British studies

Northern Ireland Status Part of United Kingdom First Minister suspended Oct. 14, 2002 Area 5,452 sq mi 14,121 sq km Population 1998 est. 1,688,600 Capital and largest city 2003 est. Belfast, 484,800 metro. area, 246,200 city proper Monetary unit British pound sterling Language English Religions Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic, Methodist.Major sources and definitionsGeography Northern Ireland is composed of 26 districts, derived from the boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry and the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone. Together they are commonly called Ulster, though the territory does not include the entire ancient province of Ulster.

It is slightly larger than Connecticut.Government Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom it has 12 representatives in the British House of Commons, but under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act in 1920, it had a semiautonomous government.

In 1972, however, after three years of sectarian violence between Protestants and Catholics that resulted in more than 400 dead and thousands injured, Britain suspended the Ulster Parliament. The Ulster counties were governed directly from London after an attempt to return certain powers to an elected assembly in Belfast.As a result of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, a new coalition government was formed on Dec. 2, 1999, with the British government formally transferring governing power to the Northern Irish Parliament.

David Trimble, Protestant leader of the Ulster Unionist Party UUP and winner of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, became first minister. The government has been suspended four times since then it has remained suspened since Oct. 14, 2002. Ireland until the reign of Elizabeth I 1558 1603 when, after suppressing three Irish rebellions, the Crown confiscated lands in Ireland and settled the Scots Presbyterians in Ulster.Another rebellion in 1641 1651, brutally crushed by Oliver Cromwell, resulted in the settlement of Anglican Englishmen in Ulster.

Subsequent political policy favoring Protestants and disadvantaging Catholics encouraged further Protestant settlement in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland did not separate from the South until William Gladstone presented, in 1886, his proposal for home rule in Ireland. The Protestants in the North feared domination by the Catholic majority.Industry, moreover, was concentrated in the North and dependent on the British market.

When World War I began, civil war threatened between the regions. Northern Ireland, however, did not become a political entity until the six counties accepted the Home Rule Bill of 1920. This set up a semiautonomous Parliament in Belfast and a Crown-appointed governor advised by a cabinet of the prime minister and 8 ministers, as well as a 12-member representation in the House of Commons in London.When the Republic of Ireland gained sovereignty in 1922, relations improved between North and South, although the Irish Republican Army IRA, outlawed in recent years, continued the struggle to end the partition of Ireland.

In 1966 1969, rioting and street fighting between Protestants and Catholics occurred in Londonderry, fomented by extremist nationalist Protestants, who feared the Catholics might attain a local majority, and by Catholics demonstrating for civil rights.These confrontations became known as the Troubles.

The religious communities, Catholic and Protestant, became hostile armed camps. British troops were brought in to separate them, but themselves became a target of Catholics, particularly by the IRA, which by this time had turned into a full-fledged terrorist movement.The goal of the IRA was to eject the British and unify Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic to the south. The Protestants remained tenaciously loyal to the United Kingdom, and various Protestant terrorist organizations pursued the Unionist cause through violence.

Various attempts at representational government and power-sharing foundered during the 1970s, and both sides were further polarized.Direct rule from London and the presence of British troops failed to stop the violence. In Oct. 1977, the 1976 Ireland. Intermittent violence continued, however, and on Aug. 27, 1979, an IRA bomb killed Lord Mountbatten as he was sailing off southern Ireland, heightening tensions.

Catholic protests over the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in 1981 fueled more violence. Riots, sniper fire, and terrorist attacks killed more than 3,200 people between 1969 and 1998. Among the attempts at reconciliation undertaken during the 1980s was the Anglo-Irish Agreement 1985, which, to the dismay of Unionists, marked the first time the Republic of Ireland had been given an official consultative role in the affairs of the province.In 1997, Northern Ireland made a significant step in the direction of stemming sectarian strife.

The first formal peace talks began on Oct. 6 with representatives of eight major Northern Irish political parties participating, a feat that in itself required three years of negotiations. Two smaller Protestant parties, including hard-liner Ian Paisleys Democratic Unionists, boycotted the talks.For the first time, Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, won two seats in the British Parliament, which went to Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and second-in-command, Martin McGuinness.

Although the election strengthened the IRAs political legitimacy, it was the IRAs resumption of the 17-month cease-fire, which had collapsed in Feb. 1996, that gained them a place at the negotiating table. A landmark settlement, the Good Friday Agreement of April 10, 1998, came after 19 months of intensive negotiations that involved 8 of the 10 Northern Irish political parties.The accord called for Protestants to share political power with the minority Catholics, and it gave the Republic of Ireland a voice in Northern Irish affairs.

In turn, Catholics were to suspend the goal of a united Ireland a territorial claim that was the raison dкtre of the IRA and was written into the Irish Republics constitution unless the largely Protestant North voted in favor of such an arrangement, an unlikely occurrence.The resounding commitment to the settlement was demonstrated in a dual referendum on May 22, 1998 the North approved the accord by a vote of 71 to 29, and in the Irish Republic 94 favored it. In October, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to John Hume and David Trimble, leaders of the largest Catholic and Protestant political parties, an incentive for all sides to ensure that this time the peace would last. In Dec. 1998 the rival Northern Ireland politicians agreed on the organization and contents of the new coalition government, but in June 1999 the peace process again hit an impasse when the IRA refused to disarm prior to the assembly of Northern Irelands new provincial cabinet.

Sinn Fein insisted the IRA would only begin giving up its illegal weapons after the formation of the new government Unionists demanded disarmament first.

As a result, the Ulster Unionists boycotted the assembly session that would have nominated the cabinet to run the new coalition government.The nascent Northern Irish government was stillborn in July 1999. Subsequent talks on the agreement, which would have ended three decades of direct rule from London, seemed to go nowhere.

Finally, at the end of November, David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionists, abandoned the seemingly sacrosanct no guns, no government position, and took a difficult leap of faith in agreeing to form a government prior to Sinn Feins disarmament.If the IRA did not begin the destruction of their weapons by Jan. 31, 2000, however, the Ulster Unionists threatened they would withdraw from the Northern Irish Parliament, shutting down the new government.

With this compromise in place, the new government was quickly formed, and on Dec. 2, 1999, the British government formally transferred governing power to the Northern Irish Parliament. David Trimble became first minister. Two leaders of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, received seats in the 4-party, 12-member Parliament.But by the deadline, Sinn Fein had made little progress toward disarmament, and claimed it had not made any such commitment.

As a result, the British government suspended Parliament on Feb. 12, 2000, and once again imposed direct rule. In July 2001, after issuing one last ultimatum to the IRA to begin destroying its weapons stores, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble resigned his post as first minister.Following Trimbles departure, the IRA offered another vague and open-ended disarmament plan, only to withdraw it. But on Oct. 23, days before Britain was to suspend the assembly, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams dramatically announced that the IRA had indeed begun disarming.

Partially in response to the Sept. 11 attacks, which made the IRAs claim to weapons of terror seem even more senselessly brutal, Sinn Fein chose to embrace the promise of a political solution to the Northern Irish troubles. On Nov. 6, David Trimble was reelected as first minister.On April 8, 2002, international weapons inspectors announced that the IRA had put more stockpiled munitions beyond use, the euphemistic phrase used in the negotiations to mean disarmament.

British and Irish leaders hoped that Protestant guerrilla groups would also begin to surrender their weapons. However, in mid-June British and Irish political leaders called emergency talks to stem the rising tide of violence in Belfast.On July 16, the IRA issued a public apology to the families of the 650 civilians killed by the IRA since the late 1960s. On Oct. 14, the British government again assumed direct rule of Northern Ireland, after the Unionists threatened to quit the Assembly in protest of suspected spying activity by the IRA. In March and April 2003, negotiations were again underway to reinstate the Northern Ireland assembly.

But Sinn Feins vague language, weakly pledging that its strategies and disciplines will not be inconsistent with the Good Friday Agreement, caused Tony Blair to challenge Sinn Fein to once and for all make a clear, unambiguous pledge to renounce paramilitary for political means.

According to the New York Times April 24, 2003, virtually every newspaper in Britain and Ireland has editorialized in favor of full disarmament, and the Irish government, traditionally sympathetic to Sinn Fein, is almost as adamant about the matter as London is. Scotland Status Part of United Kingdom First Minister Jack McConnell 2001 Area 30,414 sq mi 78,772 sq km Population 1996 est. 5,128,000 density per sq mi 168.6 Capital 2003 est. Edinburgh, 663,700 metro. area, 460,000 city proper Largest city Glasgow, 1,361,000 metro. area, 1,099,400 city proper Monetary unit British pound sterling Languages English, Scots Gaelic Religions Church of Scotland established church Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Scottish Episcopal Church, Baptist, Methodist Major sources and definitionsGeography Scotland occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain.

It is bounded by England in the south and on the other three sides by water by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and north and by the North Sea on the east. Scotland is divided into three physical regions the Highlands the Central Lowlands, containing two-thirds of the population and the Southern Uplands.

The western Highland coast is intersected throughout by long, narrow sea lochs, or fjords. Scotland also includes the Outer and Inner Hebrides and other islands off the west coast and the Orkney and Shetland Islands off the north coast.Government England and Scotland have shared a monarch since 1603 and a Parliament since 1707, but in May 1999, Scotland elected its own Parliament for the first time in three centuries.

The new Scottish legislature was in part the result of British prime minister Tony Blairs campaign promise to permit devolution, the transfer of local powers from London to Edinburgh.In a Sept. 1997 referendum, 74 of Scotland voted in favor of their own Parliament, which controls most domestic affairs, including health, education, and transportation, and has powers to legislate and raise taxes.

Queen Elizabeth opened the new Parliament on July 2, 1999. History The first inhabitants of Scotland were the Picts, a Celtic tribe. Between A.D. 82 and A.D. 208, the Romans invaded Scotland, naming it Caledonia. Roman influence over the land, however, was minimal.The Scots, a Celtic tribe from Ireland, migrated to the west coast of Scotland in about 500. Kenneth McAlpin, King of the Scots, ascended the throne of the Pictish kingdom in about 843, thereby uniting the various Scots and Pictish tribes under one kingdom called Dal Riada. By the 11th century, the monarchy had extended its borders to include much of what is Scotland today.

English influence in the region expanded when Malcolm III, king of Scotland from 1057 1093, married an English princess. Englands appetite for Scottish land began to grow over the 12th and 13th centuries, and in 1296 King Edward I of England successfully invaded Scotland.The following year Robert the Bruce led a revolt for independence, was crowned king of Scotland Robert I in 1306, and after years of battle defeated the English in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn.

In 1328 the English finally recognized Scottish independence. In the 16th century John Knox introduced the Scottish reformation, and the Presbyterian church replaced Catholicism as the official religion.In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne, and was later executed by Elizabeth I of England.

Marys son, James VI, was raised as a Protestant, and in 1603 he succeeded Elizabeth on the English throne as King James I of England. James thus became ruler of both Scotland and England, though the countries remained separate. In 1707, after a century of turmoil, Scotland and England passed the Act of Union, which united Scotland, England, and Wales under one rule as the Kingdom of Great Britain.The House of Hanover replaced the Stuart lineage on the throne in 1714, which caused a rebellion among Scots who still supported the Stuarts.

The Jacobites, as the rebels were called, led two uprisings, in 1715 and again in 1745. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, Scotland, whose chief product had been textiles, began developing the industries of shipbuilding, coal mining, iron, and steel. In the late 20th century Scotland concentrated on electronics and high-tech industries.The North Sea has also become an important source of oil and gas. In May 1999, Scotland elected its first separate Parliament in three centuries. Labour won the largest number of seats, defeating the Scottish National Party SNP, which supports Scotlands independence from Britain.

Wales Status Part of United Kingdom First Secretary Rhodri Morgan 2000 Area 8,019 sq mi 20,768 sq km Population 1993 est. 2,906,500 Capital and largest city 2003 est. Cardiff, 676,400 metro. area, 280,800 city proper Monetary unit British pound sterling Languages English, Welsh Religions Calvinistic Methodist, Church of Wales disestablished Anglican, Roman Catholic Major sources and definitionsGeography Wales lies west of England and is separated from England by the Cambrian Mountains.

It is bordered on the northwest, west, and south by the Irish Sea and on the northeast and east by England.Wales is generally hilly the Snowdon range in the northern part culminates in Mount Snowdon 3,560 ft, 1,085 m, Waless highest peak. Government Until 1999, Wales was ruled solely by the UK government and a secretary of state.

In the referendum of Sept. 18, 1997, Welsh citizens voted to establish a National Assembly. Wales will remain part of the UK, and the secretary of state for Wales and members of Parliament from Welsh constituencies will continue to have seats in Parliament. Unlike Scotland, which in 1999 voted to have its own Parliament, the National Assembly will not be able to legislate and raise taxes.Wales will, however, control most of its local affairs.

The Welsh assembly officially opened on July 1, 1999. History The prehistoric peoples of Wales left behind megaliths and other impressive monuments. They were followed by settlements of Celts in the region. The Romans occupied the region from the 1st to the 5th century A.D. Thereafter Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded the British island, but they left Wales virtually untouched.Beginning in the 8th century, the various Welsh tribes fought with their Anglo-Saxon neighbors to the east, but the Welsh were able to thwart attempted invasions. After William the Conqueror subdued England in 1066, however, his Norman armies marched into Wales in 1093 and occupied portions of it. By 1282, the English conquest of Wales was complete, and in 1284, the Statute of Rhuddlan formalized Englands sovereignty over Wales. In 1301, King Edward I gave his son, who later became Edward II, the title Prince of Wales, a gesture meant to indicate the unity and relationship between the two lands.

With the exception of Edward II, all subsequent British monarchs have given this title to their eldest son. In 1400, the Welsh prince Owen Glendower led a revolt against the English, expelling them from much of Wales in just four years. By 1410, however, his rebellion was crushed.

In 1485, Henry VII became king of England.A Welshman and the first in the Tudor line, Henrys reign, and that of subsequent Tudors, made English rule more palatable to the Welsh. His son, King Henry VIII, joined England and Wales under the Act of Union in 1536. The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century transformed Wales and threatened the traditional livelihood of farmers and shepherds.

In the 20th century, the economy of Wales was based primarily on coal production.After World War I, coal prices dropped this, coupled with the Great Depression, fueled high unemployment rates and economic uncertainty. In recent years, a resurgence of the Welsh language and culture has demonstrated a stronger national identity among the Welsh, and politically the country moved toward greater self-government devolution.

In 1999, with the strong support of Britains prime minister, Tony Blair, Wales opened the Welsh National Assembly, the first real self-government Wales has had in more than six hundred years.Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies of the United Kingdom AnguillaBermuda British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Channel Islands Jersey and Guernsey Falkland Islands Gibraltar Isle of Man Montserrat Pitcairn Island St. Helena South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands United Kingdom Shetland Islands British Prime Ministers Since 1770 Name TermLord North Tory 1770 1782Marquis of Rockingham Whig 1782 1782Earl of Shelburne Whig 1782 1783Duke of Portland Coalition 1783 1783William Pitt, the Younger Tory 1783 1801Henry Addington Tory 1801 1804William Pitt, the Younger Tory 1804 1806Baron Grenville Whig 1806 1807Duke of Portland Tory 1807 1809Spencer Perceval Tory 1809 1812Earl of Liverpool Tory 1812 1827George Canning Tory 1827 1827Viscount Goderich Tory 1827 1828Duke of Wellington Tory 1828 1830Earl Grey Whig 1830 1834Viscount Melbourne Whig 1834 1834Sir Robert Peel Tory 1834 1835Viscount Melbourne Whig 1835 1841Sir Robert Peel Tory 1841 1846Earl Russell Whig 1846 1852Earl of Derby Tory 1852 1852Earl of Aberdeen Coalition 1852 1855Viscount Palmerston Liberal 1855 1858Earl of Derby Conservative 1858 1859Viscount Palmerston Liberal 1859 1865Earl Russell Liberal 1865 1866Earl of Derby Conservative 1866 1868Benjamin Disraeli Conservative 1868 1868William E. Gladstone Liberal 1868 1874Benjamin Disraeli Conservative 1874 1880William E. Gladstone Liberal 1880 1885Marquis of Salisbury Conservative 1885 1886William E. Gladstone Liberal 1886 1886Marquis of Salisbury Conservative 1886 1892William E. Gladstone Liberal 1892 1894Earl of Rosebery Liberal 1894 1895Marquis of Salisbury Conservative 1895 1902Arthur James Balfour Conservative 1902 1905Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman Liberal 1905 1908Herbert H. Asquith Liberal 1908 1915Herbert H. Asquith Coalition 1915 1916David Lloyd George Coalition 1916 1922Andrew Bonar Law Conservative 1922 1923Stanley Baldwin Conservative 1923 1924James Ramsay MacDonald Labour 1924 1924Stanley Baldwin Conservative 1924 1929James Ramsay MacDonald Labour 1929 1931James Ramsay MacDonald Coalition 1931 1935Stanley Baldwin Coalition 1935 1937Neville Chamberlain Coalition 1937 1940Winston Churchill Coalition 1940 1945Clement R. Attlee Labour 1945 1951Sir Winston Churchill Conservative 1951 1955Sir Anthony Eden Conservative 1955 1957Harold Macmillan Conservative 1957 1963Sir Alec Frederick Douglas-Home Conservative 1963 1964Harold Wilson Labour 1964 1970Edward Heath Conservative 1970 1974Harold Wilson Labour 1974 1976James Callaghan Labour 1976 1979Margaret Thatcher Conservative 1979 1990John Major Conservative 1990 1997Tony Blair Labour1997 Rulers of England and Great Britain Name Born Ruled1SAXONS2Egbert3 c. 775 802 839Ethelwulf 839 858Ethelbald 858 860Ethelbert 860 865Ethelred I 865 871Alfred the Great 849 871 899Edward the Elder c. 870 899 924Athelstan 895 924 939Edmund I the Deed-doer 921 939 946Edred c. 925 946 955Edwy the Fair c. 943 955 959Edgar the Peaceful 943 959 975Edward the Martyr c. 962 975 978Ethelred II the Unready 968 978 1016Edmund II Ironside c. 993 1016DANESCanute 995 1016 1035Harold I Harefoot c.1016 1035 1040Hardecanute c.1018 1040 1042SAXONSEdward the Confessor c.1004 1042 1066Harold II c.1020 1066HOUSE OF NORMANDYWilliam I the Conqueror 1027 1066 1087William II Rufus c.1056 1087 1100Henry I Beauclerc 1068 1100 1135Stephen of Boulogne c.1100 1135 1154HOUSE OF PLANTAGENETHenry II 1133 1154 1189Richard I Coeur de Lion 1157 1189 1199John Lackland 1167 1199 1216Henry III 1207 1216 1272Edward I Longshanks 1239 1272 1307Edward II 1284 1307 1327Edward III 1312 1327 1377Richard II 1367 1377 13994HOUSE OF LANCASTERHenry IV Bolingbroke 1367 1399 1413Henry V 1387 1413 1422Henry VI 1421 1422 14615HOUSE OF YORKEdward IV 1442 1461 14835Edward V 1470 1483 1483Richard III 1452 1483 1485HOUSE OF TUDORHenry VII 1457 1485 1509Henry VIII 1491 1509 1547Edward VI 1537 1547 1553Jane Lady Jane Grey6 1537 1553 1553Mary I Bloody Mary 1516 1553 1558Elizabeth I 1533 1558 1603HOUSE OF STUARTJames I7 1566 1603 1625Charles I 1600 1625 1649COMMONWEALTHCouncil of State 1649 1653Oliver Cromwell8 1599 1653 1658Richard Cromwell8 1626 1658 16599RESTORATION OF HOUSE OF STUARTCharles II 1630 1660 1685James II 1633 1685 168810William III11 1650 1689 1702Mary II11 1662 1689 1694Anne 1665 1702 1714HOUSE OF HANOVERGeorge I 1660 1714 1727George II 1683 1727 1760George III 1738 1760 1820George IV 1762 1820 1830William IV 1765 1830 1837Victoria 1819 1837 1901HOUSE OF SAXE-COBURG12Edward VII 1841 1901 1910HOUSE OF WINDSOR12George V 1865 1910 1936Edward VIII 1894 193613George VI 1895 1936 1952Elizabeth II 1926 1952 1. Year of end of rule is also that of death, unless otherwise indicated. 2. Dates for Saxon kings are still subject of controversy. 3. Became king of West Saxons in 802 considered from 828 first king of all England. 4. Died 1400. 5. Henry VI reigned again briefly 1470 1471. 6. Nominal queen for 9 days not counted as queen by some authorities.

She was beheaded in 1554. 7. Ruled in Scotland as James VI 1567 1625. 8. Lord Protector. 9. Died 1712. 10. Died 1701. 11. Joint rulers 1689 1694. 12. Name changed from Saxe-Coburg to Windsor in 1917. 13. Was known after his abdication as the duke of Windsor, died 1972. United Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II 1952 Prime Minister Tony Blair 1997 Area 94,525 sq mi 244,820 sq km Population 2003 est. 60,094,648 growth rate 0.1 birth rate 11.01000 infant mortality rate 5.31000 density per sq mi 636 Capital and largest city 2003 est. London, 11,219,000 metro. area, 7,417,700 city proper Other large cities Glasgow, 1,099,400 Birmingham, 971,800 Liverpool, 461,900 Edinburgh, 460,000 Leeds, 417,000 Bristol, 406,500 Manchester, 390,700 Bradford, 288,400 Monetary unit Pound sterling Languages English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic Ethnicityrace English 81.5 Scottish 9.6 Irish 2.4 Welsh 1.9 Ulster 1.8 West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8 Religions Church of England established church, Church of Wales disestablished, Church of Scotland established church Presbyterian, Church of Ireland disestablished, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, Jewish Literacy rate 99 2000 est. Economic summary GDPPPP 2001 est. 1.47 trillion per capita 24,700. Real growth rate 2.4. Inflation 2.8. Unemployment 5.1. Arable land 26. Agriculture cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables cattle, sheep, poultry fish. Labor force 29.7 million agriculture 1, industry 25, services 74 1999. 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, and other consumer goods.

Natural resources coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land. Exports 287 billion f.o.b 2001 manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals food, beverages, tobacco.

Imports 337 billion c.i.f 2001 manufactured goods, machinery, fuels foodstuffs.

Major trading partners EU, U.S Japan. Communications Telephones main lines in use 34.878 million 1997 mobile cellular 13 million yearend 1998. Radio broadcast stations AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3 1998. Radios 84.5 million 1997. Television broadcast stations 228 plus 3,523 repeaters 1995. Televisions 30.5 million 1997. Internet Service Providers ISPs more than 400 2000. Internet users 34.3 million 2002.Transportation Railways total 16,878 km 1996. Highways total 371,603 km paved 371,603 km including 3,303 km of expressways unpaved 0 km 1998 est Waterways 3,200 km. Ports and harbors Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Felixstowe, Glasgow, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Scapa Flow, Southampton, Sullom Voe, Teesport, Tyne. Airports 470 2001. International disputes Spain and UK are discussing total shared sovereignty over Gibraltar, subject to a constitutional referendum by Gibraltarians, who have largely expressed opposition to any form of cession to Spain Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago British Indian Ocean Territory and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965 Argentina claims the Falkland Islands Islas Malvinas and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark and Iceland territorial claim in Antarctica British Antarctic Territory overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim disputes with Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM.Geography The United Kingdom, consisting of Great Britain England, Wales, and Scotland and Northern Ireland, is twice the size of New York State. England, in the southeast part of the British Isles, is separated from Scotland on the north by the granite Cheviot Hills from them the Pennine chain of uplands extends south through the center of England, reaching its highest point in the Lake District in the northwest.

To the west along the border of Wales a land of steep hills and valleys are the Cambrian Mountains, while the Cotswolds, a range of hills in Gloucestershire, extend into the surrounding shires.

Important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Thames, Humber, Tees, and Tyne. In the west are the Severn and Wye, which empty into the Bristol Channel and are navigable, as are the Mersey and Ribble.

Government The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a queen and a Parliament that has two houses the House of Lords, with 574 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, 26 bishops, and the House of Commons, which has 651 popularly elected members.

Supreme legislative power is vested in Parliament, which sits for five years unless sooner dissolved. The House of Lords was stripped of most of its power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise legislation.

In Nov. 1999 hundreds of hereditary peers were expelled in an effort to make the body more democratic.

The executive power of the Crown is exercised by the cabinet, headed by the prime minister.

History Stonehenge and other examples of prehistoric culture are what remains of the earliest inhabitants of Britain.

Celtic peoples followed.

Roman invasions of the 1st century B.C. brought Britain into contact with continental Europe.

When the Roman legions withdrew in the 5th century A.D Britain fell easy prey to the invading hordes of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from Scandinavia and the Low Countries.

The invasions had little effect on the Celtic peoples of Wales and Scotland.

Seven large Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established, and the original Britons were forced into Wales and Scotland.

It was not until the 10th century that the country finally became united under the kings of Wessex.

Following the death of Edward the Confessor 1066, a dispute about the succession arose, and William, duke of Normandy, invaded England, defeating the Saxon king, Harold II, at the Battle of Hastings 1066. The Norman conquest introduced Norman French law and feudalism.

The reign of Henry II 1154 1189, first of the Plantagenets, saw an increasing centralization of royal power at the expense of the nobles, but in 1215 King John 1199 1216 was forced to sign the Magna Carta, which awarded the people, especially the nobles, certain basic rights.

Edward I 1272 1307 continued the conquest of Ireland, reduced Wales to subjection, and made some gains in Scotland.

In 1314, however, English forces led by Edward II were ousted from Scotland after the Battle of Bannockburn. The late 13th and early 14th centuries saw the development of a separate House of Commons with tax-raising powers.

Edward IIIs claim to the throne of France led to the Hundred Years War 1338 1453 and the loss of almost all the large English territory in France.

In England, the great poverty and discontent caused by the war were intensified by the Black Death, a plague that reduced the population by about one-third. The Wars of the Roses 1455 1485, a struggle for the throne between the House of York and the House of Lancaster, ended in the victory of Henry Tudor Henry VII at Bosworth Field 1485. During the reign of Henry VIII 1509 1547, the church in England asserted its independence from the Roman Catholic Church.

Under Edward VI and Mary, the two extremes of religious fanaticism were reached, and it remained for Henrys daughter, Elizabeth I 1558 1603, to set up the Church of England on a moderate basis.

In 1588, the Spanish Armada, a fleet sent out by Catholic King Philip II of Spain, was defeated by the English and destroyed during a storm.

During Elizabeths reign, England became a world power. Elizabeths heir was a Stuart James VI of Scotland who joined the two crowns as James I 1603 1625. The Stuart kings incurred large debts and were forced either to depend on Parliament for taxes or to raise money by illegal means.

In 1642, war broke out between Charles I and a large segment of the Parliament Charles was defeated and executed in 1649, and the monarchy was then abolished. After the death in 1658 of Oliver Cromwell, the lord protector, the Puritan Commonwealth fell to pieces and Charles II was placed on the throne in 1660. The struggle between the king and Parliament continued, but Charles II knew when to compromise.

His brother, James II 1685 1688, possessed none of his ability and was ousted by the Revolution of 1688, which confirmed the primacy of Parliament. Jamess daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange, then became the rulers.Queen Annes reign 1702 1714 was marked by the duke of Marlboroughs victories over France at Blenheim, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet in the War of the Spanish Succession.

England and Scotland meanwhile were joined by the Act of Union 1707. Upon the death of Anne, the distant claims of the elector of Hanover were recognized, and he became king of Great Britain and Ireland as George I. The unwillingness of the Hanoverian kings to rule resulted in the formation by the royal ministers of a cabinet, headed by a prime minister, which directed all public business.Abroad, the constant wars with France expanded the British Empire all over the globe, particularly in North America and India. This imperial growth was checked by the revolt of the American colonies 1775 1781. Struggles with France broke out again in 1793 and during the Napoleonic Wars, which ended at Waterloo in 1815. The Victorian era, named after Queen Victoria 1837 1901, saw the growth of a democratic system of government that had begun with the Reform Bill of 1832. The two important wars in Victorias reign were the Crimean War against Russia 1853 1856 and the Boer War 1899 1902, the latter enormously extending Britains influence in Africa.

Increasing uneasiness at home and abroad marked the reign of Edward VII 1901 1910. Within four years after the accession of George V in 1910, Britain entered World War I when Germany invaded Belgium.

The nation was led by coalition cabinets, headed first by Herbert Asquith and then, starting in 1916, by the Welsh statesman David Lloyd George.Postwar labor unrest culminated in the general strike of 1926. King Edward VIII succeeded to the throne on Jan. 20, 1936, at his fathers death, but abdicated on Dec. 11, 1936 in order to marry an American divorcйe, Wallis Warfield Simpson, in favor of his brother, who became George VI. The efforts of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to stem the rising threat of Nazism in Germany failed with the German invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, which was followed by Britains entry into World War II on Sept. 3. Allied reverses in the spring of 1940 led to Chamberlains resignation and the formation of another coalition war cabinet by the Conservative leader, Winston Churchill, who led Britain through most of World War II. Churchill resigned shortly after V-E Day, May 8, 1945, but then formed a caretaker government that remained in office until after the parliamentary elections in July, which the Labour Party won overwhelmingly.

The new government, formed by Clement R. Attlee, began a moderate socialist program.

For details of World War II, see Headline History, World War II. In 1951, Churchill again became prime minister at the head of a Conservative government.

George VI died on Feb. 6, 1952, and was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II. Churchill stepped down in 1955 in favor of Sir Anthony Eden, who resigned on grounds of ill health in 1957 and was succeeded by Harold Macmillan and Sir Alec Douglas-Home. In 1964, Harold Wilson led the Labour Party to victory.A lagging economy brought the Conservatives back to power in 1970. Prime Minister Edward Heath won Britains admission to the European Community.

Margaret Thatcher became Britains first woman prime minister as the Conservatives won 339 seats on May 3, 1979. An Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982, involved Britain in a war 8,000 mi from the home islands.Argentina had long claimed the Falklands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish, which had been occupied by the British since 1832. Britain won a decisive victory within six weeks when more than 11,000 Argentine troops on the Falklands surrendered on June 14, 1982. Although there were continuing economic problems and foreign policy disputes, an upswing in the economy in 1986 1987 led Thatcher to call elections in June, and she won a near-unprecedented third consecutive term. The unpopularity of Thatchers poll tax together with an uncompromising position toward further European integration eroded support within her own party.

When John Major won the Conservative Party leadership in November, Thatcher resigned, paving the way for Major to form a government.

Eighteen years of Conservative rule ended in May 1997 when Tony Blair and the Labour Party triumphed in the British elections.Blair has been compared to former U.S. president Bill Clinton for his youthful, telegenic personality and centrist views. He produced constitutional reform that partially decentralized the UK, leading to the formation of separate Parliaments in Wales and Scotland by 1999. Britain turned over its colony Hong Kong to China in July 1997. Blairs controversial meeting in Oct. 1997 with Sinn Feins president, Gerry Adams, was the first meeting in 76 years between a British prime minister and a Sinn Fein leader.

It infuriated numerous factions but was a symbolic gesture in support of the nascent peace talks in Northern Ireland.In 1998 the Good Friday Agreement, strongly supported by Tony Blair, led to the first promise of peace between Catholics and Protestants since the beginning of the so-called Troubles.

Along with the U.S Britain launched air strikes against Iraq in Dec. 1998 after Saddam Hussein expelled UN arms inspectors. In the spring of 1999, Britain spearheaded the NATO operation in Kosovo, which resulted in Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevics withdrawal from the territory.In the fall of 1999, Britain and France argued heatedly about Frances refusal to allow the importation of British beef. France remained leery of the possibility of infection from bovine spongiform encephalopathy BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, despite the fact that the EU had lifted the three-year ban on British beef in August.

In Feb. 2001, foot-and-mouth disease broke out among British livestock, prompting other nations to ban British meat import and forcing the slaughter of thousands of cattle, pigs, and sheep in an effort to stem the highly contagious disease.The episode cost farmers and the tourist industry billions of dollars.

In June 2001, Blair won a second landslide victory, with the Labour Party capturing 413 seats in Parliament.Britain became the U.S.s staunchest ally after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, DC. British troops joined the U.S. in the bombing campaign against Afghanistan in Oct. 2001, after the Taliban-led government refused to turn over the prime suspect in the terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden. After the Taliban was toppled two months later, the UK led the peacekeeping forces stationed in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force ISAF, from Jan. to June 2002. The UK also sent additional troops to fight against remaining Taliban and al-Qaeda troops.

Blair again proved himself to be the U.S.s strongest international supporter in Sept. 2002, when he became President Bushs major ally in calling for a war against Iraq. Blair maintained that military action was justified because Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction that were a direct threat to its enemies.

Blair continued to support the Bush administrations hawkish policies despite great opposition in his own party. The British public was also largely opposed to a war on Iraq in March 2003, a Times of London newspaper poll indicated that only 19 of respondents approved of military action without a UN mandate.As the inevitability of the U.S. strike on Iraq grew nearer, Blair announced that he would join the U.S. in fighting Iraq with or without a second UN resolution.

Three of his ministers resigned as a result. Britain entered the war on March 20, supplying 45,000 troops who fought mostly in Basra, in the southern portion of the country. In the aftermath of the war, Blair came under fire from government officials for allegedly exaggerating Iraqs possession of weapons of mass destruction.Critics were particularly skeptical of Blairs Sept. 2002 intelligence dossier claiming that Iraqs chemical and biological weapons are deployable within 45 minutes of an order to use them. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw acknowledged publicly that the white paper, which contained plagiarized material from a graduate students thesis written 12 years ago, was an embarrassment, but the Blair government has staunchly defended the veracity of all British intelligence regarding Iraq. The arguments grew so vociferous between the Blair government and the BBC that a prominent weapons scientist caught in the middle committed suicide.

In July Blair announced that history would forgive the UK and U.S. if we are wrong the end to the inhuman carnage and suffering caused by Saddam Hussein was justification enough for the war, he said.