United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a country in northwestern Europe made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It takes in Great Britain, the northeast of Ireland and most smaller islands of the British Isles, and shares a land border only with the Republic of Ireland.

London is the capital, while Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast lead Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; English is the de facto official language. Roman rule began in AD 43, Anglo-Saxons settled from about 450 and the Normans took England in 1066. Magna Carta in 1215 stated that no government stood above the law. James VI of Scotland inherited the crowns of England and Ireland in 1603, and on 1 May 1707 England and Scotland formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Ireland joined on 1 January 1801.

Most of Ireland left as the Irish Free State in 1922, and the present name dates from 1927. Robert Walpole, in office from 1721, is seen as the first prime minister. The state is a parliamentary democracy on the Westminster model with the monarch as head of state, and since 1999 Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have had their own governments and parliaments. It covers 244,376 km2 (94,354 sq mi), and Ben Nevis in the Scottish Highlands reaches 1,345 m (4,413 ft).

The country led the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century, and Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin changed science. London is a leading financial center, North Sea oil has flowed since the 1980s, and factories build aircraft parts and cars such as the Mini, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce and Bentley. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are British, and the BBC dates from 1922. William Shakespeare is England's national poet, the Beatles and the Harry Potter books found fans worldwide, and football, rugby, golf, tennis and cricket began or took shape there. Afternoon tea has been served since around 1840.