United Kingdom uk or U. K

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative geography of the United Kingdom

The geographical division of the United Kingdom into counties or shires began in England and Scotland in the early Middle Ages and was complete throughout Great Britain and Ireland by the early Modern Period.^[161]Administrative arrangements were developed separately in each country of the United Kingdom, with origins which often pre-dated the formation of the United Kingdom. Modern local government by elected councils, partly based on the ancient counties, was introduced separately: in England and Wales in a 1888 act, Scotland in a 1889 act and Ireland in a 1898 act, meaning there is no consistent system of administrative or geographic demarcation across the United Kingdom.^[162] Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but there has since been a constant evolution of role and function.^[163]

The organisation of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to local arrangements. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine regions, now used primarily for statistical purposes.^[164] One region, Greater London, has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a referendum.^[165] It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected regional assemblies, but a proposed assembly in theNorth East region was rejected by a referendum in 2004.^[166] Below the regional tier, some parts of England have county councils and district councils and others have unitary authorities; while London consists of 32 London boroughs and the City of London. Councillors are elected by the first-past-the-post system in single-member wards or by the multi-member plurality system in multi-member wards.^[167]

For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 council areas, with wide variation in both size and population. The cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas, as is the Highland Council, which includes a third of Scotland's area but only just over 200,000 people. Local councils are made up of elected councillors, of whom there are 1,223;^[168] they are paid a part-time salary. Elections are conducted by single transferable vote in multi-member wards that elect either three or four councillors. Each council elects a Provost, or Convenor, to chair meetings of the council and to act as a figurehead for the area.

Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities. These include the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, which are unitary authorities in their own right.^[169] Elections are held every four years under the first-past-the-post system.^[169]

Local government in Northern Ireland has since 1973 been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote. Their powers are limited to services such as collecting waste, controlling dogs and maintaining parks and cemeteries.^[170] In 2008 the executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils and replace the present system.^[171]

Dependencies

Main articles: British Overseas Territories, Crown dependencies, British Islands, and List of leaders of British dependencies



British Antarctic Territory: Rotheraresearch station

The United Kingdom has sovereignty over seventeen territories which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself: fourteen British Overseas Territories^[25]and three Crown dependencies.^[25][174]

The fourteen British Overseas Territories are remnants of the British Empire: they are Anguilla; Bermuda; the British Antarctic Territory; the British Indian Ocean Territory; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; the Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; the Turks and Caicos Islands; the Pitcairn Islands; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus.^[175]British claims in Antarctica have limited international recognition.^[176]Collectively Britain's overseas territories encompass an approximate land area of 480,000 square nautical miles (640,000 sq mi; 1,600,000 km²),^[177] with a total population of approximately 250,000.^[178] A 1999 UK government white paper stated that: "[The] Overseas Territories are British for as long as they wish to remain British. Britain has willingly granted independence where it has been requested; and we will continue to do so where this is an option."^[179] Self-determination is also enshrined in the constitutions of several overseas territories and three have specifically voted to remain under British sovereignty (Bermuda in 1995,^[180] Gibraltar in 2002^[181] and the Falkland Islands in 2013).^[182]

The Crown dependencies are possessions of the Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the UK.^[183] They comprise three independently administered jurisdictions: the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. By mutual agreement, the British Government manages the islands' foreign affairs and defence and the UK Parliament has the authority to legislate on their behalf. Internationally, they are regarded as "territories for which the United Kingdom is responsible".^[184] The power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with their own respective legislative assemblies, with the assent of the Crown (Privy Council or, in the case of the Isle of Man, in certain circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor).^[185] Since 2005 each Crown dependency has had a Chief Minister as its head of government.^[186]

The British dependencies use a varied assortment of currencies. These include the British pound, US dollar, New Zealand dollar, euro or their own currencies, which may be pegged to either.^{[citation needed]}
Locations of UK dependencies (crown dependencies alphabetised, overseas territories numbered): A Isle of Man; B Guernsey; C Jersey; 1United Kingdom; 2 Gibraltar; 3 Akrotiri and Dhekelia; 4 Bermuda; 5 Turks and Caicos Islands; 6 British Virgin Islands; 7 Anguilla; 8 Cayman Islands; 9 Montserrat; 10 Pitcairn Islands; 11 Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; 12 British Indian Ocean Territory; 13 Falkland Islands;14 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; (15) British Antarctic Territory

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom



Queen Elizabeth II, Monarch since 1952



Boris Johnson, Prime Minister since 2019

The United Kingdom is a unitary state under a constitutional monarchy.Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch and head of state of the UK, as well as fifteen other independent countries. These sixteen countries are sometimes referred to as "Commonwealth realms". The monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn".^[187] The Constitution of the United Kingdom is uncodified and consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, includingstatutes, judge-made case law and international treaties, together withconstitutional conventions.^[188] As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law", the UK Parliamentcan perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament, and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. No Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.^[189]

Government

Main article: Government of the United Kingdom