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Saturday 5 January 2019

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign country in Europe that is made up of four separate countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.


HISTORY

The United Kingdom started with the medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England,

The United Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707 with the act of union between Scotland and England.

The Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom 

Cabinet government developed under Robert Walpole, in practice the first UK Prime Minister between 1721 and 1742.

Jacobite rebellions sought to restore the Stuarts to the UK throne until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, after which the Scottish Highlanders were brutally suppressed.

The union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The current design of the Union Jack flag dates from the union of Ireland and Great Britain on January 1, 1801. It consists of the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the Cross of St Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the Saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). Wales is not represented, as at the time the flag was designed Wales was part of the Kingdom of England.


The spinning jenny was invented by the English weaver and carpenter James Hargreaves and the steam engine by Scottish engineer James Watt thus kick-starting the industrial revolution in the 18th century.

The United Kingdom was the world's first industrialized country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The UK had a dominating empire named the British Empire. At its height in 1922, more than 458 million people lived in the British Empire, one-fifth of the Earth's population. Its area was 13,012,000 square miles, almost a quarter of the Earth's land area.

Map showing territories that were at one time part of the British Empire

It became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, forming the Irish Free State.

Britain joined the European Union's predecessor, the European Economic Community in 1973.

A referendum in 2016 on the UK's membership of the European Union resulted in 51.9% of UK voters voting for leaving the organization. After three-and-a-half years of negotiation, the United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, 2020, and began an eleven-month transition period.  During this time the UK remained in the single market giving it time to agree a trade deal with the EU.

The Brexit transition period ended at 11pm on December 31, 2020 concluding a saga that divided Britons and dominated British politics.

FUN UK FACTS

The United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world with an area of 93,600 square miles (242,500 sq kms).

It is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66,040,229 inhabitants in 2017.

Map of population density in the UK as at the 2011 census. By SkateTier

Despite being Crown dependencies, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom.

The UK has the longest country name in the world; The United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland being the official name.

Of all countries that celebrate Independence Day, more of them (58) are celebrating independence from the United Kingdom than any other country. (26 are from France, 21 from Russia and 21 from Spain).

The world’s shortest scheduled airline flight is a 1.7 mile hop between Westray and Papa Westray, two islands off the north of Scotland. Operated by Loganair, the flight duration is officially scheduled for one and a half minutes, but the actual flying time is closer to one minute.

The United Kingdom sits under five different air masses, creating unpredictable weather patterns and mimicking both tropical and polar climates. Although on the same latitude as Canada the UK often gets rain instead of snow throughout the year and is characteristically milder than Northern Europe,

No point of the United Kingdom is further than 75 miles (120km) from the sea.


There are numerous regional dialects in the UK. Accents in Britain change noticeably every 25 miles (40 km).

All horses, donkeys and mules in the UK must have a passport.

The United Kingdom is the only country that is not required to name itself on postage stamps.

The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty signed by King Edward III of England and Ferdinand of Portugal in 1373 is the world's oldest treaty still in force today.

The Hawaiian flag is the only U.S. state flag to feature the Union Jack flag of the United Kingdom. It was put there by King Kamehameha as a symbol of friendship after being presented the British flag by Captain George Vancouver.

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