|
The United Kingdom or UK is officially known as The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Located off the northwestern coast of Europe, this sovereign state spans an archipelago encompassing Great Britain, the north-eastern part of Ireland and many other smaller islands. The mainland of Great Britain comprises England, Scotland and Wales. With Northern Ireland, the country is commonly referred to as Britain.
The only country sharing a land border with UK is Ireland, which lines Northern Ireland towards the south. Being an island country, UK is surrounded by water bodies on all sides, including the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, English Channel and Irish Sea. The capital of UK and its seat of government is London. National administrations of the country include Belfast in Northern Ireland, Cardiff in Wales and Edinburgh in Scotland.
Formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain dates back to the Treaty of Union (1706), which led to the political union of the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland in 1707. A century later, the Kingdom of Ireland was also merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain. This led to the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800. United Kingdom thus, became the union of England, Ireland and Scotland.
In 1921, the island of UK was partitioned and Ireland was declared as a Free State in 1922. However, Northern Ireland remained a part of the United Kingdom. It is for this reason that the formal title of UK was changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927. The UK-led Industrial Revolution during the 18th century transformed the country and led to the growth of the British Empire.
Defeating France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792 – 1815), UK emerged as a powerful nation of the 19th century. Housing the world's largest city, London, from 1830 to 1930, UK remained the foremost power till the mid 20th century. It was one of the four powers, which opposed Germany and its allies in World War I (1914 – 1918). By the end of the war, the nation landed into a huge national debt.
On receiving the League of Nations mandate after the war, UK expanded to its greatest extent. It then, covered 1/5th of the world's land surface and almost a quarter of its population. UK had not even recovered from the effects of the war when, the Great Depression (1929 – 1932) occurred leading to political and social unrest in the country. UK was also one of the three main Allies of World War II (1939 – 1945).
After defeating Europe and fighting against Germany in World War II, UK became one of the Big Three powers that met to plan the post-war world. Though the war led UK to financial crises, the country managed to recover with the Marshall Aid and loans from United States and Canada. In the following years, UK established itself as a Welfare State. After the Suez Crisis of 1956, the language and culture of British went international and influenced many other trivia.
Other essential chapters in UK's history include Protestant and Catholic outbreaks (1966), Derry riots (1969), suspension of Parliament of Northern Ireland (1972), Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985) and Good Friday Agreement (1988). With the Maastricht Treaty (1992), UK became one of the 12 founding members of the European Union (EU). By the end of the 20th century, the devolved national administrations were established.
Till now, UK remains a great power with leading economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. With such fascinating history and modern culture, the country soon became popular as a tourist destination.
Ranked as the 6th most popular tourist destination in the world, UK encompasses four different countries for tourism. These include England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The climate of the country favours year round tourism, but the busiest time of the year is from late spring to summer (May to mid-September).
|
