Cracked Kingdom

[Janie Mccorey]

TheUnited 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.[n][23] The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles.[24] Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,354 square miles (244,376 km2),[e][12] with an estimated population of nearly 67.6 million people in 2022.[13]

In 1707, the Kingdom of England (which included Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland united under the Treaty of Union to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State, and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present name.

The UK became the first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the "Pax Britannica" between 1815 and 1914.[25][26] At its height in the 1920s, the British Empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the largest empire in history. However, its involvement in the First World War and the Second World War damaged Britain's economic power and a global wave of decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies.[27][28][29] British influence can be observed in the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies, and British culture remains globally influential, particularly in language, literature, music and sport. English is the world's most widely spoken language and the third-most spoken native language.[30]

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.[o][32] The UK has three distinct jurisdictions; England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.[33] Since 1999, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own governments and parliaments which control various devolved matters.[34] The capital and largest city of the United Kingdom (as well as the capital of England) is London, with its wider metropolitan area being the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million.[35] The cities of Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively. Other major cities include Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle and Leeds.

The UK is a developed country and has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP). It is a recognised nuclear state, and is ranked fourth globally in military expenditure.[36][37] The UK has been a permanent member of the UN Security Council since its first session in 1946. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Council of Europe, G7, OECD, NATO, Five Eyes, AUKUS and CPTPP.

The Acts of Union 1707 declared that the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain".[p][38] The term "United Kingdom" has occasionally been used as a description for the former Kingdom of Great Britain, although its official name from 1707 to 1800 was simply "Great Britain".[39] The Acts of Union 1800 united the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following the partition of Ireland and the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the United Kingdom, the name was changed in 1927 to the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".[40]

Although the United Kingdom is a sovereign country, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also widely referred to as countries.[41] The UK Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.[42] Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions refer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions".[43] Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province".[44] With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences".[45]

The term "Great Britain" conventionally refers to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination.[46] It is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.[47] The word England is occasionally used incorrectly to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole, a mistake principally made by people from outside the UK.[48]

The term "Britain" is used as a synonym for Great Britain,[49][50] and the United Kingdom.[51][50] Usage is mixed: the UK Government prefers to use the term "UK" rather than "Britain" or "British" on its website (except when referring to embassies),[52] while acknowledging that both terms refer to the United Kingdom and that elsewhere "British government" is used at least as frequently as "United Kingdom government".[53] The UK Permanent Committee on Geographical Names recognises "United Kingdom", "UK" and "U.K." as shortened and abbreviated geopolitical terms for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in its toponymic guidelines; it does not list "Britain" but notes that "it is only the one specific nominal term 'Great Britain' which invariably excludes Northern Ireland".[53] The BBC historically preferred to use "Britain" as shorthand only for Great Britain, though the present style guide does not take a position except that "Great Britain" excludes Northern Ireland.[54]

The adjective "British" is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom and is used in law to refer to United Kingdom citizenship and matters to do with nationality.[55][q] People of the United Kingdom use several different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being British, English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, or Irish;[58] or as having a combination of different national identities.[59] The official designation for a citizen of the United Kingdom is "British citizen".[53]

Settlement by Cro-Magnons of what was to become the United Kingdom occurred in waves beginning by about 30,000 years ago.[60] The island has been continuously inhabited only since the last retreat of the ice around 11,500 years ago. By the end of the region's prehistoric period, the population is thought to have belonged largely to a culture termed Insular Celtic, comprising Brittonic Britain and Gaelic Ireland.[61]

The Roman conquest, beginning in 43 AD, and the 400-year rule of southern Britain, was followed by an invasion by Germanic Anglo-Saxon settlers, reducing the Brittonic area mainly to what was to become Wales, Cornwall and, until the latter stages of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the Hen Ogledd (northern England and parts of southern Scotland).[62] Most of the region settled by the Anglo-Saxons became unified as the Kingdom of England in the 10th century.[63] Meanwhile, Gaelic-speakers in north-west Britain (with connections to the north-east of Ireland and traditionally supposed to have migrated from there in the 5th century)[64] united with the Picts to create the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century.[65]

In 1066, the Normans invaded England from northern France. After conquering England, they seized large parts of Wales, conquered much of Ireland and were invited to settle in Scotland, bringing to each country feudalism on the Northern French model and Norman-French culture.[66] The Anglo-Norman ruling class greatly influenced, but eventually assimilated with, the local cultures.[67] Subsequent medieval English kings completed the conquest of Wales and tried unsuccessfully to annex Scotland. Asserting its independence in the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland maintained its independence thereafter, albeit in near-constant conflict with England.

The English monarchs, through inheritance of substantial territories in France and claims to the French crown, were also heavily involved in conflicts in France, most notably the Hundred Years' War, while the Kings of Scots were in an alliance with the French during this period.[69]Early modern Britain saw religious conflict resulting from the Reformation and the introduction of Protestant state churches in each country.[70] The English Reformation ushered in political, constitutional, social and cultural change in the 16th century and established the Church of England. Moreover, it defined a national identity for England and slowly, but profoundly, changed people's religious beliefs.[71] Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of England,[72] and Ireland was constituted as a kingdom in personal union with the English crown.[73] In what was to become Northern Ireland, the lands of the independent Catholic Gaelic nobility were confiscated and given to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.[74]

England became a colonial and seafaring maritime power, with rich development of art, trade, commerce, industry, architecture, and science.[75] Elizabethan England represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of great poetry, music and literature.[76] With the founding of the East India Company, other English joint-stock companies and institutions, England competed with Europe, and built a trading empire.[77][78][79]

In 1603, the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in a personal union when James VI, King of Scots, inherited the crowns of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London; each country nevertheless remained a separate political entity and retained its separate political, legal, and religious institutions.[80]

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