United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Prime Minister: Tony Blair (1997)

Land area: 93,278 sq mi (241,590 sq km); total area: 94,526 sq mi (244,820 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 60,609,153 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 10.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 5.1/1000; life expectancy: 78.5; density per sq mi: 650

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): London, 7,615,000 (metro. area), 7,429,200 (city proper)

Other large cities: Glasgow, 1,099,400; Birmingham, 971,800; Liverpool, 461,900; Edinburgh, 460,000; Leeds, 417,000; Bristol, 406,500; Manchester, 390,700; Bradford, 288,400

Monetary unit: Pound sterling (£)

Languages: English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic

Ethnicity/race: English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%; Northern Irish 2.9%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001)

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

Literacy rate: 99% (2000 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $1.869 trillion; per capita $30,900. Real growth rate: 1.7%. Inflation: 2.2%. Unemployment: 4.7%. Arable land: 23%. Agriculture: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish. Labor force: 30.07 million; agriculture 1.5%, industry 19.1%, services 79.5% (2004). 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, other consumer goods. Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land. Exports: $372.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco. Imports: $483.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs. Major trading partners: U.S., Germany, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, China (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 34.878 million (1997); mobile cellular: 13 million (yearend 1998). 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): more than 400 (2000). Internet users: 34.3 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 16,893 km (2002). Highways: total: 371,913 km; paved: 371,913 km (including 3,913 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (1999). Waterways: 3,200 km. Ports and harbors: Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Felixstowe, Glasgow, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Scapa Flow, Southampton, Sullom Voe, Teesport, Tyne. Airports: 470 (2002).

International disputes: Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against “total shared sovereignty” arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; Argentina claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark and Iceland; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; disputes with Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM.


 

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