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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 .
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – sovereign country in Europe, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK), or Britain. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland , it includes the island of Great Britain —a term also applied loosely to refer to the whole country—the north-eastern part ...
The UK prime minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom. [8] Although the United Kingdom is a unitary sovereign country, it contains three distinct legal jurisdictions in Scotland, England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, each retaining its own legal system even after joining the UK. [9]
England is the largest country of the United Kingdom, at 130,462 square kilometres (50,372 sq mi) accounting for just over half the total area of the UK. [ a ] [ 1 ] Scotland at 78,801 square kilometres (30,425 sq mi), is second largest, accounting for about a third of the area of the UK.
Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State, and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom. The UK became the first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the Pax Britannica between 1815 and ...
The history of the United Kingdom begins in 1707 with the Treaty of Union and Acts of Union. The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, [1] into a new unitary state called Great Britain. [a] Of this new state, the historian Simon Schama said:
Following years of political and military agitation for 'Home Rule' for Ireland, the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate state, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. The country's official name thus became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ...
The "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" continued in name until 1927 when it was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 (although, strictly speaking, the Act only referred to the King's title and the name of Parliament).