Geographic coordinates: 54 00 N, 2 00 W Map references: Europe Area - comparative: 244,820 sq km (land), 3,230 sq km (water) Land boundaries: 360 km Coastline: 12,429 km. Maritime claims: continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries. Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast. Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast. Elevation extremes: lowest point: Fenland -4 m, highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m. Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land Land use: arable land: 26%, permanent crops: 0%, other: 74% (1998 est.). Irrigated land: 1,080 sq km (1998 est.) Natural hazards: winter windstorms; floods Environment - current issues: continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move towards a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the Government aims to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and to recycle or compost at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015; between 1998-99 and 1999-2000, household recycling increased from 8.8% to 10.3% Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling. Signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Geography - note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters. |
Age structure: 1.05 male(s)/female, under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female, 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female, 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female Population growth rate: 0.5 per cent (2001-2006) Birth rate: In 2005 there were over 722,500 births in the UK. Death rate: In 2005 there were 512,993 deaths registered in England and Wales. Migration rate: The UK has experienced increasing levels of both inward and outward international migration in recent years. Over the past decade migration into the country increased from 314,000 in 1994 to 582,000 in 2004, Sex ratio: There were 30.7 million females compared with 29.5 million males in the UK population mid-2005, however more boys than girls are born each year. Infant mortality rate: 5.45 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.99 years, female: 80.84 years (2002 est.), male: 75.29 years. Total fertility rate: In 2005 the total fertility rate (TFR) in the UK was 1.79 children per woman. Nationality: noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural), adjective: British Ethnic groups: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%. Religions: Anglican and Roman Catholic 40 million, Muslim 1.5 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 500,000, Hindu 500,000, Jewish 350,000 Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling total population: 99% (2000 est.) |
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.47 trillion (2001 est.) GDP: real growth rate: 2.4% (2001 est.) GDP: per capita: purchasing power parity - $24,700 (2001 est.) GDP: composition by sector: agriculture: 1.7%, industry: 24.9%, services: 73.4% (1999) Inflation: 2.4 per cent in September 2006 Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.6%, highest 10%: 27.3% (1991) Labor force: 29.7 million (2001) Labor force: by occupation: agriculture 1%, industry 25%, services 74% (1999). Unemployment rate: 5.5% in August 2006 Average weekly earnings: Budget: revenues: $565 billion Industries: machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods Industrial production growth rate: -1.6% (2001 est.) Agriculture - products: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish Exports: $287 billion (f.o.b., 2001) Exports - commodities: manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco Exports - partners: EU 54% (Germany 11%, France 9%, Netherlands 7%, Ireland 7%), US 15% (2000) Imports: $337 billion (c.i.f., 2001) Imports - commodities: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs Imports - partners: EU 48% (Germany 11%, France 7%, Netherlands 6%), US 13%, Japan 5% (2000) Debt - external: N/A Economic aid - donor: ODA, $4.5 billion (2000) Currency: British pound (GBP) Exchange rates: One British pound = 1.88220 US Dollars (2006) Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March |
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 14,632,418 (2002 est.) Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 12,151,734 (2002 est.) Military expenditures - dollar figure: $31.7 billion (2002). Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.32% (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular: main lines in use: 34.878 million (1997). Telephone system: general assessment: technologically advanced domestic and international system domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optic systems international: 40 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centres. Radio broadcast stations: AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3 (1998). Radios: 84.5 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 228 (plus 3,523 repeaters) (1995). Televisions: 30.5 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 245 (2000) |
Length & Distance (1 mile = 1760 yards, 1 yard = 3 feet) (1 kilometre = 1000 metres, 1 metre = 100 centimetres) 1cm = 0.39 inches (1 inch = 2.54cm) 1m = 3.3ft (1 ft = 0.3m) 1km = 0.62 miles (1 mile = 1.6km) Weight (1 kilogram = 1000 grams, 100 grams = 3fi oz) 1kg = 2.2lb (1lb = 0.45kg) 1g = 0.04oz (1oz = 28g) Volume 1 litre = 0.26 US gallons (1 US gallon = 3.8 litres) 1 litre = 0.22 imperial gallons (1 imperial gallon = 4.55 litres) Temperature -10 degrees C = 5 degrees F 0 degrees C = 32 degrees F 10 degrees C = 50 degrees F 20 degrees C = 68 degrees F 30 degrees C = 86 degrees F Area 1 hectare (ha) = 2.471 acres 1 hectare = 10 000 sq metres 1 acre = 0.4 hectares |
Government type: constitutional monarchy. Capital: London. Administrative divisions: England - 47 boroughs, 36 counties*, 29 London boroughs**, 12 cities and boroughs***, 10 districts****, 12 cities*****, 3 royal boroughs******; Barking and Dagenham**, Barnet**, Barnsley, Bath and North East Somerset****, Bedfordshire*, Bexley**, Birmingham***, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Bradford***, Brent**, Brighton and Hove, City of Bristol*****, Bromley**, Buckinghamshire*, Bury, Calderdale, Cambridgeshire*, Camden**, Cheshire*, Cornwall*, Coventry***, Croydon**, Cumbria*, Darlington, Derby*****, Derbyshire*, Devon*, Doncaster, Dorset*, Dudley, Durham*, Ealing**, East Riding of Yorkshire****, East Sussex*, Enfield**, Essex*, Gateshead, Gloucestershire*, Greenwich**, Hackney**, Halton, Hammersmith and Fulham**, Hampshire*, Haringey**, Harrow**, Hartlepool, Havering**, Herefordshire*, Hertfordshire*, Hillingdon**, Hounslow**, Isle of Wight*, Islington**, Kensington and Chelsea******, Kent*, City of Kingston upon Hull*****, Kingston upon Thames******, Kirklees, Knowsley, Lambeth**, Lancashire*, Leeds***, Leicester*****, Leicestershire*, Lewisham**, Lincolnshire*, Liverpool***, City of London*****, Luton, Manchester***, Medway, Merton**, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newcastle upon Tyne***, Newham**, Norfolk*, Northamptonshire*, North East Lincolnshire****, North Lincolnshire****, North Somerset****, North Tyneside, Northumberland*, North Yorkshire*, Nottingham*****, Nottinghamshire*, Oldham, Oxfordshire*, Peterborough*****, Plymouth*****, Poole, Portsmouth*****, Reading, Redbridge**, Redcar and Cleveland, Richmond upon Thames**, Rochdale, Rotherham, Rutland****, Salford***, Shropshire*, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield***, Slough, Solihull, Somerset*, Southampton*****, Southend-on-Sea, South Gloucestershire****, South Tyneside, Southwark**, Staffordshire*, St. Helens, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent*****, Suffolk*, Sunderland***, Surrey*, Sutton**, Swindon, Tameside, Telford and Wrekin****, Thurrock, Torbay, Tower Hamlets**, Trafford, Wakefield***, Walsall, Waltham Forest**, Wandsworth**, Warrington, Warwickshire*, West Berkshire****, Westminster***, West Sussex*, Wigan, Wiltshire*, Windsor and Maidenhead******, Wirral, Wokingham****, Wolverhampton, Worcestershire*, York*****; Northern Ireland - 24 districts, 2 cities*, 6 counties**; Antrim, County Antrim**, Ards, Armagh, County Armagh**, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast*, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, County Down**, Dungannon, Fermanagh, County Fermanagh**, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, County Londonderry**, Derry*, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane, County Tyrone**; Scotland - 32 council areas; Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, The Scottish Borders, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), West Lothian; Wales - 11 county boroughs, 9 counties*, 2 cities and counties**; Isle of Anglesey*, Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff**, Ceredigion*, Carmarthenshire*, Conwy, Denbighshire*, Flintshire*, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire*, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire*, Powys*, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea**, Torfaen, The Vale of Glamorgan*, Wrexham. Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands. Independence: England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales was enacted under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284; in the Act of Union of 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanent union as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927 Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations; British courts and legislation are increasingly subject to review by European Union courts Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: Queen Elizabeth II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince Charles (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948). Head of government: Prime Minister Anthony (Tony) Blalir (since 2 May 1997). Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; the prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons (assuming there is no majority party, a prime minister would have a majority coalition or at least a coalition that was not rejected by the majority) Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (659 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier) Elections: House of Lords - no elections (some proposals for further reform include elections); House of Commons - last held 7 June 2001 (next to be held by NA May 2006) Judicial branch: House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary Political parties: Conservative and Unionist Party; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland; Labor Party; Liberal; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru); Scottish National Party or; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland); Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland); Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland. Political pressure groups and leaders: Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Trades Union Congress. |
Liverpool was awarded the European Capital of Culture 2008. The vibrant city is renowned for its arts & culture and is home to numerous museums & galleries including a branch of the Tate Gallery. Read more ...
