"UK" redirects here. For other uses see UK (disambiguation). This article is about the sovereign state. For other uses see United Kingdom (disambiguation). United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Flag Royal coat of arms Anthem:  "God Save the Queen"note 1 Location of  United Kingdom  (dark green)  on the European continent  (green & dark grey)  in the European Union  (green)    Legend Capital (and largest city) London 5130N 07W / 51.5N 0.117W / 51.5; -0.117 Official language(s) English12 Recognised regional languages Irish Ulster Scots Scottish Gaelic Scots Welsh Cornishnote 2 Ethnic groups (2001 See: UK ethnic groups list4) 92.1% White 4.0% South Asian 2.0% Black 1.2% Mixed 0.4% Chinese 0.4% Other Demonym British or Briton Government Unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister David Cameron MP Legislature Parliament  -  Upper House House of Lords  -  Lower House House of Commons Formation  -  Acts of Union 1707 1 May 1707   -  Acts of Union 1800 1 January 1801   -  Anglo-Irish Treaty 12 April 1922  Area  -  Total 243610 km2 (79th) 94060 sq mi   -  Water (%) 1.34 Population  -  2010 estimate 620080485 (22nd)  -  2001 census 587891946   -  Density 254.7/km2 (51st) 659.6/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2010 estimate  -  Total $2.173 trillion7 (7th)  -  Per capita $349207 (21st) GDP (nominal) 2010 estimate  -  Total $2.247 trillion7 (6th)  -  Per capita $361207 (22nd) Gini (200809) 418  HDI (2010) 0.8499 (very high) (26th) Currency Pound sterling (GBP) Time zone GMT (UTC+0)  -  Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1) Date formats dd/mm/yyyy (AD) Drives on the leftnote 3 ISO 3166 code GB Internet TLD .uknote 4 Calling code 44

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelandnote 5 (commonly known as the United Kingdom the UK or Britain) is a sovereign state off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign statethe Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean the North Sea the English Channel and the Irish Sea.

The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right1011 and consists of four countries: England Northern Ireland Scotland and Wales.12 There are three devolved national administrations each with varying powers1314 situated in Belfast Cardiff and Edinburgh; the capitals of Northern Ireland Wales and Scotland respectively. Associated with the UK but not constitutionally part of it are three Crown Dependencies15 and fourteen overseas territories.16 These are remnants of the British Empire which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.

The UK is a highly developed country and has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and seventh-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialised country17 and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries18 although the economic and social cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless remains a great power with leading economic cultural military scientific and political influence.19 It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks third or fourth in the world depending on the method of calculation.20 It is a member state of the European Union a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and is also a member of: the Commonwealth of Nations G8 G20 NATO the OECD the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization. Contents 1 Etymology and terminology 2 History 2.1 Prior to 1707 2.2 Since the creation of Great Britain 3 Geography 3.1 Climate 3.2 Administrative divisions 3.3 Dependencies 4 Politics 4.1 Government 4.2 Devolved national administrations 4.3 Law and criminal justice 4.4 Foreign relations 4.5 Military 5 Economy 5.1 Science and technology 5.2 Transport 5.3 Energy 6 Demographics 6.1 Ethnic groups 6.2 Languages 6.3 Religion 6.4 Migration 6.5 Education 6.6 Healthcare 7 Culture 7.1 Cinema 7.2 Literature 7.3 Media 7.4 Music 7.5 Philosophy 7.6 Visual art 7.7 Sport 7.8 Symbols 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links Etymology and terminology See also: Britain (name) Great Britain#Terminology and Terminology of the British Isles

The name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was introduced in 1927 by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act. The Acts of Union uniting the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801 had given the new state the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The 1927 legislation changed the name to reflect the granting of independence to the Irish Free State in 1922 leaving only Northern Ireland within the UK.21 Great Britain prior to 1801 is occasionally referred to as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain"22 However section 1 of both of the 1707 Acts of Union declare that England and Scotland are "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain".23note 6

Although the United Kingdom as a sovereign state is a country England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland are also referred to as countries irrespective of their constitutional arrangements.2425 The British Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.11 With regard to Northern Ireland the descriptive name used "can be controversial with the choice often revealing one's political preferences."26 Other terms used for Northern Ireland include "region" and "province".2728

The United Kingdom is often referred to by the short-form name of Britain. Great Britain refers only to England Scotland and Wales and particularly in the UK is not favoured as an alternative name for the United Kingdom.2930 However some foreign usage particularly in the United States uses Great Britain as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom.3132 In addition in the UK and elsewhere Britain is also sometimes used as an abbreviation for Great Britain meaning only England Scotland and Wales.25

The adjective British is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom. Although the term has no definite legal connotation it is used in legislation to refer to United Kingdom citizenship.33 However British people use a number of different terms to describe their national identity. Some may identify themselves as British only or British and English Scottish Welsh or Northern Irish. Others may identify themselves as only English Scottish Welsh or Northern Irish and not British. In Northern Ireland some describe themselves as only Irish.343536 History See also: History of the British Isles Prior to 1707 Stonehenge in Wiltshire which was erected around 2500 BC Main articles: History of England History of Wales History of Scotland History of Ireland and History of the formation of the United Kingdom

Settlement by anatomically modern humans of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30000 years ago.37 By the end of the region's prehistoric period the population is thought to have belonged in the main to a culture termed Insular Celtic comprising Brythonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland.38 The Roman conquest beginning in 43AD and the 400 year occupation of southern Britain was followed by an invasion by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers reducing the Brythonic area mainly to what was to become Wales.39 The region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.40 Meanwhile Gaelic-speakers in north west Britain (with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in the 5th century4142) united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century.43 The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Battle of Hastings and the events leading to it

In 1066 the Normans invaded England and after its conquest seized large parts of Wales conquered much of Ireland and settled in Scotland bringing to each country feudalism on the Northern French model and Norman-French culture.44 The Norman elites greatly influenced but eventually assimilated with each of the local cultures.45 Subsequent medieval English kings completed the conquest of Wales and made an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to annex Scotland. Thereafter Scotland maintained its independence albeit in near constant conflict with England. The English monarchs through inheritance of substantial territories in France and claims to the French crown were also heavily involved in conflicts in France most notably the Hundred Years War.46 The early modern period saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country.47 Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England48 and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.49 In what was to become Northern Ireland the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and land given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.50 In 1603 the kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland were united in a personal union when James VI King of Scots inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political institutions.5152 In the mid-17th century all three kingdoms were involved in a series of connected wars (including the English Civil War) which led to the temporary overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the short-lived unitary republic of the Commonwealth of England Scotland and Ireland.5354 Although the monarchy was restored it ensured (with the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688) that unlike much of the rest of Europe royal absolutism would not prevail. The British constitution would develop on the basis of constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary system.55 During this period particularly in England the development of naval power (and the interest in voyages of discovery) led to the acquisition and settlement of overseas colonies particularly in North America.5657 Since the creation of Great Britain Main article: History of the United Kingdom The Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain. In 1707 the Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland in accordance with the Treaty of Union that had been negotiated the previous year and ratified by the English and Scottish Parliaments passing Acts of Union.585960 In the 18th century the country played an important role in developing Western ideas of the parliamentary system as well as making significant contributions to literature the arts and science.18 The British-led Industrial Revolution transformed the country and fuelled the growing British Empire. During this time Britain like other great powers was involved in colonial exploitation including the Atlantic slave trade although with the passing of the Slave Trade Act in 1807 the UK took a leading role in combating the trade in slaves.61 The colonies in North America had been the main focus of British colonial activity. However with their loss following the American War of Independence imperial ambition turned to other parts of the globe particularly India.62 In 1800 the Parliaments of Great Britain and of Ireland each passed Acts of Union uniting the two kingdoms and creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which came into being on 1 January 1801.63 The Battle of Waterloo marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the start of Pax Britannica. After the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (17921815) the UK emerged as the principal naval and economic power of the 19th century (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830 to 1930)64 and remained a foremost power into the mid 20th century.65 Unchallenged at sea Britain adopted the role of global policeman a state of affairs later known as the Pax Britannica.66 It was also a period of rapid economic colonial and industrial growth. Britain was described as the "workshop of the world"67 and the British Empire grew to include India large parts of Africa as well as many other territories across the world. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries such as China Argentina and Siam.6869 Domestically there was a shift to free trade and laissez-faire policies and a very significant widening of the voting franchise. The country saw a huge population increase during the century accompanied by rapid urbanization resulting in significant social and economic stresses.70 By the end of the century other states began to challenge Britain's industrial dominance.71 Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme. More than 885000 British soldiers lost their lives on the battlefields of World War I. The UK along with Russia France and (after 1917) the USA was one of the major powers opposing Germany and its allies in World War I (191418).72 The UK armed forces grew to over five million people73 engaged across much of its empire several regions in Europe and increasingly took a major role on the Western front. The nation suffered an estimated two and a half million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt.73 After the war the United Kingdom received the League of Nations mandate over former German and Ottoman colonies and the British Empire had expanded to its greatest extent covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population.74 However the rise of Irish Nationalism and disputes within Ireland over the terms of Irish Home Rule led eventually to the partition of the island in 192175 with the Irish Free State becoming independent with Dominion status in 1922 and Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom.76 The Great Depression (192932) occurred at a time when the UK was still far from having recovered from the effects of the war and led to hardship as well as political and social unrest.77 The United Kingdom was one of the three main Allies of World War II. Following the defeat of its European allies in the first year of the war the United Kingdom continued the fight against Germany notably in the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic. After the victory the UK was one of the Big Three powers that met to plan the post-war world. The war left the United Kingdom financially damaged. However Marshall Aid and loans from both the United States and Canada helped the UK on the road to recovery.78 Territories that were at one time part of the British Empire. Current British Overseas Territories are underlined in red. The Labour government in the immediate post-war years initiated a radical programme of changes having a significant impact on British society for the following decades.79 Domestically major industries and public utilities were nationalized a Welfare State was established and a comprehensive publicly-funded healthcare system the National Health Service was created.80 In response to the rise of local nationalism the Labour government's own ideological sympathies and Britain's now diminished economic position a policy of decolonisation was initiated with the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.81 Over the next three decades most territories of the Empire gained independence and became sovereign members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Although the new post-war limits of Britain's political role were illustrated by the Suez Crisis of 1956 the UK nevertheless became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and was the third country to develop a nuclear weapons' arsenal (with its first atomic bomb test in 1952). The international spread of the English language also ensured the continuing international influence of its literature and culture while from the 1960s its popular culture also found influence abroad. As a result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s the British Government encouraged immigration from Commonwealth countries thereby transforming Britain into a multi-ethnic society in the following decades.82 In 1973 the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community (EEC) and when it became the European Union (EU) in 1992 the UK was one of its 12 founding members. From the late 1960s Northern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary violence (sometimes affecting elsewhere in the UK and also the Republic of Ireland) which is conventionally known as the Troubles. It is usually considered to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998.838485 Following a period of global economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s the Conservative Government of the 1980s initiated a radical policy of deregulation particularly of the financial sector flexible labour markets the sale of state-owned companies (privatisation) and the withdrawal of subsidies to others.86 Aided from 1984 with the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues the UK saw a period of significant economic growth.87 The end of the 20th century saw major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of devolved national administrations for Northern Ireland Scotland and Wales following pre-legislative referendums88 and the statutory incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Domestic controversy surrounded some of Britain's overseas military deployments in the first decade of the 21st century particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.89 Geography Main article: Geography of the United Kingdom The topography of the UK. The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 243610 square kilometres (94060 sq mi). The country occupies the major part of the British Isles90 archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with the south-east coast coming within 35 kilometres (22 mi) of the coast of northern France from which it is separated by the English Channel.91 As of 1993 10% of the UK was forested 46% used for pastures and 25% used for agriculture.92 The Royal Greenwich Observatory in London is the defining point of the Prime Meridian. The United Kingdom lies between latitudes 49 to 61 N and longitudes 9 W to 2 E. Northern Ireland shares a 360-kilometre (224 mi) land boundary with the Republic of Ireland.91 The coastline of Great Britain is 17820 kilometres (11073 mi) long.93 It is connected to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel which at 50 kilometres (31 mi) (38 kilometres (24 mi) underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world.94 England accounts for just over half of the total area of the UK covering 130395 square kilometres (50350 sq mi).95 Most of the country consists of lowland terrain92 with mountainous terrain north-west of the Tees-Exe line; including the Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District the Pennines and limestone hills of the Peak District Exmoor and Dartmoor. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames Severn and the Humber. England's highest mountain is Scafell Pike (978 metres (3209 ft)) in the Lake District. Its principal rivers are the Severn Thames Humber Tees Tyne Tweed Avon Exe and Mersey.92 Ben Nevis in Scotland is the highest point in the British Isles Scotland accounts for just under a third of the total area of the UK covering 78772 square kilometres (30410 sq mi)96 and including nearly eight hundred islands97 predominantly west and north of the mainland; notably the Hebrides Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault   a geological rock fracture  which traverses Scotland from Arran in the west to Stonehaven in the east.98 The faultline separates two distinctively different regions; namely the Highlands to the north and west and the lowlands to the south and east. The more rugged Highland region contains the majority of Scotland's mountainous land including Ben Nevis which at 1343 metres (4406 ft) is the highest point in the British Isles.99 Lowland areas especially the narrow waist of land between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth known as the Central Belt are flatter and home to most of the population including Glasgow Scotland's largest city and Edinburgh its capital and political centre. Wales accounts for less than a tenth of the total area of the UK covering 20779 square kilometres (8020 sq mi).100 Wales is mostly mountainous though South Wales is less mountainous than North and mid Wales. The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales consisting of the coastal cities of Cardiff Swansea and Newport and the South Wales Valleys to their north. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia and include Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa) which at 1085 metres (3560 ft) is the highest peak in Wales.92 The 14 or possibly 15 Welsh mountains over 3000 feet (914 m) high are known collectively as the Welsh 3000s. Wales has over 1200 km (750 miles) of coastline. There are several islands off the Welsh mainland the largest of which is Anglesey (Ynys Mn) in the northwest. Northern Ireland accounts for just 14160 square kilometres (5470 sq mi) and is mostly hilly. It includes Lough Neagh which at 388 square kilometres (150 sq mi) is the largest lake in the British Isles by area.101 The highest peak in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard in the Mourne Mountains at 852 metres (2795 ft).92 Climate Main article: Climate of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom has a temperate climate with plentiful rainfall all year round.91 The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below 11 C (12.2 F) or rising above 35 C (95 F).102 The prevailing wind is from the south-west and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean91 although the eastern parts are mostly sheltered from this wind   as the majority of the rain falls over the western regions the eastern parts are therefore the driest. Atlantic currents warmed by the Gulf Stream bring mild winters; especially in the west where winters are wet and even moreso over high ground. Summers are warmest in the south-east of England being closest to the European mainland and coolest in the north. Snowfall can occur in winter and early spring though it rarely settles to great depth away from high ground. Administrative divisions Main article: Administrative geography of the United Kingdom Administrative units of the United Kingdom Each country of the United Kingdom has its own system of administrative and geographic demarcation which often has origins that pre-date the formation of the United Kingdom itself. Consequently there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".103 Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.104 Change did not occur in a uniform manner and the devolution of power over local government to Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland means that future changes are unlikely to be uniform either. The organisation of local government in England is complex with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the UK parliament and the Government of the United Kingdom as England does not have a devolved parliament. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine Government office regions or European Union government office regions.105 One region Greater London has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a referendum.106 It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected regional assemblies but the rejection of a proposed assembly in the North East region by a referendum in 2004 stopped this idea in its tracks.107 Below the region level England has either county councils and district councils or unitary authorities and London which consists of 32 London boroughs. Councillors are elected by the first-past-the-post system in single-member wards or by the multi-member plurality system in multi-member wards.108 Local government in Scotland is divided on a basis of 32 council areas with wide variation in both size and population. The cities of Glasgow Edinburgh Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas as is the Highland Council which includes a third of Scotland's area but just over 200000 people. The power invested in local authorities is administered by elected councillors of which there are currently 1222109 and are each paid a part-time salary. Elections are conducted by single transferable vote in multi-member wards that elect either three or four councillors. Each council elects a Provost or Convenor to chair meetings of the council and to act as a figurehead for the area. Councillors are subject to a code of conduct enforced by the Standards Commission for Scotland.110 The representative association of Scotland's local authorities is the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).111 Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities. These include the cities of Cardiff Swansea and Newport which are unitary authorities in their own right.112 Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.113 The most recent elections were held in May 2008. The Welsh Local Government Association represents the interests of local authorities in Wales.114 Local government in Northern Ireland has since 1973 been organised into 26 district councils each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as collecting waste controlling dogs and maintaining parks and cemeteries.115 On 13 March 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils and replace the present system.116 The next local elections were postponed until 2011 to facilitate this.117 Dependencies Main articles: British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies The fourteen British Overseas Territories are indicated in red The United Kingdom has sovereignty over seventeen territories which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself: 14 British Overseas Territories118 and three Crown Dependencies. The fourteen British Overseas Territories are: Anguilla; Bermuda; the British Antarctic Territory; the British Indian Ocean Territory; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; the Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Saint Helena Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; the Turks and Caicos Islands; the Pitcairn Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus.119 British claims in Antarctica are not universally recognised.120 Collectively Britain's overseas territories encompass an approximate land area of 667018 square miles (1727570 km2) and a population of approximately 260000 people.121 They are the remnants of the British Empire and several have specifically voted to remain British territories. The Crown Dependencies are British possessions of the Crown as opposed to overseas territories of the UK.122 They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. Being independently administered jurisdictions they do not form part of the United Kingdom or of the European Union although the UK government manages their foreign affairs and defence and the UK Parliament has the authority to legislate on their behalf. The power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with their own respective legislative assemblies with the assent of the Crown (Privy Council or in the case of the Isle of Man in certain circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor).123 Since 2005 each Crown dependency has had a Chief Minister as its head of government. Politics Main articles: Politics of the United Kingdom Monarchy of the United Kingdom and Elections in the United Kingdom HM Queen Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms The United Kingdom is a unitary state under a constitutional monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state of the UK as well as of fifteen other independent Commonwealth countries. The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution124 as do only three other countries in the world.note 7 The Constitution of the United Kingdom thus consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources including statutes judge-made case law and international treaties together with constitutional conventions. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law" the UK Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.125 Government The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the worlda legacy of the British Empire. The parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses; an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords. Any bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom since the devolved parliament in Scotland as well as the devolved assemblies in Northern Ireland and Wales are not sovereign bodies and could theoretically be abolished by the UK parliament. The position of prime minister the UK's head of government126 belongs to the member of parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons usually the current leader of the largest political party in that chamber. The prime minister and cabinet are formally appointed by the monarch to form Her Majesty's Government though the prime minister chooses the cabinet and by convention HM The Queen respects the prime minister's choices.127 The Palace of Westminster seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses and mostly from the House of Commons to which they are responsible. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and become Ministers of the Crown. The Rt. Hon. David Cameron leader of the Conservative Party has been Prime Minister First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service since 11 May 2010.128 For elections to the House of Commons the UK is currently divided into 650 constituencies129 with each electing a single member of parliament by simple plurality. General elections are called by the monarch when the prime minister so advises. The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 require that a new election must be called within five years of the previous general election.130 The UK's three major political parties are the Conservative Party the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. During the 2010 general election these three parties won 622 out of 650 seats available in the House of Commons; 621 seats at the 2010 general election131 and 1 more at the delayed by-election in Thirsk and Malton.132 Most of the remaining seats were won by minor parties that only contest elections in one part of the UK: the Scottish National Party (Scotland only); Plaid Cymru (Wales only); and the Democratic Unionist Party Social Democratic and Labour Party Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fin (Northern Ireland only though Sinn Fin also contests elections in the Republic of Ireland). In accordance with party policy no elected Sinn Fin member of parliament has ever attended the House of Commons to speak on behalf of their constituents  this is because members of parliament are required to take an oath of allegiance to the monarch. The current five Sinn Fin MPs have however since 2002 made use of the offices and other facilities available at Westminster.133 For elections to the European Parliament the UK currently has 72 MEPs elected in 12 multi-member constituencies.134 Devolved national administrations Main articles: Northern Ireland Executive Scottish Government and Welsh Government The Scottish Parliament Building in Holyrood is the seat of the Scottish Parliament Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own government or executive led by a First Minister and a devolved unicameral legislature. England the largest country of the United Kingdom has no devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the UK government and parliament on all issues. This situation has given rise to the so-called West Lothian question which concerns the fact that MPs from Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland can vote sometimes decisively135 on matters affecting England that are handled by devolved legislatures for their own constituencies.136 The Scottish Government and Parliament have wide ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically 'reserved' to the UK parliament including education healthcare Scots law and local government.137 Following its victory at the 2007 elections the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a minority government with its leader Alex Salmond becoming First Minister of Scotland.138 The pro-union parties responded to the electoral success of the SNP by creating a Commission on Scottish Devolution139 which reported in 2009 and recommended that additional powers should be devolved including control of half the income tax raised in Scotland.140 At the 2011 elections the SNP won re-election and achieved an overall majority in the Scottish parliament.141 The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.142 Following the passing of the Government of Wales Act 2006 the assembly was able to legislate in devolved areas through Assembly Measures once permission to legislate on that specific matter had been granted by Westminster through a Legislative Competence Order;143 but since May 2011 the Assembly has been able to legislate on devolved matters through Acts of the Assembly which require no prior consent. The current Welsh Government was formed after the 2011 elections and is a minority Labour administration lead by Carwyn Jones who had been First Minister of a Labour/Plaid Cymru administration since December 2009.144 The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly have powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland. The Northern Ireland Executive is led by a diarchy currently First Minister Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fin).145 Law and criminal justice Main article: Law of the United Kingdom The Royal Courts of Justice of England and Wales. The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system since it was created by the political union of previously independent countries with Article 19 of the Treaty of Union guaranteeing the continued existence of Scotland's separate legal system.146 Today the UK has three distinct systems of law; English law Northern Ireland law and Scots law. Recent constitutional changes saw a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom come into being in October 2009 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.147148 The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council including the same members as the Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries the UK overseas territories and the British crown dependencies. The High Court of Justiciarythe supreme criminal court of Scotland. Both English law which applies in England and Wales and Northern Ireland law are based on common-law principles.149 The essence of common law is that subject to statute the law is developed by judges in courts applying statute precedent and common sense to the facts before them to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles which are reported and binding in future similar cases (stare decisis).150 The courts of England and Wales are headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales consisting of the Court of Appeal the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land for both criminal and civil appeal cases in England Wales and Northern Ireland and any decision it makes is binding on every other court in the same jurisdiction often having a persuasive effect in other jurisdictions.151 Scots law applies in Scotland a hybrid system based on both common-law and civil-law principles. The chief courts are the Court of Session for civil cases152 and the High Court of Justiciary for criminal cases.153 The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom serves as the highest court of appeal for civil cases under Scots law.154 Sheriff courts deal with most civil and criminal cases including conducting criminal trials with a jury known as sheriff solemn court or with a sheriff and no jury known as sheriff summary Court.155 The Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdicts for a criminal trial: "guilty" "not guilty" and "not proven". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal with no possibility of retrial.156 Crime in England and Wales increased in the period between 1981 and 1995 though since that peak there has been an overall fall of 48% in crime from 1995 to 2007/08157 according to crime statistics. The prison population of England and Wales has almost doubled over the same period to over 80000 giving England and Wales the highest rate of incarceration in Western Europe at 147 per 100000.158 Her Majesty's Prison Service which reports to the Ministry of Justice manages most of the prisons within England and Wales. Crime in Scotland fell to its lowest recorded level for 32 years in 2009/10 falling by ten percent.159 At the same time Scotland's prison population at over 8000160 is hitting record levels and is well above design capacity.161 The Scottish Prison Service which reports to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice manages Scotland's prisons. In 2006 a report by the Surveillance Studies Network found that the UK had the highest level of mass surveillance among industrialised western nations.162 Foreign relations Main article: Foreign relations of the United Kingdom The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron and the President of the United States Barack Obama during the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit. The United Kingdom is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council a member of the Commonwealth of Nations G7 G8 G20 NATO the OECD the WTO the Council of Europe the OSCE and is a member state of the European Union. The UK has a "Special Relationship" with the United States163164 and a close partnership with France  the "Entente cordiale"  and shares nuclear weapons technology with both countries. Other close allies include other European Union and NATO members Commonwealth nations and Japan. Britain's global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations foreign investments official development assistance and armed forces.165 Military Main article: British Armed Forces Examples of the modern equipment used by the British Armed Forces. The United Kingdom fields one of the most technologically advanced and best trained armed forces in the world and as of 2008 maintained at least 20 military deployments around the globe.166167168 According to various sources including the Ministry of Defence the UK has the third- or fourth-highest military expenditure in the world despite only having the 25th largest military in terms of manpower. Total defence spending currently accounts for 2.5% of total national GDP.169 The British Army Royal Air Force and Royal Navy are collectively known as the British Armed Forces and officially as HM Armed Forces. The three forces are managed by the Ministry of Defence and controlled by the Defence Council chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The UK maintains the largest air force and navy in the EU and second-largest in NATO. The Royal Navy is a blue-water navy currently one of only three (with the French Navy and the United States Navy).170 The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth 3.2bn to build two new supercarrier-sized aircraft carriers on 3 July 2008.171 In early 2009 the British Army had a reported strength of 105750 the Royal Air Force had 43300 personnel and the Navy 38160.172 The United Kingdom Special Forces such as the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service provide troops trained for quick mobile military responses in counter-terrorism land maritime and amphibious operations often where secrecy or covert tactics are required. There are reserve forces supporting the active military. These include the Territorial Army the Royal Naval Reserve Royal Marines Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. Active and reserve duty military personnel total approximately 404090.172 The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the UK and its overseas territories promoting the UK's global security interests and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO including the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps as well as the Five Power Defence Arrangements RIMPAC and other worldwide coalition operations. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained in Ascension Island Belize Brunei Canada Cyprus Diego Garcia the Falkland Islands Germany Gibraltar Kenya and Qatar.173 Despite the United Kingdom's military capabilities recent defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" will be undertaken as part of a coalition.174 Setting aside the intervention in Sierra Leone their operations in Bosnia Kosovo Afghanistan and Iraq may all be taken as precedent. The last war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982 in which they were victorious. Economy Main article: Economy of the United Kingdom London is the largest financial centre in the world alongside New York.175176177 The UK has a partially regulated market economy.178 Based on market exchange rates the UK is today the sixth largest economy in the world and the third largest in Europe after Germany and France having fallen behind France for the first time in over a decade in 2008.179 HM Treasury led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy. The Bank of England is the UK's central bank and is responsible for issuing the nation's currency the pound sterling. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover their issue. Pound sterling is the world's third-largest reserve currency (after the U.S. Dollar and the Euro).180 Since 1997 the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee headed by the Governor of the Bank of England has been responsible for setting interest rates at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Chancellor each year.181 The Bank of England; the central bank of the United Kingdom. The Airbus A380 has wings and engines manufactured in the UK. In the final quarter of 2008 the UK economy officially entered recession for the first time since 1991.182 Unemployment increased from 5.2% in May 2008 to 7.6% in May 2009 and by January 2011 the unemployment rate among 18 to 24-year-olds had risen from 11.9% to 20.3% the highest since current records began in 1992.183 Total UK government debt rose from 44.5% of GDP in December 2007 to 76.1% of GDP in December 2010.184185 The UK service sector makes up around 73% of GDP.186 London is one of the three "command centres" of the the global economy (alongside New York City and Tokyo).187 It is the world's largest financial centre alongside New York175177188 and has the largest city GDP in Europe.189 Edinburgh is also one of the largest financial centres in Europe.190 Tourism is very important to the British economy and with over 27 million tourists arriving in 2004 the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world191 and London has the most international visitors of any city in the world.192 The creative industries accounted for 7% GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6% per annum between 1997 and 2005.193 The Industrial Revolution started in the UK194 with an initial concentration on the textile industry followed by other heavy industries such as shipbuilding coal mining and Steelmaking.195196 The empire created an overseas market for British products allowing the UK to dominate international trade in the 19th century. As other nations industrialised coupled with economic decline after two world wars the United Kingdom began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry declined by degrees throughout the 20th century. Manufacturing remains a significant part of the economy but accounted for only one-sixth of national output in 2003.197 The automotive industry is a significant part of the UK manufacturing sector and in 2008 employed around 180000 people had a turnover of 52.5 billion and generated 26.6 billion of exports.198 The aerospace industry of the UK is the second- or third-largest national aerospace industry depending upon the method of measurement and has an annual turnover of around 20 billion.199200201 The pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in the UK economy and the country has the third-highest share of global pharmaceutical R&D expenditures (after the United States and Japan).202203 The poverty line in the UK is commonly defined as being 60% of the median household income.note 8 In 20072008 13.5 million people or 22% of the population lived below this line. This is a higher level of relative poverty than all but four other EU members.204 In the same year 4.0 million children 31% of the total lived in households below the poverty line after housing costs were taken into account. This is a decrease of 400000 children since 19981999.205 The UK imports 40% of its food supplies.206 Science and technology Main article: Science and technology in the United Kingdom Sir Isaac Newton The United Kingdom has played a leading role in the advancement of science.91 It led the industrial revolution and has produced many scientists and engineers credited with important advances194 including; The laws of motion and illumination of gravity by physicist mathematician astronomer natural philosopher alchemist and theologian Sir Isaac Newton The unification of electromagnetism by James Clerk Maxwell The discovery of hydrogen by Henry Cavendish The steam locomotive by Richard Trevithick and Andrew Vivian The theory of aerodynamics by Sir George Cayley The world's first working television system and colour television by John Logie Baird207208 The invention of the jet engine by Frank Whittle Evolution by natural selection by Charles Darwin Charles Darwin The Turing machine by Alan Turing the basis of the modern computer.209 The invention of the hovercraft by Christopher Cockerell The electric motor by Michael Faraday who largely made electricity viable for use in technology The first practical telephone patented by Alexander Graham Bell.210 The structure of DNA by Francis Crick and others The first public steam railway by George Stephenson The invention of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee.211 Theories in cosmology quantum gravity and black holes by Stephen Hawking The first commercial electrical telegraph co-invented by Sir William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.212213 The invention of the incandescent light bulb by Joseph Swan The creation of postage and modern postal service by Sir Rowland Hill The discovery of penicillin by biologist and pharmacologist Sir Alexander Fleming.214 Notable civil engineering projects whose pioneers included Isambard Kingdom Brunel contributed to the advancement of railway transport systems. Other advances pioneered in the UK include the marine chronometer the jet engine the modern bicycle electric lighting the steam turbine the electromagnet stereo sound motion pictures the screw propeller the internal combustion engine military radar the electronic computer photography aeronautics soda water IVF nursing antiseptic surgery vaccination and antibiotics. Scientific journals produced in the UK include Nature the British Medical Journal and The Lancet. In 2006 it was reported that the UK provided 9 percent of the world's scientific research papers and a 12 per cent share of citations the second highest in the world after the US.215 In the 1950s the UK had more Physics Nobel Prizes than any other nation216 despite its relatively small size. Transport Main article: Transport in the United Kingdom Heathrow Terminal 5 building. London Heathrow Airport has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.217218 A radial road network totals 29145 miles (46904 km) of main roads 2173 miles (3497 km) of motorways and 213750 miles (344000 km) of paved roads.91 In 2009 there were a total of 34 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain.219 The National Rail network of 10072 route miles (16116 km) in Great Britain and 189 route miles (303 route km) in Northern Ireland carries over 18000 passenger and 1000 freight trains daily.91 Plans are now being considered to build new high-speed railway lines by 2025.220 In the year from October 2009 to September 2010 UK airports handled a total of 211.4 million passengers.221 In that period the three largest airports were London Heathrow Airport (65.6 million passengers) Gatwick Airport (31.5 million passengers) and London Stansted Airport (18.9 million passengers).221 London Heathrow Airport located 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of the capital has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world217218 and is the hub for the UK flag carrier British Airways as well as BMI and Virgin Atlantic.222 Energy Main article: Energy in the United Kingdom An oil platform in the North Sea In 2006 the UK was the world's ninth-largest consumer of energy and the 15th largest producer.223 In 2007 the UK had a total energy output of 9.5 quadrillion Btus of which the composition was oil (38%) natural gas (36%) coal (13%) nuclear (11%) and other renewables (2%).224 In 2009 the UK produced 1.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and consumed 1.7 million bbl/d.225 Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of oil since 2005.225 As of 2010 the UK has around 3.1 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves the largest of any EU member state.225 In 2009 the UK was the 13th largest producer of natural gas in the world and the largest producer in the EU.226 Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004.226 In 2009 the UK produced 19.7 million tons of coal and consumed 60.2 million tons.224 In 2005 it had proven recoverable coal reserves of 171 million tons.224 It has been estimated that identified onshore areas have the potential to produce between 7 billion tonnes and 16 billion tonnes of coal through underground coal gasification (UCG).227 Based on current UK coal consumption these volumes represent reserves that could last the UK between 200 and 400 years.228 The UK is home to a number of large energy companies including two of the six oil and gas "supermajors"  BP and Royal Dutch Shell  and BG Group.229230 Demographics Main article: Demography of the United Kingdom A Census occurs simultaneously in all parts of the UK every ten years.231 The Office for National Statistics is responsible for collecting data for England and Wales with the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency each being responsible for censuses in their respective countries.232 In the 2001 census the total population of the United Kingdom was 58789194 the third largest in the European Union the fifth largest in the Commonwealth and the twenty-first largest in the world. By mid-2009 this was estimated to have grown to 61792000.233 In 2008 natural population growth overtook net migration as the main contributor to population growth for the first time since 1998.234 Between 2001 and 2008 the population increased by an average annual rate of 0.5 per cent. This compares to 0.3 per cent per year in the period 1991 to 2001 and 0.2 per cent in the decade 1981 to 1991.234 Published in 2008 the mid-2007 population estimates revealed that for the first time the UK was home to more people of pensionable age than children under the age of 16.235 It has been estimated that the number of people aged 100 or over will rise steeply to reach over 626000 by 2080.236 England's population in mid-2008 was estimated to be 51.44 million.234 It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with 383 people resident per square kilometre in mid-2003237 with a particular concentration in London and the south east.238 The mid-2008 estimates put Scotland's population at 5.17 million Wales at 2.99 million and Northern Ireland at 1.78 million234 with much lower population densities than England. Compared to England's 383 inhabitants per square kilometre (990 /sq mi) the corresponding figures were 142 /km2 (370 /sq mi) for Wales 125 /km2 (320 /sq mi) for Northern Ireland and just 65 /km2 (170 /sq mi) for Scotland in mid-2003.237 In percentage terms Northern Ireland has had the fastest growing population of any country of the UK in each of the four years to mid-2008.234 In 2008 the average total fertility rate (TFR) across the UK was 1.96 children per woman.239 Whilst a rising birth rate is contributing to current population growth it remains considerably below the 'baby boom' peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964240 below the replacement rate of 2.1 but higher than the 2001 record low of 1.63.239 Scotland had the lowest fertility at only 1.8 children per woman while Northern Ireland had the highest at 2.11 children in 2008.239 view talk view talk Largest cities of United Kingdom 2001 Census London Birmingham Rank City Name English Region/Country Pop. Rank City Name English Region/Country Pop. Glasgow Liverpool 1 London Greater London 7172091 11 Coventry West Midlands 303475 2 Birmingham West Midlands 970892 12 Kingston upon Hull Yorkshire and the Humber 301416 3 Glasgow Scotland 629501 13 Bradford Yorkshire and the Humber 293717 4 Liverpool North West England 469017 14 Cardiff Wales 292150 5 Leeds Yorkshire and the Humber 443247 15 Belfast Northern Ireland 276459 6 Sheffield Yorkshire and the Humber 439866 16 Stoke-on-Trent West Midlands 259252 7 Edinburgh Scotland 430082 17 Newcastle-upon-Tyne North East England 259000 8 Bristol South West England 420556 18 Wolverhampton West Midlands 251462 9 Manchester North West England 394269 19 Nottingham East Midlands 249584 10 Leicester East Midlands 330574 20 Plymouth South West England 243795 Ethnic groups Main article: Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom Ethnic group Population  % of total* White British 50366497 85.67% White (other) 3096169 5.27% Indian 1053411 1.8% Pakistani 977285 1.6% White Irish 691232 1.2% Mixed race 677117 1.2% Black Caribbean &0000000000565876000000565876 1.0% Black African 485277 0.8% Bangladeshi 283063 0.5% Other Asian (non-Chinese) 247644 0.4% Chinese 247403 0.4% Other 230615 0.4% Black (others) 97585 0.2% * Percentage of total UK population according to the 2001 Census Historically indigenous British people were thought to be descended from the various ethnic groups that settled there before the 11th century: the Celts Romans Anglo-Saxons Norse and the Normans. Recent genetic studies have shown that more than 50 percent of England's gene pool contains Germanic Y chromosomes241 though other recent genetic analysis indicates that "about 75 per cent of the traceable ancestors of the modern British population had arrived in the British isles by about 6200 years ago at the start of the British Neolithic or Stone Age" and that the British broadly share a common ancestry with the Basque people.242243244 The UK has a history of small-scale non-white immigration with Liverpool having the oldest Black population in the country dating back to at least the 1730s245 and the oldest Chinese community in Europe dating to the arrival of Chinese seamen in the 19th century.246 In 1950 there were probably less than 20000 non-white residents in Britain almost all born overseas.247 Since 1945 substantial immigration from Africa the Caribbean and South Asia has been a legacy of ties forged by the British Empire. Migration from new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe since 2004 has resulted in growth in these population groups but as of 2008 the trend is reversing and many of these migrants are returning home leaving the size of these groups unknown.248 As of 2001 92.1% of the population identified themselves as White leaving 7.9%249 of the UK population identifying themselves as mixed race or of an ethnic minority. Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. 30.4% of London's population250 and 37.4% of Leicester's251 was estimated to be non-white as of June 2005 whereas less than 5% of the populations of North East England Wales and the South West were from ethnic minorities according to the 2001 census.252 As of 2007 22% of primary and 17.7% of secondary pupils at state schools in England were from ethnic minority families.253254 Languages Main article: Languages of the United Kingdom The English-speaking world. Countries in dark blue have a majority of native speakers; countries where it is an official but not a majority language in light blue. English is also one of the official languages of the European Union255 and the United Nations256 The UK's official language is English12 a West Germanic language descended from Old English which features a large number of borrowings from Old Norse Norman French and Latin. The English language has spread across the world largely because of the British Empire and has become the international language of business as well as the most widely taught second language.257 Scots a language descended from early northern Middle English is recognised at European level as is its regional variant in the northern counties of Ireland Ulster Scots.258 There are also four Celtic languages in use in the UK: Welsh Irish Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh259 an increase from the 1991 Census (18%).260 In addition it is estimated that about 200000 Welsh speakers live in England.261 The 2001 census in Northern Ireland showed that 167487 (10.4%) people "had some knowledge of Irish" (see Irish language in Northern Ireland) almost exclusively in the Catholic/nationalist population. Over 92000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides.262 The number of schoolchildren being taught in Welsh Gaelic and Irish is increasing.263 Welsh and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken by small groups around the globe with some Gaelic still spoken in Nova Scotia Canada (especially Cape Breton Island)264 and Welsh in Patagonia Argentina.265 Across the United Kingdom it is generally compulsory for pupils to study a second language to some extent: up to the age of 14 in England266 and up to age 16 in Scotland. French and German are the two most commonly taught second languages in England and Scotland. In Wales all pupils up to age 16 are either taught in Welsh or taught Welsh as a second language.267 Religion Main article: Religion in the United Kingdom Westminster Abbey is used for the coronation of British monarchs Forms of Christianity have dominated religious life in what is now the United Kingdom for over 1400 years.268 Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in many surveys regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century269 while immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of other faiths most notably Islam.270 This has led some commentators to variously describe the UK as a multi-faith271 secularised272 or post-Christian society.273 In the 2001 census 71.6% of all respondents indicated that they were Christians with the next largest faiths (by number of adherents) being Islam (2.8%) Hinduism (1.0%) Sikhism (0.6%) Judaism (0.5%) Buddhism (0.3%) and all other religions (0.3%).274 15% of respondents stated that they had no religion with a further 7% not stating a religious preference.275 A Tearfund survey in 2007 showed only one in ten Britons actually attend church weekly.276 The (Anglican) Church of England is the established church in England.277 It retains a representation in the UK Parliament and the British monarch is its Supreme Governor.278 In Scotland the Presbyterian Church of Scotland is recognised as the national church. It is not subject to state control and the British monarch is an ordinary member required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government" upon his or her accession.279280 The Church in Wales was disestablished in 1920 and there is no established church in Northern Ireland. Although there is no UK-wide data in the 2001 census on adherence to individual Christian denominations Ceri Peach has estimated that 62% of Christians are Anglican 13.5% Roman Catholic 6% Presbyterian 3.4% Methodist with small numbers of other Protestant denominations and Orthodoxdisambiguation needed.281 Migration Main article: Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922 See also: Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom Estimated foreign-born population by country of birth April 2007  March 2008 The United Kingdom has experienced successive waves of migration. The Great Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants.282 Over 120000 Polish veterans settled in Britain after World War II unable to return home.283 In the 20th century significant immigration from the British Empire occurred driven largely by post-World War II labour shortages. Many of these migrants came from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent.284 The proportion of foreign-born people in the UK remains slightly below that of some other European countries285 although immigration is now contributing to a rising population286 accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of Office for National Statistics data shows that 2.3 million net migrants moved to the UK in the period 1991 to 2006.287288 In 2008 it was predicted that migration would add 7 million to the UK population by 2031289 though these figures are disputed.290 The latest provisional official figures show that in 2009 567000 people arrived to live in the UK while 371000 left meaning that net inward migration was 196000.291292 A record 203790 foreign nationals became British citizens in 2009.293 194780 people were granted permanent settlement rights in 2009 of whom people from the Indian subcontinent accounted for 34 per cent 25 per cent were from Africa and 21 per cent from elsewhere in Asia.291294 24.7 per cent of babies born in England and Wales in 2009 were born to mothers who were born outside the UK according to official statistics released in 2010.295 Estimated number of British citizens living overseas by country 2006 At least 5.5 million British-born people are living abroad296297298 with Australia Spain the United States and Canada being the top four destinations.296299 Emigration was an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930 around 11.4 million people emigrated from Britain and 7.3 million from Ireland. Estimates show that by the end of the 20th century some 300 million people of British and Irish descent were permanently settled around the globe.300 Citizens of the European Union have the right to live and work in any member state including the UK.301 Transitional arrangements apply to Romanians and Bulgarians whose countries joined the EU in January 2007.302 Research conducted by the Migration Policy Institute for the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that between May 2004 and September 2009 1.5 million workers migrated from the new EU member states to the UK two thirds of them Polish but that many have since returned home resulting in a net increase in the number of nationals of the new member states in the UK of some 700000 over that period.303304 The late-2000s recession in the UK reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK305 with the migration becoming temporary and circular.306 In 2009 for the first time since the enlargement more nationals of the eight central and eastern European states (that had joined the EU in 2004) left the UK than arrived.307 The UK government is currently introducing a points-based immigration system for immigration from outside the European Economic Area that will replace existing schemes including the Scottish Government's Fresh Talent Initiative.308 In June 2010 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government introduced a temporary cap on immigration of those entering the UK from outside the EU with the limit set at 24100 in order to stop an expected rush of applications before a permanent cap is imposed in April 2011.309 The cap has caused tension within the coalition with business secretary Vince Cable arguing that it is harming British businesses.310 Education Main article: Education in the United Kingdom See also: Education in England Education in Northern Ireland Education in Scotland and Education in Wales King's College part of the University of Cambridge which was founded in 1209 Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each country having a separate education system. Education in England is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education though the day-to-day administration and funding of state schools is the responsibility of local authorities.311 Universally free of charge state education was introduced piecemeal between 1870 and 1944 with education becoming compulsory for all 5 to 14 year-olds in 1921.312313 Education is now mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August). The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. State schools which are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to the most selective private schools: out of the top ten performing schools in terms of GCSE results in 2006 two were state-run grammar schools. Despite a fall in actual numbers the proportion of children in England attending private schools has risen to over 7%.314 Over half of students at the leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford had attended state schools.315 The universities of England include some of the top universities in the world; the University of Cambridge University College London the University of Oxford and Imperial College London are all ranked in the global top 10 in the 2010 QS World University Rankings with Cambridge ranked first.316 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) rated pupils in England 7th in the world for maths and 6th for science. The results put England's pupils ahead of other European countries including Germany and the Scandinavian countries.317 Queen's University Belfast built in 1849318 Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning with day-to-day administration and funding of state schools the responsibility of Local Authorities. Two non-departmental public bodies have key roles in Scottish education: the Scottish Qualifications Authority is responsible for the development accreditation assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees which are delivered at secondary schools post-secondary colleges of further education and other centres;319 and Learning and Teaching Scotland provides advice resources and staff development to the education community to promote curriculum development and create a culture of innovation ambition and excellence.320 Scotland first legislated for compulsory education in 1496.321 The proportion of children in Scotland attending private schools is just over 4% although it has been rising slowly in recent years.322 Scottish students who attend Scottish universities pay neither tuition fees nor graduate endowment charges as fees were abolished in 2001 and the graduate endowment scheme was abolished in 2008.323 Education in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Minister of Education and the Minister for Employment and Learning although responsibility at a local level is administered by five education and library boards covering different geographical areas. The Council for the Curriculum Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is the body responsible for advising the government on what should be taught in Northern Ireland's schools monitoring standards and awarding qualifications.324 The Welsh Government has responsibility for education in Wales. A significant number of Welsh students are taught either wholly or largely in the Welsh language; lessons in Welsh are compulsory for all until the age of 16.325 There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh-medium schools as part of the policy of creating a fully bilingual Wales. Healthcare Main article: Healthcare in the United Kingdom The Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital is a specialist children's hospital part of NHS Scotland. Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter and each country has its own system of private and publicly funded health care together with alternative holistic and complementary treatments. Public healthcare is provided to all UK permanent residents and is free at the point of need being paid for from general taxation. The World Health Organization in 2000 ranked the provision of healthcare in the United Kingdom as fifteenth best in Europe and eighteenth in the world.326327 Regulatory bodies are organised on a UK-wide basis such as the General Medical Council the Nursing and Midwifery Council and non-governmental-based such as the Royal Colleges. However political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national executives; healthcare in England is the responsibility of the UK Government; healthcare in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive; healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government; and healthcare in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government. Each National Health Service has different policies and priorities resulting in contrasts.328329 Since 1979 expenditure on healthcare has been increased significantly to bring it closer to the European Union average.330 The UK spends around 8.4 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare which is 0.5 percentage points below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average and about one percentage point below the average of the European Union.331 Culture Main article: Culture of the United Kingdom The culture of the United Kingdom has been influenced by many factors including: the nation's island status; its history as a western liberal democracy and a major power; as well as being a political union of four countries with each preserving elements of distinctive traditions customs and symbolism. As a result of the British Empire British influence can be observed in the language culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies; including Australia Canada India South Africa and the United States. Cinema Main article: Cinema of the United Kingdom Alfred Hitchcock The United Kingdom has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema. The British directors Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean are among the most critically acclaimed of all-time332 with other important directors including Charlie Chaplin Michael Powell Carol Reed and Ridley Scott.333334335336 Many British actors have achieved international fame and critical success including: Julie Andrews Richard Burton Michael Caine Charlie Chaplin Sean Connery Vivien Leigh David Niven Laurence Olivier Peter Sellers and Kate Winslet.337338339340341342343344345346 Some of the most commercially successful films of all time have been produced in the United Kingdom including the two highest-grossing film franchises (Harry Potter and James Bond).347 Ealing Studios has a claim to being the oldest continuously working film studio in the world.348 Despite a history of important and successful productions the industry has often been characterised by a debate about its identity and the level of American and European influence. Many British films are co-productions with American producers often using both British and American actors and British actors feature regularly in Hollywood films. Many successful Hollywood films have been based on British people stories or events including Titanic The Lord of the Rings Pirates of the Caribbean and the 'English Cycle' of Disney animated films.349 In 2009 British films grossed around $2 billion worldwide and achieved a market share of around 7% globally and 17% in the United Kingdom.350 UK box-office takings totalled 944 million in 2009 with around 173 million admissions.350 The British Film Institute has produced a poll ranking of what they consider to be the 100 greatest British films of all time the BFI Top 100 British films.351 The annual British Academy Film Awards hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts are the British equivalent of the Oscars.352 Literature Main article: British literature The Chandos portrait believed to depict William Shakespeare 'British literature' refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well as to literature from England Wales and Scotland prior to the formation of the UK. Most British literature is in the English language. In 2005 some 206000 books were published in the United Kingdom and in 2006 it was the largest publisher of books in the world.353 The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist of all time.354355356 Shakespeare's contemporaries Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson added depth. More recently the playwrights Alan Ayckbourn Harold Pinter Michael Frayn Tom Stoppard and David Edgar have combined elements of surrealism realism and radicalism. Notable pre-modern and early-modern English writers include Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century) Thomas Malory (15th century) Sir Thomas More (16th century) and John Milton (17th century). In the 18th century Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe) and Samuel Richardson were pioneers of the modern novel. In the 19th century there followed further innovation by Jane Austen the gothic novelist Mary Shelley children's writer Lewis Carroll the Bront sisters the social campaigner Charles Dickens the naturalist Thomas Hardy the realist George Eliot the visionary poet William Blake and romantic poet William Wordsworth. Twentieth century English writers include: science-fiction novelist H. G. Wells; the writers of children's classics Rudyard Kipling A. A. Milne (the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh) and Enid Blyton; the controversial D. H. Lawrence; modernist Virginia Woolf; the satirist Evelyn Waugh; the prophetic novelist George Orwell; the popular novelists W. Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene; the crime writer Agatha Christie (the best-selling novelist of all time);357 Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond); the poets T. S. Eliot Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes; and the fantasy writers J. R. R. Tolkien C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling. A photograph of Victorian era novelist Charles Dickens Scotland's contributions include the detective writer Arthur Conan Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Holmes) romantic literature by Sir Walter Scott children's writer J.M. Barrie the epic adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson and the celebrated poet Robert Burns. More recently the modernist and nationalist Hugh MacDiarmid and Neil M. Gunn contributed to the Scottish Renaissance. A more grim outlook is found in Ian Rankin's stories and the psychological horror-comedy of Iain Banks. Scotland's capital Edinburgh was UNESCO's first worldwide City of Literature.358 Britain's oldest known poem Y Gododdin was probably composed in Cumbric or Old Welsh in the late 6th century and contains the earliest known reference to King Arthur.359 Geoffrey of Monmouth developed the Arthurian legend with his pseudohistorical account of British history the Historia Regum Britanniae.360 Wales' most celebrated medieval poet Dafydd ap Gwilym (fl 13201370) composed Welsh language poetry on themes including nature religion and especially love. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest European poets of his age.361 Until the late 19th century the majority of Welsh literature was in Welsh and much of the prose was religious in character. Daniel Owen is credited as the first Welsh-language novelist publishing Rhys Lewis in 1885. The best-known of the Anglo-Welsh poets are both Thomases. Dylan Thomas became famous on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid 20th century. The Swansea writer is remembered for his poetry  his "Do not go gentle into that good night; Rage rage against the dying of the light." is one of the most quoted couplets of English language verse  and for his 'play for voices' Under Milk Wood. Influential Church in Wales 'poet-priest' and Welsh nationalist R. S. Thomas was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. Leading Welsh novelists include Richard Llewellyn and Kate Roberts. Authors of other nationalities particularly from Commonwealth countries the Republic of Ireland and the United States have lived and worked in the UK. Significant examples through the centuries include Jonathan Swift Oscar Wilde Bram Stoker George Bernard Shaw Joseph Conrad T.S. Eliot Ezra Pound and more recently British authors born abroad such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Sir Salman Rushdie.362363 Media Main article: Media of the United Kingdom BBC Television Centre. The BBC is the largest and oldest broadcaster in the world.364 There are five major nationwide television channels in the UK: BBC One BBC Two ITV Channel 4 and Channel 5currently transmitted by analogue and digital terrestrial free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising. The UK now has a large number of digital terrestrial channels including a further six from the BBC five from ITV and three from Channel 4 and one from S4C which is solely in Welsh among a variety of others. The vast majority of digital cable television services are provided by Virgin Media with satellite television available from Freesat or British Sky Broadcasting and free-to-air digital terrestrial television by Freeview. The entire UK will switch to digital by 2012.365 The BBC founded in 1922 is the UK's publicly funded radio television and internet broadcasting corporation and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world.366367 It operates several television channels and radio stations both in the UK and abroad. The BBC's international television news service BBC World News is broadcast throughout the world and the BBC World Service radio network is broadcast in 33 languages globally as well as services in Welsh on BBC Radio Cymru Gaelic on BBC Radio nan Gidheal in Scotland and Irish in Northern Ireland.368 The domestic services of the BBC are funded by the television licence.369 The internationally targeted BBC World Service Radio is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office though from 2014 it will be funded by the television licence.370 The international television broadcast services are operated by BBC Worldwide on a commercial subscription basis over cable and satellite services. This commercial arm of the BBC also forms half of UKTV along with Virgin Media.371 The Channel 4 building. Radio in the UK is dominated by BBC Radio which operates ten national networks and over forty local radio stations. The most popular radio station by number of listeners is BBC Radio 2 closely followed by BBC Radio 1. There are hundreds of mainly local commercial radio stations across the country offering a variety of music or talk formats. Traditionally British newspapers could be divided into "quality" serious-minded newspapers (usually referred to as "broadsheets" because of their large size) and the more populist "tabloid" varieties. For convenience of reading many traditional broadsheets have switched to a more compact-sized format traditionally used by tabloids. The Sun has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the UK at 3.1 million approximately a quarter of the market.372 Its sister paper the News of the World has the highest circulation in the Sunday newspaper market and traditionally focuses on celebrity-led stories.372 The Daily Telegraph a centre-right broadsheet paper is the highest-selling of the "quality" newspapers.372 The Guardian is a more liberal "quality" broadsheet and the Financial Times is the main business newspaper printed on distinctive salmon-pink broadsheet paper.373 British magazines and journals have achieved worldwide circulation including The Economist Nature and New Scientist. Scotland has a distinct tradition of newspaper readership (see list of newspapers in Scotland). The tabloid Daily Record has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper outselling The Scottish Sun by four to one while its sister paper the Sunday Mail similarly leads the Sunday newspaper market. The leading "quality" daily newspaper in Scotland is The Herald though it is the sister paper of The Scotsman and the Scotland on Sunday that leads in the Sunday newspaper market.374 The Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Internet in the United Kingdom is .uk. The most visited ".uk" websites are the British version of Google followed by BBC Online.375 Music Main article: Music of the United Kingdom See also: British rock The Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of music selling over a billion records internationally.376377378 Various styles of music are popular in the UK from the indigenous folk music of England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland to heavy metal. Notable composers of classical music from the United Kingdom and the countries that preceded it include William Byrd Henry Purcell Sir Edward Elgar Gustav Holst Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W.S. Gilbert) Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten pioneer of modern British opera. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is one of the foremost living composers and current Master of the Queen's Music. The UK is also home to world-renowned symphonic orchestras and choruses such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Chorus. Notable conductors include Sir Simon Rattle John Barbirolli and Sir Malcolm Sargent. Some of the notable film score composers include John Barry Clint Mansell Mike Oldfield John Powell Craig Armstrong David Arnold John Murphy Monty Norman and Harry Gregson-Williams. George Frideric Handel although born German was a naturalised British citizen379 and some of his best works such as Messiah were written in the English language.380 Andrew Lloyd Webber has achieved enormous worldwide commercial success and is a prolific composer of musical theatre works which have dominated London's West End for a number of years and have travelled to Broadway in New York.381 The Beatles have international sales of over one billion units and are the biggest-selling and most influential act in the history of popular music.376377378382 Other prominent British contributors to have influenced popular music over the last 50 years include Queen Cliff Richard the Bee Gees Elton John Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones; all of whom have world wide record sales of 200 million or more.383384385386387388389 According to research by Guinness World Records eight of the ten acts with the most UK chart singles are British: Status Quo Queen The Rolling Stones UB40 Depeche Mode the Bee Gees the Pet Shop Boys and the Manic Street Preachers.390391 More recent UK music acts that have had international success include Coldplay Radiohead Oasis Spice Girls Amy Winehouse Muse Adele and Gorillaz. A number of UK cities are known for their music. Acts from Liverpool have had more UK chart number one hit singles per capita (54) than any other city worldwide.392 Glasgow's contribution to music was recognised in 2008 when it was named a UNESCO City of Music one of only three cities in the world to have this honour.393 Philosophy Main article: British philosophy Bertrand Russell Nobel-prize winning founder of Analytic philosophy The United Kingdom is famous for the tradition of 'British Empiricism' a branch of the philosophy of knowledge that states that only knowledge verified by experience is valid and 'Scottish Philosophy' sometimes referred to as the 'Scottish School of Common Sense'.394 The most famous philosophers of British Empiricism are John Locke George Berkeley and David Hume; while Dugald Stewart Thomas Reid and William Hamilton were major exponents of the Scottish "common sense" school. Two Britons are also notable for a theory of moral philosophy utilitarianism first used by Jeremy Bentham and later by John Stuart Mill in his short work Utilitarianism.395396 Other eminent philosophers from the UK and the unions and countries that preceded it include Duns Scotus John Lilburne Mary Wollstonecraft Sir Francis Bacon Adam Smith Thomas Hobbes William of Ockham Bertrand Russell and A.J. "Freddie" Ayer. Foreign-born philosophers who settled in the UK include Isaiah Berlin Karl Marx Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Visual art Main article: Art of the United Kingdom J.M.W. Turner self-portrait oil on canvas circa 1799 The history of British visual art forms part of western art history. Major British artists include: the Romantics William Blake John Constable Samuel Palmer and J.M.W. Turner; the portrait painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Lucian Freud; the landscape artists Thomas Gainsborough and L. S. Lowry; the pioneer of the Arts and Crafts Movement William Morris; the figurative painter Francis Bacon; the Pop artists Peter Blake Richard Hamilton and David Hockney; the collaborative duo Gilbert and George; the abstract artist Howard Hodgkin; and the sculptors Antony Gormley Anish Kapoor and Henry Moore. During the late 1980s and 1990s the Saatchi Gallery in London helped to bring to public attention a group of multi-genre artists who would become known as the "Young British Artists": Damien Hirst Chris Ofili Rachel Whiteread Tracey Emin Mark Wallinger Steve McQueen Sam Taylor-Wood and the Chapman Brothers are among the better-known members of this loosely affiliated movement. The Royal Academy in London is a key organisation for the promotion of the visual arts in the United Kingdom. Major schools of art in the UK include: the six-school University of the Arts London which includes the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Chelsea College of Art and Design; Goldsmiths University of London; the Slade School of Fine Art (part of University College London); the Glasgow School of Art; the Royal College of Art; and The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art (part of the University of Oxford). The Courtauld Institute of Art is a leading centre for the teaching of the history of art. Important art galleries in the United Kingdom include the National Gallery National Portrait Gallery Tate Britain and Tate Modern (the most-visited modern art gallery in the world with around 4.7 million visitors per year).397 Sport Main article: Sport in the United Kingdom England's Wembley Stadium. It is one of the most expensive stadia ever built.398 Major sports including association football rugby league rugby union rowing boxing badminton cricket tennis darts and golf originated or were substantially developed in the United Kingdom and the states that preceded it. A 2003 poll found that football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom.399 In most international competitions separate teams represent England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland including at the Commonwealth Games. (In sporting contexts these teams can be referred to collectively as the Home Nations). However there are occasions where a single sports team represents the United Kingdom including at the Olympics where the UK is represented by the Great Britain team. London was the site of the 1908 and 1948 Olympic Games and in 2012 will become the first city to play host for a third time. Each of the Home Nations has its own football association national team and league system though a few clubs play outside their country's respective systems for a variety of historical and logistical reasons. England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland compete as separate countries in international competition and as a consequence the UK does not compete as a team in football events at the Olympic Games.400 There are proposals to have a UK team take part in the 2012 Summer Olympics but the Scottish Welsh and Northern Irish football associations have declined to participate fearing that it would undermine their independent status  a fear confirmed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.401 England has been the most successful of the home nations winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966 although there has historically been a close-fought rivalry between England and Scotland. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium opened for the 1999 Rugby World Cup Cricket was invented in England. The England cricket team controlled by the England and Wales Cricket Board402 is the only national team in the UK with Test status. Team members are drawn from the main county sides and include both English and Welsh players. Cricket is distinct from football and rugby where Wales and England field separate national teams although Wales had fielded its own team in the past. Irish and Scottish players have played for England because neither Scotland nor Ireland have Test status and have only recently started to play in One Day Internationals.403404 Scotland England (and Wales) and Ireland (including Northern Ireland) have competed at the Cricket World Cup with England reaching the finals on three occasions. There is a professional league championship in which clubs representing 17 English counties and 1 Welsh county compete.405 Rugby league is a popular sport in some areas of the UK. It originates in Huddersfield and is generally played in Northern England.406 A single 'Great Britain Lions' team had competed in the Rugby League World Cup and Test match games but this changed in 2008 when England Scotland and Ireland competed as separate nations.407 Great Britain is still being retained as the full national team for Ashes tours against Australia New Zealand and France. The highest form of professional rugby league in the UK and Europe is Super League where there are 11 teams from Northern England 1 from London 1 from Wales and 1 from France. Rugby union is organised on a separate basis for England Scotland Wales and Ireland each has a top-ranked international team and were collectively known as the Home Nations. The Six Nations Championship played between the Home Nations as well as Italy and France is the premier international tournament in the northern hemisphere.408 The Triple Crown is awarded to any of the Home Nations who beats the other three in that tournament.409 The Wimbledon Championships a Grand Slam tournament is held in Wimbledon London every June/July The game of lawn tennis first originated in the city of Birmingham between 1859 and 1865.410 The Championships Wimbledon are international tennis events held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are regarded as the most prestigious event of the global tennis calendar. Snooker is one of the UK's popular sporting exports with the world championships held annually in Sheffield.411 In Northern Ireland Gaelic football and hurling are popular team sports both in terms of participation and spectating and Irish expatriates throughout the UK and the US also play them.412 Shinty (or camanachd) is popular in the Scottish Highlands.413 Thoroughbred racing which originated under Charles II of England as the "sport of kings" is popular throughout the UK with world-famous races including the Grand National the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot. The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in rowing. Golf is the sixth most popular sport by participation in the UK. Although The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course414 the world's oldest golf course is actually Musselburgh Links' Old Golf Course.415 The UK is closely associated with motorsport. Many teams and drivers in Formula One (F1) are based in the UK and drivers from Britain have won more world titles than any other country. The UK hosted the very first F1 Grand Prix in 1950 at Silverstone the current location of the British Grand Prix held each year in July. The country also hosts legs of the World Rally Championship and has its own touring car racing championship the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).416 Symbols Main article: Symbols of the United Kingdom the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth. Britannia is a national personification of the UK. The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack). It was first created in 1606 by the superimposition of the Flag of England on the Flag of Scotland and updated in 1801 with the addition of Saint Patrick's Flag. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom the possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales has not been completely ruled out.417 The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the King" with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman. Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom originating from Roman Britain.418 Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon's three-pronged trident and a shield bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding on the back of a lion. At and since the height of the British Empire Britannia has often associated with maritime dominance as in the patriotic song Rule Britannia!. The lion symbol is depicted behind Britannia on the British fifty pence coin and one is shown crowned on the back of the British ten pence coin. It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of the United Kingdom and has been associated with Winston Churchill's defiance of Nazi Germany.419 See also United Kingdom portal Wikisource has original text related to this article: United Kingdom portal Outline of the United Kingdom Notes No law was passed making God Save the Queen the official anthem. In the British tradition such laws are not necessary; proclamation and usage are sufficient to make it the official national anthem. God Save the Queen also serves as the Royal anthem for several other countries. Under the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages the Welsh Scottish Gaelic Cornish Irish Scots and its regional variant Ulster Scots are officially recognised as Regional or Minority languages by the UK Government for the purposes of the Charter.3 See also Languages of the United Kingdom. British dependencies drive on the left except for BIOT and Gibraltar. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 states that this should be GB and .gb was initially used by the Government but registration has been suppressed in favour of .uk. The .eu domain is shared with other European Union member states. In the United Kingdom and Dependencies other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous (regional) languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these the UK's official name is as follows: Cornish: Rywvaneth Unys Breten Veur ha Kledhbarth Iwerdhon; Irish: Rocht Aontaithe na Breataine Mire agus Thuaisceart ireann; Scots: Unitit Kinrick o Great Breetain an Northren Irland; Scottish Gaelic: Roghachd Aonaichte na Breatainne Mire is ireann a Tuath; Welsh: Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon Compare to section 1 of both of the 1800 Acts of Union which reads: the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall...be united into one Kingdom by the Name of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" New Zealand Israel and San Marino In 20072008 this was calculated to be 115 per week for single adults with no dependent children; 199 per week for couples with no dependent children; 195 per week for single adults with two dependent children under 14; and 279 per week for couples with two dependent children under 14 References a b English language : Directgov - Government citizens and rights a b Commonwealth Secretariat - UK "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages". 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