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Country Name:

United Kingdom

Location:

Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France

Area:

total: 244,820 sq km

land:

241,590 sq km

water:

3,230 sq km

Land Boundaries:

360 km

Border Countries:

Ireland

Coastline:

12,429 km

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

Geography:

lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

Population:

60,943,912 (July 2008 est.)

Age Structure:

0-14 Years:

0-14 years: 18% (male 5,560,489; female 5,293,871)

15-64 Years:

15-64 years: 66.3% (male 20,193,876; female 19,736,516)

65 Years and Over:

65 years and over: 15.7% (male 4,027,721; female 5,458,235) (2004 est.)

Average Age:

Total:

39.9 years

Male:

38.8 years

Female:

41 years (2008 est.).

Ethnic Groups:

white (of which English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census)

Religions:

Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census)

General

Languages:

English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Government

Type:

Constitutional monarchy

Capital:

London

Independence:

England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; 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

Economy

Currency:

British pound (GBP)

GDP Growth Rate:

3.1% (2007 est.)

Labour Occupations:

agriculture: 1.4%
industry: 18.2%
services: 80.4% (2006 est.)

Unemployment Rate:

5.4% (2007 est.)

Inflation Rate:

2.3% (2007 est.)

Agriculture Produce:

cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish

Transportation

Railways:

total: 16,567 km
broad gauge: 303 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)
standard gauge: 16,264 km 1.435-m gauge (5,361 km electrified) (2006)

Roads:

total: 388,008 km
paved: 388,008 km (includes 3,520 km of expressways) (2005)

Airports:

449

Ports & Harbours:

Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Teesport (England), Forth Ports, Hound Point (Scotland), Milford Haven (Wales)

Communications

Mains Telephones:

33.602 million (2006)

Mobile Telephones:

69.657 million (2006)

Internet Users:

More than 400 million in 2000

Country Internet Code:

.uk