The Official Website For UK Tourism

The Highlands to the north and west are the more rugged region containing the majority of Scotland’s mountainous land, including the Cairngorms, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs and Ben Nevis which at 1,345 metres (4,413 ft) is the highest point in the British Isles. It occupies the major part of the British Isles and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands, meaning it comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK was the third country to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal, with its first atomic bomb test, Operation Hurricane, in 1952, but the post-war limitations of Britain’s international role were illustrated by the Suez Crisis of 1956. Nonetheless, Britain was described as “a very wealthy country, formidable in arms, ruthless in pursuit of its interests https://ie.trustpilot.com/review/irelandonline.casino and sitting at the heart of a global production system.” After Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939, Britain entered the Second World War. Beginning with the Great Reform Act in 1832, Parliament gradually widened the voting franchise, with the 1884 Reform Act championed by William Gladstone granting suffrage to a majority of males for the first time. After the defeat of France at the end of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815) the United Kingdom emerged as the principal naval and imperial power (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830).

Since the majority of the rain falls over the western regions, the eastern parts are the driest. The length of coastline of Great Britain plus its principal islands is about 19,491 miles (31,368 km) long, with the coastline of the main island Great Britain being 11,073 miles (17,820 km) of that, though measurements can vary greatly due to the coastline paradox. The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to use an approved COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the British economy, caused major disruptions to education and had far-reaching impacts on society and politics in 2020 and 2021. A referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 resulted in the Scottish electorate voting by 55.3 to 44.7 per cent to remain part of the United Kingdom.

Education and learning

The UK has a history of non-white immigration with Liverpool having the oldest black population in the country dating from at least the 1730s, in addition to having the oldest Chinese community in Europe dating from the 19th century. The 2011 census also showed that, over the previous 100 years, the proportion of the population aged 0–14 fell from 31 to 18 per cent, and the proportion of people aged 65 and over rose from 5 to 16 per cent. In 2012 and 2013 births contributed the most to population growth, while in 2014 and 2015 net international migration contributed more. In the late 1990s nuclear power plants contributed around 25 per cent of the total annual electricity generation in the UK, but this has gradually declined as old plants have been shut down. Wind power was the largest source of electricity in 2024, generating 30 per cent of the UK’s total electricity. It is home to many large energy companies, including two of the six major oil and gas companies – BP and Shell.

Renewable electricity sources provided 51 per cent of the electricity generated in the UK in 2024. During 2023, 18.3 million passengers travelled internationally by rail and 18.1 million by sea. In that period the three largest airports were London Heathrow Airport (83.9 million passengers), Gatwick Airport (43.2 million passengers) and Manchester Airport (30.8 million passengers).

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• Since World War II, however, the United Kingdom’s most prominent exports have been cultural, including literature, theatre, film, television, and popular music that draw on all parts of the country.
• Scotland, occupying northern Great Britain, includes the Orkney and Shetland islands off the northern coast and the Hebrides off the northwestern coast.
• Britain had still not recovered from the effects of the First World War when the Great Depression (1929–1932) led to considerable unemployment and hardship in the old industrial areas, as well as political and social unrest with rising membership in communist and socialist parties.
• In 2001, over 92,000 people in Scotland, just under 2 per cent of the population, had some Gaelic language ability, including 72 per cent of those living in the Outer Hebrides.
• London is the world capital for foreign exchange trading, with a market share of 37.8 per cent in 2022 of the global turnover.

The devolved form of government in Northern Ireland is based on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought to an end a 30-year period of unionist-nationalist communal conflict known as the Troubles. In 2014 the Scottish independence referendum was held, with 55.3 per cent voting against independence from the United Kingdom and 44.7 per cent voting in favour, resulting in Scotland staying within the United Kingdom. Their power over economic issues is significantly constrained by an act of the UK Parliament passed in 2020. In practice it would be politically difficult for the UK Parliament to abolish devolution to the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd because these institutions were created by referendums. In 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils to replace the existing system. Local government in Northern Ireland since 1973 has been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote.

London is also one of the world’s leading financial centres, ranking second in the 2025 Global Financial Centres Index. London is the world capital for foreign exchange trading, with a market share of 37.8 per cent in 2022 of the global turnover. As of 2023 it is the world’s second-largest exporter of services and in 2024 was the world’s largest net exporter of financial services. The Department for Business and Trade is responsible for business, international trade, and enterprise. Despite having one of the highest levels of income inequality in the OECD, the UK has a very high HDI ranking, including when adjusted for inequality.

Explore Britain’s film and TV destinations

The United Kingdom hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012, with London acting as the host city on all three occasions. England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy compete in the Six Nations Championship, the premier international rugby union tournament in the northern hemisphere. The sport was created in Rugby School, Warwickshire, and the first rugby international took place on 27 March 1871 between England and Scotland.