The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe , and a member of the European Union . Usually known simply as the United Kingdom , UK or, inaccurately, as Great Britain or Britain , the UK has four constituent parts. Three of these parts England , Wales and Scotland , are often considered countries or nations in their own right. The fourth is Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland is the current limit of UK sovereignty on the island of Ireland .

Geography

Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the northwest ( Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District ) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines ) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line . The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck , Cotswolds , Lincolnshire (or Lincolnshire Wolds) and chalk downs of the North Downs, South Downs and Chilterns of southern England. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames , Severn and the Trent & Ouse feeding the Humber Estuary ; major cities include London , Birmingham , Manchester , Sheffield , Liverpool , Leeds , Bristol , Nottingham and Newcastle upon Tyne . Near Dover , the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000m or greater.

Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon , at 1,085 m above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey . Main and capital city is Cardiff , located in the south of Wales.

Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis , the UK's highest mountain (1343 m). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths , and lochs . A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides , Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands , as is the uninhabited islet of Rockall , although this claim is disputed. Main cities are Edinburgh , Glasgow and Aberdeen .

Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast and Derry .

In total it is estimated that the UK is made up of around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs , a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.

Economy

The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, one of the largest of Western Europe . Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State .

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal , natural gas , and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP , one of the highest shares of any industrial state.

Services, particularly banking , insurance , and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. Tourism is also important: with over 23.9 million tourists a year, between China (36.8) and Canada (20), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world.

The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum .

Demographics

The primary language spoken is English . Other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh , Scottish Gaelic , which is closely related to Irish Gaelic , Cornish and Irish Gaelic ; as well as Lowland Scots , which is closely related to English ; Romany ; and British Sign Language ( Irish Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, mostly famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep.

Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth , speak many other languages, including Cantonese -Chinese, Gujarati , Hindi and Urdu .