date=5 July 2011 |editor-last2=Campanini |editor-first2=Barbara}}; {{Cite web |last=World Health Organization |author-link=World Health Organization |title=Measuring overall health system performance for 191 countries |url=http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~wgreene/Statistics/WHO-COMP-Study-30.pdf |access-date=5 July 2011 |publisher=New York University}}

Since 1979, expenditure on healthcare has increased significantly.{{Cite journal |last=Fisher |first=Peter |title=The NHS from Thatcher to Blair |url=http://www.healthp.org/node/71 |journal=NHS Consultants Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120124807/http://www.healthp.org/node/71 |archive-date=20 November 2018 |access-date=19 December 2018 |quote=The Budget ... was even more generous to the NHS than had been expected amounting to an annual rise of 7.4 per cent above the rate of inflation for the next five years. This would take us to 9.4 per cent of GDP spent on health ie around EU average.}} The 2018 OECD data, which incorporates in health a chunk of what in the UK is classified as social care, has the UK spending £3,121 per person.{{Cite news |date=24 September 2019 |title=Swindells: They aren't 'your' patients |url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/policy-and-regulation/swindells-they-arent-your-patients/7025988.article? |access-date=19 November 2019 |publisher=Health Service Journal}} In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, near the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.{{Cite news |date=29 August 2019 |title=How does UK healthcare spending compare with other countries? |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthcaresystem/articles/howdoesukhealthcarespendingcomparewithothercountries/2019-08-29 |access-date=5 October 2019 |publisher=Office of National Statistics}}

Regulatory bodies are organised on a UK-wide basis such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and non-governmental-based, such as the Royal Colleges. Political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national executives; healthcare in England is the responsibility of the UK Government; healthcare in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive; healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government; and healthcare in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. Each National Health Service has different policies and priorities, resulting in contrasts.{{Cite news |date=28 August 2008 |title='Huge contrasts' in devolved NHS |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7586147.stm |work=BBC News}}; {{Cite news |last=Triggle |first=Nick |date=2 January 2008 |title=NHS now four different systems |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7149423.stm}}

{{Main|Culture of the United Kingdom}}

The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by the nation's island status, its history, and being a political union of four countries with each preserving distinctive traditions, customs and symbolism. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies, in particular, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland, a common culture known as the Anglosphere.{{Cite book |last=Julian Go |title=Constitutionalism and political reconstruction |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-15174-1 |editor-last=Arjomand |editor-first=Saïd Amir |pages=92–94 |chapter=A Globalizing Constitutionalism?, Views from the Postcolony, 1945–2000 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYmmnYKEvE0C&pg=PA94}}{{Sfn|Ferguson|2004|p=307}} The influence of the United Kingdom has led to it being described as a cultural superpower.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.britishpoliticssociety.no/British%20Politics%20Review%2001_2011.pdf |title=The cultural superpower: British cultural projection abroad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916155419/http://www.britishpoliticssociety.no/British%20Politics%20Review%2001_2011.pdf|archive-date=16 September 2018 |url-status=dead |journal=British Politics Review |location=Norway |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=Winter 2011 |issn=1890-4505 |publisher=British Politics Society}}{{Cite news |last=Sheridan |first=Greg |date=15 May 2010 |title=Cameron has chance to make UK great again |work=The Australian |location=Sydney |url= http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/cameron-has-chance-to-make-uk-great-again/story-e6frg6zo-1225866975992 |access-date=20 May 2012}} A global survey in 2023 ranked the UK 3rd in the 'Most Influential Countries' rankings, behind the US and China.{{Cite web |title=Most Influential Countries |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/most-influential-countries |access-date=14 March 2024 |website=U.S. News & World Report}}

{{Main|British literature}}

{{multiple image

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| image1 = PG 1063Burns Naysmith.jpg

| alt1 = Robert Burns

| caption1 = Robert Burns (1759–1796)

| image2 = William Shakespeare by John Taylor, edited.jpg

| alt2 = William Shakespeare

| caption2 = William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

| footer = Burns and Shakespeare are considered the national poets of Scotland and England respectively.

}}

British literature includes that associated with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Most British literature is in English. In 2022, 669 million physical books were sold in the UK, which is the most ever.{{Cite web |title=UK publishing industry reports record-breaking year in 2022 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/17/uk-publishing-industry-reports-record-breaking-year-in-2022 |access-date=9 May 2024 |work=The Guardian|date=17 April 2023}} Britain is renowned for children's literature, writers includes Daniel Defoe, Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll and Beatrix Potter who also illustrated her own books. Other writers include A.A. Milne, Enid Blyton, J.R.R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl, Terry Pratchett, and J.K. Rowling who wrote the best selling book series of all time.{{Cite web |title=Best-selling Book Series Of All Time |url=https://wordsrated.com/best-selling-book-series-of-all-time-statistics/ |access-date=18 May 2024 |publisher=Wordsrated|date=20 July 2023}}

The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is generally regarded as the greatest dramatist ever.{{Cite web |title=William Shakespeare (English author) |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/537853/William-Shakespeare |access-date=26 February 2006 |publisher=Britannica Online encyclopedia}}; {{Cite encyclopedia |title=MSN Encarta Encyclopedia article on Shakespeare |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562101/Shakespeare.html |access-date=26 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209154055/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562101/Shakespeare.html |archive-date=9 February 2006}}; {{Cite encyclopedia |title=William Shakespeare |publisher=Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Shakespeare%2c+William |access-date=26 February 2006}} Other important English writers are Geoffrey Chaucer, known for The Canterbury Tales, the poet William Wordsworth, and other romantic poets, also the novelists Charles Dickens, H. G. Wells, George Orwell, and Ian Fleming. The 20th-century English crime writer Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time.{{Cite news |date=19 December 2005 |title=Mystery of Christie's success is solved |work=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1505799/Mystery-of-Christies-success-is-solved.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 November 2010 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1505799/Mystery-of-Christies-success-is-solved.html |archive-date=10 January 2022}}{{Cbignore}} Twelve of the top 25 of 100 novels by British writers chosen by a BBC poll of global critics were written by women; these included works by George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Charlotte, Emily Brontë, Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Doris Lessing, and Zadie Smith.{{Cite news |last=Ciabattari |first=Jane |date=December 2015 |title=The 25 greatest British novels |work=BBC Culture |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20151204-the-25-greatest-british-novels |access-date=29 December 2021}}

Scotland's contributions include Arthur Conan Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Holmes), Sir Walter Scott, J. M. Barrie, Robert Louis Stevenson, and the poet Robert Burns. More recently Hugh MacDiarmid and Neil M. Gunn contributed to the Scottish Renaissance, with grimmer works from Ian Rankin and Iain Banks. Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, was UNESCO's first worldwide City of Literature.{{Cite web |year=2004 |title=Edinburgh, United Kingdom, UNESCO City of Literature |url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-industries/creative-cities-network/literature/edinburgh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528152834/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-industries/creative-cities-network/literature/edinburgh |archive-date=28 May 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=9 March 2015 |work=Unesco}}

Welsh literature includes Britain's oldest known poem, Y Gododdin, which was composed most likely in the late 6th century. It was written in Cumbric or Old Welsh and contains the earliest known reference to King Arthur.{{Cite web |title=Early Welsh poetry |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/language_poetry.shtml |access-date=29 December 2010 |work=BBC Wales}} The Arthurian legend was further developed by Geoffrey of Monmouth.{{Cite book |last=Lang, Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKJiPyyTevgC |title=History of English Literature from Beowulf to Swinburne |publisher=Wildside Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8095-3229-2 |location=Holicong, PA |page=42 |orig-date=1913}} Poet Dafydd ap Gwilym (fl. 1320–1370) is regarded as one of the greatest European poets of his age.{{Cite web |year=2011 |title=Dafydd ap Gwilym |url=http://www.academi.org/dafydd-ap-gwilym-eng |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324034938/http://www.literaturewales.org/dafydd-ap-gwilym-eng |archive-date=24 March 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=3 January 2011 |website=Academi.org |quote=Dafydd ap Gwilym is widely regarded as one of the greatest Welsh poets of all time, and amongst the leading European poets of the Middle Ages.}} Daniel Owen is credited as the first Welsh-language novelist, publishing Rhys Lewis in 1885. The best-known of the Anglo-Welsh poets are Dylan Thomas and R. S. Thomas, the latter nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. Leading Welsh novelists of the twentieth century include Richard Llewellyn and Kate Roberts.{{Cite web|url=http://newsalerts.bbc.co.uk/1/low/wales/551486.stm |title=True birthplace of Wales's literary hero |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316173733/http://newscdn.bbc.net.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/551486.stm |archive-date=16 March 2020 |url-status=dead |website=BBC News |date=5 December 1999 |access-date=28 April 2012}}{{Cite web |title=Kate Roberts: Biography |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/halloffame/arts/kateroberts.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724104228/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/halloffame/arts/kateroberts.shtml |archive-date=24 July 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=19 February 2017 |website=BBC Wales}}

Northern Ireland's most popular writer is C. S. Lewis who was born in Belfast and wrote The Chronicles of Narnia.{{Cite web |title=The Chronicles of Narnia Book Series Statistics |url=https://wordsrated.com/the-chronicles-of-narnia-book-series-statistics/ |access-date=18 May 2024 |publisher=Wordsrated|date=19 July 2023}} Irish writers, living at a time when all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, include Oscar Wilde,{{Cite book |last=Varty |first=Anne |title=A Preface to Oscar Wilde |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-89231-1 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=A9YFBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA231 231–232]}}; {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Oscar Wilde |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |publisher=Cengage |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/english-literature-19th-cent-biographies/oscar-wilde |access-date=10 December 2019}} Bram Stoker,{{Cite book |last=Moss |first=Joyce |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780787637286 |title=British and Irish Literature and Its Times: The Victorian Era to the Present (1837–) |publisher=Gale Group |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7876-3729-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780787637286/page/107 107] |url-access=registration}} and George Bernard Shaw.{{Cite book |last=Holroyd |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/bernardshaw00holr/page/384 |title=Bernard Shaw, Volume 2: 1898–1918: The Pursuit of Power |publisher=Chatto & Windus |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-7011-3350-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bernardshaw00holr/page/384 384] }}; {{Cite web |title=G B Shaw |url=https://www.bl.uk/people/g-b-shaw |access-date=10 December 2019 |website=Discovering Literature: 20th century |publisher=British Library |archive-date=9 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809155152/https://www.bl.uk/people/g-b-shaw |url-status=dead }} There have been many authors whose origins were from outside the United Kingdom but who moved to the UK, including Joseph Conrad,{{Cite book |last=Middleton |first=Tim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Azd1f8NBpUoC&pg=PA159 |title=Joseph Conrad |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-26851-6 |page=159}} T. S. Eliot,{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=John Xiros |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XqmNjQzhwV4C&pg=PA111 |title=The Cambridge Introduction to T. S. Eliot |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-45790-3 |page=111}} Kazuo Ishiguro,{{Cite book |last=Sim |first=Wai-chew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcKLAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT201 |title=Kazuo Ishiguro |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-19867-1 |page=201}} Sir Salman Rushdie,{{Cite web |title=Salman Rushdie |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100433765 |access-date=10 December 2019 |website=Oxford Reference |publisher=Oxford University Press}} and Ezra Pound.{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=James |date=17 May 2008 |title=Home from home |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/17/poetry3 |access-date=10 December 2019}}; {{Cite book |last=Nadel |first=Ira |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECiGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 |title=Ezra Pound: A Literary Life |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-37881-0 |page=90}}

{{Main|British philosophy}}

The United Kingdom is famous for 'British Empiricism', a branch of the philosophy that states that only knowledge verified by experience is valid, and 'Scottish Philosophy', sometimes referred to as the 'Scottish School of Common Sense'.{{Cite book |url=http://www.rrbltd.co.uk/bibliographies/scottish_v5_bibliog.pdf |title=A bibliography of Scottish common sense philosophy: Sources and origins |publisher=Thoemmes Press |year=2000 |editor-last=Fieser, James |location=Bristol |access-date=17 December 2010 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409171906/https://www.rrbltd.co.uk/bibliographies/scottish_v5_bibliog.pdf |url-status=dead }} The most famous philosophers of British Empiricism are John Locke, George Berkeley{{Efn|Berkeley is in fact Irish but was called a 'British empiricist' due to the territory of what is now known as the Republic of Ireland being in the UK at the time.}} and David Hume; while Dugald Stewart, Thomas Reid, and William Hamilton were major exponents of the Scottish "common sense" school. Two Britons are also notable for the ethical theory of utilitarianism, a moral philosophy first used by Jeremy Bentham and later by John Stuart Mill in his short work Utilitarianism.{{Cite book |last=Palmer, Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s7y5MJOuN30C&pg=PA66 |title=Moral Problems in Medicine: A Practical Coursebook |publisher=Lutterworth Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-7188-2978-0 |location=Cambridge |page=66}}; {{Cite book |last=Scarre, Geoffrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8A4xLnzfqYwC&pg=PA82 |title=Utilitarianism |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-415-12197-2 |location=London |page=82}}

{{Main|Music of the United Kingdom}}

{{see|Music of England (disambiguation){{!}}Music of England|Music of Scotland|Music of Northern Ireland|Music of Wales}}

File:Royal Albert Hall, BBC Proms 2017.jpg is a classical music festival, most closely associated with Henry Wood and held at the Royal Albert Hall, which regularly plays music by Edward Elgar and other British composers.]]

Various styles of music have become popular in the UK, including the folk music of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Historically, there has been exceptional Renaissance music from the Tudor period, with masses, madrigals and lute music by Thomas Tallis, John Taverner, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, and John Dowland. After the Stuart Restoration, an English tradition of dramatic masques, anthems and airs became established, led by Henry Purcell, followed by Thomas Arne and others. George Frideric Handel composed the anthem Zadok the Priest for the coronation of George II; it became the traditional ceremonial music for anointing all future monarchs. Handel's many oratorios, such as his famous Messiah, were written in English.{{Cite web |date=20 July 2009 |title=British Citizen by Act of Parliament: George Frideric Handel |url=http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_publications_and_archives/parliamentary_archives/handel_and_naturalisation.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326164147/http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_publications_and_archives/parliamentary_archives/handel_and_naturalisation.cfm |archive-date=26 March 2010 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=UK Parliament}}; {{Cite news |last=Andrews |first=John |date=14 April 2006 |title=Handel all'inglese |work=Playbill |location=New York |url=http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/4236.html |access-date=11 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516210558/http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/4236.html |archive-date=16 May 2008}} In the second half of the 19th century, Arthur Sullivan and his librettist W. S. Gilbert wrote their popular Savoy operas, and Edward Elgar composed a wide range of music. Increasingly, however, composers became inspired by the English countryside and its folk music, notably Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten, a pioneer of modern British opera. Among the many post-war composers, some of the most notable have made their own personal choice of musical identity: Peter Maxwell Davies (Orkney), Harrison Birtwistle (mythological), and John Tavener (religious).{{Cite Grove|title=Great Britain|first1=Nicholas|last1=Iemperley|date = 2002| url =https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O006236 |url-access=subscription}}; {{Cite Grove|title=England (i)|date = 2001| url = https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40044|url-access= subscription|first1=Stephen|last1= Banfield|first2= Ian|last2= Russell}}; {{Cite Grove|title=Wales| date=2001|first1=Geraint|last1= Lewis|first2= Lyn|last2= Davies|first3= Phyllis|last3= Kinney| url =

https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.41108 | url-access=subscription}}; {{Cite Grove|title=Scotland| first1=Kenneth |last1= Elliott| first2= Francis|last2= Collinson| first3= Peggy |last3= Duesenberry |url = https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40113 | url-access = subscription | date = 2001}}; {{Cite Grove|title= Ireland| first1 = Harry |last1=White |first2 = Nicholas| last2= Carolan|

url= https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.13901|url-access= subscription| date = 2011}}; {{Cite web |title=British 20th century composers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zdjw7p3/revision/1 |access-date=21 April 2022 |website=BBC}} Recent classical singers include: Alfie Boe, Bryn Terfel, Katherine Jenkins, Michael Ball, Roderick Williams, Russell Watson, and Sarah Brightman, while Nicola Benedetti and Nigel Kennedy are renowned for their violin ability.{{Cite web |date=21 June 2022 |title=30 of the greatest violinists on record |url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/30-of-the-greatest-violinists-on-record |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=Gramophone}};{{Cite web |date=1 January 2020 |title=Katherine Jenkins has officially sold the most classical albums this century |url=https://www.classicfm.com/radio/shows-presenters/classic-fm-chart/katherine-jenkins-most-classical-albums/ |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=Classic FM}};{{Cite web |date=6 May 2023 |title=Who is Roderick Williams, the British baritone and composer at the King's coronation? |url=https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/roderick-williams-composer-baritone-singing-roles/ |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=Classic FM}};{{Cite web |date=23 February 2024 |title=Michael Ball |url=https://www.eno.org/artists/michael-ball-2/ |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=English National Opera}};{{Cite web |title=Alfie Bow |url=https://www.classicfm.com/artists/alfie-boe/ |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=Classic FM}};{{Cite web |date=11 July 2023|title=Sarah Brightman facts |url=https://www.smoothradio.com/news/music/sarah-brightman-age-husband-songs/ |access-date=4 March 2024 |website=Smooth Radio}}

According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the term "pop music" originated in Britain in the mid-1950s to describe rock and roll's fusion with the "new youth music".R. Middleton, et al., [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/book/omo_gmo "Pop"], Grove music online, retrieved 14 March 2010. {{Subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113160329/http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/book/omo_gmo|date=13 January 2011}} The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that artists such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones drove pop music to the forefront of popular music in the early 1960s."Pop", [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/book/omo_t237 The Oxford Dictionary of Music], retrieved 9 March 2010.{{Subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112170116/http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/public/book/omo_t237|date=12 November 2017}} Birmingham became known as the birthplace of heavy metal, with the band Black Sabbath starting there in the 1960s.{{Cite news |title=Birmingham, England ... the unlikely birthplace of heavy metal |language=en |work=CNN |date=1 July 2011 |first1=Laura |last1=Allsop |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/01/birmingham.home.of.metal/index.html |access-date=28 February 2022 |postscript=;}} {{Cite web |last=Bentley |first=David |date=4 June 2013 |title=Midlands rocks! How Birmingham's industrial heritage made it the birthplace of heavy metal |url=http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/whats-on/music/birmingham-birthplace-of-heavy-metal-4031445 |access-date=28 February 2022 |website=Birmingham Post |language=en}} In the following years, Britain took part in the development of rock music, with British acts pioneering hard rock,{{Cite web |title=The Rolling Stones {{!}} Biography & History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-rolling-stones-mn0000894465/biography |access-date=22 July 2020 |website=AllMusic |language=en-us}} raga rock, heavy metal,{{Cite book |last=Tom Larson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGJ7XmA8rjIC&pg=PA183 |title=History of Rock and Roll |publisher=Kendall/Hunt Pub. |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7872-9969-9 |pages=183–187}} space rock, glam rock,{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Glam Rock |url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561509274/glam_rock.html |access-date=21 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828224412/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561509274/glam_rock.html |archive-date=28 August 2009 |encyclopedia=Encarta }} Gothic rock,{{Cite web |year=2004 |title=NME Originals: Goth |url=https://www.nme.com/originals/4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126150121/http://www.nme.com/originals/4 |archive-date=26 January 2008 |access-date=30 September 2013 |website=NME}} psychedelic rock,{{Cite web |title=Pop/Rock » Psychedelic/Garage |url=https://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/psychedelic-garage-ma0000002800 |access-date=6 August 2020 |publisher=AllMusic}} and punk rock.{{Cite magazine |year=2001 |title=The Sex Pistols |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/TheSexPistols/;kw=%5Bnews,artists,9620,40534,40572%5D |magazine=RollingStone.com |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201183919/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/TheSexPistols/;kw=%5Bnews,artists,9620,40534,40572%5D |archive-date=1 February 2013 |access-date=24 May 2010}} British acts also developed neo soul and created dubstep.Henderson, Alex (1 August 2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20101104165122/http://allmusic.com/explore/essay/british-soul-t2160 British Soul]. Allmusic. Retrieved 6 March 2011.; [http://www.allmusic.com/style/dubstep-ma0000004465 AllMusic – Dubstep] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923151236/http://www.allmusic.com/style/dubstep-ma0000004465|date=23 September 2017}} "Absorbed and transfigured elements of techno, drum'n' bass and dub"; {{Cite news |last=Goldman |first=Vivien |date=31 January 2012 |title=Local Groove Does Good: The Story Of Trip-Hop's Rise From Bristol |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2012/01/31/142607358/local-groove-does-good-the-story-of-trip-hops-rise-from-bristol}} The modern UK produces some of the most prominent English-speaking rappers along with the United States, including Stormzy, Kano, Yxng Bane, Ramz, Little Simz, and Skepta.{{Cite magazine |title=5 U.K. Rappers Primed to Take Over America in 2018 |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8097878/uk-rappers-to-watch-2018 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=18 June 2018}}

The Beatles have international sales of over 1 billion units and are the biggest-selling and most influential band in the history of popular music.{{Cite web |title=1960–1969 |url=http://www.emimusic.com/about/history/1960-1969/# |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425011032/http://www.emimusic.com/about/history/1960-1969 |archive-date=25 April 2014 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=EMI Group}}{{Cite magazine |date=8 June 1992 |title=Paul At Fifty |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975715-2,00.html |magazine=Time |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206120350/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975715-2,00.html |archive-date=6 February 2009}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=rdU1xtIWJz0C Most Successful Group] The Guinness Book of Records 1999, p. 230. Retrieved 19 March 2011.{{Cite news |date=25 November 2010 |title=Beatles a big hit with downloads |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/beatles-a-big-hit-with-downloads-15013117.html |access-date=16 May 2011}} Other prominent British contributors to popular music over the last 50 years include the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Queen, Led Zeppelin, the Bee Gees, and Elton John, all of whom have worldwide record sales of 200 million or more.{{Cite press release |title=British rock legends get their own music title for PlayStation3 and PlayStation2 |date=2 February 2009 |publisher=EMI |url=http://www.emimusic.com/news/2009/singstar®-queen-to-be-launched-by-sony-computer-entertainment-europe |access-date=9 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423012539/http://www.emimusic.com/news/2009/singstar%C2%AE-queen-to-be-launched-by-sony-computer-entertainment-europe |archive-date=23 April 2014}}; {{Cite news |last=Khan |first=Urmee |date=17 July 2008 |title=Sir Elton John honoured in Ben and Jerry ice cream |work=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2305273/Sir-Elton-John-honoured-in-Ben-and-Jerry-ice-cream.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080730164432/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2305273/Sir-Elton-John-honoured-in-Ben-and-Jerry-ice-cream.html |archive-date=30 July 2008}}; {{Cite news |last=Alleyne |first=Richard |date=19 April 2008 |title=Rock group Led Zeppelin to reunite |work=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562875/Rock-group-Led-Zeppelin-to-reunite.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=31 March 2010 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562875/Rock-group-Led-Zeppelin-to-reunite.html |archive-date=10 January 2022}}{{Cbignore}}; {{Cite news |date=11 July 2006 |title=Floyd 'true to Barrett's legacy' |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5170644.stm}}; {{Cite news |last=Holton |first=Kate |date=17 January 2008 |title=Rolling Stones sign Universal album deal |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL1767761020080117 |access-date=26 October 2008}}; {{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Tim |date=12 May 2008 |title=Jive talkin': Why Robin Gibb wants more respect for the Bee Gees |work=Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jive-talkin-why-robin-gibb-wants-more-respect-for-the-bee-gees-826116.html |access-date=26 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013215157/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jive-talkin-why-robin-gibb-wants-more-respect-for-the-bee-gees-826116.html |archive-date=13 October 2011}} The Brit Awards are the BPI's annual music awards, and some of the British recipients of the Outstanding Contribution to Music award include the Who, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, the Police, and Fleetwood Mac (who are a British-American band).[https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/feb/22/brit-awards-winners-list-2012 "Brit awards winners list 2012: every winner since 1977"]. The Guardian (London). Retrieved 28 February 2012. More recent UK music acts that have had international success include George Michael, Oasis, Spice Girls, Radiohead, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, Robbie Williams, Amy Winehouse, Susan Boyle, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi, One Direction, Harry Styles, and Dua Lipa.{{Cite web |date=12 January 2020 |title=Harry Styles Has Weathered the Post-Boy Band Storm Better Than Most |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/01/harry-styles-solo-career |access-date=15 September 2020 |website=Consequence of Sound |language=en-US}}; {{Cite magazine |date=16 July 2020 |title=10 Years of One Direction: The Story of the World's Biggest Boy Band, Told With the Fans Who Made It Happen |magazine=Billboard |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9419436/one-direction-ten-year-anniversary-fan-interviews |access-date=15 September 2020}}; {{Cite news |last=Corner, Lewis |date=16 February 2012 |title=Adele, Coldplay biggest-selling UK artists worldwide in 2011 |work=Digital Spy |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a366130/adele-coldplay-biggest-selling-uk-artists-worldwide-in-2011.html |access-date=22 March 2012}}; {{Cite web |title=Ed Sheeran's career journey: From street busker to global superstar |url=https://planetradio.co.uk/hits-radio/entertainment/celebrity/ed-sheeran-career-timeline/ |access-date=7 January 2023 |website=PlanetRadio.co.uk |last=Magliola |first=Anna Sky |date=30 November 2022}}; {{Cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/artist/6M2wZ9GZgrQXHCFfjv46we|title=Dua Lipa, 77.5M Monthly listeners|date=6 May 2024|publisher=Spotify}}

File:Finnieston Bridge Glasgow at night.jpg in Scotland was recognised as the UNESCO City of Music in 2008, the first UK city and third internationally to be recognised.{{cite web |title=Glasgow UNESCO City of Music |url=https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/arts-music-and-culture/glasgow-unesco-city-of-music#:~:text=Our%20UNESCO%20status,United%20Nations%20Sustainable%20Development%20Goals. |website=Glasgow Life |access-date=26 December 2024 |language=en}}]]

A number of UK cities are known for their music. Acts from Liverpool have had 54 UK chart number 1 hit singles, more per capita than any other city worldwide.{{Cite news |last=Hughes |first=Mark |date=14 January 2008 |title=A tale of two cities of culture: Liverpool vs Stavanger |work=Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/a-tale-of-two-cities-of-culture-liverpool-vs-stavanger-770076.html?r=RSS |access-date=2 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618175425/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/a-tale-of-two-cities-of-culture-liverpool-vs-stavanger-770076.html?r=RSS |archive-date=18 June 2018}} Glasgow's contribution was recognised in 2008 when it was named a UNESCO City of Music.{{Cite news |date=20 August 2008 |title=Glasgow gets city of music honour |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7570915.stm |access-date=2 August 2009}} Manchester played a role in the spread of dance music such as acid house, and from the mid-1990s, Britpop. London and Bristol are closely associated with the origins of electronic music sub-genres such as drum and bass and trip hop.{{Cite web |title=Out of the melting pot: The origins and evolution of drum'n'bass |url=https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/history-of-drum-and-bass-music |access-date=1 August 2021 |website=Red Bull|date=25 June 2020 }}

UK dance music traces its roots back to the black British Sound System Culture and the New Age Traveller movement of the 60s and 70s,{{Cite web |date=3 August 2023 |title=Parties, protest and police: the neglected histories of UK dance music |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/60511/1/ed-gillet-new-book-party-lines-politics-history-uk-dance-music-clubbing |access-date=27 February 2024 |website=Dazed}} it also has influences from New Wave and Synth-pop such as from bands New Order and Depeche Mode{{Cite web |date=22 August 2022 |title=Depeche Mode — Pioneers In Electronic Music |url=https://medium.com/hd-pro/depeche-mode-pioneers-in-electronic-music-1f0e4a984fff |access-date=27 February 2024 |website=Medium}} and also has influences from the Chicago House and Detroit Techno scenes. In the late 80's, dance music exploded with Rave culture mainly Acid House tracks which were made mainstream with novelty records (such as Smart E's Sesame's Treet and the Prodigy's Charly){{Cite web |date=20 January 2001 |title=Rave |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/search?q=rave |access-date=27 February 2024 |website=Oxford Music Online}} and the Balearic sound brought back from the Ibiza club scene. This led on to genres such as UK Garage, Speed Garage, Drum and bass, Jungle, Trance, and Dubstep. Influential UK dance acts past and present include 808 State, Orbital, the Prodigy, Underworld, Roni Size, Leftfield, Massive Attack, Groove Armada, Fatboy Slim, Faithless, Basement Jaxx, Chemical Brothers, Sub Focus, Chase & Status, Disclosure, Calvin Harris, and Fred Again.{{Cite web|title=Mixmag's Greatest Dance Act of all Time Revealed |date=19 January 2012|url=http://www.mixmag.net/words/news/mixmags-greatest-dance-act-revealed |archive-date=14 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414045620/http://www.mixmag.net/words/news/mixmags-greatest-dance-act-revealed}};{{Cite web |date=26 February 2024 |title=Fred Again: who is the DJ who has thousands queuing for a 'secret rave' at the Sydney Opera House? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/feb/27/fred-again-dj-sydney-opera-house-secret-show-tickets-sell-out-profile-bio-details |access-date=27 February 2024 |website=The Guardian}} Other influential UK DJs include Judge Jules, Pete Tong, Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, and Sasha.{{Cite web|title=Top 100 DJs Poll results 2003|url=http://djmag.com/top100chart.asp|archive-date=7 December 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031207071739/http://djmag.com/top100chart.asp}}

{{Main|Art of the United Kingdom|Architecture of the United Kingdom}}

File:Morris Evenlode printed textile.jpg textile design, 1883]]

File:Angel of the North - 6150534524.jpg sculpture by Antony Gormley has become a symbol of northern England.]]

Major British artists include: the Romantics William Blake, John Constable, Samuel Palmer, and J. M. W. Turner; the portrait painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Lucian Freud; the landscape artists Thomas Gainsborough and L. S. Lowry; the pioneer of the Arts and Crafts Movement William Morris; the figurative painter Francis Bacon; the Pop artists Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, and David Hockney; the pioneers of Conceptual art movement Art & Language;{{Cite news |last=Tate |title=Art & Language – Art Term {{!}} Tate |work=Tate |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/art-language |access-date=8 September 2018}} the collaborative duo Gilbert and George; the abstract artist Howard Hodgkin; and the sculptors Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, and Henry Moore. During the late 1980s and 1990s the Saatchi Gallery in London helped to bring to public attention a group of multi-genre artists who would become known as the "Young British Artists": Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Rachel Whiteread, Tracey Emin, Mark Wallinger, Steve McQueen, Sam Taylor-Wood, and the Chapman Brothers are among the better-known members of this loosely affiliated movement.

The Royal Academy in London is a key organisation for the promotion of the visual arts in the United Kingdom. Major schools of art in the UK include: the six-school University of the Arts London, which includes the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Chelsea College of Art and Design; Goldsmiths, University of London; the Slade School of Fine Art (part of University College London); the Glasgow School of Art; the Royal College of Art; and The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art (part of the University of Oxford). The Courtauld Institute of Art is a leading centre for the teaching of the history of art. Important art galleries in the United Kingdom include the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, and Tate Modern (the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year).{{Cite news |last=Bayley |first=Stephen |date=24 April 2010 |title=The startling success of Tate Modern |work=The Times |location=London |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article7105032.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429173928/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article7105032.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 April 2011 |access-date=19 January 2011}} {{Subscription required}}

{{Main|Cinema of the United Kingdom|Theatre of the United Kingdom}}

The United Kingdom has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema. The British directors Alfred Hitchcock, whose film Vertigo is considered by some critics as the best film of all time,{{Cite news |date=2 August 2012 |title=Vertigo is named 'greatest film of all time' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19078948 |access-date=18 August 2012}} and David Lean who directed Lawrence of Arabia are among the most critically acclaimed directors ever.{{Cite web |title=The Directors' Top Ten Directors |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/directors-directors.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517155218/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/directors-directors.html |archive-date=17 May 2012 |publisher=British Film Institute}} Recent popular directors include: Christopher Nolan, Sam Mendes, Steve McQueen, Richard Curtis, Danny Boyle, Tony Scott, and Ridley Scott.{{Cite web |title=The 24 Best British Directors of All Time |date=13 May 2023 |url=https://movieweb.com/best-british-directors-of-all-time/ |access-date=17 February 2024 | publisher=Movieweb }}{{Cite web |title=Top 22 U.K. Film Directors |url=https://www.imdb.com/list/ls062383258/ |access-date=17 February 2024 | publisher=IMDB }}{{Cite web |title=5 of the best … Richard Curtis films |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/5-of-the-best-richard-curtis-films-tzxx9fv2h |work=The Times |access-date=4 June 2024|date=17 April 2024}}{{Cite web |title=The UK's top 50 film directors |date=23 May 2012 |url=https://www.televisual.com/news/the-uk-s-top-50-film-directors_bid-357/ |access-date=17 February 2024 | publisher=Televisual }} Many British actors have achieved international fame and critical success. Some of the most commercially successful films have been produced in the United Kingdom, including two of the highest-grossing film franchises (Harry Potter and James Bond).{{Cite news |date=11 September 2007 |title=Harry Potter becomes highest-grossing film franchise |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/11/jkjoannekathleenrowling |access-date=2 November 2010}}

2019 was a particularly good year for British films which grossed around £10.3 billion globally which was 28.7% of global box office revenue.{{Cite web |title=UK Film Industry Statistics 2023 |date=10 April 2023 |url=https://www.socialfilms.co.uk/blog/uk-film-industry-statistics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217211749/https://www.socialfilms.co.uk/blog/uk-film-industry-statistics |archive-date=17 February 2024 |access-date=17 February 2024}} UK box-office takings totalled £1.25 billion in 2019, with around 176 million admissions.{{Cite web |title=The UK box office in 2019 |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-uk-box-office-2019.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217214846/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-uk-box-office-2019.pdf |archive-date=17 February 2024 |access-date=17 February 2024}} In 2023 UK film and television studio stage space stands at 6.9 million sq ft, with 1 million sq ft added in the past year with more in development.{{Cite web |title=UK Film and Television Studios Market Report |url=https://content.knightfrank.com/research/2439/documents/en/uk-film-and-television-studios-market-2023-10567.pdf |access-date=17 February 2024 | publisher=Knight Frank }} The annual BAFTA Film Awards are hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.{{Cite news |date=26 February 2001 |title=Baftas fuel Oscars race |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1190562.stm |access-date=14 February 2011}}

{{Main|British cuisine}}

{{Further|English cuisine|Northern Irish cuisine|Scottish cuisine|Welsh cuisine}}

File:Fish, chips and mushy peas.jpg, a traditional British dish, served with lemon, tartar sauce and mushy peas]]

British cuisine developed from influences reflective of its land, settlements, arrivals of new settlers and immigrants, trade and colonialism. The food of England has historically been characterised by simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce.{{Cite book |last=Else |first=David |title=Inghilterra |publisher=EDT srl |date=2007 |isbn=978-88-6040-136-6|page=76}} The traditional Sunday roast is one example, featuring a roasted joint, usually of beef, lamb, chicken, or pork, often free range (and generally grass-fed, in the case of beef). Roasts are served with either roasted or boiled vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy. Other traditional meals include meat pies and stews. A 2019 YouGov poll rated classic British food, with more than 80% of eaters liking: Sunday roast, Yorkshire pudding, fish and chips, crumpets, and full English breakfast.{{Cite web|url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/consumer/articles-reports/2019/06/12/classic-british-cuisine-ranked-britons|date=11 June 2019|title=Classic British cuisine ranked by Britons}}

The UK is home to a large selection of fine dining. In, 2024 there were 187 restaurants with a Michelin Star; 49 of them consider their cuisine to be 'Modern British'.{{cite web |url=https://guide.michelin.com/en/gb/restaurants/all-starred |title=United Kingdom |publisher=Michelin Guide |access-date=13 May 2024}} Sweet foods are common within British cuisine, and there is a long list of British desserts. Afternoon tea is a light afternoon meal served with tea in tea rooms and hotels around the United Kingdom, with the tradition dating back to around 1840.{{Cite web |title=The tea-rific history of Victorian afternoon tea |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/tea-rific-history-victorian-afternoon-tea |access-date=11 April 2023 |publisher=The British Museum}} A poll from July 2024 revealed that 3% of the UK population follows a vegan diet, 6% are vegetarian, and 13% identify as flexitarian (following a mainly vegetarian diet).{{Cite web |title=Dietary choices of Brits (e.g. vegeterian, flexitarian, meat-eater etc) | url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/society/trackers/dietery-choices-of-brits-eg-vegeterian-flexitarian-meat-eater-etc | access-date=26 November 2024 | date=8 July 2024 | website=YouGov.co.uk}} The British Empire facilitated knowledge of Indian cuisine with its "strong, penetrating spices and herbs". British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influence of those who have settled in Britain, producing hybrid dishes, such as chicken tikka masala.{{Cite news |date=19 April 2001 |title=Robin Cook's chicken tikka masala speech |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/19/race.britishidentity |access-date=7 September 2021}}; {{Cite news |last=BBC E-Cyclopedia |date=20 April 2001 |title=Chicken tikka masala: Spice and easy does it |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/1285804.stm |access-date=28 September 2007}} The British have embraced world cuisine and regularly eat recipes or fast food from other European countries, the Caribbean and Asia.

The UK has many gastropubs and is the birthplace of many alcoholic drinks including many beer styles such as pale ale, India pale ale, bitter, brown ale, porter, and stout. The number of craft beers and microbreweries have expanded rapidly in the last two decades.{{Cite web |title=A guide to British Beer |url=https://www.expatica.com/uk/lifestyle/food-drink/british-beer-469903/ |access-date=25 November 2024 |website=Expatica}} Other popular alcoholic drinks produced in the UK include Scotch whisky, English wine, gin, perry, and cider.

{{Main|Media of the United Kingdom}}

{{see|Media of England|Media of Scotland|Media of Northern Ireland|Media of Wales}}

File:Media City Footbridge and BBC Offices (geograph 2685261).jpg in Salford, Greater Manchester, is one of the largest media production facilities in Europe.]]

The BBC, founded in 1922, is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and Internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world.{{Cite web |title=BBC: World's largest broadcaster & Most trusted media brand |url=http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005004930/http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html |archive-date=5 October 2010 |access-date=23 September 2010 |publisher=Media Newsline}}{{Cite web |title=Digital license |url=http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/?p=64654 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107024637/http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/07/digitallicense |archive-date=7 November 2011 |access-date=9 March 2015 |publisher=Prospect}}{{Cite news |title=About the BBC – What is the BBC |work=BBC Online |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/info/purpose/what.shtml |access-date=9 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116202334/http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/purpose/what.shtml |archive-date=16 January 2010}} It operates television and radio stations across the UK and abroad and its domestic services are funded by the television licence.{{Cite journal |date=13 August 2009 |title=BBC: World's largest broadcaster & Most trusted media brand |url=http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html |journal=Media Newsline |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510090842/http://www.medianewsline.com/news/151/ARTICLE/4930/2009-08-13.html |archive-date=10 May 2011 |access-date=19 June 2011}}; {{Cite web |date=April 2010 |title=TV Licence Fee: facts & figures |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/licencefee.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427080539/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/licencefee.shtml |archive-date=27 April 2011 |publisher=BBC Press Office}} The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, and the world's largest.{{Cite web |title=Microsoft Word – The Work of the BBC World Service 2008–09 HC 334 FINAL.doc |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmfaff/334/334.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021001645/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmfaff/334/334.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2020 |access-date=16 February 2011}} It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages.{{Cite web |title=News in your language – BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ws/languages |website=Bbc.co.uk}}; {{Cite web |title=BBC World Service |url=https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Media-News-Company/bbcworldservice/about |website=Facebook.com}}

Other major players in the UK media include ITV, which operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network,{{Cite web |title=Publications & Policies: The History of ITV |url= http://www.itv.com/aboutitv/publications-policies |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110411224117/http://www.itv.com/aboutitv/publications-policies |archive-date=11 April 2011 |website=ITV.com}} and Sky.{{Cite journal |title=Direct Broadcast Satellite Television |url= http://www.newscorp.com/operations/dbst.html |journal=News Corporation |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110604095622/http://www.newscorp.com/operations/dbst.html |archive-date=4 June 2011}} Newspapers produced in the United Kingdom include the Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, and the Financial Times.{{Cite news |date=10 October 2008 |title=ABCs: National daily newspaper circulation September 2008 |work=The Guardian |location=London |url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/table/2008/oct/10/abcs-pressandpublishing |access-date=17 October 2008}} Magazines and journals published in the United Kingdom that have achieved worldwide circulation include The Spectator, The Economist, New Statesman, and Radio Times.

London dominates the media sector in the UK: national newspapers and television and radio are largely based there, although MediaCityUK in Manchester is also a significant national media centre. Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Cardiff, are important centres of newspaper and broadcasting production in Scotland and Wales, respectively.William, D. (2010). [https://books.google.com/books?id=7yg45P35KDMC UK Cities: A Look at Life and Major Cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland]. Eastbourne: Gardners Books. {{ISBN|978-9987-16-021-1}}, pp. 22, 46, 109 and 145. The UK publishing sector, including books, directories and databases, journals, magazines and business media, newspapers and news agencies, has a combined turnover of around £20 billion and employs 167,000 people.{{Cite web |title=Publishing |url=http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/creative_industries/3280.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505104322/http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/creative_industries/3280.aspx |archive-date=5 May 2011 |publisher=Department of Culture, Media and Sport}} In 2015, the UK published 2,710 book titles per million inhabitants, more than any other country, with much of this exported to other Anglophone countries.{{Cite web |last= |date=2016 |title=Annual Report 2015–2016 |url=https://www.internationalpublishers.org/images/reports/Annual_Report_2016/IPA_Annual_Report_2015-2016_interactive.pdf |access-date=14 January 2021 |website=internationalpublishers.org |publisher=International Publishers Association |page=16 |archive-date=31 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831205753/https://www.internationalpublishers.org/images/reports/Annual_Report_2016/IPA_Annual_Report_2015-2016_interactive.pdf |url-status=dead }}

In 2010, 82.5% of the UK population were Internet users, the highest proportion among the 20 countries with the largest total number of users in that year.{{Cite journal |title=Top 20 countries with the highest number of Internet users |url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm |journal=Internet World Stats |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610104435/http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm |archive-date=10 June 2011 |access-date=19 June 2011}} The British video game industry is the largest in Europe, and, since 2022, the UK has the largest video game market in Europe by sales, overtaking Germany.{{Cite web |last=Dring |first=Christopher |date=12 January 2023 |title=European console and PC game sales fall 7.1% in 2022 |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/european-console-and-pc-game-sales-fall-71-over-2021 |access-date=30 September 2023 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en}} It is the world's third-largest producer of video games after Japan and the United States.{{Cite web |title=About UK Video Games Industry |url=https://tiga.org/about-tiga-and-our-industry/about-uk-video-games-industry |access-date=6 June 2023 |website=TIGA |language=en-GB}}

{{Main|Sport in the United Kingdom|Great Britain at the Olympics}}

{{see|Sport in England|Sport in Scotland|Sport in Northern Ireland|Sport in Wales}}

File:City vs United FA Cup final 2023.jpg at Wembley Stadium between Manchester City and Manchester United]]

File:Old 18th tee lr.jpg in Scotland.]]

Association football, tennis, table tennis, badminton, rugby union, rugby league, rugby sevens, golf, boxing, netball, water polo, field hockey, billiards, darts, rowing, rounders, and cricket originated or were substantially developed in the UK, with the rules and codes of many modern sports invented and codified in late 19th-century Victorian Britain.{{efn|In 2012, the president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, stated, "This great, sports-loving country is widely recognised as the birthplace of modern sport. It was here that the concepts of sportsmanship and fair play were first codified into clear rules and regulations. It was here that sport was included as an educational tool in the school curriculum."{{Cite web|url=http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Games_London_2012/London_2012_Opening_ceremony_Speech_Jacques_Rogge.pdf |title=Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad |website=Olympic.org |access-date=30 November 2013 |date=27 July 2012 |archive-date=19 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819135346/http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Games_London_2012/London_2012_Opening_ceremony_Speech_Jacques_Rogge.pdf |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oly-preview-ad-idUKBRE86M0I720120723 |title=Unparalleled Sporting History |work=Reuters |access-date=30 November 2013 |last=Mehaffey |first=John |location=London |archive-date=25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525164121/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oly-preview-ad-idUKBRE86M0I720120723 |url-status=dead}}}}

A 2003 poll found that football is the most popular sport in the UK.{{Cite web |date=22 December 2003 |title=Rugby Union 'Britain's Second Most Popular Sport' |url=http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/928/Rugby-Union-Britains-Second-Most-Popular-Sport.aspx |access-date=28 April 2013 |publisher=Ipsos-Mori}} England is recognised by FIFA as the birthplace of club football, and the Football Association is the oldest of its kind, with the rules of football first drafted in 1863 by Ebenezer Cobb Morley.{{Cite news |last=Rudd |first=Alyson |date=7 April 2008 |title=The father of football deserves much more |work=The Times |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3694775.ece |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 January 2015}}; {{Cite web |date=24 October 2007 |title=Sheffield FC: 150 years of history |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=621801.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025033006/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=621801.html |archive-date=25 October 2007 |access-date=29 January 2015 |publisher=FIFA}} Each of the Home Nations (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) has its own football association, national team and league system, and each is individually a governing member of the International Football Association Board alongside FIFA. The English top division, the Premier League, is the most watched football league in the world.{{Cite news |last=Ebner |first=Sarah |date=2 July 2013 |title=History and time are key to power of football, says Premier League chief |work=The Times |location=London |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/ceo-summit/article3804923.ece |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 November 2013}} The first international football match was contested by England and Scotland on 30 November 1872.{{Cite web |last=Mitchell, Paul |author-link=Paul Mitchell (broadcaster) |date=November 2005 |title=The first international football match |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/sportscotland/asportingnation/article/0012/index.shtml |access-date=15 December 2013 |publisher=BBC Sport Scotland}} England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland usually compete as separate countries in international competitions.{{Cite news |last=Harlow |first=Phil |date=5 August 2008 |title=Why is there no GB Olympics football team? |work=BBC Sport |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/football/7529807.stm |access-date=31 December 2010}}

In 2003, rugby union was ranked the second most popular sport in the UK. The sport was created in Rugby School, Warwickshire, and the first rugby international took place on 27 March 1871 between England and Scotland.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-25946757 |title=Six ways the town of Rugby helped change the world |work=BBC News |access-date=29 January 2015 |date=1 February 2014}}{{Cite book|last1=Godwin |first1=Terry |last2=Rhys |first2=Chris |year=1981 |title=The Guinness Book of Rugby Facts & Feats |page=10 |publisher=Guinness Superlatives |isbn=978-0-85112-214-4}} England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, and Italy compete in the Six Nations Championship, which is the premier international rugby union tournament in the northern hemisphere. Sports governing bodies in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland organise and regulate the game separately.{{Cite book |last1=Louw, Jaco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0-IiowvNomMC&pg=PA95 |title=The Girlfriends Guide to Rugby |last2=Nesbit, Derrick |publisher=South Publishers |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-620-39541-0 |location=Johannesburg}} Every four years, the Home Nations make a combined team known as the British and Irish Lions which tours Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

The United Kingdom hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908, 1948, and 2012, with London acting as the host city on all three occasions. Birmingham hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the seventh time a country of the United Kingdom hosted the Commonwealth Games (England, Scotland, and Wales have each hosted the Commonwealth Games at least once).{{Cite news |title=The journey of India in Commonwealth Games in 2022 |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/allaboutsports/the-journey-of-india-in-commonwealth-games-in-2022-44477/ |access-date=29 June 2023}}

{{Main|Symbols of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man|l1 = Symbols of the United Kingdom}}

File:Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee 2022 - Platinum Pageant (52123378222).jpg, London]]

The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack).{{Cite web |title=Union Jack or Union Flag? |url=https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/uk-flags/the-union-jack-or-the-union-flag |access-date=26 September 2022 |website=The Flag Institute |language=en-GB}} It was created in 1606 by the superimposition of the flag of England, representing Saint George, on the flag of Scotland, representing Saint Andrew, and was updated in 1801 with the addition of Saint Patrick's Flag.{{Cite web |title=college-of-arms.gov.uk |url=https://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/union-flag-approved-designs |access-date=14 January 2022 |publisher=The College of Arms}} Wales is not represented in the Union Flag, as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. The possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales was discussed in 2007.{{Cite news |date=27 November 2007 |title=Welsh dragon call for Union flag |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7114248.stm |access-date=17 October 2008}} The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the King", with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman.

Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom, originating from Roman Britain.{{Cite web |title=Britannia on British Coins |url=http://www.24carat.co.uk/britanniaframe.html |access-date=25 June 2006 |publisher=Chard}} Beside The Lion and the Unicorn and the dragon of heraldry, the bulldog is an iconic animal and commonly represented with the Union Flag.{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Steve |title=Picturing the Beast |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-252-07030-3 |page=52}} A rare personification is a character originating in the 18th century, John Bull.{{Cite web |last= |title=Who is John Bull |url=https://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/jan04/johnbull.html |access-date=11 January 2022 |publisher=The Library of Congress}}

England, Wales, and Scotland each have their own national symbols, including their national flags. Northern Ireland also has symbols, many of which are shared with the Republic of Ireland.

• Outline of the United Kingdom
• Outline of England
• Outline of Northern Ireland
• Outline of Scotland
• Outline of Wales
• Index of United Kingdom-related articles
• International rankings of the United Kingdom
• Historiography of the United Kingdom
• Historiography of the British Empire
• United Kingdom–Crown Dependencies Customs Union

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Sister project links|n=Category:United Kingdom|voy=United Kingdom|d=Q145}}

• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18023389 United Kingdom] from BBC News
• [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/ United Kingdom]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090406224510/http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/british.htm United Kingdom] from UCB Libraries GovPubs (archived 6 April 2009)
• {{Wikiatlas|United Kingdom}}
• {{OSM relation|62149}}
• [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=GB Key Development Forecasts for the United Kingdom] from International Futures

• [http://www.gov.uk/ Official website of HM Government]
• [http://www.royal.gov.uk/ Official website of the British Monarchy]
• [http://www.number10.gov.uk/ Official website of the British Prime Minister's Office]

• [http://www.visitbritain.com/en/ Official tourist guide to Britain]

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