United Kingdom

Great Britain, or the United Kingdom, is a country that is a part of Europe (though not physically connected to the continent), and a member of the European Union. Throughout history, and especially during the 19th and 20th centuries, the U.K. was one of the greatest powers in the world, and its influence was felt globally. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The whole of Ireland was under English rule until 1922, when Ireland was granted independence.

Geographically, the U.K. mainly consists of the island of Great Britain, which contains England, Scotland, and Wales, and Northern Ireland, which is located on the island of Ireland, and represents about 15% of that island. Great Britain also has some territories that still remain from its colonial period. The Falkland Islands and Gibraltar are the two most well-known. The British Isles have a temperate climate that brings high amounts of rain, but seldom sees extreme temperatures. Most of the island is made up of lowlands, gentle hills, and contains many lakes, streams, and rivers. There are some mountains-the highest of which, Ben Nevis, is in Scotland, and Wales also features a fairly mountainous topography.

When we speak of the United Kingdom and England, many times the two terms are used interchangeably, but England-the southern half of the island-was a state, or kingdom, long before the U.K. came into being. The component parts of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, were also independent states that were gradually brought together over the years, finally being merged together by the Acts of Union. Throughout the years, the kingdom would add many more lands to its portfolio, including the lands that are now known as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Hong Kong, large parts of Africa, and islands across the world. At its peak, the saying went that the sun never set on the British Empire, which was composed of roughly 25% of the world’s lands. The military might of the U.K. was, at many points throughout history, the greatest power in the world. The British Navy ruled the seas for many years, and even today, the U.K. spends more on defense annually than any other country, except the United States. Eventually, the empire collapsed, due to the two World Wars, which nearly broke the U.K. Although its empire was lost and its economy severely damaged by the struggle against the Axis powers in World War II, Britain righted itself economically and now has the 5th largest economy in the world. The U.K.’s culture is one of the most prevalent in the world, from movies and music to political and social ideas. The remnants of empire are still felt today, and in places such as India, the language left behind after years of rule has turned into an advantage, as outsourcing businesses are quick to move into countries featuring cheap labor and English language skills.

Culturally, the U.K. can boast masters of all the arts, but the quantity and quality of the U.K.’s great writers is of particular note. Such masters as Shakespeare, Orwell, Chaucer, D.H. Lawrence, Bram Stoker, Joseph Conrad, Dickens, Virginia Woolf, and Robert Louis Stevenson, are widely viewed as some of the greatest of all time. The theatre is another arena where the British have flourished, with Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Tom Stoppard, and Harold Pinter all having left their mark on the stage.