United Kingdom

Airports

520 total, 388 usable; 252 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

Civil air

618 major transport aircraft

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

Merchant marine

251 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,643,056 GRT/6,214,450 DWT; includes 7 passenger, 21 short-sea passenger, 39 cargo, 34 container, 22 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 10 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 74 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 1 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 25 bulk, 2 combination bulk

Pipelines

933 km crude oil, almost all insignificant; 2,993 km refined products; 12,800 km natural gas

Ports

London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe, Southampton

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, 190 km double track

Telecommunications

modern, efficient domestic and international system; 30,200,000 telephones; excellent countrywide broadcast systems; stations--223 AM, 165 (401 relays) FM, 207 (3,210 relays) TV; 40 coaxial submarine cables; satellite communication ground stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems

Branches

Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines), Royal Air Force

Defense expenditures

$41 billion, 4.8% of GDP (FY90)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 14,475,433; 12,167,324 fit for military service; no conscription

Agriculture

accounts for only 1.5% of GNP 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)

Budget

revenues $385.0 billion; expenditures $385.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $35.0 billion (FY91 est.)

Currency

British pound or pound sterling (plural--pounds); 1 British pound (5) = 100 pence

Economic aid

donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $21.0 billion

Electricity

98,000,000 kW capacity; 316,500 million kWh produced, 5,520 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

British pounds (5) per US$1--0.5171 (January 1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987), 0.6817 (1986), 0.7714 (1985)

Exports

$188.9 billion (f.o.b., 1990); commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment; partners--EC 50.7% (FRG 11.9%, France 10.2%, Netherlands 7.0%), US 13.1%

External debt

$10.5 billion (1990)

Fiscal year

1 April-31 March

GDP

$858.3 billion, per capita $15,000; real growth rate 0.8% (1990)

Imports

$222 billion (c.i.f., 1990); commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods; partners--EC 52.6% (FRG 16.6%, France 8.9%, Netherlands 7.9%), US 10.8%

Industrial production

growth rate 0% (1990)

Industries

machinery and transportation equipment, metals, food processing, paper and paper products, textiles, chemicals, clothing, other consumer goods, motor vehicles, aircraft, shipbuilding, petroleum, coal

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

9.3% (1990)

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. Over the last decade the Thatcher government halted the expansion of welfare measures and promoted 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, is expected to decline in 1991. Between 1986 and 1990 unemployment fell from 11% to about 6%, but it is now rising rapidly 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.

Unemployment rate

5.7% (1990)

Climate

temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than half of the days are overcast

Coastline

12,429 km Continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries; Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Oregon

Disputes

Northern Ireland question with Ireland; Gibraltar question with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)

Environment

pollution control measures improving air, water quality; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

Land boundary

Ireland 360 km

Land use

arable land 29%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 48%; forest and woodland 9%; other 14%; includes irrigated 1%

Natural resources

coal, crude oil, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica

Note

lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now being linked by tunnel under the English Channel

Terrain

mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast

Total area

244,820 km2; land area: 241,590 km2; includes Rockall and Shetland Islands

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

Capital

London

Communists

15,961

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 (scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Sir Antony ACLAND; 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 SEITZ; Embassy at 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE, (mailing address is FPO New York 09509); telephone [44] (71) 499-9000; there are US Consulates General in Belfast and Edinburgh

Executive branch

monarch, prime minister, Cabinet

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

Independence

1 January 1801, United Kingdom established

Judicial branch

House of Lords 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) Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party, Neil KINNOCK; Social and Liberal Democratic Party (SLDP; formed from the merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party), Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN; Scottish National Party, Alex SALMOND; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru), Dafydd THOMAS; 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; Communist Party, Nina TEMPLE

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

Legislative branch

bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Lords and a lower house or House of Commons

Long-form name

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; abbreviated UK

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

National holiday

Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June), 10 June 1989

Other political or pressure groups

Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers' Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Suffrage

universal at age 18 House of Commons--last held 11 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results--Conservative 43%, Labor 32%, Liberal/Social Democratic 23%, other 2%; seats--(650 total) Conservative 376, Labor 228, Liberal/Social Democratic 22, Ulster Unionist (Northern Ireland) 9, Scottish National 4, Welsh National 3, Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland) 3, Social Democratic and Labor (Northern Ireland) 3, Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland) 1, Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) 1; note--the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party merged to become the Social and Liberal Democratic Party in 1988

Type

constitutional monarchy

Birth rate

14 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%

Infant mortality rate

7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

28,966,000; services 60.6%, manufacturing and construction 27.2%, government 8.9%, energy 2.1%, agriculture 1.2% (June 1990)

Language

English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Life expectancy at birth

73 years male, 79 years female (1991)

Literacy

99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1978 est.)

Nationality

noun--Briton(s), British (collective pl.); adjective--British

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

35.7% of labor force (1989)

Population

57,515,307 (July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)

Religion

Anglican 27.0 million, Roman Catholic 5.3 million, Presbyterian 2.0 million, Methodist 760,000, Jewish 410,000

Total fertility rate

1.8 children born/woman (1991)