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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, [m] is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland .
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland .
The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom. [8] Although the United Kingdom is a unitary sovereign country, it contains three distinct legal jurisdictions in Scotland, England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, each retaining its own legal system even after joining the UK. [9]
The history of the United Kingdom begins in 1707 with the Treaty of Union and Acts of Union. The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, [1] into a new unitary state called Great Britain. [a] Of this new state, the historian Simon Schama said:
The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at 67,596,281 in 2022. [1] It is the 21st most populated country in the world and has a population density of 279 people per square kilometre (720 people/sq mi), with England having significantly greater density than Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. [1]
On the Internet, .uk is the country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. A .gb top-level domain was used to a limited extent, but is now deprecated; although existing registrations still exist (mainly by government organizations and email providers), the domain name registrar will not take new registrations.
The government of the United Kingdom, officially His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. [2] [3] The government is led by the prime minister (currently Keir Starmer since 5 July 2024) who selects all the other ministers.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union in 1801. [4] It continued in this form for over a century.