:United Kingdom Government
Long-form name:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; abbreviated UK
Type:
constitutional monarchy
Capital:
London
Administrative divisions:
47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands
areas
England:
39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham,
Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset,
Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater
Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle
of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk,
Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford,
Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and
Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire
Northern Ireland:
26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge,
Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down,
Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt,
Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane
Scotland:
9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife,
Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside,
Western Isles*
Wales:
8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South
Glamorgan, West Glamorgan
Independence:
1 January 1801, United Kingdom established
Constitution:
unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Dependent areas:
Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands,
Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey,
Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and
the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
Legal system:
common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no
judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction,
with reservations
National holiday:
Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)
Executive branch:
monarch, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Lords and a
lower house or House of Commons
Judicial branch:
House of Lords
Leaders:
Chief of State:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES
(son of the Queen, born 14 November 1948)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister John MAJOR (since 28 November 1990)
:United Kingdom Government
Political parties and leaders:
Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party, John SMITH;
Liberal Democrats (LD), Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN; Scottish National Party,
Alex SALMOND; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru), Dafydd Iwan WIGLEY; Ulster
Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), James MOLYNEAUX; Democratic Unionist
Party (Northern Ireland), Rev. Ian PAISLEY; Ulster Popular Unionist Party
(Northern Ireland), James KILFEDDER; Social Democratic and Labor Party
(SDLP, Northern Ireland), John HUME; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), Gerry
ADAMS; Alliance Party (Northern Ireland), John ALDERDICE; Democratic Left,
Nina TEMPLE
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
House of Commons:
last held 9 April 1992 (next to be held by NA April 1997); results -
Conservative 41.9%, Labor 34.5%, Liberal Democratic 17.9%, other 5.7%; seats
- (651 total) Conservative 336, Labor 271, Liberal Democratic 20, other 24
Communists:
15,961
Other political or pressure groups:
Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers'
Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Member of:
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BIS, C, CCC, CDB, CE, CERN, COCOM, CP, CSCE,
EBRD, EC, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESCAP, ESA, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-10,
GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS,
NATO, NEA, OECD, PCA, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UN
Security Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Sir Robin RENWICK; Chancery at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20008; telephone (202) 462-1340; there are British Consulates
General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New
York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Dallas, Miami, and Seattle
US:
Ambassador Raymond G. H. SEITZ; Embassy at 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London,
W.1A1AE, (mailing address is FPO AE 09498-4040); telephone [44] (71)
499-9000; FAX 409-1637; there are US Consulates General in Belfast and
Edinburgh
Flag:
blue with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in
white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint
of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint
Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack;
the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a
number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and
others
Note:
Hong Kong is scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in
1997
:United Kingdom Economy
Overview:
The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and
its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe. The economy is
essentially capitalistic with a generous admixture of social welfare
programs and government ownership. Prime Minister MAJOR has continued the
basic thrust of THATCHER's efforts to halt the expansion of welfare measures
and promote extensive reprivatization of the government economic sector.
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European
standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labor
force. Industry is a mixture of public and private enterprises, employing
about 27% of the work force and generating 22% of GDP. The UK is an
energy-rich nation with large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary
energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any
industrial nation. In mid-1990 the economy fell into recession after eight
years of strong economic expansion, which had raised national output by one
quarter. Britain's inflation rate, which has been consistently well above
those of her major trading partners, declined significantly in 1991. Between
1986 and 1990 unemployment fell from 11% to about 6%, but crept back up to
8% in 1991 because of the economic slowdown. As a major trading nation, the
UK will continue to be greatly affected by world boom or recession, swings
in the international oil market, productivity trends in domestic industry,
and the terms on which the economic integration of Europe proceeds.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $915.5 billion, per capita $15,900; real
growth rate -1.9% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.8% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
8.1% (1991)
Budget:
revenues $435 billion; expenditures $469 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (FY92 est.)
Exports:
$186.4 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods,
transport equipment
partners:
EC 53.2% (FRG 12.7%, France 10.5%, Netherlands 7.0%), US 12.4%
Imports:
$211.9 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer
goods
partners:
EC 52.2% (FRG 15.6%, France 9.3%, Netherlands 8.4%), US 11.5%
External debt:
$10.5 billion (1990)
Industrial production:
growth rate 0% (1991)
Electricity:
98,000,000 kW capacity; 316,500 million kWh produced, 5,520 kWh per capita
(1991)
:United Kingdom Economy
Industries:
production machinery including machine tools, electric power equipment,
equipment for the automation of production, railroad equipment,
shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and
communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and
paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer
goods
Agriculture:
accounts for only 1.5% of GDP and 1% of labor force; highly mechanized and
efficient farms; wide variety of crops and livestock products produced;
about 60% self-sufficient in food and feed needs; fish catch of 665,000
metric tons (1987)
Economic aid:
donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $21.0 billion
Currency:
British pound or pound sterling (plural - pounds); 1 British pound (#) = 100
pence
Exchange rates:
British pounds (#) per US$1 - 0.5799 (March 1992), 0.5652 (1991), 0.5603
(1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987)
Fiscal year:
1 April-31 March
:United Kingdom Communications
Railroads:
Great Britain - 16,629 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 16,629 km
1.435-meter (standard) gauge (4,205 km electrified and 12,591 km double or
multiple track); several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge
lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR)
operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, including 190 km double track
Highways:
UK, 362,982 km total; Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km
limited-access divided highway); Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved,
592 km gravel)
Inland waterways:
2,291 total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km;
other, 979 km
Pipelines:
crude oil (almost all insignificant) 933 km, petroleum products 2,993 km,
natural gas 12,800 km
Ports:
London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe,
Southampton
Merchant marine:
224 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,905,571 GRT/4,840,862 DWT; includes
7 passenger, 21 short-sea passenger, 37 cargo, 27 container, 14
roll-on/roll-off, 10 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar
carrier, 66 petroleum tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 1
combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 26 bulk, 1 combination bulk
Civil air:
618 major transport aircraft
Airports:
498 total, 385 usable; 249 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways
over 3,659 m; 37 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 133 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
technologically advanced domestic and international system; 30,200,000
telephones; equal mix of buried cables, microwave and optical-fiber systems;
excellent countrywide broadcast systems; broadcast stations - 225 AM, 525
(mostly repeaters) FM, 207 (3,210 repeaters) TV; 40 coaxial submarine
cables; 5 satellite ground stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean
and 3 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems; at least 8 large
international switching centers