United kingdom

The United Kingdom / Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwest coast of the European continent. The United Kingdom consists of the archipelago of Great Britain, the northern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the Kingdom with a land border that separates it from the Republic of Ireland

The United Kingdom is a country with a constitutional monarchy, and was considered a federal state according to a decision in the year 1800, consisting of four regions: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is ruled by a parliamentary system and the government is stationed in the capital, London, but there are local governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, which are capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland with internal self-government. The Jersey Bailiwick, Guernsey Island, the Isle of Man and other islands belong to the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, which means that they are constitutionally linked to the Kingdom but not a part of it

The United Kingdom is governed by fourteen territories called British Overseas Territories, which are not a constitutional part of the United Kingdom and have absolute autonomy and conduct their affairs on their own, but their defense affairs belong to the United Kingdom. These lands are a remnant of the British Empire, which was at its height in 1922 and included nearly a quarter of the land area in the world, and is the largest empire in history. British influence is still observed in the language, culture, and legal systems of many of its former colonies

The United Kingdom is a developed country, with the world's sixth largest economy in terms of gross domestic product and sixth by purchasing power parity. It was also the first country in the world to transform the industrial field, and it was the largest power in the world during the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. However, with the economic and social cost of two world wars, the empire declined in the latter half of the twentieth century, reducing its leadership role in world affairs. The United Kingdom nonetheless remains a great power with strong economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence

It is also one of the nuclear states and has the third or fourth highest military spending in the world according to the method of calculating expenditures in 2008. The United Kingdom is a member state of the European Union, but it voted to secede from it on June 22, 2016, and it is also a permanent member of the Security Council as well as a member of the Commonwealth and a member of The G8, the G20, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization

The United Kingdom led the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century and continues to produce scientists and engineers who are credited with advancing modern science. Examples of theorists from the 17th and 18th centuries include Isaac Newton, whose laws about motion, illumination, and gravity are seen as the cornerstone of modern science, from Darwin's 19th century Charles, whose theory of evolution by natural selection is fundamental to the development of modern biology, and James Clark Maxwell, who The classic theory of electromagnetism was formulated by Stephen Hawking, who has advanced major theories in the fields of cosmology, quantum gravity and the investigation of black holes

Major scientific discoveries from the 18th century include hydrogen by Henry Cavendish, from the 20th century penicillin by Alexander Fleming, and the structure of DNA, by Francis Crick and others. Major engineering projects and applications by people from the United Kingdom in the 18th century include the steam locomotive, developed by Richard Trevithick and Vivian Andrew

And from the 19th century the electric motor by Michael Faraday, the incandescent light bulb by Joseph Swan, the first practical phone, patented by Graham Alexander Bell and in the 20th century the world's first television system powered by John Logie Baird and others, and the jet engine by Little Frank, based on a modern computer by Alan Turing

The World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee. Search. Science and development are still important in British universities, with many establishing science parks to facilitate production and cooperation with industry. Between 2004 and 2008 he produced in the United Kingdom with 7% of the papers in the world scientific research and had an 8% share of scientific citations, and the third-highest and second-highest in the world (after the United States and China, respectively)

In the last quarter of 2008 the UK economy officially entered recession for the first time since 1991. Unemployment increased from 5.2% in May 2008 to 7.6% in May 2009 and by January 2012 the unemployment rate reached between 18 to 24 years old, and children were Ages rose from 11.9% to 22.5%, the highest level since current records began in 1992. UK government total debt increased from 44.5% of GDP in December 2007 to 76.1% of GDP in December 2010