UNITED KINGDOM
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LAND
243,978 km2; 30% arable, 50% meadow and pasture, 12% waste or urban, 7% forested, 1% inland water
Land boundaries: 360 km
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 3 nm (fishing 200 nm)
Coastline: 12,429 km
PEOPLE
Population: 56,095,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 0.1%
Nationality: noun—Briton(s), British (collective pl.); adjective–British
Ethnic divisions: 81.5% English, 9.6% Scottish, 2.4% Irish, 1.9% Welsh, 1.8% Ulster, 0.8% other; West Indian, Indian, Pakistani over 2%
Religion: 27.0 million Church of England, 5.3 million Roman Catholic, 2.0 million Presbyterian, 760,000 Methodist, 450,000 Jews (registered)
Language: English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
Literacy: 98% to 99%
Labor force: (1978) 26 million, 12.4% unemployed (October 1980)
Organized labor: 40% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: London
Political subdivisions: 635 parliamentary constituencies
Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: celebration of birthday of the Queen, 16 June
Branches: legislative authority resides in Parliament; executive authority lies with collectively responsible Cabinet led by Prime Minister; House of Lords is supreme judicial authority and highest court of appeal
Government leader: Chief of State, Queen ELIZABETH II; Head of Government, Prime Minister Margaret THATCHER
Suffrage: universal over age 18
Elections: at discretion of Prime Minister, but must be held before expiration of a five-year electoral mandate; last election 3 May 1979
Political parties and leaders: Conservative, Margaret Thatcher; Labor, Michael Foot; Liberal, David Steel; Social Democratic, joint leadership at present; Communist, Gordan McLennan; Scottish National, Gordon Wilson; Plaid Cymru, Dafydd Wigley
Voting strength: (1979 election) Conservative 339 seats (43.9%), Labor 268 seats (36.9%), Liberal 11 seats (13.8%), Scottish National 2 seats (1.6%), Plaid Cymru 2 seats (0.4%), other 13 seats (2.8%); (1981 byelections) Conservative 336 seats, Labor 250 seats, Liberal 12 seats, Social Democratic 28 seats, Scottish National 2 seats, Plaid Cymru 2 seats, others 13 seats
Communists: 29,000
Other political or pressure groups: Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Member of: ADB, CENTO, Colombo Plan, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EEC, ELDO, ESRO, EURATOM, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, IOOC, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, NATO, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
ECONOMY
GNP: $518.7 billion (1980), $9,280 per capita; 60.3% consumption, 17.4% investment, 21.6% government; −1.5% stockbuilding, 2.2% net foreign balance, real growth −1.4% (1980)
