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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. [21][22]It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The United Kingdom is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe.With a total area of approximately 244,376 square kilometres (94,354 sq mi), [a] [1] the UK occupies the major part of the British Isles archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and many smaller surrounding islands. [3]
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:
Since 1922, the United Kingdom has been made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales (which collectively make up Great Britain) and Northern Ireland ( variously described as a country, [ 1] province, [ 2][ 3][ 4] jurisdiction [ 5] or region [ 6][ 7] ). The UK Prime Minister 's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to ...
Area of the United Kingdom: 244,820 km 2 (94,530 sq mi) – 79th most extensive country. Area of the countries of the United Kingdom. Extreme points of the United Kingdom : North: Out Stack, Shetland Islands 60°51′N 0°52′W. / 60.850°N 0.867°W / 60.850; -0.867. South: Western Rocks, Isles of Scilly 49°51′N 6°24′W.
Scotland (Scots: Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands , principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles .
The land area of Scotland is 30,090 square miles (77,900 km 2 ), 32% of the area of the United Kingdom (UK). The mainland of Scotland has 6,160 miles (9,910 km) of coastline. The morphology of Scotland was formed by the action of tectonic plates, and subsequent erosion arising from glaciation.
The recorded history of Scotland begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the Picti, whose uprisings forced Rome's legions back to Hadrian's Wall. As Rome finally withdrew from Britain, a Gaelic tribe from ...