United Kingdom
The United
Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a
parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of
London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries:
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The latter three of these are
devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capital
cities Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff respectively. Associated with the UK, but
not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United
Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British
Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the
world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence
can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its
former territories.
The UK is a developed country and has the
world's seventh-largest economy by nominal GDP and eighth-largest economy by
purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialised country and
the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK
remains a great power with leading economic, cultural, military, scientific and
political influence. It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military
expenditure ranks fourth in the world.
The UK has been a permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a
member of the European Union and its predecessor the European Economic
Community since 1973. It is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the
Council of Europe, the G7, the G8, the G20, NATO, the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization.