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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 .
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, [22] are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies. [23] [24] [25] British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals.
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.
London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom as a whole, and is the seat of the United Kingdom's government. Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, and is the seat of the Scottish Government as well as the highest courts in Scotland. The Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh is the official residence of the British monarch in ...
In light of these changes, the British state was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 12 April 1927 with the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act. The modern-day United Kingdom is the same state, that is to say a direct continuation of what remained after the Irish Free State's secession, as opposed to being an ...
However, the ISO list of the subdivisions of the United Kingdom, compiled by British Standards and the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics, uses "country" to describe England, Scotland, and Wales. [12] Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a "province" in the same lists. [12]
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:
British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. British national identity , the characteristics of British people and culture British English , the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the ...