World Factbook
United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - the island of Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Flag
description: blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white on top of the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is on top of the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland) history: the official name is the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags
Capital
name
London
etymology
the name derives from the Roman settlement of Londinium, established on the current site of London around A.D. 43; the original meaning of the name is uncertain
time zone note
the time statements apply to the United Kingdom proper, not to its crown dependencies or overseas territories
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
geographic coordinates
51 30 N, 0 05 W
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Citizenship
citizenship by birth
no
citizenship by descent only
at least one parent must be a citizen of the United Kingdom
dual citizenship recognized
yes
residency requirement for naturalization
5 years
Constitution
history
uncoded; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
amendment process
proposed as a bill for an Act of Parliament by the government, by the House of Commons, or by the House of Lords; passage requires agreement by both houses and by the monarch (Royal Assent)
Country name
etymology
the name United Kingdom is self-descriptive; the name Britain probably derives from the Celtic word pretani , meaning "painted people;" the designation of Great Britain for England, Scotland, and Wales dates back to medieval times and was used to distinguish the island from Little Britain, or Brittany, in modern France; the name Ireland evolved from the Gaelic name Eriu, which is possibly derived from the Old Celtic iveriu , meaning "good land"
abbreviation
UK
conventional long form
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - the island of Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales
conventional short form
United Kingdom
Independence
no official date of independence: 927 (minor English kingdoms unite); 3 March 1284 (enactment of the Statute of Rhuddlan uniting England and Wales); 1536 (Act of Union incorporates England and Wales); 1 May 1707 (Acts of Union unite England, Scotland, and Wales as Great Britain); 1 January 1801 (Acts of Union unite Great Britain and Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland); 6 December 1921 (Anglo-Irish Treaty formalizes partition of Ireland; six counties become Northern Ireland and remain part of the UK); 12 April 1927 (Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act establishes current name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
Legal system
common law system; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998
Dependent areas
Anguilla; Bermuda; British Indian Ocean Territory; British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Pitcairn Islands; Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Turks and Caicos Islands (12)
Government type
parliamentary constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm
Judicial branch
highest court(s)
Supreme Court (consists of 12 justices, including the court president and deputy president)
subordinate courts
England and Wales: Court of Appeal (civil and criminal divisions); High Court; Crown Court; County Courts; Magistrates' Courts; Scotland: Court of Sessions; Sheriff Courts; High Court of Justiciary; tribunals; Northern Ireland: Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland; High Court; county courts; magistrates' courts; specialized tribunals
judge selection and term of office
judge candidates selected by an independent committee of several judicial commissions, then recommended to the prime minister, and appointed by the monarch; justices serve for life
Executive branch
note
note 1: in addition to serving as the UK head of state, the British sovereign is the constitutional monarch for 14 additional Commonwealth countries (each referred to as a "Commonwealth realm") note 2 : King CHARLES III succeeded his mother, Queen ELIZABETH II, after serving as Prince of Wales (heir apparent) for over 64 years -- the longest such tenure in British history
cabinet
Cabinet appointed by the prime minister
chief of state
King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022)
head of government
Prime Minister Keir STARMER (since 5 July 2024)
election/appointment process
the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually becomes the prime minister
National holiday
the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday
National color(s)
red, white, blue (all of Britain); red, white (England); blue, white (Scotland); red, white, green (Wales)
National heritage
total World Heritage Sites
33 (28 cultural, 4 natural, 1 mixed); note - includes one site in Bermuda
selected World Heritage Site locales
Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast (n); Ironbridge Gorge (c); Stonehenge, Avebury, and Associated Sites (c); Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd (c); Blenheim Palace (c); City of Bath (c); Tower of London (c); St Kilda (m); Maritime Greenwich (c); Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (c); Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (c); The English Lake District (c)
Political parties
Alliance Party or APNI (Northern Ireland) Conservative and Unionist Party Democratic Unionist Party or DUP (Northern Ireland) Green Party of England and Wales or Greens Labor (Labour) Party Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) Reform UK Scottish National Party or SNP Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) Traditional Unionist Voice or TUV UK Independence Party or UKIP Ulster Unionist Party or UUP (Northern Ireland) Workers Party of Great Britian
Legislative branch
legislature name
UK Parliament
legislative structure
bicameral
National anthem(s)
title
"God Save the King"
history
in use since 1745; by tradition, the song serves as both the national and royal anthem; it is known as either "God Save the Queen" or "God Save the King," depending on the gender of the reigning monarch; it also serves as the royal anthem for many Commonwealth nations
lyrics/music
unknown
National symbol(s)
lion (all of Britain); lion, Tudor rose, oak (England); lion, unicorn, thistle (Scotland); dragon, daffodil, leek (Wales); shamrock, flax (Northern Ireland)
Administrative divisions
England: 24 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities (including 4 single-tier counties*) two-tier counties: Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Worcestershire London boroughs and City of London or Greater London: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, City of London, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster metropolitan districts: Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowlsey, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton unitary authorities: Bath and North East Somerset; Bedford; Blackburn with Darwen; Blackpool; Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Bracknell Forest; Brighton and Hove; City of Bristol; Buckinghamshire; Central Bedfordshire; Cheshire East; Cheshire West and Chester; Cornwall; Darlington; Derby; Dorset; Durham County*; East Riding of Yorkshire; Halton; Hartlepool; Herefordshire*; Isle of Wight*; Isles of Scilly; City of Kingston upon Hull; Leicester; Luton; Medway; Middlesbrough; Milton Keynes; North East Lincolnshire; North Lincolnshire; North Northamptonshire; North Somerset; Northumberland*; Nottingham; Peterborough; Plymouth; Portsmouth; Reading; Redcar and Cleveland; Rutland; Shropshire; Slough; South Gloucestershire; Southampton; Southend-on-Sea; Stockton-on-Tees; Stoke-on-Trent; Swindon; Telford and Wrekin; Thurrock; Torbay; Warrington; West Berkshire; West Northamptonshire; Wiltshire; Windsor and Maidenhead; Wokingham; York Northern Ireland: 5 borough councils, 4 district councils, 2 city councils borough councils: Antrim and Newtownabbey; Ards and North Down; Armagh City, Banbridge, and Craigavon; Causeway Coast and Glens; Mid and East Antrim district councils: Derry City and Strabane; Fermanagh and Omagh; Mid Ulster; Newry, Murne, and Down city councils: Belfast; Lisburn and Castlereagh Scotland: 32 council areas council areas: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, The Scottish Borders, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian Wales: 22 unitary authorities unitary authorities: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Pembrokeshire, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Swansea, The Vale of Glamorgan, Torfaen, Wrexham
Legislative branch - lower chamber
chamber name
House of Commons
term in office
5 years
number of seats
650 (all directly elected)
electoral system
plurality/majority
scope of elections
full renewal
most recent election date
7/4/2024
expected date of next election
July 2029
percentage of women in chamber
40.5%
parties elected and seats per party
Labour Party (411); Conservative Party (121); Liberal Democrats (72); Other (46)
Legislative branch - upper chamber
note
note: the number of total seats in the House of Lords does not include ineligible members or members on leave of absence
chamber name
House of Lords
number of seats
800 (all appointed)
percentage of women in chamber
31%
parties elected and seats per party
Conservative Party (286); Labour Party (212); Liberal Democrats (76); Crossover (Independents) 180; other (6)
Diplomatic representation in the US
FAX
[1] (202) 588-7870
chancery
3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone
[1] (202) 588-6500
chief of mission
Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires James ROSCOE (since 11 September 2025)
consulate(s) general
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco
email address and website
ukin.washington@fcdo.gov.uk https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-washington
Diplomatic representation from the US
FAX
[44] (0) 20-7891-3845
embassy
33 Nine Elms Lane, London, SW11 7US
telephone
[44] (0) 20-7499-9000
mailing address
8400 London Place, Washington DC 20521-8400
chief of mission
Ambassador Warren A. STEPHENS (since 21 May 2025)
consulate(s) general
Belfast, Edinburgh
email address and website
SCSLondon@state.gov https://uk.usembassy.gov/
International organization participation
ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, C, CBSS (observer), CD, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UN Security Council (permanent), UNSOM, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
International law organization participation
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction