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Summary of the United Kingdom
Topic Started: 4 Mar 2010, 08:30 PM (438 Views)
United Kingdom
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Background

The United Kingdom has historically played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith in the 19th century, 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. The UK is also an active member of the EU, although it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union. Devolution and constitutional reform have been significant recent issues 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.

Population
61,113,205 (July 2009 est.)

Economy
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 resources, but its oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became a net importer of energy in 2005. 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 enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record during which time growth outpaced most of Western Europe. In 2008, however, the the global financial crisis hit the economy particularly hard, due to the importance of its financial sector. Sharply declining home prices, high consumer debt, and the global economic slowdown compounded Britain's economic problems, pushing the economy into recession in the latter half of 2008 and prompting the BROWN government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include nationalizing parts of the banking system, cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Public finances, weak before the economic slowdown, deteriorated markedly during 2009, as did employment. The Bank of England periodically coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank, but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$2.165 trillion (2009 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
-4.3% (2009 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$35,400 (2009 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.2%
industry: 23.8%
services: 75% (2009 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $819.9 billion
expenditures: $1.132 trillion (2009 est.)

Agriculture - products:
cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish

Industries:
machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, other consumer goods

Industrial production growth rate:
-9.4% (2009 est.)

Exports:
$351.3 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 10
$466.3 billion (2008 est.)

Exports - commodities:
manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco

Exports - partners:
US 13.8%, Germany 11.5%, Netherlands 7.8%, France 7.6%, Ireland 7.5%, Belgium 5.3%, Spain 4.1% (2008)

Imports:
$473.6 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 7
$639.3 billion (2008 est.)

Imports - commodities:
manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Germany 13%, US 8.7%, China 7.5%, Netherlands 7.4%, France 6.8%, Norway 6%, Belgium 4.7%, Italy 4.1% (2008)

Debt - external:
$9.088 trillion (30 June 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 2
$9.041 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)


Overseas Lands
The UK has sovereignty over the following areas: the Soverign Bases of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (on Cyprus), Anguilla, the British Antarctic Territory, Bermuda, the British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia), the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St Helena and Dependencies (Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha), the Turks and Caicos Islands, Pitcairn Island, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. The territories of Jersey and Guernsey (collectively known as the Channel Islands), and the Isle of Man, though also under the sovereignty of the British Crown. These British overseas territories and Crown Dependencies are distinct from the Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of countries mostly with historic links to the British Empire.
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