United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe and sovereign state to the northwest of mainland Europe. The country comprises of the island of Great Britain, the Northern Ireland and many local islands. The country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Irish Sea. It is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel, which is bored beneath the English channel.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and the current monarch of the country is Queen Elizabeth II.

Britain was the world's foremost power during the 19th century, but because of the two world wars Britain's role and status in global affairs diminished in 20th century. However, the UK is still an important political, economic and nuclear military power; it is also a permanent member of United Nations Security Council and is also a member of the G8, NATO, the European Union and the Commonwealth of Nations.

GEOGRAPHY
Expanding over an area of 245,000 square kilometers, The UK lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, and comes within 35 km (22 miles) of the northwest coast of France and is seperated from France by the English Channel.

CULTURE
The UK is a secular state with only 38% of the population believing in a God. People here identify themselves with religion in the UK for both cultural and religious reasons.

Population, as calculatedin 2006, was 60.2 million, which is one of the largest in European Union.

The country has been influential in the development of cinema.Many of the world's leading seats of higher education, such as the universities of Oxford and Cambridge are there in UK. The country was home to many significant inventors, philosophers, popular authors, poets and literary figures. The greatest English playwright and poet William Shakespeare was also born in UK. London is one of the major classical music capitals of the world. The UK was one of the main contributors to the development of rock music, and has provided some of the world's most famous rock acts. The country has also played a significant role in the development of science. Scientists like Sir Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Michael Faraday were also from UK. The coutry is also doing well in field of sports. A number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, rugby, cricket, and golf.The most popular sport in the UK is football.