United Kingdom - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_kingdom
Postwar 20th century Postwar 20th century
Main articles: and Territories once part of the , with the United Kingdom and its current and underlined in red
During the Second World War, the UK was one of the powers (along with the U.S. and the Soviet Union) who met to plan the post-war world; it was an original signatory to the . After the war, the UK became one of the five permanent members of the and worked closely with the United States to establish the , and . The war left the UK severely weakened and financially dependent on the , but it was spared the total war that devastated eastern Europe. In the immediate post-war years, the initiated a radical programme of reforms, which had a significant effect on British society in the following decades. Major industries and public utilities were , a was established, and a comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare system, the , was created. The rise of nationalism in the colonies coincided with Britain's now much-diminished economic position, so that a policy of was unavoidable. Independence was granted to India and Pakistan in 1947. Over the next three decades, most colonies of the British Empire gained their independence, with all those that sought independence supported by the UK, during both the transition period and afterwards. Many became members of the .
The UK was the third country to develop (with its first atomic bomb test, , in 1952), but the new post-war limits of Britain's international role were illustrated by the of 1956. The ensured the continuing international influence of its and . As a result of a shortage of workers in the 1950s, the government encouraged immigration from . In the following decades, the UK became a more multi-ethnic society than before. Despite rising living standards in the late 1950s and 1960s, the UK's economic performance was less successful than many of its main competitors such as France, and Japan. Leaders of states in 2007. The UK entered the in 1973. In a 67% voted to stay in it; in 2016 52% voted to leave the EU.
In the decades-long process of , the UK was a founding member of the alliance called the , established with the in 1954. In 1960 the UK was one of the seven founding members of the (EFTA), but in 1973 it left to join the (EC). When the EC became the (EU) in 1992, the UK was one of the 12 founding member states. The , signed in 2007, forms the constitutional basis of the European Union since then.
From the late 1960s, Northern Ireland suffered communal and paramilitary violence (sometimes affecting other parts of the UK) conventionally known as . It is usually considered to have ended with the of 1998.
Following a period of widespread economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, the Conservative government of the 1980s under initiated a radical policy of , deregulation, particularly of the financial sector (for example, the in 1986) and labour markets, the sale of state-owned companies (privatisation), and the withdrawal of subsidies to others. From 1984, the economy was helped by the inflow of substantial revenues.
Around the end of the 20th century, there were major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The followed acceptance of the . The UK is still a key global player diplomatically and militarily. It plays leading roles in the UN and .21st century 21st century
Main articles: and The UK broadly supported the United States' approach to the in the early years of the 21st century. Controversy surrounded some of Britain's overseas military deployments, particularly in and .
The severely affected the UK economy. The government of 2010 introduced austerity measures intended to tackle the substantial public deficits which resulted. The devolved and agreed for a referendum to be held on in 2014. This referendum resulted in the electorate in Scotland for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
In 2016, 51.9 per cent of voters in the United Kingdom . The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 and completed its withdrawal in full at the end of that year. The had a major impact on the UK in 2020 and 2021. Geography
Main article: The United Kingdom showing hilly regions to north and west
The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 244,820 square kilometres (94,530 sq mi). The country occupies the major part of the archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with the southeast coast coming within 22 miles (35 km) of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the . In 1993 10 per cent of the UK was forested, 46 per cent used for pastures and 25 per cent cultivated for agriculture. The in London was chosen as the defining point of the in , although due to more accurate modern measurement the meridian actually lies 100 metres to the east of the observatory.
The United Kingdom lies between latitudes and , and longitudes and . Northern Ireland shares a 224-mile (360 km) land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. The coastline of Great Britain is 11,073 miles (17,820 km) long. It is connected to continental Europe by the , which at 31 miles (50 km) (24 miles (38 km) underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world. accounts for just over half (53 per cent) of the total area of the UK, covering 130,395 square kilometres (50,350 sq mi). Most of the country consists of lowland terrain, with more upland and some mountainous terrain northwest of the ; including the , the , and . The main rivers and estuaries are the , and the . England's highest mountain is (978 metres (3,209 ft)) in the . .mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{display:flex;flex-direction:row;clear:left;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{margin:1px;float:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .theader{clear:both;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;align-self:center;background-color:transparent;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbcaption{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-left{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-right{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-center{text-align:center}@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:none!important;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{justify-content:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{float:none!important;max-width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle .thumbcaption{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow>.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}The , and in the is one of the major islands in the and part of the . accounts for just under one-third (32 per cent) of the total area of the UK, covering 78,772 square kilometres (30,410 sq mi). This includes nearly 800 , predominantly west and north of the mainland; notably the , and . Scotland is the most mountainous country in the UK and its topography is distinguished by the – a – which traverses Scotland from in the west to in the east. The separates two distinctively different regions; namely the to the north and west and the to the south and east. The more rugged Highland region contains the majority of Scotland's mountainous land, including which at 1,345 metres (4,413 ft) is the highest point in the British Isles. Lowland areas – especially the narrow waist of land between the and the known as the – are flatter and home to most of the population including , Scotland's largest city, and , its capital and political centre, although upland and mountainous terrain lies within the . in the The in accounts for less than one-tenth (9 per cent) of the total area of the UK, covering 20,779 square kilometres (8,020 sq mi). Wales is mostly mountainous, though is less mountainous than and . The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the coastal cities of , and , and the to their north. The highest mountains in Wales are in and include (: Yr Wyddfa) which, at 1,085 metres (3,560 ft), is the highest peak in Wales. Wales has over 2,704 kilometres (1,680 miles) of coastline. Several islands lie off the Welsh mainland, the largest of which is (Ynys Môn) in the north-west.
, separated from Great Britain by the and , has an area of 14,160 square kilometres (5,470 sq mi) and is mostly hilly. It includes which, at 388 square kilometres (150 sq mi), is the largest lake in the British Isles by area. The highest peak in Northern Ireland is in the at 852 metres (2,795 ft).
The UK contains four terrestrial ecoregions: , , , and . The country had a 2019 mean score of 1.65/10, ranking it 161th globally out of 172 countries.
DA: 91 PA: 16 MOZ Rank: 19
