When people think of Britain, they often think of …

The UK covers an area of 242,500 square kilometres and has a population of about 60 million, similar to that of France and Italy.

Population: 60,776,238 (July 2007 est.)

It is made up of 4 semi-autonomous countries: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Scotland was an independent nation until the Act of Union in 1707 when England and Scotland joined to form Great Britain

The Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalised a partition of Ireland; 6 northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland

The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927

The UK population is growing (0.275%). Until the mid-1990s this growth was mainly due to the number of births exceeding deaths. While natural change has continued, since the late 1990s net international migration into the UK from abroad has been an increasingly important factor

26% live in London and South East

Literacy rate 99%

1 in 9 moved in year to April 2001

1 in 12 were born overseas

1 in 8 were EU residents living in UK

243 people/km² 

Ranked 48th in the world according to the
United Nations World Populations Prospects Report

65% of children live with both birth parents

Cardiff – 310,000 Nottingham – 285,000 Belfast – 280,000 Newcastle – 259,000 Hull – 240,000 Plymouth 240,000 Aberdeen – 215,000 Portsmouth – 186,000 York – 182,000

Population: 60,776,238 (July 2007 est.)

This includes Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church in Wales, Catholic, Protestant and all other Christian denominations.

People with no religion
form the second largest group,
comprising 15% of the population.

About one in 20 (5%) of the population belongs to a non-Christian religious denomination.

This includes almost 1.6 million Muslims and 600,000 Hindus

These “Minority” religious groups were concentrated in London

2005 Eurobarometer report showed that 62% did not believe in a god.

Saint Andrew

Saint David

Age of chivalry

Saint George

The main causes of death are:
Circulatory Disease (eg heart disease / stroke)
Cancers
Respiratory Diseases (Pneumonia)
Injury and poisoning
Infectious Diseases

Life expectancy for both men and women has continued to rise.
In 2002, life expectancy at birth was 81 years for females and 76 years for males.
This contrasts with 49 and 45 years respectively in 1901.

1 in 6 adults have a neurotic disorder

HIV prevalence <0.2% (2007)

Average of 1.66 children born/woman

HIV & chlamydia diagnoses increasing

PLHA 97,423 (June 2008)

HIV/AIDS deaths – less than 500 per year

Infant Mortality rate of 5.01 deaths per 1,000 live births

* Source – Avert, UK

Lowest point – The Fens (-4m)
Highest Point – Ben Nevis (1,343m)

Primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP;
In 2005 the sources were:

Natural Gas: 40%
Oil: 33%
Coal: 17%
Nuclear: 8%
Renewable: 2%

Products include: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep,
poultry; fish

Non- agricultural land uses include: machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods

Over 70% of the total UK land area is under agricultural use, although less than 1% is used for permanent crops.

Exchange rate 1 UK Pound (GBP) on 16 February 2009
US$1.43 euro 1.12

The Parliament is made up of :
the Sovereign (Queen Elizabeth II),
the House of Lords (the upper house)
and the House of Commons (the lower house).

The House of Lords consists of approximately:
500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy.
Elections are held as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise.

Sittings of the house are open to the public and debates are broadcast on the radio and television.

MPs are elected by the first-past-the-post system of election and hold office until Parliament is dissolved (a maximum of 5 years).
Each MP is elected by and represents an electoral district known as a constituency. Elections were last held in May 2005.