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Motorway Incident Detection And Automatic Signalling

Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling

: Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling, usually abbreviated to MIDAS, is a distributed network of traffic and weather sensors, speed cameras and variable speed signs which control traffic speeds with little human supervision. It is presently (2005) installed on the congested south-western stretch of the M25 motorway in the UK (near Woking) and the system has successfully reduced congestion. It is anticipated that MIDAS will be fitted to the rest of the M25 and selected other routes in due course. Category:Car safety

Traffic

In many parts of the world traffic is generally organized, flowing in lanes of travel for a particular direction, with interchanges, traffic signals, or signage at intersections to facilitate the orderly and timely flow of traffic. Traffic can be separated into vehicular, non-vehicular (bicycling), and pedestrian classes of traffic. Vehicles of the same class share their speed limits and share easement with one another. Cooperative signaling arrangements can also be made with representatives of other classes of traffic. Organized traffic typically reduces travel time. Though vehicles wait at some intersections, wait time at others is much shorter. Organized traffic degenerates to disorganized traffic with an unexpected occurrence, be it road construction, an accident, or obstructions in the road such as an animal, debris, or other objects. On particularly busy freeways, a disruption can persist until traffic thins. William Beaty observed persistent disruptions and named the phenomenon traffic waves. Simulations of organized traffic frequently involve queuing theory, stochastic processes and equations of mathematical physics applied to traffic flow.

Basic Features

Several countries have very complicated traffic laws and others rely on each driver's common sense. However, some basic features of traffic seem to apply to most cultures. Those features are described below.

Directionality

Traffic going in opposite directions should be separated in such a way that they do not block each other's way. The most basic rule regarding this concept is which side of the road should be used for travel. See "Which side?" below for more information. In more sophisticated systems such as large cities, this concept is further extended: some streets are marked as being "one-way", and on those streets all traffic must flow in only one direction. A driver wishing to reach a destination he already passed must use other streets in order to return. Usage of one-way streets, despite the inconveniences it can bring to individual drivers, can greatly improve traffic flow since they usually allow traffic to move faster and tend to simplify intersections.

Lanes

traffic flow with many lanes and heavy traffic.]] When a street is wide enough to accommodate several vehicles travelling side by side, it is usual for traffic to organize itself into "lanes", that is, parallel corridors of traffic. Some roads have one lane for each direction of travel and other have multiple lanes for each direction. Some countries apply pavement markings to clearly indicate the limits of each lane and the direction of travel that it must be used for. In other countries lanes have no markings at all and drivers follow them mostly by instinct rather than visual stimulus. On roads that have multiple lanes going in the same direction, drivers may usually shift amongst lanes as they please, but they must do so in a way that does not cause inconvenience to other drivers. Driving cultures vary greatly on the issue of "lane ownership": in some countries, drivers traveling in a lane will be very protective of their right to travel in it while on others drivers will routinely expect other drivers to shift back and forth.

Right of Way ("who goes first")

Vehicles will often come into conflict with other vehicles because their intended courses of travel intersect, that is, they get in each other's way. The general principle that establishes who has the right to go first is called "right of way". It establishes who has the right to use the conflicting part of the road and who has to wait until the other driver does so. Different countries have different rules that establish who has the right of way, but a common pattern is for one of the roads (usually the smaller road) to have a marking indicating that it should "yield" to drivers on the other road. This can be in the form of a STOP sign, dotted lines painted on the pavement or other devices. Drivers approaching from the road with the STOP sign (or equivalent device) are required to stop before the intersection and only proceed when a breach occurs in the other road's traffic. Some countries also include pedestrian crossings near the STOP signs, and in this case the approaching drivers must also allow the pedestrian to cross the street before advancing. Another way to resolve the right-of-way conflict is to establish a general rule such as the French prioritè-a-droit (priority to the right). This rule establishes that the right of way belongs to the driver who is coming from the right, and the driver coming from the left should yield to him. This rule is unambiguous, but may lead to some counterintuitive situations, such as in T-intersections, where, strangely enough, traffic going straight through the top segment of the T must yield to entering traffic that comes from the vertical leg of the T. parallel parallel, Austria.]] In most modern cities the traffic signal is used to establish the right of way on the busy roads. Its primary idea is to give each road a slice of time in which its traffic may use the intersection in an organized way. The intervals of time assigned for each road may be adjusted to take into account factors such as difference in volume of traffic.

Turning

Vehicles will often want to cease to travel in a straight line and turn onto another road. The vehicle's directional signals (blinkers) are often used as a way to announce one's the intention to turn, thus alerting other drivers. The actual usage of blinkers vary greatly amongst countries. Turning traffic must usually yield the right of way to oncoming traffic - on right-driving countries, vehicles must yield when performing a left turn; on left-driving countries vehicles must yield when performing a right turn. This will usually mean that turning traffic will have to stop in order to wait for a breach to turn, and this might cause inconvenience for vehicles that follow them but do not want to turn. This is why sometimes "protected lanes" for turning are provided, that is, a special lane where vehicles can wait without standing in the way of traffic. On busier intersections where a protected lane would be ineffective or cannot be built, turning may be entirely prohibited, and drivers will be required to "drive around the block" in order to accomplish the turn. On roads with multiple lanes, turning traffic is generally expected to move to the lane closest to the direction they wish to turn. For example, traffic intending to turn right will usually move to the rightmost lane before the intersection. Likewise, left-turning traffic will move to the leftmost lane. Exceptions to this rule may exist where for example the traffic authority decides that the two rightmost lanes will be for turning right, in which case drivers may take whichever of them to turn. On certain parts of the world traffic will adapt to informal patterns that rise naturally rather than by force of authority: for example, in Brazil and elsewhere it is common for drivers to observe (and trust) the turn signals used by other drivers in order to make turns from other lanes. For example if several vehicles on the right lane are all turning right, a vehicle may come from the next-to-right lane and turn right as well, doing so in parallel with the other right-turning vehicles.

Pedestrian Crossings

Brazil, showing a semaphore-controlled pedestrian crossing, and several red lights on several intersections ahead.]] Pedestrians must often cross from one side of a road to the other, and in doing so may come into the way of vehicles traveling on the road. In many places pedestrians are entirely left to look after themselves, that is, they must observe the road and cross when they can see that no traffic will threaten them. Busier cities usually paint "pedestrian crossings", which are strips of the road where pedestrians are expected to cross. The actual appearance of pedestrian crossings varies greatly, but the two most common appearances are: (1) a series of parallel white stripes or (2) two long horizontal white lines. The former is usually preferred, as it stands out more conspicuously against the dark pavement. Some pedestrian crossings also accompany a traffic signal which will make vehicles stop at regular intervals so the pedestrians can cross. Some countries have "intelligent" pedestrian signals, where the pedestrian must push a button in order to assert his intention to cross. The traffic signal will use that information to schedule itself, that is, when no pedestrians are present the signal will never pointlessly cause vehicle traffic to stop. Pedestrian crossings without traffic signals are also common. In this case, the traffic law usually states that the pedestrian has the right of way when crossing, and that vehicles must stop when a pedestrian uses the crossing. Countries and driving cultures vary greatly as to the extent to which this is respected.

Speed

One of the main factors that affect the damage caused by a collision is speed. Therefore, most civilized parts of the world impose speed limits on their roads. Drivers are not supposed to drive at speeds which are higher than the posted limit. To enforce the speed limit, two approaches are generally employed. In the USA it is common for the police to patrol the streets and use special equipment to measure the speed of vehicles, and "pull over" any vehicle found to be in violation of the speed limit. In Brazil and some European countries, there are computerized speed-measuring devices spread throughout the city, which will automatically detect speeding drivers and take a photograph of the license plate, which is later used for applying and mailing the ticket.

Expressways

Brazil, near rush hour, already showing some considerable traffic density.]] In large cities, moving from one part of the city to another by means of ordinary streets and avenues can be time-consuming since traffic usually moves at slow speeds and there are many intersections, stop signs, parked cars, pedestrian crossings, bicycle traffic and other obstacles. Therefore, it has become common practice for larger cities to build expressways, which are large and wide avenues that run for long distances and have no intersections or semaphores. Vehicles wishing to travel over great distances within the city will usually take the expressways in order to save on travel time. When another road must cross an expressway, a bridge will be built if the expressway is a ground-level road, or it will pass under the expressway if it is elevated. Expressways usually have controlled entry and exit, that is, entering and leaving the expressway may only be done at specific points called entries and exits. Vehicles entering the expressway must yield the right of way to the vehicles already traveling on it.

Unorganized traffic

Unorganized traffic occurs in the absence of lanes and signals. Roads do not have lanes, though drivers tend to keep to the appropriate side if the road is wide enough. Drivers frequently overtake other drivers, and obstructions are not uncommon. Intersections have no signals or signage, and a particular road at a busy intersection may be dominant (that is, its traffic flows) until a break in traffic, at which time the dominance shifts to the other road where vehicles are queued. At the intersection of two perpendicular roads, a traffic jam results if four vehicles face each other side-on.

Which side?

According to Brian Lucas, about 34% of the world by country population drives on the left, and 66% keeps right. By roadway miles, about 72% drive on the right.

External links

- [http://www.amasci.com/amateur/traffic/traffic1.html Traffic Waves]
- [http://www.best.bc.ca/ Better Environmentally Sound Transportation]
- [http://www.greenercars.com/indexplus.html Welcome to GreenerCars.com: The online home of ACEEE's Green Book]
- [http://www.sankey.ws/calming.html Traffic calming in a community]
- [http://www.traffic.com Traffic.com] Category:Transportation zh-tw:交通

Weather

Weather comprises all the various phenomena that occur in the atmosphere of a planet. "Weather" is normally taken to mean the activity of these phenomena over short periods of time, usually no more than a few days in length. Average weather conditions over significantly longer periods is known as climate, which is studied by climatologists for signs of climate change.

Terrestrial weather

On Earth, the regular events include wind, thunderstorms, rain, sleet, hail, snow, and fog which occur in the troposphere or the lower part of the atmosphere. Weather is driven by differences in energy received from the sun. Due to the different angles that sunlight intersects the earth, different parts of it are heated to different extents. This causes temperature differences, which lead to global wind, as well as, indirectly, all other weather phenomena. Direct causes of weather are temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloud cover, wind speed, and elevation. The Earth's atmosphere is one large inter-related system so small changes to one part can have large effects in other parts, i.e., it is a chaotic system. This makes it very difficult to accurately predict short term weather changes more than a few days in advance, though weather forecasters large and small are continually working to improve this limit through the science of the study of weather: meteorology.

Extra-terrestrial weather

meteorology Weather phenomena and systems on other planets are thought to be similar to those on Earth, but often occur on a much bigger scale. Extra-terrestrial weather systems can be extremely stable; one of the most famous landmarks in the solar system, Jupiter's Great Red Spot is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. On other gas giants, the lack of a surface allows the wind to reach enormous speeds: gusts of up to 400 metres per second have been measured on the planet Neptune. This has created a puzzle for planetary scientists: The weather is created by the differential action of the Sun's energy on different places and the amount of energy received by Neptune is very, very small, relative to the Earth, yet the strength and magnitude of weather phenomena on Neptune is far, far greater than on Earth. This mystery is still to be solved. Earth's weather appears to behave based on about a half-dozen latitudinal weather zones. Jupiter's banded appearance shows over a dozen such zones, while Venus appears to have no zones at all. Studying how the weather works on other planets has been seen as helpful in understanding how it works on Earth.

Extra-planetary weather

Weather is not limited to just planetary bodies however. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the solar system, known as the solar wind. Inconsistencies in this wind and larger events on the surface of the star, such as Coronal Mass Ejections, form a system that has features analogous to conventional weather systems (i.e. pressure and wind), and though not true weather, is known as space weather. The activity of this system can affect planetary atmospheres and occasionally surfaces. The interaction of the solar wind with the terrestrial atmosphere can produce spectacular aurorae, but can play havoc with electrically sensitive systems such as electricity grids and radio signals.

Sensor

A sensor is a physical device or biological organ that detects, or senses, a signal or physical condition and chemical compounds.

Overview

Most sensors are electrical or electronic, although other types exist. A sensor is a type of transducer. Sensors are either direct indicating (e.g. a mercury thermometer or electrical meter) or are paired with an indicator (perhaps indirectly through an analog to digital converter, a computer and a display) so that the value sensed becomes human readable. Aside from other applications, sensors are heavily used in medicine, industry and robotics. Technical progress allows more and more sensors to be manufactured with MEMS technology. In most cases this offers the potential to reach a much higher sensitivity. See also MEMS sensor generations.

Classification of types

Since a signal involves an exchange of energy, sensors can be classified according to the type of energy transfer that they detect.

Thermal energy

- temperature sensors: thermometers, thermocouples, temperature sensitive resistors (thermistors), bi-metal thermometers and thermostats
- heat sensors: bolometer, calorimeter

Electromagnetic sensors

- electrical resistance sensors: ohmmeter, multimeter
- electrical current sensors: galvanometer, ammeter
- electrical voltage sensors: leaf electroscope, voltmeter
- electrical power sensors: watt-hour meters
- magnetism sensors: magnetic compass, fluxgate compass, magnetometer, Hall effect device

Mechanical sensors

- pressure sensors: barometer, barograph, pressure gauge, air speed indicator, rate of climb indicator, variometer
- gas and liquid flow sensors: flow sensor, anemometer, flow meter, gas meter, water meter, mass flow sensor
- mechanical sensors: position sensor, selsyn, switch, strain gauge

Chemical sensors

Chemical sensors detect the presence of specific chemicals or classes of chemicals. Examples include oxygen sensors, also known as lambda sensors, ion-selective electrodes, pH glass electrodes, and redox electrodes.

Optical and radiation sensors

- electromagnetic time-of-flight. Generate an electromagnetic impulse, broadcast it, then measure the time a reflected pulse takes to return. Commonly known as - RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging) are now accompanied by the analogous LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging. See following line), all being electromagnetic waves. Acoustic sensors are a special case in that a pressure transducer is used to generate a compression wave in a fluid medium (air or water)
- light time-of-flight. Used in modern surveying equipment, a short pulse of light is emitted and returned by a retroreflector. The return time of the pulse is proportional to the distance and is related to atmospheric density in a predictable way.

Ionising radiation

- radiation sensors: Geiger counter, dosimeter, Scintillation_counter
- subatomic particle sensors: scintillometer, cloud chamber, bubble chamber

Non ionising radiation

- light sensors: photocells, photodiodes, phototransistors, photo-electric tubes, CCDs, Nichols radiometer, Image sensor
- proximity sensor- A type of distance sensor but less sophisticated. Only detects a specific proximity. May be optical - combination of a photocell and LED or laser. Applications in cell phones, paper detector in photocopiers, auto power standby/shutdown mode in notebooks and other devices. May employ a magnet and a Hall effect device.
- scanning laser- A narrow beam of laser light is scaned over the scene by a mirror. A photocell sensor located at an offset responds when the beam is reflected from an object to the sensor, whence the distance is calculated by triangulation.
- focus. A large aperture lens may be focused by a servo system. The distance to an in-focus scene element may be determined by the lens setting.
- binocular. Two images gathered on a known baseline are brought into coincidence by a system of mirrors and prisms. The adjustment is used to determine distance. Used in some cameras (called range-finder cameras) and on a larger scale in early battleship range-finder
- coherent laser- interference between transmitted and reflective lightwaves are counted and the distance is calculated. Capable of extremely high precision.

Acoustic sensors

Acoustic

- sound sensors: microphones, hydrophones, seismometers. acoustic: uses ultrasound time-of-flight echo return. Used in mid 20th century polaroid cameras and applied also to robotics. Even older systems like Fathometers (and fish finders) and other 'Tactical Active' Sonar Sound Navigation And Ranging) systems in naval applications which mostly use audible sound frequencies.

Other types of sensor

- motion sensors: radar gun, speedometer, tachometer, odometer, turn coordinator
- orientation sensors: gyroscope, artificial horizon, ring laser gyroscope
- distance sensor (noncontacting) Several technologies can be applied to sense distance: magnetostriction

Non Initialized systems

- Gray code strip or wheel- a number of photodetectors can sense a pattern, creating a binary number. The gray code is a mutated pattern that ensures that only one bit of information changes with each measured step, thus avoiding ambiguities.

Initialized systems

These require starting from a known distance and accumulate incremental changes in measurements.
- Quadrature wheel- An disk-shaped optical mask is driven by a gear train. Two photocells detecting light passing through the mask can determine a partial revolution of the mask and the direction of that rotation.
- whisker sensor- A type of touch sensor and proximity sensor.

Classification of measurement errors

A good sensor applies to the following rules:
- the sensor should be sensitive to the measured property
- the sensor should be insensitive to any other property
- the sensor should not influence the measured property In the ideal situation, the output signal of a sensor is exactly proportional to the value of the measured property. The gain is then defined as the ratio between output signal and measured property. For example, if a sensor measures temperature and has a voltage output, the gain is a constant with the unit [V/K]. If the sensor is not ideal, several types of deviations can be observed:
- The gain may in practice differ from the value specified. This is called a gain error.
- Since the range of the output signal is always limited, the output signal will eventually clip when the measured property exceeds the limits. The full scale range defines the outmost values of the measured property where the sensor errors are within the specified range.
- If the output signal is not zero when the measured property is zero, the sensor has an offset or bias. This is defined as the output of the sensor at zero input.
- If the gain is not constant, this is called nonlinearity. Usually this is defined by the amount the output differs from ideal behaviour over the full range of the sensor, often noted as a percentage of the full range.
- If the deviation is caused by a rapid change of the measured property over time, there is a dynamic error. Often, this behaviour is described with a bode plot showing gain error and phase shift as function of the frequency of a periodic input signal.
- If the output signal slowly changes independent of the measured property, this is defined as drift.
- Long term drift usually indicates a slow degradation of sensor properties over a long period of time.
- Noise is a random deviation of the signal that varies in time.
- Hysteresis is an error caused by the fact that the sensor not instantly follows the change of the property being measured, and therefore involves the history of the measured property.
- If the sensor has a digital output, the signal is discrete and is essentially an approximation of the measured property. The approximation error is also called digitization error.
- If the signal is monitored digitally, limitation of the sampling frequency also causes a dynamic error.
- The sensor may to some extent be sensitive for other properties than the property being measured. For example, most sensors are influenced by the temperature of their environment. All these deviations can be classified as systematic errors or random errors. Systematic errors can sometimes be compensated for by means of some kind of calibration strategy. Noise is a random error that can be reduced by signal processing, such as filtering, usually at the expense of the dynamic behaviour of the sensor.

Biological sensors

All living organisms contain biological sensors with functions similar to those of the mechanical devices described. Most of these are specialized cells that are sensitive to:
- light, motion, temperature, magnetic fields, gravity, humidity, vibration, pressure, electrical fields, sound, and other physical aspects of the external environment;
- physical aspects of the internal environment, such as stretch, motion of the organism, and position of appendages (proprioception);
- an enormous array of environmental molecules, including toxins, nutrients, and pheromones;
- many aspects of the internal metabolic milieu, such as glucose level, oxygen level, or osmolality;
- an equally varied range of internal signal molecules, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and cytokines;
- and even the differences between proteins of the organism itself and of the environment or alien creatures. The human senses are examples of specialized neuronal sensors. See Sense.

Links

- [http://www.societyofrobots.com/sensors_interpret.shtml Tutorial on interpreting and analyzing recorded sensor data]
- [http://sensorwiki.org SensorWiki] - Sensor information tailored for music technologists.
- [http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-032/_4770.htm Federal Standard 1037C, August 7, 1996: transducer]
- [http://www.atis.org/tg2k/_sensor.html American National Standard for Telecommunications - Telecom Glossary 2000: sensor]
- [http://www.sensedu.com/ SensEdu; how sensors work]
- Overview of Sensors and Needs for Environmental Monitoring Clifford K. Ho, Alex Robinson, David R. Miller and Mary J. Davis Sensors 2005, 5, 4-37 [http://www.mdpi.net/sensors/papers/s5010004.pdf] (open access) article Category:Transducers ja:センサ

2005

2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. 2005 is the World Year of Physics, the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese calendar, and the International Year of the Eucharist in Catholicism. See also Wikipedia's almanac of events for this year.

Events

January

- January 4 - Death of the Governor of Baghdad, Ali Al-Haidri, assassinated by gunmen.
- January 9 - The same storm which pounded the US earlier in the month hits England and Scandinavia, leaving 13 dead with widespread flooding and power cuts.
- January 9 - Mahmoud Abbas is elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority president in the Palestinian election.
- January 12 - Deep Impact is launched from Kennedy Space Center by a Delta 2 rocket.
- January 13 - Terrorists enter into Israel from Gaza and open fire on civilians near border, killing 6 and wounding 5 others. Hamas and Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claim joint responsibility for attack.
- January 14 - The Huygens probe lands on Titan, largest moon of Saturn.
- January 16 - Adriana Iliescu gives birth at 66, the oldest woman in the world to do so. Adriana Iliescu.]]
- January 18 - Terrorists murder 1 person and wound 8 people in Gush Katif, Israel. Hamas claims responsibility.
- January 20 - George W. Bush is inaugurated in Washington, D.C. for his second term as 43rd President of the United States.
- January 20 - Ireland completes metrication.
- January 21 - In Belize's capital city Belmopan, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
- January 23 - Viktor Yushchenko is sworn in as the third President of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine.
- January 25 - A stampede at Mandher Devi temple in Mandhradevi during a religious pilgrimage in India kills at least 215, mostly women and small children.
- January 30 - The first free Parliamentary elections in Iraq since 1958 take place.
- January 30 - A Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane crashes in Iraq, killing 10 British servicemen. Iraqi insurgents release a video claiming to have shot the aircraft down using a missile.

February

- February 6 - The New England Patriots defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 to win their third Super Bowl in four years.
- February 8 - Danish parliamentary elections continue the center-right coalition led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and his Liberal Party.
- February 9 - An ETA car bomb injures 31 people at a conference centre in Madrid.
- February 10 - North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons as a protection against the hostility it feels from the United States.
- February 10 - Saudi Arabia holds its first ever elections for municipal authorities, in which only men are allowed to vote.
- February 12 - Fire devastates the Windsor Building, a 32 story office block, in Madrid.
- February 14 - A massive suicide bomb blast in central Beirut kills Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri and at least 15 other people. At least 135 other people were also hurt.
- February 14 - Around 59 people are killed and 200 injured in a fire at a mosque in Tehran, Iran. Iran emissions of greenhouse gases.]]
- February 16 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into effect, without the support of the United States and Australia.
- February 16 - The National Hockey League cancels its 2004-2005 season becoming the first North American professional league to cancel a season due to a labour dispute.
- February 19 - Suicide bombers kill more than 30 people in Iraq as Shia Muslims mark Ashura, their holiest day.
- February 20 - Spanish referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
- February 20 - Early Legislative elections in Portugal result in a landslide victory for José Sócrates and the Socialist Party.
- February 22 - More than 500 people are killed and over 1,000 injured after entire villages are flattened in an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale in Zarand region of Kerman province in southern Iran.
- February 25 - The Serial Killer Dennis Rader is apprehended by Wichita Police and the FBI.
- February 25 - Terrorists murder 5 people and wound 50 people in Tel Aviv, Israel. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for attack.
- February 26 - Hosni Mubarak the president of Egypt asks parliament to amend the constitution to allow multi-candidate presidential elections before September 2005.

March

- March 1 - The U.S. Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes under age 18.
- March 3 - At 19:17 the 3500-ton freighter, M/V Karen Danielsen, crashes into the Western bridge of the Great Belt Bridge of Denmark, 800m from Funen. All traffic across the bridge is closed, effectively separating Denmark in two.
- March 3 - Millionaire Steve Fossett breaks a world record by completing the first non-stop, non-refueled, solo flight around the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.
- March 10 - Tung Chee Hwa's resignation: Tung Chee Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, resigns.
- March 11 - In the UK, the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 was finally given Royal Assent after one of the longest ever sittings by the House of Lords.
- March 13 - First round of Central African Republic elections.
- March 14 - The People's Republic of China ratifies an anti-secession law aimed at preventing Taiwan from declaring independence.
- March 14 - Nearly one million people gathered for an opposition rally in Beirut, a month after the death of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri — the largest rally in Lebanon history. Lebanon, 2005.]]
- March 16 - Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, accused of the bombing of the Air India Flight 182 in 1985, are found not guilty on all counts.
- March 19 - A suspected suicide bomber in Doha, Qatar, kills one person and injures about 12 others.
- March 19 - A time bomb explodes in a Muslim shrine in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 29 people and wounding 40.
- March 19 - A mine blast occurs at the Xishui coal mine in Shuozhou and rocks nearby Kangjiayao coal mine, killing up to 59.
- March 20 - At least 250 people in Japan are injured and at least one killed by when a magnitude 7 earthquake struck west of Kyushu Island, just 9km (5.5 miles) below the ocean floor.
- March 21 - 10 killed in the Red Lake High School massacre in Minnesota, the worst school shooting since the Columbine High School massacre.
- March 23 - The United States' 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 decision refuses to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.
- March 24 - The Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan reaches its climax with the overthrow of president Askar Akayev.
- March 26 - The Taiwanese government called on 1 million Taiwanese to demonstrate in Taipei in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of Mainland China. Around 200 000 to 300 000 attended the walk.
- March 28 - The 2005 Sumatran earthquake struck off Sumatra, 3 months after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. At a magnitude of 8.7 it is the second largest earthquake since 1965.

April

- Anti-Japanese demonstrations in China
- April 1 - Newsanchor Peter Jennings hosts what will turn out to be his final World News Tonight telecast.
- April 2 - Pope John Paul II dies, causing widespread grief in the world.
- April 7 - MG Rover, the UK's sole remaining volume producer goes into receivership after a planned alliance with Chinese manufacturer, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation collapses.
- April 7 - A suicide bomber blows himself up in Cairo's Khan al Khalili market, killing two foreign tourists and wounding seventeen others. A group called "Islamic Pride Brigades" claims responsibility.
- April 8 - Referendum in Curaçao on independence vs. integration with the Netherlands.
- April 9 - Tens of thousands of demonstrators, many of them supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, marched through Baghdad denouncing the U.S. occupation of Iraq, two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and rallied in the square where his statue was toppled in 2003.
- April 9 - The marriage of The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles takes place. Camilla assumes the titles Her Royal Highness and The Duchess of Cornwall.
- April 12 - Fans hurl lit flares onto the field at San Siro Stadium in Milan during a Champions League quarter-final soccer match.
- April 15 - At least twenty one people died and around fifty people were injured in a devastating fire at a hotel in central Paris.
- April 16 - President Lucio Gutierrez of Ecuador declared a state of emergency in the capital city and dissolved the Supreme Court.
- April 17 - Twelve holidaymakers were killed in southern Switzerland when a bus carrying twenty seven people plunged 200 metres into a ravine.
- April 18 - Five people died in ethnic clashes in Iran's south-west Khuzestan province.
- April 19 - Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of the Papal conclave.
- April 20 - fifty six hurt as earthquake hits Fukuoka and Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The earthquake measured a magnitude of 5.8 on the Richter scale.
- April 20 - President Lucio Gutiérrez of Ecuador is said to have fled after Congress voted to sack him amid growing protests.
- April 21 - A bus crash in Vietnam's Central Highlands has left thirty Vietnamese war veterans dead and four other people hurt.
- April 21 - A gunfight on the edge of the Saudi city of Mecca has left two militants and two members of the security forces dead.
- April 23 - Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of Italy, re-forms government after its dissolution three days earlier.
- April 25 - A passenger train derails in Amagasaki Hyogo Prefecture Japan killing 107 people and injuring another 456. (see Amagasaki rail crash)
- April 26 - Facing international pressure, Syria withdrew the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon ending its twenty nine year military domination of that country.
- April 27 - The Superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 made its first flight from Toulouse.
- April 30 - Attacks on tourists in the Egyptian capital Cairo leave three militants dead and at least ten people injured.

May

- May 1 - A suicide attack targets a Kurdish funeral in the northern Iraqi town of Talafar, near Mosul, and leaves at least 25 people dead and more than 30 others injured. Earlier, at least five policemen and four civilians were killed in two separate attacks in Baghdad.
- May 2 - 4th president of Singapore, Wee Kim Wee dies from prostate cancer.
- May 2 - A blast at an illegal munitions store in northern Afghanistan kills 28 people and injures at least 13 others.
- May 3 - At least 32 people are killed and nine others injured when three two-storey buildings in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore collapsed after gas cylinders stored in one of them exploded.
- May 4 - In one of the largest insurgent attacks in Iraq to date, at least 60 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a suicide bombing at a Kurdish police recruitment center in Irbil, northern Iraq.
- May 5 - The United Kingdom votes in the 2005 general election. The Labour Party is re-elected with a substantially reduced majority.
- May 5 - Two homemade bombs explode outside the British consulate in New York, USA.
- May 10 - A live hand grenade lands about 100 feet (30 m) from United States President George W. Bush while he is giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but malfunctions and does not detonate.
- May 11 - Serial killer Michael Ross became first person executed in New England in 45 years.
- May 12 - An election was held in the Cayman Islands 7 months later than originally scheduled due to Hurricane Ivan. It resulted in a change of government, with the United Democratic Party giving four seats to the then-opposition People's Progressive Movement in the 15 member Legislative Assembly.
- May 13 - Uzbek troops kill up to 700 during protests in eastern Uzbekistan over the trials of 23 accused Islamic extremists. President Islam Karimov defends the act.
- May 13 - The United States Department of Defense issues a list of bases to be closed as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process (BRAC 2005).
- May 13 - The final episode of the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise is broadcast in the United States. This episode may mark the end of the Star Trek franchise itself, which dates back to 1966.
- May 15 - A passenger ferry capsizes and sinks in strong winds in the Bura Gauranga River in Bangladesh, leaving over 100 people missing.
- May 16 - George Galloway appears before a U.S. Senate committee, to answer allegations of making money from the Iraqi Oil-for-Food Programme.
- May 17 - Kuwaiti women granted right to vote.
- May 19 - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith released, effectively completing the Star Wars movie saga begun by George Lucas in 1977 and shattering the opening day box-office record with $50,013,859.
- May 19 - The Canadian House of Commons members narrowly pass two budget bills at second reading allowing the minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin to stay in power.
- May 21 - Greece wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev.
- May 25 - Liverpool F.C. win the UEFA Champions League by defeating AC Milan 3-2 in a penalty shootout in Istanbul.
- May 25 - The Acting Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, resigned for participating in the Chief Executive Election in July. As a result, Henry Tang and Michael Suen had become the Acting Chief Executive and Acting Chief Secretary for Administration respectively.
- May 29 - French referendum on the European Constitution votes resoundingly to reject.
- May 31 - W. Mark Felt is confirmed to be Deep Throat.

June

- June 1 - Dutch referendum on the European Constitution votes to reject, the second country to do so.
- June 5 - Switzerland votes to join the Schengen area and to allow same-sex partnerships.
- June 6 - Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam resigns.
- June 9 - Glynn Birch announced as new president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
- June 13 - Singer Michael Jackson acquitted of all charges of harming children (see 2005 trial of Michael Jackson).
- June 17 - A 6.7 aftershock,which followed a 5.3 earthquake the previous day, hits California making it the fourth earthquake since June 12 in California. (California earthquakes of June 2005)
- June 17 - Because of "quadruple-witching" options and futures expiration, the New York Stock Exchange sees the heaviest first-hour trading on record. 704 million shares were traded between 9:30-10:30 A.M. 1.92 billion shares were traded for the day.
- June 19 - Election in the Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain — preliminary results show that Manuel Fraga and the Partido Popular lose control of the autonomous parliament.
- June 21 - Volna booster rocket carrying the first light sail spacecraft (a joint Russian-United States project) failed 83 seconds after its launch, destroying the spacecraft.
- June 23 - The San Antonio Spurs win the NBA World Championship title.
- June 28 - Queen Elizabeth II conducts the International Fleet Review of 167 international warships in the Solent, as part of the Trafalgar 200 celebrations.
- June 30 - Spain joins Belgium and the Netherlands in permitting same-sex marriage.

July

- July 2 - Live 8, a series of 10 simultaneous concerts take place throughout the world, raising interest in the Make Poverty History campaign.
- July 4 - NASA's "Copper bullet" from Deep Impact spacecraft hits Comet Tempel 1, creating a crater for scientific studies.
- July 4 - Violent G8 demonstrations in Gleneagles
- July 6 - The European Parliament rejects the Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions in its second reading in the codecision procedure.
- July 6 - The International Olympic Committee awards the 2012 Summer Olympics to London. London.]]
- July 7 - Four explosions rock the transport network in London, three on the London Underground and one on a bus. Over 50 deaths were reported, and over 200 injured. See 7 July 2005 London bombings.
- July 7 - Al-Qaeda admits to the killing of Egypt's Ambassador, Ihab al-Sherif.
- July 10 - Luxembourgish referendum on the European Constitution votes to accept.
- July 10 - Hurricane Dennis strikes near Navarre Beach, Florida as a Category 3 storm killing 10 people, after killing over 50 people in the Caribbean.
- July 12 - Terrorists kill 5 people and wound 90 people in a crowded mall in Netanya, Israel. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for attack.
- July 13 - Three trains collide in the Ghotki rail crash in Ghotki, Pakistan, killing over 150 people.
- July 14 - A compromise budget is reached in Minnesota, ending the fourteen-day government shutdown.
- July 16 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book of the Harry Potter saga by the British writer J. K. Rowling, is released.
- July 19 - President Bush nominates Appeals Court Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. to the United States Supreme Court, following the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor.
- July 20 - Canada's Civil Marriage Act, legalizing same-sex marriage, receives Royal Assent.
- July 21 - A terrorist attack on London, similar to the July 7 attacks, includes 4 attempted bomb attacks on 3 Underground trains and a London bus. The bombs failed to explode properly, and only one injury was reported.
- July 22 - A Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, is shot dead at a London underground station by police who mistake him for a suicide bomber.
- July 23 - A series of blasts in a resort town in Egypt. See July 23, 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks.
- July 24 - Lance Armstrong wins a record seventh straight Tours de France before his scheduled retirement.
- July 26 - Launch for Space Shuttle Discovery return to flight mission STS-114. This is the first Space Shuttle flight in nearly two and a half years since the breakup of Columbia on its return from mission STS-107.
- July 28 - The Provisional IRA issues a statement formally ordering an end to the armed campaign it has pursued since 1969 and ordering all its units to dump their arms.

August

August
- August 2 - Air France Flight 358 bursts into flames after overshooting the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport; all aboard survive.
- August 6 - An ATR-72 heading from Italy to Tunisia crashes into the Mediterranean Sea, killing 16 of 39 on board.
- August 9 - Space Shuttle Discovery returns to Edwards Air Force Base at 0814 EDT, completing STS-114, "Return to Flight."
- August 12 - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched.
- August 14 - Helios Airways Flight 552 crashes into a mountain in Greece, killing 121.
- August 16 - West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashes into a mountain in Venezuela, killing 152 passengers.
- August 17 - The first forced evacuation of settlers, as part of the Israel unilateral disengagement plan, starts.
- August 17 - Bangladesh is hit by bomb explosions. [http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Bangladesh_hit_by_several_bomb_explosions]
- August 18 - BTK killer Dennis Rader is sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences.
- August 18 - Peace Mission 2005, the first joint China-Russia military exercise, begins its 8-day training on the Shandong peninsula.
- August 22 - A 4.1 kg meteorite crashes into the Dotito area of Zambezi Escarpment in Zimbabwe, leaving a 15 cm crater.
- August 23 - Israel's unilateral disengagement from 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank ends.
- August 24 - Hong Kong High Court Judge Michael Hartmann rules that sodomy laws were unconstitutional. Michael Hartmann.]]
- August 28 - Terrorist wounds 52 at bus station in Beersheba, Israel. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for attack.
- August 29 - At least 1,300 are killed, and severe damage is caused along the U.S. Gulf Coast, as Hurricane Katrina strikes the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastal areas. Within hours, levees give way and New Orleans is flooded.
- August 31 - A crowd crush on the Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills several hundred civilians (see Baghdad bridge stampede).

September

- September 1 - Oil prices rise sharply following economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.
- September 5 - Mandala Airlines Flight 091 737 crashes in Indonesia killing at least 117. (See airplane accidents in 2005).
- September 7 - Incumbent Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak wins its first multi-party presidential election.
- September 11 - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the LDP are returned to power following the Japanese general elections.
- September 12 - Norwegian parliamentary election
- September 12 - English cricket team draw the final match to win The 2005 Ashes.
- September 14 - September 16 - Largest UN World Summit in history, held in New York City.
- September 17 - Helen Clark leader of the Labour Party is re-elected for a third term in the New Zealand general election
- September 18 - Angela Merkel of the CDU and Gerhard Schröder of the SDP both claim victory in German federal election
- September 18 - Afghan parliamentary election
- September 19 - North Korea agrees to stop building nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and cooperation.
- September 24 - Hurricane Rita hits the US Gulf Coast. The 9th Ward section of New Orleans floods for the 2nd time in a month and a half. Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama are also affected.
- September 25 - Polish parliamentary election.
- September 26 - U.S. army reservist Lynndie England is convicted by a military jury on six of seven counts in connection with the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
- September 27 - Michaëlle Jean, born in Haiti, becomes the 27th Governor General of Canada, and the first black person to hold that position.
- September 28 - American politician Tom DeLay is indicted on charges of criminal conspiracy by a Texas grand jury.
- September 29 - John G. Roberts, Jr. is confirmed and sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States.
- September 30 - The Parliament of Catalonia passes with 120 plus votes and 15 against, the Project of New Catalan Statute of Autonomy, proclaiming in its article 1, "Catalonia is a nation".

October

- October 1 - 26 people are killed and more than 100 are injured in the 2005 Bali bombings.
- October 1 - The world's largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, is formed by the merger of two Japanese banking conglomerates.
- October 1 - An Australian photojournalist in Afghanistan, Stephen Dupont, films US soldiers two dead Taliban militias' bodies.
- October 2 - 20 people are killed in a shipwreck in Lake George, NY.
- October 4 - Hurricane Stan hits Mexico and Central America killing over 1,153 people.
- October 5 - Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith charged with refusing to serve in the Iraq war.
- October 7 - UN nuclear agency director Mohamed ElBaradei is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- October 8 - An earthquake in Kashmir kills about 80,000 people.
- October 9 - Polish presidential election.
- October 12 - The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched, carrying Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng for five days in orbit.
- October 13 - Veselin Topalov wins the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
- October 15 - The referendum on the new Proposed Iraqi constitution is held.
- October 15 - Riot in Toledo, Ohio during a Neo-Nazi rally surrounding racial issues; 114 arrested
- October 15 - Qinghai-Tibet Railway completed.
- October 16 - US Helicopters and warplanes bomb two villages near Ramadi in western Iraq, killing about 70 people.
- October 18 - The UN tightens the rules for its staff, following several claims of financial impropriety and sexual abuse.
- October 19 - The Trials of Saddam Hussein begin.
- October 19 - Hurricane Wilma swells into a Category 5 storm.
- October 21 - 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, celebrations held around the United Kingdom.
- October 22 - Tropical Storm Alpha forms making the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season the most active on record.
- October 23 - Polish presidential election.
- October 23 - Referendum on the merger of the Kamchatka Oblast and the Autonomous District of Koryakia.
- October 23 - [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendo_Sobre_a_Proibi%C3%A7%C3%A3o_do_Com%C3%A9rcio_de_Armas_e_Muni%C3%A7%C3%A3o_no_Brasil Guns and Amno Ban Referendum] in Brazil
- October 23 - Bellview Airlines Flight 210 crashes in Nigeria.
- October 24 - Hurricane Wilma makes landfall in southwestern Florida as a category 3 hurricane.
- October 26 - The Chicago White Sox win the 2005 World Series.
- October 26 - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map" at "World Without Zionism" conference in Tehran, Iran, and condemns peace process.
- October 27 - Two teenagers accidentally electrocute themselves in Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris, France, leading to widespread rioting.
- October 28 - Vice presidential adviser Lewis "Scooter" Libby resigns after being charged with obstruction of justice, perjury and making a false statement in the CIA leak investigation.
- October 29 - A train in Andhra Pradesh, India derails, killing at least 77 people.
- October 29 - At least 61 people are dead and many others wounded in three powerful blasts in the Indian capital, Delhi. See 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings for full details.
- October 30 - Hurricane Beta hits the coast of Nicaragua. It is the thirteenth hurricane of 2005, breaking the 1969 record of 12 hurricanes.

November

- November 1 - The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall arrive in the United States for a state visit, their first overseas tour since their marriage.

United Kingdom

:For other meanings of the terms "United Kingdom" and "UK" , see United Kingdom (disambiguation) and UK (disambiguation). :For an explanation of terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country located off the north-western coast of continental Europe, surrounded by the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean. It is composed of four constituent parts: three constituent countries—England, Scotland, and Wales—on the island of Great Britain, and the province of Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland forms the United Kingdom's principal international land border, although there is a nominal frontier with France in the middle of the Channel Tunnel. The UK has several overseas territories and the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands come under the UK's sovereignty. The UK also has close relationships with the fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, as they all share the same head of state. The UK is also one of the largest member states of the European Union and a founding partner of both the UN and NATO.
Terminology

- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: The official name for the sovereign state
- United Kingdom: an abbreviation of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Britain: an informal term that sometimes means United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means Great Britain
- British: an informal term that sometimes means from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and sometimes means from Great Britain
- Great Britain (as a geographical term): the largest island of the British Isles
- Great Britain (as a political term): England + Wales + Scotland
- British Isles (as a geographical term): Great Britain + Ireland + many smaller surrounding islands. This term is disputed, please see below.
- Ireland (as a geographical term): the second largest island of the British Isles
- Ireland (as a political term): an abbreviation of the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state on the island of Ireland
- Northern Ireland: a political region of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Ulster (as a geographical term): Often used to refer to Northern Ireland. It is derived from the Irish Language term 'Ulad.' It was one of the ancient Irish provinces (the others were Connaught, Leinster and Munster.). Although it is normally used to refer to Northern Ireland, Ulster also (traditionally) includes Counties Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal, which lie in the Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster is often favoured by the Protestant community.
History
Protestant Today's state is the latest of several unions formed over the last 1000 years. Scotland and England have existed as separate unified entities since the 10th century. Wales, under English control since the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Act 1535. With the Act of Union 1707, the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland, having shared the same monarch since 1603, agreed to a permanent union as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Act of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland, which had been gradually brought under English control between 1169 and 1691, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was formed in 1922, after bitter fighting which echoes down to the current political strife, the Anglo-Irish Treaty partitioned Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, with the latter remaining part of the United Kingdom. As provided for in the treaty, Northern Ireland, which consists of six of the nine counties of the Irish province of Ulster, immediately opted out of the Free State and to remain in the UK. The nomenclature of the UK was changed in 1927 to recognise the departure of most of Ireland, with the current name being adopted. 1927 The United Kingdom, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing Western world ideas of property, liberty, capitalism and parliamentary democracy - to say nothing of its part in advancing world literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted from the effects of World War I and World War II. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous nation. The UK has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Its attitude towards further integration is conservative, and there is significant Euroscepticism in UK politics. It has not chosen to adopt the Euro, owing to internal political considerations and the government's judgement of the prevailing economic conditions.
Government and politics
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, with executive power exercised on behalf of the Queen by the Prime Minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up Her Majesty's Government. These ministers are drawn from and are responsible to Parliament, the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be "supreme" (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The UK is one of the few countries in the world today that does not have a codified constitution, relying instead on customs and separate pieces of constitutional law. While the monarch is Head of State and holds all executive power, it is the Prime Minister who is the head of government. The government is answerable chiefly to the House of Commons and the Prime Minister is drawn from this chamber of Parliament by constitutional convention. The majority of cabinet members will be from the House of Commons, the rest from the House of Lords. Ministers do not, however, legally have to come from Parliament, though that is the modern day custom. The British system of government has been emulated around the world - a legacy of the United Kingdom's colonial past - most notably in the other Commonwealth Realms. The Prime Minister is chosen as the MP who can command a majority in the House of Commons - usually the leader of the largest party or, if there is no majority party, the largest coalition. The current Prime Minister is Tony Blair of the Labour Party, who has been in office since 1997. In the United Kingdom the monarch has extensive theoretical powers, but his or her role is mainly, though not exclusively, ceremonial. The monarch is an integral part of Parliament (as the "Crown-in-Parliament") and theoretically gives Parliament the power to meet and create legislation. An Act of Parliament does not become law until it has been signed by the Queen (being given Royal Assent), although no monarch has refused to assent to a bill that has been approved by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708. Although the abolition of the monarchy has been suggested several times, the popularity of the monarchy remains strong in spite of recent controversies. Support for a British republic usually fluctuates between 15% and 25% of the population, with roughly 10% undecided or indifferent [http://www.mori.com/mrr/2000/c000616.shtml]. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne in 1952 and was crowned in 1953. Parliament is the national legislature of the United Kingdom. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom, according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. It is bicameral, composed of the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, whose members are mostly appointed. The House of Commons is the more powerful of the two houses. The House of Commons has 646 members who are directly elected from single-member constituencies based on population. The House of Lords has 724 members (though this number is not fixed): hereditary peers, life peers, and bishops of the Church of England. The Church of England is the established church of the state in England. established church]] The two largest political parties are the Labour Party and Conservative Party. The UK has long had a two-party system, but in the last 20 years the Liberal Democrats have re-emerged as a large third party. The electoral system used for general elections is first-past-the-post. The constitution of the United Kingdom is un-codified and partially unwritten, which means that no single document regulates how the government works, and unwritten constitutional conventions are used extensively. The constitution is based on the principle that Parliament is the ultimate sovereign body in the country. There has long been a widespread sense of national identity in the Celtic nations. Throughout the late 19th century the UK debated giving Ireland home rule. The Scottish National Party was founded in 1934, and Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales) in 1925. Referenda for devolution succeeded in 1997 for Scotland and Wales and in 1998 for Northern Ireland. In 1999, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were established, the former having primary legislative power. Proportional representation is used for the elections, which has resulted in a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition government in Scotland. Due to internal disagreements, the Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since 2002.
Subdivisions
The United Kingdom is a country that is divided into four constituent parts:
- England
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Wales The constituent parts of the United Kingdom have administrative subdivisions as follows:
- The regions and administrative counties of England
- The council areas of Scotland
- The counties and county boroughs of Wales
- The districts of Northern Ireland The Laws in Wales Act 1535 incorporated Wales and England into England and Wales for legal purposes. Although all four have historically been divided into counties, England's population is an order of magnitude larger than the others so in recent years it has for some purposes been divided into nine intermediate-level Government Office Regions. Each region is made up of counties and unitary authorities, apart from London, which consists of London boroughs. Although at one point it was intended that each or some of these regions would be given its own regional assembly, the plan's future is uncertain, as of 2004, after the North East region rejected its proposed assembly in a referendum. Scotland consists of 32 Council Areas. Wales consists of 22 Unitary Authorities, styled as 10 County Boroughs, 9 Counties, and 3 Cities. Northern Ireland is divided into 26 Districts. Also sometimes associated with the United Kingdom, though not constitutionally part of the United Kingdom itself, are the Crown dependencies (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and the Isle of Man) as self-governing possessions of the Crown, and a number of overseas territories under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
Military