Background :
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country located in western Europe. It is a Commonwealth Realm, and a member of the European Union and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom or the UK, it is also often inaccurately called Great Britain, Britain or England (the most populous of the home nations). The UK is situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe, and has a land border with the Republic of Ireland, but is otherwise surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. The UK has four constituent parts, three of which — the ancient nations of England, Wales and Scotland — are located on the island of Great Britain. The fourth part is Northern Ireland, which is located on the island of Ireland.

The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is also a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK also has overseas territories throughout the world, and relationships with several Crown dependencies.

The United Kingdom was formed by Acts of Union which united the Kingdom of England (which included Wales as a principality) with the Kingdom of Scotland and later the Kingdom of Ireland as a single state under the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The modern "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was the result of the partition of Ireland in 1922 between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, which remained part of the United Kingdom. Until 1949, the British monarch was also the Monarch of Ireland.

Great Britain, or just Britain, is the geographical name of the largest of the British Isles (often also including its smaller neighbouring islands, though never Ireland). Politically, the term Great Britain refers collectively to the nations of England, Wales and Scotland (i.e., the United Kingdom except for Northern Ireland). This political usage of "Great Britain" dates from the personal union of the Crowns of Scotland and England (including Wales) in 1603, with the term being used in the sense "all of Britain". In the early years of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain", formed by the Act of Union of 1707, it was customary to refer officially to Scotland and to England and Wales as, respectively, "North Britain" (N.B.) and "South Britain", though the usage never really caught on. It should be noted that the use of "(Great) Britain" as shorthand for the United Kingdom is not accurate, since the former refers to a geographical entity that does not include Northern Ireland. It may cause offence, especially to unionists in Northern Ireland to use this incorrect term to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole.

The British Isles is a term frequently used to refer to the archipelago that includes Great Britain and Ireland, and their associated islands, such as the Channel Islands, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, Orkney, the Shetland Islands. The term is, however, often avoided, especially in Ireland, by those who are conscious that it is sometimes misunderstood internationally to mean "the islands belonging to Britain (i.e. the United Kingdom)", a description out-of-date in the case of Ireland since 1922. An alternative, the Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA) has been proposed, but is little used outside diplomatic circles.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised by the government (executive) drawn from Parliament, headed by the Prime Minister. It is one of the few countries (and the most significant) that does not have a codified constitution. The Prime Minister appoints other Ministers from Parliament, who together form the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the head of government. Sovereignty is vested fully in the monarch, who is Head of State, but under Britain's constitutional monarchy Her (His) Majesty's Government is answerable and accountable to the House of Commons, which is the lower directly-elected house in Britain's bicameral Parliament. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past. Nations that follow British-style parliamentarism, with an executive drawn from and accountable to the legislature, are said to operate under the Westminster system of governance.

In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Foreign policy and criminal justice are implemented in Her Majesty's name, but the monarch has no real control over either. The Queen also confers titles and honours, on the advice of the Prime Minister in most instances. Her Majesty has access to all Cabinet papers and is briefed weekly by the Prime Minister, usually on Tuesdays. Constitutional writer Walter Bagehot asserted that the monarch has three rights: to be consulted, to advise and to warn. Those rights are exercised rarely but may be important at key times—such as when there is a "hung parliament". Each year, the monarch officially opens Parliament, and makes a speech announcing what the government plans to do during the next year. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong, with just 23% wanting a republic according to a recent poll by the Daily Telegraph. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. The British monarch also reigns in 15 other sovereign countries that are known as the Commonwealth Realms. Although the UK has no political or executive power over those independent nations, it retains influence through long-standing close relations. In some Commonwealth Realms the Privy Council remains the highest Court of Appeal.

Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, whose unelected members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is more powerful than the House of Lords, and may ultimately pass legislation that the Lords has rejected, by invoking the Parliament Act. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members: hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. Historically, the House of Lords was composed of members of the Peerage, holding seats by nature of birthright, although now members are appointed for life. Furthermore, the House of Lords Act 1999 severely curtailed the number of hereditary peers who could sit in the upper House - only 92 out of several hundred retain the right, through being elected by their fellow peers or by holding the royal offices of Earl Marshal or Lord Great Chamberlain. The proposals to reform the House of Lords initially called for all hereditary peers to lose their voting rights, but a compromise was reached that allowed them to be phased out gradually.

By constitutional convention, Ministers are chosen largely from among members of the Commons with a small number chosen from the Lords. Ministers exercise both legislative powers and prerogative (deriving from royal prerogative) powers. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the majority of seats in the House of Commons and is formally appointed by the monarch. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997.

The Palace of Westminster, on the banks of the River Thames in Westminster, London, is the home of the House of Commons and the House of LordsThe two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party, winning 22.0% of the vote at the last election, translating into 9.6% of the seats in Parliament. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the post. The nature of this system means that Labour were elected in the 2005 election with only 35.2% of the national vote, but still won a majority of seats in Parliament.

The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. The United Kingdom has been a centralised, unitary state for much of its history.

There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. Home rule was given to Northern Ireland in 1920: it was eventually abolished by London in 1972, after much civil strife. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referendums for devolution to Scotland and Wales failed in 1979, but succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002. In Cornwall, there is a movement that calls for devolution [2] (Cornish nationalism), and an academic debate over the Cornish identity and constitutional status of Cornwall. Regional Assemblies were proposed for the north of England, but after a referendum in the 'North East' region where 78% voted against the scheme, plans for regional governments were abandoned. Because of the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, all the devolved assemblies and parliaments could be abolished by Parliament, but this is unlikely to happen.

Government and Politics
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised by the government (executive) drawn from Parliament, headed by the Prime Minister. It is one of the few countries (and the most significant) that does not have a codified constitution. The Prime Minister appoints other Ministers from Parliament, who together form the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is the head of government. Sovereignty is vested fully in the monarch, who is Head of State, but under Britain's constitutional monarchy Her (His) Majesty's Government is answerable and accountable to the House of Commons, which is the lower directly-elected house in Britain's bicameral Parliament. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past. Nations that follow British-style parliamentarism, with an executive drawn from and accountable to the legislature, are said to operate under the Westminster system of governance.

In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Foreign policy and criminal justice are implemented in Her Majesty's name, but the monarch has no real control over either. The Queen also confers titles and honours, on the advice of the Prime Minister in most instances. Her Majesty has access to all Cabinet papers and is briefed weekly by the Prime Minister, usually on Tuesdays. Constitutional writer Walter Bagehot asserted that the monarch has three rights: to be consulted, to advise and to warn. Those rights are exercised rarely but may be important at key times—such as when there is a "hung parliament". Each year, the monarch officially opens Parliament, and makes a speech announcing what the government plans to do during the next year. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong, with just 23% wanting a republic according to a recent poll by the Daily Telegraph. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. The British monarch also reigns in 15 other sovereign countries that are known as the Commonwealth Realms. Although the UK has no political or executive power over those independent nations, it retains influence through long-standing close relations. In some Commonwealth Realms the Privy Council remains the highest Court of Appeal.

Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, whose unelected members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is more powerful than the House of Lords, and may ultimately pass legislation that the Lords has rejected, by invoking the Parliament Act. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members: hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. Historically, the House of Lords was composed of members of the Peerage, holding seats by nature of birthright, although now members are appointed for life. Furthermore, the House of Lords Act 1999 severely curtailed the number of hereditary peers who could sit in the upper House - only 92 out of several hundred retain the right, through being elected by their fellow peers or by holding the royal offices of Earl Marshal or Lord Great Chamberlain. The proposals to reform the House of Lords initially called for all hereditary peers to lose their voting rights, but a compromise was reached that allowed them to be phased out gradually.

By constitutional convention, Ministers are chosen largely from among members of the Commons with a small number chosen from the Lords. Ministers exercise both legislative powers and prerogative (deriving from royal prerogative) powers. The Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the majority of seats in the House of Commons and is formally appointed by the monarch. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997.

The Palace of Westminster, on the banks of the River Thames in Westminster, London, is the home of the House of Commons and the House of LordsThe two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party, winning 22.0% of the vote at the last election, translating into 9.6% of the seats in Parliament. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the post. The nature of this system means that Labour were elected in the 2005 election with only 35.2% of the national vote, but still won a majority of seats in Parliament.

The constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. The United Kingdom has been a centralised, unitary state for much of its history.

There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. Home rule was given to Northern Ireland in 1920: it was eventually abolished by London in 1972, after much civil strife. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referendums for devolution to Scotland and Wales failed in 1979, but succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002. In Cornwall, there is a movement that calls for devolution [2] (Cornish nationalism), and an academic debate over the Cornish identity and constitutional status of Cornwall. Regional Assemblies were proposed for the north of England, but after a referendum in the 'North East' region where 78% voted against the scheme, plans for regional governments were abandoned. Because of the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, all the devolved assemblies and parliaments could be abolished by Parliament, but this is unlikely to happen.

Economy
The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State.

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state.

Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world.

The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.

Culture
The United Kingdom contains two of the world's most famous universities, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Paul Dirac and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with the invention of the steam engine, locomotive, 3-piece suit, vaccination, lead crystal, television, radio, the telephone, hovercraft, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine.

Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in world history; other well-known writers include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, J. K. Rowling, Agatha Christie, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, William Blake and Dylan Thomas. (see main article: British literature).

Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, and John Tavener in the 19th and 20th.

The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous pop stars, including the Beatles, Sir Cliff Richard, Queen, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, Coldplay and Supergrass gain international fame. Developing on from this success, British bands, notably Franz Ferdinand, have in 2004 burst onto to the world scene as a part of the indie movement, with the UK largely seen as the home of such music. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK. (see main article: Music of the United Kingdom).

A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including association football (soccer), golf, cricket, squash, boxing, rugby, billiards, and rounders, the forerunner of baseball. England won the 1966 FIFA World Cup and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar.

The national sport of the UK is association football (known simply as "football"), but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games, despite having invented the game. A similar arrangement applies to Rugby Union, except that a single team represents all of Ireland – the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland – although from time to time the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries.

Religion
The United Kingdom is traditionally a Christian country, with two of the Home nations having official faiths:

Anglicanism, in the form of the Church of England, is the established church in England. The Queen is Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
The Church of Scotland, a presbyterian church, is the national church of Scotland. The Queen is an ordinary member of the Church of Scotland.
The Anglican Church in Wales was disestablished in 1920.
The Anglican Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871.

Transportation
The transport system in the United Kingdom is well developed. A radial road network of 46,632 km of main roads is centred on London, Edinburgh and Belfast, whilst, in Britain, a motorway network of 3,477 km is centred on both Birmingham and London. There are a further 342,000 km of paved roads. The national rail network of 16,116 route km in Britain and 303 route km in Northern Ireland carries over 18,000 passenger and 1,000 freight trains daily. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and seven other cities. Heathrow Airport is the world's busiest international airport, and the UK has a considerable network of ports which received over 558 million tonnes of goods in 2003-04.

Languages
The United Kingdom has no official language. English is the main language and the de facto official language, spoken monolingually by an estimated 95% of the UK population. It should be noted that Norman French is still used in the Houses of Parliament for official business between the clerks of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and on other official occasions such as the dissolution of Parliament.

However, some nations and regions of the UK have frameworks for the promotion of autochthonous languages. In Wales, English and Welsh are both widely used by officialdom, and Irish and Ulster Scots enjoy limited use alongside English in Northern Ireland, mainly in publicly commissioned translations. Since 2005, the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act has placed the status of Scottish Gaelic in Scotland on a statutory basis. Additionally, the Western Isles region of Scotland has a policy to promote the language.

Under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which is not legally enforceable, the UK Government has committed itself to the promotion of certain linguistic traditions. Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish are to be developed in Wales, Scotland and Cornwall respectively. Other native languages afforded such protection include Irish in Northern Ireland, Scots in Scotland and Northern Ireland, in the latter territory officially known as "Ulster Scots" or "Ullans" but in the speech of users simply as "Scotch" or "Scots", and British Sign Language.