Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0048/00489.txt

Text File | 1993-07-27 | 14KB | 337 lines

$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
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pictures
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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 [phone];
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] [phone]; 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.)