To the west of Wales and northern England and to the southeast of Northern Ireland, the Irish Sea separates Great Britain from Ireland, while southwestern England, the northwestern coast of Northern Ireland, and western Scotland face the Atlantic Ocean. From the northern tip of Scotland to the southern coast of England, it is about 600 miles (1,000 km). Sports governing bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland organise and regulate the game separately.537 Every four years the Home Nations make a combined team known as the British and Irish Lions which tours Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
National debt as a percentage of GDP in the UK 1900-2030
The government was elected in a landslide victory in July 2024 on a promise not to raise taxes on income for working people, and Reeves acknowledged that some of the budget’s £26 billion non gamstop casinos ($34 billion) in tax hikes broke the spirit of that pledge and would face criticism. Since leaving the EU most disputes under UK-EU agreements are addressed through consultation between the parties. In 1982 Argentina invaded the British territories of South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, leading to the 10-week Falklands War in which Argentine forces were defeated. The inhabitants of the islands strongly favour British sovereignty, expressed in a 2013 referendum. From 1984 the British economy was helped by the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues.114 Another British Overseas Territory, Gibraltar,115 is a key military base; a referendum in 2002 on shared sovereignty with Spain was rejected.
GDP growth rates
While the retail price index is still a popular method of calculating inflation, the consumer price index (CPI) is the current main measurement of inflation in the UK. There is also an additional price index, which includes some extra housing costs, known as the Consumer Price Index including homer occupiers’ costs (CPIH) index, which is seen by the UK’s Office of National Statistics as the official inflation rate. As of December 2024, the CPI inflation rate stood at 2.5 percent, while the CPIH rate was 3.5 percent. Since 1999 Wales has had a devolved national government and legislature, known as the Senedd. It has more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.224 The Senedd can legislate on any matter not specifically reserved to the UK Parliament by Acts of Senedd Cymru.
Inflation nevertheless remains elevated, fueled not only by high food inflation, but also by underlying core inflation. As of February 2025, the overall CPI inflation rate was 2.8 percent, although an uptick in inflation is expected later in the year, with a rate of 3.7 percent forecast for the third quarter of the year. The origins of the United Kingdom can be traced to the time of the Anglo-Saxon king Athelstan, who in the early 10th century ce secured the allegiance of neighbouring Celtic kingdoms and became “the first to rule what previously many kings shared between them,” in the words of a contemporary chronicle. Through subsequent conquest over the following centuries, kingdoms lying farther afield came under English dominion.
- Apart from the land border with the Irish republic, the United Kingdom is surrounded by sea.
- As of December 2024, the CPI inflation rate stood at 2.5 percent, while the CPIH rate was 3.5 percent.
- Following the initial waves of the virus, global supply chains struggled to meet the renewed demand for goods and services.
In 2025 there were 197 restaurants with a Michelin Star; 55 of them consider their cuisine to be ‘Modern British’.508 Sweet foods are common within British cuisine, and there is a long list of British desserts. British cuisine has absorbed the cultural influence of those who have settled in Britain, producing hybrid dishes, such as chicken tikka masala.511 The British have embraced world cuisine and regularly eat recipes or fast food from other European countries, the Caribbean and Asia. Between 1961 and 1990, temperatures in England averaged nine degrees Celsius, and from 2013 to 2022, average temperatures in the country had increased to 10.3 degrees Celsius. Due to its relatively southern location, England continues to rank as the warmest country in the UK. A line running from the mouth of the River Exe, in the southwest, to that of the Tees, in the northeast, is a crude expression of this division. The course of the 700-foot (213-metre) contour, or of the boundary separating the older rocks of the north and west from the younger southeastern strata, provides a more accurate indication of the extent of the highlands.
The Welsh Government is currently a Welsh Labour minority government led by the first minister, Eluned Morgan. Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities, each led by a leader and cabinet elected by the council itself. England accounts for 53 per cent of the UK, covering 50,350 square miles (130,395 km2).153 Most of the country consists of lowland terrain,154 with upland and mountainous terrain northwest of the Tees–Exe line which roughly divides the UK into lowland and upland areas. Lowland areas include Cornwall, the New Forest, the South Downs and the Norfolk Broads. Upland areas include the Lake District, the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor and Dartmoor.
Activity 1: Countries in the UK
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain,m is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,n with a population of over 69 million in 2024. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London; Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
