UNITED KINGDOM

ZAIN UL ABAD
CLASS : VIII C
ROLL NO : 25
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INTRODUCTION:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the
United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign state in Europe. Lying off the
northwestern coast of the European mainland, it includes the island of Great Britain
(the name of which is also loosely applied to the whole country), the north-eastern
part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands.[9] Northern Ireland is the
only part of the UK that shares a land border with another statethe Republic of
Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean,
with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea
to its south-southwest. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With
an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the UK is the 78th-largest
sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 22ndmost populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants.[10] Together, this
makes it the fourth most densely populated country in the European Union.

GEOGRAPHY:
The United Kingdom is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of
continental Europe. With a total area of approximately 241,930 square kilometres .
The UK occupies the major part of the British Isles archipelago and includes the
island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and
many smaller surrounding islands.[1]
The UK lies between the North Atlantic and the North Sea, and comes within 35 km
of the north-west coast of France, from which it is separated by the English
Channel. It shares a 499 km international land boundary with the Republic of
Ireland. The Channel Tunnel bored beneath the English Channel, now links the UK
with France

GOVERNMENT:
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy,
with a queen and a parliament that has two houses: the House of Lords, with 574
life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 bishops; and the House of Commons, which
has 651 popularly elected members. Supreme legislative power is vested in
parliament, which sits for five years unless dissolved sooner. The House of Lords
was stripped of most of its power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise
legislation. In Nov. 1999, hundreds of hereditary peers were expelled in an effort to
make the body more democratic. The executive power of the Crown is exercised by
the cabinet, headed by the prime minister.
England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between
England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not
formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707,
England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain ; the legislative
union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of
the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of
1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of
the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927.

HISTORY:
Stonehenge and other examples of prehistoric culture are all that remain of the
earliest inhabitants of Britain. Celtic peoples followed. Roman invasions of the 1st
century B.C. brought Britain into contact with continental Europe. When the Roman
legions withdrew in the 5th century A.D. Britain fell easy prey to the invading
hordes of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from Scandinavia and the Low Countries. The
invasions had little effect on the Celtic peoples of Wales and Scotland. Seven large
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established, and the original Britons were forced into
Wales and Scotland. It was not until the 10th century that the country finally
became united under the kings of Wessex. Following the death of Edward the
Confessor (1066), a dispute about the succession arose, and William, Duke of
Normandy, invaded England, defeating the Saxon king, Harold II, at the Battle of
Hastings (1066). The Norman conquest introduced Norman French law and
feudalism.

CLIMATE:
The climate in the United Kingdom is defined as a temperate oceanic climate, or
Cfb on the Kppen climate classification system, a classification it shares with most
of northwest Europe. Regional climates are influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and
latitude. Northern Ireland, Wales and western parts of England and Scotland, being

closest to the Atlantic Ocean, are generally the mildest, wettest and windiest
regions of the UK, and temperature ranges here are seldom extreme. Eastern areas
are drier, cooler, less windy and also experience the greatest daily and seasonal
temperature variations. Northern areas are generally cooler, wetter and have
slightly larger temperature ranges than southern areas.

ECONOMY:
The economy of the United Kingdom is the fifth-largest national economy in the
world measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and ninth-largest in the
world measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), comprising 4% of world GDP. It
is the second-largest in the European Union by both metrics. The UK has been the
fastest growing economy in the Group of Seven (G7) for four consecutive years,
with 2.1% year-on-year growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2016.

RELIGON:
According to the 2011 UK census, Christianity is the major religion, followed by
Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in terms of number of adherents.

LANGUAGES:
English, in various dialects, is the most widely spoken language of the United
Kingdomhowever there are many regional languages also spoken. There are 11
indigenous languages spoken across the British Isles: 3 Germanic languages, 5
Celtic languages and 3 Romance Languages. There are also many immigrant
languages spoken in the British Isles mainly within inner city areas; these
languages are mainly from South Asia & Eastern Europe.

CULTURE:
The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by the UK's history as a developed
island country, a liberal democracy and a major power, its predominantly Christian
religious life, and its composition of four countriesEngland, Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Waleseach of which has distinct customs, cultures and symbolism.
The wider culture of Europe has also influenced British culture, and Humanism,
Protestantism and representative democracy developed from broader Western
culture.
British literature, music, cinema, art, theatre, comedy, media, television,
philosophy, architecture and education are important aspects of British culture.
The United Kingdom is also prominent in science and technology, producing worldleading scientists (e.g. Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin) and inventions. Sport is
an important part of British culture; numerous sports originated in the country,
including football. The UK has been described as a "cultural superpower", [3][4] and
London has been described as a world cultural capital.

ARTS:
The Art of the United Kingdom refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with
the United Kingdom since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
For earlier periods, and some more detailed information on the post-1707 period,
see English art, Scottish art, Welsh art and Irish art. It is part of Western art history,
and during the 18th century Great Britain began once again to take the leading
place England had in European art during the Middle Ages, being especially strong
in portraiture and landscape art. Increasing British prosperity led to a greatly
increased production of both fine art and the decorative arts, the latter often being
exported. The Romantic period produced the very diverse talents of William Blake,
J. M. W. Turner, John Constable and Samuel Palmer. The Victorian period saw a
great diversity of art, and a far larger quantity created than before. Much Victorian
art is now out of critical favour, with interest concentrated on the Pre-Raphaelites
and the innovative movements at the end of the 18th century.

CUISINE:
British cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with
the United Kingdom. British cuisine has been described as "unfussy dishes made
with quality local ingredients, matched with simple sauces to accentuate flavour,
rather than disguise it." However, British cuisine has absorbed the cultural
influence of those who have settled in Britain, producing many hybrid dishes, such
as the Anglo-Indian chicken tikka masala.
British cuisine has traditionally been limited in its international recognition to the
full breakfast, fish and chips, and the Christmas dinner. Other British dishes include
the Sunday roast, steak and kidney pie, shepherd's pie, and bangers and mash

SPORTS:
The United Kingdom has given birth to a range of major international sports
including: association football, rugby (union and league), darts, cricket, golf, tennis,
table tennis, badminton, squash, rounders, hockey, boxing, snooker, billiards,
curling and even baseball.