About The United Kingdom

The UK, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The UK has a population of approximately 60 million people, and is the world's fourth largest trading nation. The UK is a Constitutional Monarchy, ruled by Queen Elizabeth the Second. The country is governed by Parliament, with Gordon Brown the current Prime Minister. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own National Assemblies, devolved from centralised government in London.

Geography

The UK is an island separated from mainland Europe by the English Channel and the North Sea, and from Ireland by the Irish Sea. England is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel however.

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are characterised by great geographical contrasts - large tracts of open countryside, wild moorlands and mountainous regions, flat lowlands, and heavily built-up urban areas. The climate varies greatly from month to month and region to region too - no wonder the British are obsessed by the weather, we never know what its going to do!

Home of Innovation

The UK is commonly acknowledged as being amongst the best in the world when it comes to invention and innovation.

British inventors include Michael Faraday (electric light), Tim Berners-Lee (the World Wide Web), Charles Babbage (The Difference Engine - an early computer), Trevor Baylis (the clockwork radio), Alan Turing (modern mathematical computing), Robert Stephenson (steam locomotion), Christopher Cockerell (the hovercraft), The Earl of Sandwich (the sandwich), Charles MacIntosh (the raincoat) and The Duke of Wellington (the Wellington Boot) to name but a few.

British innovators in the fields of Science and Technology include Sir Isaac Newton (many scientific discoveries and theories including the Theory of Gravity), Isambard Kingdom Brunel (great works of engineering), Edmund Cartwright (mechanisation of the weaving industry), and John Stringfellow (pioneer of powered flight).

Sport and Culture

Football, Cricket, Rugby, Boxing, Formula 1 Motor Racing - all part of the UK's legacy to the world and the 2012 Olympics will be staged in the UK.

The UK is still pre-eminent in Formula 1 with many of the top teams based in England. Teams such as Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are still world class.

In the field of Culture, Britain has produced many visionary musicians, composers, painters, thinkers and literary figures, including The Beatles, Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, David Hockney, John Constable, Damien Hirst, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, William Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters, George Eliot, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling and Martin Amis.

The UK has also made a great contribution to the field of Popular Culture, with many British bands and singers; actors, actresses and film directors; fashion designers and other celebrities becoming household names the world over.