Name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Capital Cities: England - London, Scotland - Edinburgh, Wales - Cardiff, N Ireland - Belfast

Overseas Territories: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena and Ascension, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands.

Government

Head of State: The Monarch - Queen Elizabeth II

Government: The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy

Devolution: UK devolution created a national Parliament in Scotland, a national Assembly in Wales and a national Assembly in Northern Ireland. This process transferred varying levels of power from the UK Parliament to the UK’s nations – but kept authority over the devolved institutions in the UK Parliament itself.

Head of Government: Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Governing Party: The Labour Party

Main Opposition: The Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats.

Population

Population: 60,609,153 (July 2006 est.)

Ethnic Groups: 92.1% White, 2% Black, 1.8% Indian, 1.3% Pakistani, 1.2% Mixed, 1.6% Other

Religion: 71.6% Christian, 2.7% Muslim, 1% Hindu, 1.6% Other, 23.1% Unspecified

Languages: English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic

Geography

Area: 94,525 sq miles

Coastline: 7,725 miles 

Climate: Temperate

 

 

 

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Major Cities and Population (2001)

London 7,172,091	Sheffield 439,866	Coventry 303,475
Birmingham 970,892	Edinburgh 430,082	Kingston upon Hull 301,416
Glasgow 629,501	Bristol 420,556	Bradford 293,717
Liverpool 469,017	Manchester 394,269	Cardiff 292,150
Leeds 443,247	Leicester 330,574	Belfast 277,391