|RNational holiday:|N Birthday of the Queen, June 16.
|RNature and climate:|N Consists of the British main island, Great Britain, the north east part of Ireland, and more than 5 500 islands, of which the most important are the Hebrides, The Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, The Scilly Islands, Anglesey, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
The islands are situated on the northeuropean continental base. The mountain chains in the north and the west are offshoots of the Scandinavian mountain chain. The southeastern parts are rolling lowlands. Highest peak, among the Scottish highlands, reach 1343 m.a.s.l.
The main island have, due to human action, fairly few forests. Bushlands and moor dominates the mountainareas.
Average temperatures in January +3°C and in July +15°C.
Percipitation in the mountainareas between 1000 and 2000 mm and in the lowlands between 600 and 700 mm.
Fog is usual all over the nation, especially in autumn and winter.
|RPeople:|N Invasions and immigration by different tribes at different times have left their marks on the British population. First the Celts, then the Romans by the time of the birth of Christ, later Anglons and Saxons, during the Viking Age numerous Norwegians and Danish and finally the invasion from Normandy 1066. All these tribes and people have their part in the British distinctive character.
Some Celtic minorities still live in Wales and Scotland.
During recent years there have been a great immigrating from the former colonies, mainly from the West Indies and Pakistan. In many cases this have led to racial riots.
|REconomy:|N 2% of the population is occupied in agriculture, 26% in manufacturing and 60% in trade and services.
Agriculture mainly produces milk, forage plants, rootfruits, vegetables, fruits and meat. Production is not enough to cover domestic demands. 30% of the wheat, 60% of the sugar and butter, and most of the pork are imported.
The importance of fishing have decreased since Great Britain joined the EC and the waters were opened to fishers from the other EC-nations.
Most of the energy-resources are domestic such as coal, oil and natural gas. But Great Britain also use much nuclear power so uranium is imported. The oil and the natural gas is mainly found off shore in the North Sea.
Other minerals are copper, tin, zink, limestone and iron.
Great Britain is one of the worlds leading industrial nations and it was in Great Britain industrialization started in the late 18th century, thanks to many new inventions, vast coalfields, water, canals and railroads. Industrialization started with the textile manufacturing with the mechanical spinning wheel and the power loom.
The development of the textile manufacturing caused a strong development of the iron and metallurgic industry and in the mechanical industry that soon became the most important industry.
Development of manufacturing also brought benefits for trade, shipping and the financial system.
Great Britain today have one of the worlds biggest merchant fleets and is still one of the leading trade nations. London is one of the worlds most important financial centers.
Most important export goods are machines, chemicals, textiles of wool or synthetic fibre, clothes, cars and lorries, iron and steel, trains, ships, airplanes, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals, radio- and TV-sets, radars and other navigational instruments, weapons and whiskey.
Tourism is very important. Close to 15 million tourists visit Great Britain every year.
|RHistory:|N The first finds of mankind are from 25 000 BC. Up to 5000 BC Great Britain was a part of the European continent. From 4000 BC are traces of the first farmers.
About 500 BC Celts invaded the islands but were in turn forced away by the Romans that started their invasion 55 BC. By 50 AD the Romans had conquered England and Wales.
About 400 AD Anglo-Saxons invaded and the Roman empire in England and Wales came to an end. The Anglo-Saxons forced away the remaining Celts to small parts of Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and Brittany. During the 6th century Great Britain was Christianized and consisted of a number of independent realms until Egbert of Essex succeeded to unite England in one kingdom 829.
By this time the Vikings harried the British Isles. 878 the Vikings were given a part of the nation, but 1013 the Danish king Sven Twinbeard conquered all of England. 1066 England was conquered by the Viking ascendent Vilhelm of Normandy.
Vilhelm brought the feudal way of governing and installed Norman barons, which later led to severe antagonism, between the barons and the people, as well as between the king and the barons. 1215 the king was forced to sign the Magna Charta, that confirmed the powers of the barons and the church, but also stated that no free man could be imprisoned without a legal conviction.
The fight between the kings and the noblesse continued and 1264 the king was forced to call a national assembly, representing both the noblesse, the church and the common people. This was the foundation of the parliament that later, in the 14th century, was divided in the House of the Lords and the House of Commons. By the end of the 15th century the house of Tudor seized power, strengthened the royal power, centralized and modernized the administration and finally introduced autocracy.
In the reign of Elisabeth I, 1558 to 1603, the reformation of the church was effected, shipping had a breakthrough and trade and industry prospered.
When she died James, king of the Scots, was elected king and England and Scotland united in a personal union.
The antagonism between the royal power and the noblesse on one side and the economically strong gentry and the burgess on the other side grew and led to a civil war 1642. The king lost, was imprisoned and finally executed 1649. Republic was pronounced under Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell strongly developed the colonies in the West Indies and North America.
By his death 1658 Oliver Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Rickard, but he lost power 1659 and in 1660 monarchy was reinstalled and Charles II elected king.
1707 the Scottish parliament was merged with the English parliament.
1714 George I of the Hannover House was elected king, but he never gained any substantial influence. Instead the parliamentary government was developed, were power was executed by a cabinet with responsibility only to the parliament, where the cabinet was understood to have majority.
During this time trade and industry nourished and England became the leading power both in Europe and the World. The colonial empire was vastly extended.
England played a role in most of what happened around the world and extended the Empire and its influence.
World War I meant great losses, both in man and economically for Great Britain. Though it was a winning part of the war and at the peace both gained most of Germany's colonies as well as parts of the war indemnity, the economy of the nation was ruined.
Great Britain that before the war had been the worlds biggest capital owner and granter of loans, now had to take up loans.
During the interwar period Great Britain tried to ward off the war threats from Germany, but together with France Great Britain granted the safety of Poland. So when Hitler attacked Poland in 1939 that was the start of World War II.
Great Britain, that had not recovered from the losses of World War I, lost even more during World War II.
After the war the Empire was dissolved, most of the colonies became independent nations, now in mutual cooperation within the Commonwealth of Nations.
Great Britain took the initiative to form the Brussel Pact, a military alliance between France, Great Britain and the Benelux-nations in 1948. This was later developed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Nato.
After World War II Great Britain became a permanent member of the UN security council.
When Egypt in 1956 nationalized the Suez Canal British and French forces intervened, but were forced to withdraw under pressure from, amongst others, the USA.
When Éire was an independent nation in 1921 the population in the north east parts voted to stay within Great Britain. The majority of the population are protestants, but 30% are catholic. Since 1968 the antagonism has led to intensive violence and terrorism causing thousands of deaths.
