The United Kingdom of Great Britain

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located on the north-western coast of continental Europe.
It is an archipelago including Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border with another country, wich is the Republic of Ireland. The UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Irish Sea.
It is a country consisting of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state. Queen Elizabeth II is head of state of the UK as well as of fifteen other independent
It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in the capital city of London. There are three devolved national administrations, with varying powers in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland .

The UK was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. But there are an economic decline after two world wars, the United Kingdom began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry declined.

The UK is a developed country, and has a partially regulated free market economy. Based on market exchange rates, the UK is today the sixth largest economy in the world and the third largest in Europe after Germany and France.
The currency of the UK is the pound sterling. London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is the leader of the three "command centres" for the global economy (along with New York City and Tokyo).

It is a Member State of the European Union, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization

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