Careers, Jobs and Education Resources for: United Kingdom

As the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars and the Irish republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter was suspended until May 2007 due to wrangling over the peace process. (from the CIA)
 
 
 

Economic Overview

The uk, a leading trading power and financial center, is one of the quintet of trillion dollar economies of western europe. over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by european standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. the uk has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of gdp, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of gdp while industry continues to decline in importance. since emerging from recession in 1992, britain's economy has enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record; growth has remained in the 2-3% range since 2004, outpacing most of europe. the economy's strength has complicated the labor government's efforts to make a case for britain to join the european economic and monetary union (emu). critics point out that the economy is doing well outside of emu, and public opinion polls show a majority of britons are opposed to the euro. the brown government has been speeding up the improvement of education, health services, and affordable housing at a cost in higher taxes and a widening public deficit.

Environmental Issues

Continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met kyoto protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move toward a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government reduced the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and recycled or composted at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015

Government Type

Constitutional monarchy

Population

60,943,912 (july 2008 est.)

Location

Western europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of ireland between the north atlantic ocean and the north sea, northwest of france

Area

Total: 244,820 sq km land: 241,590 sq km water: 3,230 sq km note: includes rockall and shetland islands

Slightly smaller than oregon

Country Aliases

Conventional long form: united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland; note - great britain includes england, scotland, and wales conventional short form: united kingdom abbreviation: uk

Capital

Name: london geographic coordinates: 51 30 n, 0 10 w time difference: utc 0 (5 hours ahead of washington, dc during standard time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last sunday in march; ends last sunday in october note: applies to the united kingdom proper, not to its overseas dependencies or territories

Military Service

16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; must be citizen of the uk, commonwealth, or republic of ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 16 years of age for voluntary military service by nepalese citizens in the brigade of the gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by papua new guinean citizens (2008)

International Disputes

In 2002, gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the uk and spain; the government of gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks between the two countries; spain disapproves of uk plans to grant gibraltar greater autonomy; mauritius and seychelles claim the chagos archipelago (british indian ocean territory), and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most chagossians reside in mauritius, and in 2001 were granted uk citizenship, where some have since resettled; in may 2006, the high court of london reversed the uk government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; uk rejects sovereignty talks requested by argentina, which still claims the falkland islands (islas malvinas) and south georgia and the south sandwich islands; territorial claim in antarctica (british antarctic territory) overlaps argentine claim and partially overlaps chilean claim; iceland, the uk, and ireland dispute denmark's claim that the faroe islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

Sources: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)