Great Britain, the
dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century,
played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and
in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British
Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface.
The
first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously
depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the
dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a
modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent
members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO,
and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to
foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its
integration with continental Europe.
The
UK was a member of the
EU, when it
chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the
time and then voted to Brexit. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in
the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for
Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in
1999, but the latter is suspended due to wrangling over the
peace process.
Electricity
prices are high, with the national grid having been
sold off by Margaret
Thatcher in the 1990s, rather stupidly allowing
sales of shares to foreign nationals. Thatcher's garage
sale included auctioning off the water
utilities, and selling off affordable homes, without
replacing them. Giving councils a free hand to build
executive housing, so pricing young families out of the
housing market. All of which adds to the national
debt. Thanks mainly to Conservative
policies that were not at all conservative. The nation
is top heavy with non-productive Councillors and Members
of Parliament, all draining the lifeblood out of
workers, without paying for their keep. And then
demanding expenses
and pensions for not doing anything, other than
occupy desk and office space during their terms in
office.
Unfortunately
for the electorate, Labour
has not proved to be very different. Also over borrowing
to stay in power.
The
passing of Queen
Elizabeth II saw King
Charles III take the throne, not long after which he
was diagnosed with cancer, along with the Princess of
Wales, indicative perhaps, of the unhealthy
|
Western Europe,
islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of
Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea,
northwest of France
|
|
54 00 N, 2 00 W
|
|
Europe
|
|
total:
244,820 sq km
land: 241,590 sq km
water: 3,230 sq km
note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
|
|
slightly smaller
than Oregon
|
|
total: 360
km
border countries: Ireland 360 km
|
|
12,429 km
|
|
territorial sea:
12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders
or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries
|
|
temperate;
moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic
Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
|
|
mostly rugged hills
and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
|
|
lowest point:
The Fens -4 m
highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m
|
|
coal, petroleum,
natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt,
clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land
|
|
arable land:
23.46%
permanent crops: 0.21%
other: 76.33% (2001)
|
|
1,080 sq km (1998
est.)
|
|
winter windstorms;
floods
|
Environment - current issues:
|
continues to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a
12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally
binding target and move towards a domestic goal of a 20% cut in
emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government aims to reduce the
amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in
landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and to recycle or compost
at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015;
between 1998-99 and 1999-2000, household recycling increased
from 8.8% to 10.3%
|
Environment - international agreements:
|
party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent
Organic Pollutants
|
|
lies near vital
North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked
by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented
coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
|
|
60,441,457 (July
2005 est.)
|
|
0-14 years:
17.7% (male 5,490,592/female 5,229,691)
15-64 years: 66.5% (male 20,329,272/female 19,855,862)
65 years and over: 15.8% (male 4,063,357/female
5,472,683) (2005 est.)
|
|
total: 38.99
years
male: 37.89 years
female: 40.13 years (2005 est.)
|
|
0.28% (2005 est.)
|
|
10.78 births/1,000
population (2005 est.)
|
|
10.18 deaths/1,000
population (2005 est.)
|
|
2.18 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2005 est.)
|
|
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
|
|
total: 5.16
deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
|
Life expectancy at birth:
|
total
population: 78.38 years
male: 75.94 years
female: 80.96 years (2005 est.)
|
|
1.66 children
born/woman (2005 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|
0.2% (2001 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|
51,000 (2001 est.)
|
|
less than 500 (2003
est.)
|
|
noun:
Briton(s), British (collective plural)
adjective: British
|
|
white (English
83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%,
black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6%
(2001 census)
|
|
Christian
(Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%,
Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1%
(2001 census)
|
|
English, Welsh
(about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic
(about 60,000 in Scotland)
|
|
definition:
age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
total population: 99% (2000 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%
|
|
conventional
long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland; note - Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and
Wales
conventional short form: United Kingdom
abbreviation: UK
|
|
constitutional
monarchy
|
|
London
|
Administrative divisions:
|
England - 47
boroughs, 36 counties, 29 London boroughs, 12 cities and
boroughs, 10 districts, 12 cities, 3 royal boroughs
: boroughs: Barnsley, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool,
Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, Bury,
Calderdale, Darlington, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Halton,
Hartlepool, Kirklees, Knowsley, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough,
Milton Keynes, North Tyneside, Oldham, Poole, Reading, Redcar
and Cleveland, Rochdale, Rotherham, Sandwell, Sefton, Slough,
Solihull, Southend-on-Sea, South Tyneside, St. Helens,
Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Swindon, Tameside, Thurrock, Torbay,
Trafford, Walsall, Warrington, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton
: counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire,
Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham,
East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire,
Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire,
Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, North
Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset,
Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex,
Wiltshire, Worcestershire
: London boroughs: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley,
Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich,
Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering,
Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton,
Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton,
Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth
: cities and boroughs: Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry,
Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Salford,
Sheffield, Sunderland, Wakefield, Westminster
: districts: Bath and North East Somerset, East Riding of
Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North
Somerset, Rutland, South Gloucestershire, Telford and Wrekin,
West Berkshire, Wokingham
: cities: City of Bristol, Derby, City of Kingston upon
Hull, Leicester, City of London, Nottingham, Peterborough,
Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, York
: royal boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon
Thames, Windsor and Maidenhead
: Northern Ireland - 24 districts, 2 cities, 6 counties
: districts: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney,
Banbridge, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown,
Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn,
Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down,
Omagh, Strabane
: cities: Belfast, Derry
: counties: County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down,
County Fermanagh, County Londonderry, County Tyrone
: Scotland - 32 council areas: Aberdeen City,
Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, The Scottish Borders,
Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East
Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire,
City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland,
Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire,
Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland
Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West
Dunbartonshire, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), West Lothian;
: Wales - 11 county boroughs, 9 counties, 2 cities and
counties
: county boroughs: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly,
Conwy, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Newport,
Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen, Wrexham
: counties: Isle of Anglesey, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire,
Denbighshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys,
The Vale of Glamorgan
: cities and counties: Cardiff, Swansea
|
|
Anguilla, Bermuda,
British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman
Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of
Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena and Ascension,
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos
Islands
|
|
England has existed
as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between
England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan,
was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another
Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently
join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain
and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the
name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the
Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland;
six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom
as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was
adopted in 1927
|
|
the UK does not
celebrate one particular national holiday
|
|
unwritten; partly
statutes, partly common law and practice
|
|
common law
tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences;
has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the
Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction,
with reservations
|
|
18 years of age;
universal
|
|
chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince
CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)
head of government: Prime Minister Anthony (Tony) BLAIR
(since 2 May 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime
minister
elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following
legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the
leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister
|
|
bicameral
Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of
approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy)
and House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections; members
are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the
House is dissolved earlier)
elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999,
as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in
the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who
would remain there; pending further reforms, elections are held
only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of
Commons - last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010)
election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by
party - Labor 35.2%, Conservative 32.3%, Liberal Democrats 22%,
other 10.5%; seats by party - Labor 356, Conservative 197,
Liberal Democrat 62, other 31; note - as of 30 September 2005
the seats by party - Labor 354, Conservative 196, Liberal
Democrat 62, other 34
note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland
Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties,
the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only
at the end of 1999 and has been suspended four times the latest
occurring in October 2002); in 1999 there were elections for a
new Scottish Parliament and a new Welsh Assembly
|
|
House of Lords
(highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary
are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of
England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of
Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts);
Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary
|
Political parties and leaders:
|
Conservative and
Unionist Party [David CAMERON]; Democratic Unionist Party
(Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony
(Tony) BLAIR]; Liberal Democrats [Charles KENNEDY]; Party of
Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd IWAN]; Scottish National Party or
SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS];
Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland)
[Mark DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Sir Reg
EMPEY]
|
Political pressure groups and leaders:
|
Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National
Farmers' Union; Trades Union Congress
|
International organization participation:
|
AfDB, AsDB,
Australia Group, BIS, C, CBSS (observer), CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC,
EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC,
NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE,
Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC,
UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
|
Diplomatic representation in the US:
|
chief of
mission: Ambassador David G. MANNING
chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20008
telephone: [1] (202) 588-6500
FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston,
Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
consulate(s): Dallas, Denver, Miami, and Seattle
|
Diplomatic representation from the US:
|
chief of
mission: Ambassador Robert Holmes TUTTLE
embassy: 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE
mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040
telephone: [44] (0) 20 7499-9000
FAX: [44] (0) 20 7629-9124
consulate(s) general: Belfast, Edinburgh
|
|
blue field with the
red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in
white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick
(patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal
white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly
known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the
design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the
basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth
countries and their constituent states or provinces, as well as
British overseas territories
|
|
The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is one of
the quintet of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. Over
the past two decades the government has greatly reduced public
ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs.
Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by
European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less
than 2% of the labor 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 nation.
Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business
services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while
industry continues to decline in importance. GDP growth slipped
in 2001-03 as the global downturn, the high value of the pound,
and the bursting of the "new economy" bubble hurt
manufacturing and exports. Output recovered in 2004, to 3.2%
growth, but fell in 2005, to 1.8%. Despite slower growth, the
economy is one of the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest
rates, and unemployment remain low. The relatively good economic
performance has complicated the BLAIR government's efforts to
make a case for Britain to join the European Economic and
Monetary Union (EMU). Critics point out that the economy is
doing well outside of EMU, and they cite public opinion polls
that continue to show a majority of Britons opposed to the euro.
Meantime, the government has been speeding up the improvement of
education, transport, and health services, at a cost in higher
taxes and a widening public deficit.
|
GDP (purchasing power parity):
|
$1.867 trillion
(2005 est.)
|
GDP (official exchange rate):
|
$2.275 trillion
(2005 est.)
|
|
1.8% (2005 est.)
|
|
purchasing power
parity - $30,900 (2005 est.)
|
GDP - composition by sector:
|
agriculture:
1.1%
industry: 26%
services: 72.9% (2005 est.)
|
|
30.07 million (2005
est.)
|
Labor force - by occupation:
|
agriculture 1.5%,
industry 19.1%, services 79.5% (2004)
|
|
4.7% (2005 est.)
|
Population below poverty line:
|
17% (2002 est.)
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
|
lowest 10%:
2.1%
highest 10%: 28.5% (1999)
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|
36.8 (1999)
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|
2.2% (2005 est.)
|
Investment (gross fixed):
|
16.3% of GDP (2005
est.)
|
|
revenues:
$881.4 billion
expenditures: $951 billion, including capital
expenditures of NA (2005 est.)
|
|
42.2% of GDP (2005
est.)
|
|
cereals, oilseed,
potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish
|
|
machine tools,
electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad
equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts,
electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals,
coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing,
textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods
|
Industrial production growth rate:
|
-0.9% (2005 est.)
|
Electricity - production:
|
369.9 billion kWh
(2003)
|
Electricity - consumption:
|
346.1 billion kWh
(2003)
|
|
3 billion kWh
(2003)
|
|
5.1 billion kWh
(2003)
|
|
2.393 million
bbl/day (2003 est.)
|
|
1.722 million
bbl/day (2003 est.)
|
|
1.498 million
bbl/day (2001)
|
|
1.084 million
bbl/day (2003)
|
|
4.5 billion bbl (31
December 2004)
|
Natural gas - production:
|
105.9 billion cu m
(2001 est.)
|
Natural gas - consumption:
|
92.85 billion cu m
(2001 est.)
|
|
15.75 billion cu m
(2001 est.)
|
|
2.7 billion cu m
(2001 est.)
|
Natural gas - proved reserves:
|
714.9 billion cu m
(31 December 2004)
|
|
$-38.4 billion
(2005 est.)
|
|
$372.7 billion
f.o.b. (2005 est.)
|
|
US 15.3%, Germany
10.8%, France 9.2%, Ireland 6.8%, Netherlands 6%, Belgium 5.1%,
Spain 4.5%, Italy 4.2% (2004)
|
|
$483.7 billion
f.o.b. (2005 est.)
|
|
Germany 13%, US
9.3%, France 7.4%, Netherlands 6.6%, Belgium 4.9%, China 4.3%,
Italy 4.3% (2004)
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|
$48.73 billion
(2004)
|
|
$7.107 trillion (30
June 2005)
|
|
ODA, $7.9 billion
(2004)
|
|
British pound (GBP)
|
|
British pounds per
US dollar - 0.54 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672
(2002), 0.6947 (2001)
|
|
6 April - 5 April
|
Telephones - main lines in use:
|
34.898 million
(2002)
|
Telephones - mobile cellular:
|
49.677 million
(2002)
|
|
general
assessment: technologically advanced domestic and
international system
domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio
relay, and fiber-optic systems
international: country code - 44; 40 coaxial submarine
cables; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean
and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1
Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centers
|
Radio broadcast stations:
|
AM 219, FM 431,
shortwave 3 (1998)
|
Television broadcast stations:
|
228 (plus 3,523
repeaters) (1995)
|
|
.uk
|
|
3,398,708 (2004)
|
|
25 million (2002)
|
|
471 (2004 est.)
|
Airports - with paved runways:
|
total: 334
over 3,047 m: 8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 33
1,524 to 2,437 m: 149
914 to 1,523 m: 85
under 914 m: 59 (2005 est.)
|
Airports - with unpaved runways:
|
total: 137
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 23
under 914 m: 112 (2005 est.)
|
|
11 (2005 est.)
|
|
condensate 370 km;
gas 21,446 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 6,420 km;
oil/gas/water 63 km; refined products 4,474 km (2004)
|
|
total:
17,274 km
standard gauge: 16,814 km 1.435-m gauge (5,296 km
electrified)
broad gauge: 460 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland)
(2004)
|
|
total:
392,931 km
paved: 392,931 km (including 3,431 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2003)
|
|
3,200 km (620 km
used for commerce) (2004)
|
|
total: 429
ships (1,000 GRT or over) 9,181,284 GRT/9,566,275 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 18, cargo 55, chemical tanker 48,
container 134, liquefied gas 11, passenger 12, passenger/cargo
64, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo 19, roll on/roll off
25, vehicle carrier 3
foreign-owned: 202 (Australia 3, Canada 15, Denmark 38,
Finland 2, Germany 56, Greece 4, Ireland 1, Italy 9, Netherlands
12, Norway 28, South Africa 4, Sweden 15, Taiwan 7, United
States 8)
registered in other countries: 446 (2005)
|
|
Hound Point,
Immingham, Milford Haven, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Sullom
Voe, Teesport
|
|
Army, Royal Navy
(includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
|
Military service age and obligation:
|
16 years of age for
voluntary military service (January 2004)
|
Manpower available for military service:
|
males age 16-49:
14,607,724 (2005 est.)
|
Manpower fit for military service:
|
males age 16-49:
12,046,268 (2005 est.)
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
|
$42,836.5 million
(2003)
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
|
2.4% (2003)
|
Disputes - international:
|
in 2003, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum
to remain a British colony and against a "total shared
sovereignty" arrangement while demanding participation in
talks between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to
grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim
the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its
former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most Chagosians
reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship but
no right to patriation in the UK; UK rejects sovereignty talks
requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands
(Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich
Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic
Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps
Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's
claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond
200 nm
|
Adelaide
Aden
- Yemen
Afghanistan
Africa
Alaska
Albania
Algeria
Amazon
Rainforest
Amsterdam
Antarctic
- Scott
Arctic
North Pole
Argentina
Asia
Athens
Atlantis
- Plato's Lost City
Australia
Austria
Aztecs
- Mexico
Baghdad
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Beachy
Head, England
Belgium
Benin
Berlin
Bermuda
Black
Rock Desert
Bohemia
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