Country name
conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
conventional short form: United Kingdom
abbreviation: UK

Data code UK

Government type constitutional monarchy

National capital London

Administrative divisions 47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas; England - 39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire; Northern Ireland - 26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane; Scotland - 9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside, Western Isles*; Wales - 8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan
note: The Statesman's Yearbook claims that England has 35 counties and Wales 9 counties

Dependent areas Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

Independence 1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)

National holiday Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)

Constitution unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

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

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
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 Tony BLAIR (since 2 May 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
elections: none; the queen is a hereditary monarch; prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons and must have the consent of the monarch

Legislative branch bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords (1,200 seats; four-fifths of the members are hereditary peers, two archbishops, 24 other senior bishops, serving and retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, other life peers, Scottish peers) and House of Commons (659 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Lords - no elections; House of Commons - last held 1 May 1997 (next to be held by NA May 2002)
election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labor 44.5%, Conservative 31%, Liberal Democratic 17%, other 7.5%; seats by party - Labor 418, Conservative 165, Liberal Democratic 46, other 30

Judicial branch House of Lords, several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life

Political parties and leaders Conservative and Unionist Party [William HAGUE]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) Blair]; Liberal Democrats or LD [Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN]; Scottish National Party [Alex SALMOND]; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd Iwan WIGLEY]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [David TRIMBLE]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [John HUME]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Alliance Party (Northern Ireland) [Lord ALDERDICE]

Political pressure groups and leaders Trades Union Congress; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

International organization participation AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, CP, EAPC, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MTCR, NATO, NEA, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher MEYER
chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 588-6500
FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
consulate(s): Dallas, Miami, and Seattle

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Philip LADER
embassy: 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W. 1A1AE
mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, London; FPO AE 09498-4040
telephone: [44] (171) 499-9000
FAX: [44] (171) 409-1637
consulate(s) general: Belfast, Edinburgh

Flag description blue 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); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and others

NOTE: The information regarding United Kingdom on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United Kingdom Government 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United Kingdom Government 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.