Explore the essentials of the United Kingdom's government, territory, and national emblems in a single concise profile
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — commonly shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK — is a sovereign state whose conventional long form reflects its composition. The island of Great Britain historically denotes the larger island containing England, Scotland, and Wales, a name used since medieval times to distinguish it from what was called “Little Britain” (modern Brittany).
The name Ireland derives from the Gaelic Eriu, the ancient matron goddess of the land. This introduction explains the country’s official names, etymology and the terminology that is still used in legal and cultural contexts.
London is the capital and primary global city, located at geographic coordinates 51 30 N, 0 05 W.
The UK observes UTC 0 as its standard time and uses daylight saving time, advancing clocks by one hour from the last Sunday in March until the last Sunday in October. Note that these timings apply to the United Kingdom proper and do not automatically cover the UK’s Crown dependencies or its numerous overseas territories, each of which may have separate arrangements.
Political system and core institutions
Constitution, executive and legislature
The UK operates under a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an unwritten constitution made up of statutes, conventions and judicial decisions. Recent statutory additions include the Human Rights Act of 1998, the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, and the House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Act 2015 (2016). The hereditary monarch serves as chief of state — Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) with heir apparent Prince CHARLES (born 14 November 1948) — while the head of government is the Prime Minister, a post held by Theresa MAY (Conservative) since 13 July 2016. National parliamentary elections last occurred on 8 June 2017 (next due by 5 May 2026).
Parliament, suffrage and citizenship
The bicameral Parliament comprises the appointed House of Lords and the elected House of Commons. The Commons has 650 seats filled by simple-majority voting; the House of Lords had, as of May 2018, some 780 eligible members (664 life peers, 90 hereditary peers, and 26 clergy). Voting is universal at age 18. Citizenship rules include no automatic citizenship by birth; rather, citizenship by descent requires that at least one parent is a UK citizen. Dual nationality is permitted and naturalization generally requires a residency period of five years.
Judiciary, parties and political life
The judicial system is rooted in common law and includes a Supreme Court of 12 justices, created under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and implemented in October 2009 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. Judges are recommended by an independent selection commission, appointed by the prime minister, and sworn in by the monarch; justices ordinarily serve for life. Subordinate courts include the Court of Appeal, High Court, Crown Court, County and Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales; the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary in Scotland; and equivalent courts in Northern Ireland. Major political parties and leaders include the Conservative (Theresa MAY), Labour (Jeremy CORBYN), SNP (Nicola STURGEON), Liberal Democrats (Sir Vince CABLE), the Greens (Caroline LUCAS and Jonathan BARTLEY), and the regional parties listed nationally.
Territory and administrative organization
The UK consists of constituent countries and an array of administrative units. England contains 27 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs plus the City of London, 36 metropolitan districts and 56 unitary authorities (including four single-tier counties). Two-tier counties include Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex and Worcestershire. London boroughs and the City of London include Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, and Westminster.
Regional councils and dependencies
Northern Ireland’s local authorities include borough councils (Antrim and Newtownabbey; Ards and North Down; Armagh, Banbridge, and Craigavon; Causeway Coast and Glens; Mid and East Antrim), district councils (Derry and Strabane; Fermanagh and Omagh; Mid Ulster; Newry, Mourne, and Down) and city councils (Belfast; Lisburn and Castlereagh). Scotland comprises 32 council areas such as Aberdeen City, City of Edinburgh, Glasgow City, Highland, and others. Wales has 22 unitary authorities including Blaenau Gwent, Cardiff, Swansea, and Wrexham. The UK also maintains a range of overseas territories and dependencies including Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena (with Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos, and the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Symbols, diplomacy and international engagement
The national flag, often called the Union Jack (properly the Union Flag), combines the red cross of Saint George, the white saltire of Saint Andrew, and the red saltire of Saint Patrick on a blue field; its design influenced many other flags in the Commonwealth and overseas territories. National emblems include the lion, Tudor rose and oak for England, the unicorn and thistle for Scotland, the dragon and daffodil for Wales, and the shamrock for Northern Ireland. The royal and national anthem is “God Save the Queen”, in use since 1745 and adapted in title to “God Save the King” as appropriate.
The UK is a member or participant in numerous international bodies — from the UN (including permanent UNSC membership) and NATO to the G-7/G-20, OECD, WTO, IMF, World Bank, Council of Europe, OSCE and many UN agencies — and accepts aspects of international judicial jurisdiction. Diplomatic representation in the United States is led by Ambassador Sir Nigel Kim DARROCH (since 28 January 2016) at the chancery on Massachusetts Avenue NW, with consulates general across US cities. The United States is represented in London by Ambassador Robert Wood (Woody) JOHNSON IV (since 29 August 2017) at the embassy on 24 Grosvenor Square (with a new embassy scheduled to open in early 2018 in Nine Elms), plus consulates general in Belfast and Edinburgh.
