Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime
power of the 19th century, played a leading role in
developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing
literature and science. At its zenith, the British
Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface.
The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength
seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half
witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK
rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European
nation. The UK currently is weighing the degree of
its integration with continental Europe. A member
of the EU, it chose to remain outside of the EMU for
the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant
issue in the UK. Regional assemblies with varying
degrees of power opened in Scotland, Wales, and Northern
Ireland in 1999.
Geography
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
note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
Land boundaries:
total: 360 km
border countries: Ireland 360 km
Coastline: 12,429 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf
orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate; moderated by
prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic
Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
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: 25%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 46%
forests and woodland: 10%
other: 19% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,080 sq km (1993
est.)
Environment - current issues: sulfur
dioxide emissions from power plants contribute to
air pollution; some rivers polluted by agricultural
wastes; and coastal waters polluted because of large-scale
disposal of sewage at sea
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, 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.
People
Population: 59,511,464 (July 2000
est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 5,816,313; female 5,519,479)
15-64 years: 65% (male 19,622,152; female 19,228,938)
65 years and over: 16% (male 3,864,612; female 5,459,970)
(2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.25% (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.66 years
male: 74.97 years
female: 80.49 years (2000 est.)
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 27 million,
Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian
800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000,
Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.)
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% (1978 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
