United Kingdom

Abstract

The United Kingdom (or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to give it its full name) comprises the island of Britain itself and an enclave in the north of Ireland. Britain itself is made up of England, Scotland and Wales, which are discrete regions with long histories that are rediscovering their identity. Mountainous country develops to the north and west, but for the most part it is made up of rolling temperate farmland, on which is superimposed spreading urban and suburban settlement. It is flanked to the north by a series of islands, including the Hebrides and Orkneys. The southeast is drained mainly by the River Thames and its tributaries flowing into the southern North Sea, while the Clyde flows westwards through Scotland in the north. The country supports a population of almost 63 million, of whom about 10 % are relatively recent immigrants, many coming from its former Empire.