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LAND
243,978 km$2$; 30% arable, 50% meadow and pasture, 12% waste or urban, 7% forested, 1% inland water

Land boundaries: 360 km

WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 3 nm (fishing 200 nm)

Coastline: 12,429 km

PEOPLE
Population: 56,095,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 0.1%

Nationality: noun—Briton(s), British (collective pl.); adjective–British

Ethnic divisions: 81.5% English, 9.6% Scottish, 2.4% Irish, 1.9% Welsh, 1.8% Ulster, 0.8% other; West Indian, Indian, Pakistani over 2%

Religion: 27.0 million Church of England, 5.3 million Roman Catholic, 2.0 million Presbyterian, 760,000 Methodist, 450,000 Jews (registered)

Language: English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Literacy: 98% to 99%

Labor force: (1978) 26 million, 12.4% unemployed (October 1980)

Organized labor: 40% of labor force

GOVERNMENT
Official name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: London

Political subdivisions: 635 parliamentary constituencies

Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: celebration of birthday of the Queen, 16 June

Branches: legislative authority resides in Parliament; executive authority lies with collectively responsible Cabinet led by Prime Minister; House of Lords is supreme judicial authority and highest court of appeal

Government leader: Chief of State, Queen ELIZABETH II; Head of Government, Prime Minister Margaret THATCHER

Suffrage: universal over age 18

Elections: at discretion of Prime Minister, but must be held before expiration of a five-year electoral mandate; last election 3 May 1979

Political parties and leaders: Conservative, Margaret Thatcher; Labor, Michael Foot; Liberal, David Steel; Social Democratic, joint leadership at present; Communist, Gordan McLennan; Scottish National, Gordon Wilson; Plaid Cymru, Dafydd Wigley

Voting strength: (1979 election) Conservative 339 seats (43.9%), Labor 268 seats (36.9%), Liberal 11 seats (13.8%), Scottish National 2 seats (1.6%), Plaid Cymru 2 seats (0.4%), other 13 seats (2.8%); (1981 byelections) Conservative 336 seats, Labor 250 seats, Liberal 12 seats, Social Democratic 28 seats, Scottish National 2 seats, Plaid Cymru 2 seats, others 13 seats

Communists: 29,000

Other political or pressure groups: Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Member of: ADB, CENTO, Colombo Plan, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EEC, ELDO, ESRO, EURATOM, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, IOOC, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, NATO, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

ECONOMY
GNP: $518.7 billion (1980), $9,280 per capita; 60.3% consumption, 17.4% investment, 21.6% government; −1.5% stockbuilding, 2.2% net foreign balance, real growth −1.4% (1980) 242