United Kingdom

The  of Great Britain and Northern , commonly known as the  (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign  in north-western , off the north-­western coast of the European mainland.

The includes the of Great Britain, the north-­eastern part of the of , and many smaller islands within the  Isles.

Northern shares a border with the Republic of . Otherwise, the is surrounded by the Atlantic , with the North  to the east, the  Channel to the south and the Celtic  to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest in the world.

The Irish  separates Great Britain and . The total area of the is 93,628 square miles (242,500 km2).

The is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.

The II, has reigned since 1952. The and largest  is London, a and center with an urban area population of 10.3 million.

The consists of four countries: EnglandScotland, Wales and Northern . Other than , the constituent countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers.

The has evolved from a of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years.

The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of  (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of  in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of  created the  of Great Britain and .

Most of seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present of Great Britain and Northern , which formally adopted that name in 1927.

The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the   responsible for defence and representation.

There are also 14  Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the  Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in .

influence can be observed in the language, and the legal and systems of many of its former colonies.

The has the world's fifth-largest by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the tenth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It has a high- and a very high  development index rating, ranking 13th in the world.

The UK became the world's first industrialised  and was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Today the UK remains one of the world's great powers, with considerable , cultural, , scientific, technological and  influence internationally.

It is a recognized   and is ranked fourth globally in expenditure.

It has been a permanent member of the  Council since its first session in 1946.

The is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of , the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the , NATO, AUKUS, the Organisation for Co-operation and Development (OECD), Interpol, and the World Organization (WTO).

It was a member of the European Communities (EC) and its successor, the  (), from its accession in 1973 until its withdrawal in 2020 following a referendum held in 2016.

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