$Unique_ID{bob00489} $Pretitle{} $Title{United Kingdom Statistical Profile of the United Kingdom} $Subtitle{} $Author{Central Intelligence Agency} $Affiliation{United States Government} $Subject{km ireland british rate northern islands seats billion democratic goods hear audio hear sound see pictures see figures } $Date{1990} $Log{Hear National Anthem*59415010.aud See Map of United Kingdom*0048901.scf See Flag of United Kingdom*0048902.scf } Title: United Kingdom Book: CIA World Factbook Author: Central Intelligence Agency Affiliation: United States Government Date: 1990 [Hear National Anthem] [See Map of United Kingdom] [See Flag of United Kingdom] Statistical Profile of the United Kingdom Geography Total area: 244,820 km2; land area: 241,590 km2; includes Rockall and Shetland Islands Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon Land boundary: Ireland 360 km Coastline: 12,429 km Maritime claims: Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm Territorial sea: 3 nm Disputes: maritime boundary with Ireland; Northern Ireland question with Ireland; Gibraltar question with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory; colony of Hong Kong is scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than half of the days are overcast Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast Natural resources: coal, crude oil, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica Land use: 29% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 48% meadows and pastures; 9% forest and woodland; 14% other; includes 1% irrigated Environment: pollution control measures improving air, water quality; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters Note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France People Population: 57,028,169 (July 1989), growth rate 0.2% (1989) Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1989) Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1989) Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1989) Infant mortality rate: 9 deaths/1,000 live births (1989) Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1989) Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1989) 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, 2.8% West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other Religion: 27.0 million Anglican, 5.3 million Roman Catholic, 2.0 million Presbyterian, 760,000 Methodist, 410,000 Jewish Language: English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) Literacy: 99% Labor force: 28,200,000; 52.1% services, 23.4% manufacturing and construction, 10.5% self-employed, 4.0% government, 1.1% agriculture (1988) Organized labor: 37% of labor force (1987) Government Long-form name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; abbreviated UK Type: constitutional monarchy 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 Independence: 1 January 1801, United Kingdom established Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong (scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St. Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands 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 the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June), 10 June 1989 Branches: legislative authority resides in Parliament (House of Lords, House of Commons); executive authority lies with collectively responsible Cabinet led by prime minister; House of Lords is supreme judicial authority and highest court of appeal Leaders: ELIZABETH II, Queen (since 1952); Margaret THATCHER, Prime Minister (since 1979) 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 held 11 June 1987 Political parties and leaders: Conservative, Margaret Thatcher; Labour, Neil Kinnock; Social Democratic, David Owen; Social and Liberal Democratic Party, Jeremy (Paddy) Ashdown; Communist, Gordon McLennan; Scottish National, Gordon Wilson; Plaid Cymru, Dafydd Thomas; Ulster Unionist, James Molyneaux; Democratic Unionist, Ian Paisley; Social Democratic and Labour, John Hume; Provisional Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams; Alliance/Northern Ireland Voting strength: House of Commons--Conservative, 376 seats (43%); Labour, 229 seats (32%); Social and Liberal Democratic Party, 18 seats (23%); Social Democratic Party, 4 seats; Scottish National Party, 3 seats; Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalist), 3 seats; Ulster (Official) Unionist (Northern Ireland), 9 seats; Ulster Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland), 3 seats; Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland), 1 seat; Social Democratic and Labour (Northern Ireland), 3 seats; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), 1 seat Communists: 15,961 Other political or pressure groups: Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers' Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Member of: ADB, CCC, CENTO, Colombo Plan, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ESCAP, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, OECD, UN, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Sir Antony ACLAND; Chancery at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 462-1340; there are British Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Dallas, Miami, and Seattle; US--Ambassador Charles H. PRICE, II; Embassy at 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE, (mailing address is Box 40, FPO New York 09509); telephone [44] (01) 499-9000; there are US Consulates General in Belfast and Edinburgh Flag: blue with the red cross of St. George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of St. Patrick (patron saint of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of St. 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 Economy Overview: The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1.1% of the labor force. Industry is a mixture of public and private enterprises, employing about 23% of the work force and generating 22% of GNP. The UK is an energy-rich nation with large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 12% of GNP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Following the recession of 1979-81, the economy has enjoyed the longest period of continuous economic growth it has had during the last 30 years. During the period 1982-88 real GNP grew by about 22%, while the inflation rate dropped from 14% to 4.9%. Between 1986 and 1988 unemployment fell from 11% to 8%. GNP: $758.4 billion, per capita $13,329; real growth rate 3.8% (1988) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.9% (1988) Unemployment rate: 8.1% (1988) Budget: revenues $335.6 billion; expenditures $320.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $39.1 billion (FY88) Exports: $130.0 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment; partners--EC 48.1% (FRG 11.7%, France 8.5%, Netherlands 7.5%), US 14.2%, Communist countries 2.7% Imports: $159.1 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods; partners--EC 52.0% (FRG 16.5%, France 8.6%, Netherlands 7.7%), US 10.0%, Communist countries 2.3% External debt: $NA Industrial production: growth rate 4.2% (1988) Electricity: 97,303,000 kW capacity; 344,756 million kWh produced, 6,060 kWh per capita (1988) Industries: machinery and transportation equipment, metals, food processing, paper and paper products, textiles, chemicals, clothing, other consumer goods, motor vehicles, aircraft, shipbuilding, petroleum, coal Agriculture: wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, livestock, dairy products; 60% self-sufficient (1988); dependent on imports for more than half of consumption of refined sugar, butter, oils and fats, bacon and ham Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-86), $17.4 billion Currency: British pound or pound sterling (plural--pounds); 1 British pound (L) = 100 pence Exchange rates: British pounds (L) per US$1--0.5631 (January 1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987), 0.6817 (1986), 0.7714 (1985) Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March Communications Railroads: Great Britain--16,629 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 16,629 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (4,205 km electrified and 12,591 km double or multiple track); several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, 190 km double track Highways: UK, 362,982 km total; Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km limited-access divided highway); Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved, 592 km gravel) Inland waterways: 2,291 total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km; other, 979 km Pipelines: 933 km crude oil, almost all insignificant; 2,993 km refined products; 12,800 km natural gas Ports: London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Folkestone, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe, Southampton Merchant marine: 310 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,324,682 GRT/9,401,385 DWT; includes 8 passenger, 22 short-sea passenger, 51 cargo, 2 passenger-cargo, 39 container, 24 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 10 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 78 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 5 liquefied gas, 2 combination ore/oil, 52 bulk, 2 combination bulk Civil air: 618 major transport aircraft Airports: 489 total, 333 usable; 240 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 36 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 131 with runways 1,220-2,439 m Telecommunications: modern, efficient domestic and international system; 30,200,000 telephones; excellent countrywide broadcast systems; stations--223 AM, 115 (396 relays) FM, 205 (3,210 relays) TV; 38 coaxial submarine cables; 7 communication satellite ground stations operating in INTELSAT, MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems Defense Forces Branches: Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Army, Royal Air Force Military manpower: males 15-49, 14,416,917; 12,164,874 fit for military service; no conscription Military budget: $35.09 billion, 16.0% of central government budget (FY88 est.)