London

London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. As Europe's richest city, London produces 17% of the UK's GDP, and is one of the world's major business and financial centres. The capital of the former global empire, London is a leader in culture, communications, politics, finance, entertainment and the arts and has considerable influence worldwide. arts]] arts] London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. London's population includes an extremely diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, making it one of the most cosmopolitan, vibrant and energetic cities on earth. A resident of London is referred to as a Londoner. Over 300 languages are spoken in London, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Initially it was a Roman city and known as Londinium and then as Lunnainn, Llundain and Londain in the Scottish, Welsh and Irish languages respectively. London is known by these names in other languages. London is the home of many global organisations, institutions and companies, and as such retains its leading role in global affairs. A city where cutting-edge meets tradition, London is a major tourist destination and transport hub. It has a great number of important buildings and iconic landmarks, including world-famous museums, theatres, concert halls, galleries, airports, sports stadia and palaces. London is one of the world's major global cities (along with New York City, Tokyo and Paris).

Defining London

Today, "London" usually refers to the conurbation known as Greater London, which is divided into thirty-two London Boroughs and the City of London and forms the London region of England. Historically, "London" referred to the square mile of the City of London at the conurbation's heart, from which the city grew. Between 1889 and 1965 it referred to the former County of London which covered the area now known as Inner London. There are other definitions of "London" which cover varying areas, such as the London postal district; the area covered by the telephone area code 020; the area accessible by public transport using a Transport for London Travelcard; the area delimited by the M25 orbital motorway; the Metropolitan Police district; and the London commuter belt. The coordinates of the centre of London (traditionally considered to be Charing Cross, near the junction of Trafalgar Square, the Strand, Whitehall and the Mall) are approximately . The Romans marked the centre of Londinium with the London Stone in the City.

Geography and climate

London Stone, with Green Park and St. James's Park to its right]] Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²). London is a port on the Thames, a navigable river. The river has had a major influence on the development of the city. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and there was only a single bridge, London Bridge, for many centuries. As a result, the main focus of the city was on the north side of the Thames. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside around the Thames floodplain presented no obstacle to growth. There are some hills in London, examples being Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill, but these provided fine prospects of the city centre without significantly affecting the directions of the spread of the city and London is therefore roughly circular. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river than it is today. It has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding. The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level and the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound. The Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich in the 1970s to deal with this threat, but in early-2005 it was suggested that a ten-mile-long barrier further downstream might be required to deal with the flood risk in the future [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4162905.stm]. London has a temperate climate, with warm but seldom hot summers, cool but rarely severe winters, and regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. Summer temperatures rarely rise much above 33°C (91°F), though higher temperatures have become more common recently. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 38.1°C (100.6°F), measured at Kew Gardens during the European Heat Wave of 2003. Heavy snowfalls are almost unknown. In recent winters, snow has rarely settled to more than an inch (25 mm). London's average annual precipitation of less than 24 inches (600 mm) is lower than that of Rome or Sydney. London's large built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings: sometimes temperatures are 5°C (9°F) warmer in the city than in the surrounding areas.

History

microclimate bombings of London]] The name London is commonly thought to have come from the Latin name Londinium, as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the land, around 43AD – although there is some slight evidence of pre-Roman settlement. The [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/england/rom_roman_invasion.shtml BBC History website], however, claims that the name Londinium is actually "Celtic, not Latin, and may originally have referred to a previous farmstead on the site"; the root is 'Lond' meaning 'wild' (i.e. overgrown or forested) place. This fortified Roman settlement was the capital of the province of Britannia. According to findings displayed in London Museum, the initial language of London was Latin with much Greek spoken due to the presence of Greek speaking Roman soldiers and businessmen. Another suggestion for where the name of the city comes from could be that of the mythical leader, King Lud. It was said that Lud laid out the first set of roads in the city. His statue can be seen hidden at the church of St Dunstan's In The West, Fleet Street. Around AD 61 the Iceni tribe of Celts lead by Queen Boudica stormed London and took the city from the Romans. The Celts burnt the relatively new Roman town to the ground, and archaeological digs have revealed a layer of red ash beneath the City of London, which is believed to be the burnt remains of the old Roman town. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon town named Lundenwic was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century. The old Roman city was then reoccupied during the late-9th or early-10th century. Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester was the capital city of England until the 12th century). London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. From the 16th to the early-20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire. In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Rebuilding took over 10 years, but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century, and, by the early-19th century, it was the largest city in the world. London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created which was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London-wide administrative body. Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of the Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe that took place during World War II. The bombing killed over 30,000 Londoners and flattened large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. The rebuilding during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterised by a wide range of architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of unity in architecture that has become part of London's character. Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressurise the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland. On 7 July 2005, there was a series of coordinated bomb attacks by Islamic extremist suicide bombers on three underground stations and a bus. The explosions came less than 24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics and as the G-8 summit was underway in Gleneagles, Scotland. A series of explosions also took place on 21 July 2005; however, in the latter incident, there were no fatalities.

Modern London

2005 Today Greater London comprises the City of London and the 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster). 12 of these boroughs are defined as Inner London, the remaining 20 defined as Outer London. The dominant centre of activity in London is the City of Westminster (including the West End) which is the main cultural, entertainment and shopping district, the location of most of London's major corporate headquarters outside of the financial services sector, and the centre of the UK's national government. The City of London (also known as the "Square Mile") is at the centre of international finance, and is Europe’s main business centre. The headquarters of more than 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies are all in London. The London foreign exchange market is the largest in the world, with an average daily turnover of $504 billion, more than the New York and Tokyo exchanges combined. While very busy during the working week, most parts of the City tend to be quiet at weekends, since it is primarily a non-residential area. London is one of the most visited cities on earth. Tourist attractions are located mainly in Central London, comprising the historic City of London; the West End with its many cinemas, bars, clubs, theatres, shops and restaurants; the City of Westminster with Westminster Abbey, the Royal palaces of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House etc., the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with its museums (the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum) and Hyde Park. Other important tourist attractions include St Paul's Cathedral, the National Gallery; the South Bank and Bankside areas of Southwark with the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern; London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and the Tate Britain on the Embankment; and the British Museum in Bloomsbury. There are many other places of interest across the city.

Culture

:Main article: Culture of London. London is an international centre of culture in all its forms - music, theatre, arts, museums, festivals and much more.

London Districts

See also: Inner London, Outer London.

Central London

City of London

Outer London]] The City of London is the principal financial district of the United Kingdom, and is one of the most important in the world. It is governed by the Corporation of London, an ancient body headed by the Lord Mayor of London. The City also has its own police force, the City of London police. Once dominated by the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, it is now home to many skyscrapers, including Tower 42 (formerly, and popularly still, known as the NatWest Tower) and 30 St Mary Axe (popularly known as the "Gherkin", built in 2003). The City has only a small (c. 7,000) resident population, but a daytime working population of more than 300,000. Its primacy as the chief financial district has been directly challenged in recent years by Canary Wharf in East London.

The West End

Canary Wharf.]] The West End is the most popular shopping and entertainment district in London. Trafalgar Square is the most prominent landmark. Oxford Street is one of the best-known shopping streets in the world. Running from Charing Cross Road in the east to Marble Arch in the west, via Oxford Circus where it crosses Regent Street, it is home to many large department stores and shops (Selfridges, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer). Tottenham Court Road runs north from the eastern end of Oxford Street towards the north of the city centre, and is best known for its plethora of hi-fi, computer and electronics stores. West of the City, Covent Garden is home to the Avenue of Stars, London's version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame. South of Oxford Street's eastern end is Soho, a network of small streets crowded with restaurants, pubs, clubs, smaller shops and boutiques, and theatres and cinemas, as well as media companies and film, advertising and post-production companies. Soho is also well known for its very lively club and bar scene, the notorious sex industry and as the major "gay quarter" of the city. Piccadilly is an elegant thoroughfare running from Piccadilly Circus in the east to Hyde Park Corner in the west. It is adjacent to Mayfair, and Green Park. Regent Street and Bond Street are important thoroughfares.

East London

East London saw much of London's early industrial development and much of it now is being extensively redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway. It was also key to London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics, and is now scheduled to undergo extensive regeneration in the run-up to the games. This is the second time in modern history that East London has seen large-scale rebuilding: it took the full force of the Blitz in World War Two, with post-war reconstruction leaving a legacy of bleak housing estates and tower blocks in several areas.

The East End

tower block The East End of London is closest to the original Port of London, and tended for that reason to be the area of the city where immigrants arriving into the port would settle first. Successive waves of immigrants include the French, the Huguenots, Belgians, Jews, Gujaratis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and many other groups. The East End extends from the eastern side of the City of London and includes areas such as Whitechapel, Mile End, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Bow, Millwall and Poplar. The area has many places of interest including many of London's markets, (for example Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market, Petticoat Lane Market), and several museums, including the Geffrye Museum and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

Docklands

Bethnal Green]] The London Docklands, on the Isle of Dogs along the Thames in the East End, has developed enormously since the early-1980s. For a period in the early-1980s, many warehouse buildings in Wapping had been occupied and used as artists studios and low-cost loft living spaces. This inevitably drew the attention of property developers who gradually (and then not so gradually) moved in to take over. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up in 1981 to accelerate the process, and the first phases of major development started to reshape the area, culminating in Canary Wharf, whose best-known feature is the 1 Canada Square office tower (which is often incorrectly called "Canary Wharf"), which has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1991. A massive-scale development within the last three or four years has added a great many more skyscrapers, and many large businesses (investment banks, law firms, etc.) have moved in. A new headquarters for HSBC and Barclays as well as the European headquarters of Citigroup, have now been completed, and are in use. Attracted by this growth, restaurants, bars and nightclubs have opened, there are three interconnected shopping malls beneath the Canary Wharf structure, and a cinema complex has opened in the area. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) serves the area, connecting to the London Underground at Bank, Shadwell, Canning Town and Stratford stations. There has also been a great deal of gentrification and residential development in the area: North of the Thames around Limehouse Basin and toward Wapping, as well as south of the Thames in Rotherhithe where former wharfs and the old docks have been converted into high-priced loft apartments for a community of bankers, software developers and others working in the financial service industries in and around Docklands. Further east in the London Borough of Newham are London City Airport and the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

West London

West London includes many of the traditionally fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, made better known in 1999 by a film of the same name starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Within the district is the famous antique market at Portobello Road. Kensington and Chelsea are the most expensive places to live in the country. The area is also famous for the Kings Road, a distinguished and attractive shopping street and thoroughfare. Further to the west, at White City, near Shepherd's Bush, is the principal operating centre for the BBC, while in the extreme west, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, lies Heathrow Airport. Considered more south-west than West London on account of its being the only London borough to straddle the River Thames, Richmond upon Thames includes the attractive riverside districts of Richmond and Twickenham. This corner of London is home to Richmond Park, London's largest, and Twickenham, the home of English rugby union.

North London

North London includes suburbs such as Hampstead and Highgate, which retain a village atmosphere. North London is more hilly than the south, and many of the hills give excellent views across the city. Large parks include Hampstead Heath, which includes Parliament Hill, noted for its fine views over the city, and the Hampstead bathing ponds; and Alexandra Park, site of Alexandra Palace. Many areas have significant minority populations including Stamford Hill, home to a significant community of Orthodox Jews, the Green Lanes area of Harringay and the Finsbury Park area have large Turkish and Greek communities. Islington is considered one of the more affluent areas in London, due to large scale gentrification, although it is in fact one of the most deprived boroughs in the country; it is also home to Arsenal football club. North London's other world-famous football team, Tottenham Hotspur, play in nearby Tottenham.

South London

South London contains such diverse districts as Wimbledon (famous as the home of the major tennis Wimbledon Championships), Bermondsey, and Dulwich. Redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle, a road intersection and district close to the centre, is due to start in 2006. Greenwich is on the banks of the Thames where the river broadens into a wide meandering reach of muddy water. It is an historic neighbourhood and boasts a fine park and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. It is also has a popular market. Brixton, Camberwell and Peckham are home to many families (and their descendants) who immigrated to London from the West Indies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, sometimes known as Afro-Caribbeans.

Demographics

Afro-Caribbeans London had about 860,000 people in 1801 (in comparison, Paris had about 670,000 in 1802), and the population of Edo (modern-day Tokyo, Japan), at the time the largest city in the world, has been estimated at 1 million to 1.25 million people. London was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York. Residents of London are known as Londoners. The city and the 32 boroughs (some 1,579 km² or 610 square miles) had an estimated 7,421,228 inhabitants in 2004, making London the most populous city in Europe alongside Moscow. Subsequent reviews suggested that the returns were understated, and that the population on Census Day was closer to 7.29 million. The official estimate of London's population in mid-2003 is 7,387,900 [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8561.xls] In the 2001 census, 76% of these seven million people classed their ethnic group as white (classified as British White, Irish White or "Other White" in the 2001 census), 10% as Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani, 5% as black African, 5% as black Caribbean, 3% as mixed race and 1% as Chinese. The largest religious groupings are Christian (58.2%) and No Religion (15.8%). 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European Union. The Irish are the largest foreign-born group in London (numbering approximately 200,000). European Union] Unlike many other countries, the UK does not provide national metropolitan area population figures based on commuter percentages and economic influence. This is left up to each individual city to define. This has created much confusion when comparing London's true metropolitan area region with others around the world. It is helped even less by confusion of the term "Greater London" with the political entity of the City of London, which is often confused with the metropolitan area. Without a specific national reference to London's metropolitan area, many different sources provide alternate definitions. One widely regarded definition describes the London metropolitan area (6,267 square miles, 16,043 km²) with a population of 13,945,000 — larger than the combined populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. (External references: [http://www.demographia.com/dm-lonarea.htm], [http://www.lbwf.gov.uk/demography/census/london/london_boroughs_census2001.pdf]) If this definition is followed, then London is the largest metropolitan area of Europe, along with Moscow (whose metropolitan area has somewhere around 14 million people), and above Paris (11.5 million people in the metropolitan area in 2004). In 2004, the Greater London Authority defined a metropolitan region centred on London with a population of 18 million. This region extends to cover the commuter belt, and much of South East England and East of England, for example including the cities of Brighton and Oxford. (External references:[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_all.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_1.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/draft_london_plan/dlp_ch1.pdf])

Government

Greater London Authority meets here]] Greater London is divided into the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The boroughs are the most important unit of local government in London, and are responsible for running most local services in their respective areas. The City of London is run not by a conventional local authority, but by the historical Corporation of London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is the London-wide body responsible for co-ordinating the boroughs, strategic planning, and running some London-wide services such as policing, the fire service and transport. The GLA consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The mayor is elected by the Supplementary Vote system while the assembly is elected by the Additional Member System. The incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was elected as an independent candidate in the 2000 election. Despite opposition from all the main political parties and the press, his popularity with Londoners has remained high. Livingstone was expelled from the Labour Party when he opposed the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the 2000 Mayoral election. Readmitted by that party in 2004, he was re-elected as Mayor as an official Labour candidate in the election later that year. The GLA was created in 2000 as a replacement body for the former Greater London Council (GLC) which was created in 1965 and abolished in 1986 after political disputes between the GLC (then led by Ken Livingstone) and the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. Previous London wide administrative bodies were the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) from 1855 to 1889; the London County Council (LCC) from 1889 to 1965; and the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1965 to 1986. When the GLC was abolished, most of its functions were devolved to the London boroughs, while others were taken over by joint-boards or other unelected bodies. The boroughs thus enjoyed "unitary status" and a degree of autonomy when the GLC was abolished, and although losing some powers which have been repatriated to the GLA they still retain many areas they did not control under the GLC. London is represented in Parliament by 74 MPs. For a list of London constituencies see List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London. The territorial police force for the 32 London boroughs is the Metropolitan Police Service, more commonly referred to as the Metropolitan Police, or simply "the Met". The City of London has its own police force, the City of London Police. Health services in London are managed by the national government via the National Health Service (NHS). Greater London is divided into five Strategic Health Authorities [http://www.nhs.uk/england/authoritiestrusts/sha/MapSearch.aspx?rg=Y21].

Transport and infrastructure

For main article see Transport and infrastructure in London Transport and infrastructure in London Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control is limited. The executive agency which runs London's transport system is Transport for London (TfL). The public transport network is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces congestion and reliability issues. The network is one of the most complex transit systems in the world with just over 1 billion journeys used every year on the underground alone. London is most famous for its AEC Routemaster buses which have been in service in the capital since 1956. Routemasters will be phased out of service from TfL's main bus routes, with the last routemaster service being operated on the 9 December 2005 on Route 159. Two 'heritage' routes are planned for service to maintain Routemasters on London's streets. 2005]] The networks for transport in London include: Underground (commonly known as the tube); Bus; River Services; Docklands Light Railway (DLR); Croydon Tramlink; National Rail; Thameslink. As of mid-2005, in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games a total of £7 billion ($12 billion) will be spent on refurbishment and expansion of city links, mainly on the London Underground. Although the main reason for this is because of the increased traffic flow that will be caused by the 2012 Olympics, the work would still be completed if London had not won the games. By 2013 a new service called Crossrail is due to be opened. Also in planning is the Cross River Tram (CRT). It will depart in the south suburbs, cross the River Thames, through to the City of London (the financial district), and continue its journey to the northern suburbs. It is speculated that it will be the world's longest tram. The main Olympic arenas will be sited close to Stratford International station, which is currently being constructed as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The new high-speed line, due to open in 2007, will be used by the regular 'Olympic Javelin' service with a journey time of 7 minutes between Stratford and St Pancras. This service was a key part of the Olympic bid and will provide access from northern areas of the UK via King's Cross and Euston.
Education
Main Article: Education in London London is home to a diverse number of universities, colleges and schools, and is a leading centre of research and development. This includes prominemnt universities such as Imperial College, London and the London School of Economics

Media

The British media is concentrated in London and is sometimes accused of having a "London bias". All the major television networks are headquartered in London including the BBC, which remains one of the world's most influential media organisations. Partly to counter complaints about London bias, the BBC announced in June 2004 that some departments (BBC Sport, CBBC, Cbeebies, BBC Three and BBC Radio Five Live) are to be relocated to Manchester. Other major networks include ITV, Channel 4, Five and BSkyB - all based in London. Like the BBC, these produce some programmes elsewhere in the UK, but London is their main production centre. There is a huge choice of radio stations available in London. Local city-wide stations include music-based stations such as Capital FM, Heart 106.2 and Kiss 100 and popular news/talk stations include BBC London, LBC 97.3 and LBC News 1152. The London newspaper market is dominated by national newspapers, all of which are edited in London. Until the 1970s, most of the national newspapers were concentrated in Fleet Street, but in the 1980s they relocated to new premises with automated printing works. Most of these are in East London, most famously the News International plant at Wapping. The move was resisted strongly by the printing trade union SOGAT 82, and strike action at Wapping in 1986 led to violent skirmishes. The last major news agency in Fleet Street, Reuters, moved to Canary Wharf in 2005, but Fleet Street is still commonly used as a collective term for the national press. Regional Editions of most national newspapers are available, including editions for northern England, Scotland and Wales. London has three daily newspaper titles - the popular Evening Standard, plus two free titles, Metro and Standard Lite (published by the Evening Standard) which are distributed every morning at London tube and railway stations. The independent weekly listings guide Time Out Magazine has been providing concert, film, theatre and arts information since 1968. London is at the centre of British film and television production industries, with major studio facilities on the western fringes of the conurbation and a large post-production industry centred in Soho. London is one of the two leading centres of English-language publishing alongside New York. Globally important media companies based in London range from publishing group Pearson, to the information agency Reuters, to the world's number two advertising business WPP Group. There are a vast number of local newspapers in the London area, often covering a small section of the vast city.

Religion

local newspapers When Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597, it was intended that the envoy should become "Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered as the capital of Roman Britain. In the event, the saint received his most hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archiepiscopal see was founded at Canterbury. Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England's religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official residence at Lambeth Palace. London's two Anglican bishops are the Bishop of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in London's grandest church, the baroque St Paul's Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south of the river. Important national and royal ceremonies are divided between St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, a gothic church on the scale of a cathedral. As in the rest of the UK, religious attendance in London is low, and the Church of England has borne the brunt of this decline. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is generally regarded as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other traditional Protestant denominations whose headquarters are in London include the United Reformed Church and the Quakers. Many of London's immigrant groups have established denominations in the city, for example Greek Orthodoxy. In addition various evangelical churches exist. London is the most important centre of Islam in the United Kingdom. Two London boroughs contain the highest proportion of Muslims in the UK: Tower Hamlets and Newham. The London Central Mosque is a well-known landmark on the edge of Regent's Park, and there are many other mosques in the city. London also has the largest Hindu population outside of India. Southall, in West London is home to many Hindus. The Hindu temple at Neasden, Neasden Temple is the largest Hindu temple outside of India and a remarkable example of a modern building in a traditional style. Much of the enormously elaborate and intricate marble sculpture used in the building was carved in India. Over two-thirds of British Jews live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/concepts/demography/demtables.html#10].

Sport

British Jews London hosts one of the world's largest mass-participation marathons, the London Marathon, and has hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948. In July 2005 London was chosen to host the Games in 2012. London will be the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times. The most popular spectator sport in London is football, and London has several of England's leading football clubs. Historically the London clubs have not accumulated as many trophies as those from the North West of England, such as Liverpool and Manchester United, but at present Arsenal (founded at Woolwich Arsenal but moved to Highbury in 1913), and Chelsea (who play in Fulham) are regarded as two of the Premier League's "Big three" alongside Manchester United. In 2003-04 they became the first pair of London clubs to finish first and second in the top flight, with Arsenal winning. In 2004-05 they did so again, this time with Chelsea winning. London clubs are able to charge higher ticket prices than clubs in other parts of the country (particularly for corporate facilities), and this has swung English football's balance of power towards London. Before Chelsea's recent rise in fortunes the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "Big five" for most of the post-war period. In 2005-06 there are six London clubs in the Premier League: Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, plus Charlton Athletic, Fulham and West Ham United. There are also five London clubs in the fully professional Football League (the level below the Premiership), namely Brentford, Crystal Palace (who play in South Norwood), Leyton Orient, Millwall and Queens Park Rangers (QPR)—all of whom have previously played in the top division. In a controversial move, Wimbledon left London in 2003 to play in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, changing their name to Milton Keynes Dons; the newly formed AFC Wimbledon inherited most of their support, despite playing at a much lower level in the football pyramid. There are also numerous London clubs playing outside the top four divisions of English football, one or two of which are fully professional and many of which are part-time professional. Wembley Stadium in north-west London is the national football stadium, traditionally the home of the FA Cup Final as well as England national side's home matches. Currently, Wembley is being completely rebuilt, so Cardiff's Millennium Stadium has been the venue for recent FA Cup finals, while England play at various venues around the country. Wembley was one of the venues for the , and the 1996 European Championship, and hosted the final of both tournaments. It also was the venue for the European Cup final in 1968, 1978 and 1992. As well as football matches, Wembley has hosted many other sporting events, including the Rugby League Challenge Cup final. Rugby Union is also well established in London, especially in the middle-class suburbs to the north and west of the city. The Capital City (The Simpsons). For centers of government and politics, see Capital. Capital City is a 60-minute television show produced by Euston Films that ran for 13 episodes in 1989 on ITV. This drama focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman. Despite its short run in the UK, it was rebroadcast on UKTV Gold as well as a handful of PBS stations in the United States.

External links

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- [http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/drama/capitalcity.htm Nostalgia Central]
- [http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/reviews/gold/capitalcity.htm Off the Telly]
- [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1133069/ Screen Online] Category:ITV television programmes Category:Drama television series

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
The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Crown. Their Commander-in-Chief is the Queen and they are managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ministry of Defence The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting the United Kingdom's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts. They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations. The United Kingdom fields one of the most powerful and comprehensive military forces in the World. Its global power projection capabilities are second only to those of the United States Armed Forces. The British Army had a reported strength of 112,700 in 2004, including 7,600 women, and the Royal Air Force a strength of 53,400. The 40,900-member Royal Navy is in charge of the United Kingdom's independent strategic nuclear arm, which consists of four Trident Ballistic Missile Submarines, while the Royal Marines provide infantry units for amphibious assault and for specialist reinforcement forces in and beyond the NATO area. This puts total active duty military troops in the 210,000 range, currently deployed in over 80 countries. The UK's special forces, principally the SAS, provides elite commandos trained for quick, mobile, military responses; often where secrecy or covert operations are required. The Royal Navy is the second largest navy in the World in terms of gross tonnage. Despite the United Kingdom's wide ranging capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that any large operation would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq (Granby, No-Fly-Zones, Desert Fox and Telic) may all be taken as precedent - indeed the last true war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which military action was initiated by Argentina and the UK was fighting a defensive, rather than offensive, campaign. The British army has been actively involved in the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, a programme of demilitarisation is being gradually implemented.
Geography
Troubles World Factbook Map of the United Kingdom]] Most of England consists of rolling lowland terrain, divided east from west by more mountainous terrain in the Northwest (Cumbrian Mountains of the Lake District) and north (the upland moors of the Pennines) and limestone hills of the Peak District by the Tees-Exe line. The lower limestone hills of the Isle of Purbeck, Cotswolds, Lincolnshire and chalk downs of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The main rivers and estuaries are the Thames, Severn and the Humber Estuary. The largest urban area is Greater London. Near Dover, the Channel Tunnel links the United Kingdom with France. There is no peak in England that is 1000 metres (3,300 ft) or greater. Wales is mostly mountainous, the highest peak being Snowdon at 1085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level. North of the mainland is the island of Anglesey. The largest and capital city is Cardiff, located in South Wales. Scotland's geography is varied, with lowlands in the south and east and highlands in the north and west, including Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain at 1343 metres (4,406 ft). There are many long and deep-sea arms, firths, and lochs. A multitude of islands west and north of Scotland are also included, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The largest city is Glasgow. Northern Ireland, making up the north-eastern part of Ireland, is mostly hilly. The main cities are Belfast ('Beal Feirste' in Irish) and Londonderry / Derry ('Doire' in Irish). The province is home to one of the UK’s World Heritage Sites, the Giant's Causeway, which consists of more than 40,000 six-sided basalt columns up to 40 feett (12 m) high. In total it is estimated that the UK includes around 1098 small islands, some being natural and some being crannogs, a type of artificial island which was built in past times using stone and wood, gradually enlarged by natural waste building up over time.
Economy
artificial island The United Kingdom, a leading trading power and financial centre, has an essentially capitalist economy, the fourth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. Over the past three decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership by means of privatisation programmes, and has contained the growth of the Welfare State. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labour force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial state. Services, particularly banking, insurance and business services, account for by far the largest proportion of GDP. Industry continues to decline in importance, although the UK is still Europe's largest manufacturer of armaments, petroleum products, personal computers, televisions, and mobile telephones. Tourism is also important: with over 24 million tourists a year, between China (33) and Austria (19.1), the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. The Blair government has put off the question of participation in the Euro system, citing five economic tests that would need to be met before they recommend that the UK adopts the Euro, and hold a referendum.
Society

Demographics
At the April 2001 census, the United Kingdom's population was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. Its overall population density is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban and suburban--with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99%) is attributable to universal public education introduced for the primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900 (except in Scotland where it was introduced in 1696). Education is mandatory from ages five through sixteen. referendum The Church of England and the Church of Scotland function as the official national religions in their respective countries, but most religions found in the world are represented in the United Kingdom. Anglicanism is the state religion that has been established in England since 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. During his reign, England broke ties with the Roman Catholic church and established the Church of England as the offical religion of England. Reforms to the nature of the church's relationship to the state have been ongoing, especially concerning the nature of the House of Lords and the appointment of a fixed amount of the lordships going to Lords Temporal, bishops of the Church of England. A group of islands close to continental Europe, the British Isles have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Contemporary Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Although Celtic languages persist in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the predominant language is English, which is a West Germanic language descended from Old English, featuring a large amount of borrowings from Norman French.The other indigenous languages include the Celtic languages; Welsh, the closely related Irish and Scots Gaelic, and the Cornish language; as well as Lowland Scots, which is closely related to English; Romany; and British Sign Language (Northern Ireland Sign Language is also used in Northern Ireland). Celtic dialectal influences from Cumbric persisted in Northern England for many centuries, most famously in a unique set of numbers used for counting sheep. Recent immigrants, especially from the Commonwealth, speak many other languages, including Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. The United Kingdom has the largest number of Hindi speaking peoples outside of the Indian sub continent.
Culture
Urdu The United Kingdom contains many of the world's leading universities, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the University of London (which incorporates, amongst others, Imperial College and University College London), and has produced many great scientists and engineers including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Isambard Kingdom Brunel; the nation is credited with many inventions including the locomotive, vaccination, television, vacuum, and both the internal combustion and the jet engine. The English language has spread to all corners of the world (primarily because of the country’s empire) and is referred to as a ‘global language’. It is now taught as a second language more than any other around the world. Over the next few decades, it is estimated that approximately half the world’s population will be proficient in the language. Playwright William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous writer in the history of the English language; other well-known writers from the United Kingdom include the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, J. R. R. Tolkien, John Milton, H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens. Important poets include Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson and William Blake. Notable composers from the United Kingdom have included William Byrd, John Taverner, William Lawes, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, and Henry Purcell from the 16th and early 17th centuries, and, more recently, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in the 19th and 20th. George Frideric Handel spent most of his composing life in England. The BBC is the oldest and perhaps the most respected broadcasting network on the globe, with the BBC World Service radio channel and its news output held in particularly high regard. The other main television networks are ITV, Channel 4, five (TV) and Sky Television. Popular programmes in the UK include the three soaps Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as well as the comedy news quiz Have I Got News For You and Reality TV shows Big Brother and The X Factor. Various British TV formats have been exported to other nations, notably Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and The Office. The UK was, with the US, one of the two main contributors in the development of rock and roll, and the UK has provided some of the most famous rock stars, including the Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, The Who and many others. The UK was at the forefront of punk rock music in the 1970s with bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and the subsequent rebirth of heavy metal with bands such as Motörhead and Iron Maiden. In mid to late '90s, the Britpop phenomenon has seen bands such as Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay gain international fame. The UK is also at the forefront of electronica, with British artists such as Aphex Twin, Talvin Singh, Nitin Sawhney and Lamb at the cutting edge. The United Kingdom was also associated with music from the Caribbean, with a large number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals being present in the UK.
Sport
A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including football, golf, cricket, rugby, tennis and boxing. The national sport of the UK is association football, but the UK does not compete as a nation in any major football tournament. Instead, the home nations compete individually as England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is because of this unique four-team arrangement that the UK currently does not compete in football events at the Olympic Games. However, a united team will probably take part in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as these are hosted in London. The English and Northern Irish football associations have confirmed participation in this team while the Scottish FA and the Welsh FA have declined to participate. The UK also hosts many world-renowned football clubs, such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in England and Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Clubs compete in national leagues and competitions and some go on to compete in European competitions. Both forms of rugby are national sports. Rugby League originates from and is generally played in the North of England, whilst Rugby Union is played all over Britain. In Rugby League the UK plays as one nation - Great Britain - whilst in union it is represented by the four nations. England are the current holders of the Rugby Union World Cup. Every four years the British and Irish Lions (comprising the best players from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) tour other countries. Cricket is also played in the UK, although it is focussed in England. The Wimbledon Championships are an international tennis event held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are seen as the most prestigious of the tennis calendar. Golf is one of the most popular participation sports played in the UK and St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course.
Miscellaneous topics

External links

- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations] History of the nations within the UK.
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)]
- [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html CIA World Factbook: UK.]
- [http://www.direct.gov.uk Gateway to UK governmental services and websites.]
- [http://www.number-10.gov.uk Number 10 Downing Street]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]
- [http://www.opsi.gov.uk Office of Public Sector Information] Source for all UK legislation 1987-present (successor to Her Majesty's Stationery Office).
- [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles] Independent view of the UK.
- [http://www.royal.gov.uk The British Monarchy]
- [http://www.parliament.uk/ The United Kingdom Parliament]
- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5703&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272 Official Yearbook of the UK] factbook produced by the Office for National Statistics (years 2000 to 2005 available online).
- [http://www.ukcities.co.uk UK Cities] lists a variety of useful resources for every city in the UK.
- [http://www.justuk.org UK travel guide] United Kingdom for travellers.
- [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom World66 Guide to United Kingdom] A travel guide written by its users.
- [http://www.multimap.co.uk www.multimap.co.uk] provides online maps and aerial photographs of the UK.
- [http://www.streetmap.co.uk www.streetmap.co.uk] an alternative to multimap.
- [http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/united-kingdom/map.html Physical map of United Kingdom.]
- [http://www.upmystreet.com www.upmystreet.com] detailed localised information about places in the United Kingdom.
- [http://www.parks.it/world/UK/Eindex.html UK Parks] National parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other protected areas. ----
Category:British Isles Category:European countries Category:European Union member states Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Monarchies A als:Grossbritannien und Nordirland zh-min-nan:Liân-ha̍p Ông-kok ko:영국 ms:United Kingdom ja:イギリス simple:United Kingdom th:สหราชอาณาจักร

Gross domestic product

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total value of final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a year. It is one of the measures of national income and output. It may be used as one indicator of the standard of living in a country, but there may be limitations with this view. GDP is often abbreviated as Y.

Definition

GDP is defined as the total value of goods and services produced within a territory during a specified period (or, if not specified, annually, so that "the UK GDP" is the UK's annual product). GDP differs from gross national product (GNP) in excluding inter-country income transfers, in effect attributing to a territory the product generated within it rather than the incomes received in it. Whereas nominal GDP refers to the total amount of money spent on GDP, real GDP adjusts this value for the effects of inflation in order to estimate the actual quantity of goods and services making up GDP. The former is sometimes called "money GDP," while the latter is termed "constant-price" or "inflation-corrected" GDP -- or "GDP in base-year prices" (where the base year is the reference year of the index used). See real vs. nominal in economics. GDP measures only final goods and services, that is those goods and services that are consumed by their final user, and not used as an input into other goods. Measuring intermediate goods and services would lead to double counting of economic activity within a country. This distinction also removes transfers between individuals and companies from GDP. For instance, buying a Renoir doesn't boost GDP by $20m. (If it did, buying and selling the same painting repeatedly to a gallery would imply great wealth rather than penury.) Note that the Renoir purchase would affect the GDP figure, but not as a $20m receipt, the auctioneer's fees would appear in GDP as consumption expenditure, because this is a final service. The most common approach to measuring and understanding GDP is the expenditure method: : GDP = consumption + investment + exports − imports Consumption and investment in this equation are the expenditure on final goods and services. The exports minus imports part of the equation (often called net exports) then adjusts this by subtracting the part of this expenditure not produced domestically (the imports), and adding back in domestic production not consumed at home (the exports). Economists (since Keynes) have preferred to split the general consumption term into two parts; private consumption, and public sector spending. Two advantages of dividing total consumption this way in theoretical macroeconomics are:
- Private consumption is a central concern of welfare economics. The private investment and trade portions of the economy are ultimately directed (in mainstream economic models) to increases in long-term private consumption.
- If separated from endogenous private consumption, Government consumption can be treated as exogenous, so that different government spending levels can be considered within a meaningful macroeconomic framework. Therefore GDP can be expressed as: : GDP = private consumption + government + investment + net exports : (or simply GDP = C + G + I + NX)

The components of GDP

Each of the variables C, I, G, and NX :
- C is private consumption (or Consumer expenditures) in the economy. This includes most expenditures of households such as food, rent, medical expenses and so on.
- I is defined as business investments in capital. Examples of investment by a business include construction of a new mine, purchase of software, or purchase of machinery and equipment for a factory. 'Investment' in GDP is meant very specifically as non-financial product purchases. Buying financial products is classed as saving in macroeconomics, as opposed to investment (which, in the GDP formula is a form of spending). The distinction is (in theory) clear: if money is converted into goods or services, without a repayment liability it is investment. For example, if you buy a bond or share the ownership of the money has only nominally changed hands, and this transfer payment is excluded from the GDP sum. Although such purchases would be called investments in normal speech, from the total-economy point of view, this is simply swapping of deeds, and not part of the real economy or the GDP formula.
- G is the sum of government expenditures on final goods and services. It includes salaries of public servants, purchase of weapons for the millitary, and any investment expenditure by a government. It does not include any transfer payments, such as social security or unemployment benefits. The relative size of government expenditure compared to GDP as a whole is critical in the theory of crowding out, and the Keynesian cross.
- NX are "net exports" in the economy (gross exports - gross imports). GDP captures the amount a country produces, including goods and services produced for overseas consumption, therefore exports are added. Imports are subtracted since imported goods will be included in the terms G, I, or C, and must be deducted to avoid counting foreign supply as domestic. It is important to understand the meaning of each variable precisely in order to:
- Read national accounts.
- Understand Keynesian or neo-classical macroeconomics.

Examples of GDP component variables

Examples of C, I, G, & NX: If you spend money to renovate your hotel so that occupancy rates increase, that is private investment, but if you buy shares in a consortium to do the same thing it is saving. The former is included when measuring GDP (in I), the latter is not. However, when the consortium conducted its own expenditure on renovation, that expenditure would be included in GDP. If the hotel is your private home your renovation spending would be measured as Consumption, but if a government agency is converting the hotel into an office for civil servants the renovation spending would be measured as part of public sector spending (G). If the renovation involves the purchase of a chandelier from abroad, that spending would also be counted as an increase in imports, so that NX would fall and the total GDP is unaffected by the purchase. (This highlights the fact that GDP is intended to measure domestic production rather than total consumption or spending. Spending is really a convenient means of estimating production.) If you are paid to manufacture the chandelier to hang in a foreign hotel the situation would be reversed, and the payment you receive would be counted in NX (positively, as an export). Again, we see that GDP is attempting to measure production through the means of expenditure; if the chandelier you produced had been bought domestically it would have been included in the GDP figures (in C or I) when purchased by a consumer or a business, but because it was exported it is necessary to 'correct' the amount consumed domestically to give the amount produced domestically. (As in Gross Domesti