Portal:United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a population of over 69 million in 2024. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering 94,354 square miles (244,376 km2). It shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea, while maintaining sovereignty over the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. The capital and largest city of England and the UK is London; Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Britain has been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic. In AD 43 the Roman conquest of Britain began. The Roman departure between 383 and 410 was followed by Anglo-Saxon settlement beginning around 450. In 1066 the Normans conquered England. Over the 17th century the role of the British monarchy was reduced, particularly as a result of the English Civil War. In 1707 the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland united under the Treaty of Union to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts of Union 1800 incorporated the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922 as the Irish Free State, and the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 created the present United Kingdom.
The UK became the first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power for the majority of the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly during the Pax Britannica between 1815 and 1914. The British Empire was the leading economic power for most of the 19th century, a position supported by its agricultural prosperity, its role as a dominant trading nation, a massive industrial capacity, significant technological achievements, and the rise of 19th-century London as the world's principal financial centre. At its height in the 1920s, the empire encompassed around a quarter of the world's landmass and population, and was the largest in history. However, its involvement in the First World War and in the Second World War damaged Britain's economic power, and a global wave of decolonisation led to the independence of most British colonies. (Full article...)
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The Scottish Parliament is the national unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh. The Parliament is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members who are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Members are elected for four-year terms under the proportional representation system. The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early thirteenth century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Following a referendum in 1997 where the Scottish people gave their consent, the current Parliament was established by the Scotland Act 1998, which sets out its powers as a devolved legislature. The Act delineated the areas in which it can make laws by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. All matters that are not explicitly reserved are automatically the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament. The UK Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws. The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on 12 May 1999. (Full article...)
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Victoria was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. Her reign lasted more than sixty-three years—longer than any other British monarch. As well as being Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, she was also the first monarch to use the title Empress of India. The reign of Victoria was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. The Victorian Era was at the height of the Industrial Revolution, a period of great social, economic, and technological change in the United Kingdom. Victoria was the last monarch of the House of Hanover; her successor belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. (Full article...)
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- Visit the British Wikipedians' notice board.
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- Comment at the British deletion sorting page.
- This page lists deletion discussions on topics relating to the United Kingdom.
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Did you know -

- ... that a £142 wine fridge was smuggled into Downing Street on 11 December 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom?
- ... that Ruth Northway is the United Kingdom's first professor of learning disability nursing?
- ... that the Labour Party received their highest share of the vote to date in the 1951 UK general election but still lost to the Conservatives, who received fewer votes?
- ... that the 2023 United Kingdom student protests were organised on TikTok and Snapchat?
- ... that Thelma Adams protested milk quotas in the United Kingdom by sitting in a bathtub of milk, while dressed as Cleopatra?
- ... that despite being an independent candidate, Leanne Mohamad came within 528 votes of defeating shadow health secretary Wes Streeting in the 2024 UK general election?
In the news
- 10 March 2026 – 2026 Iran war
- United Kingdom involvement in the 2026 Iran war
- Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon leaves Portsmouth and heads to Cyprus in response to a drone strike on the United Kingdom's RAF Akrotiri base. (BBC News)
- 9 March 2026 – Syrian civil war, Syria–United Kingdom relations
- The Crown Prosecution Service charges a former Syrian soldier from the Air Force Intelligence Directorate with three counts of murder and three counts of torture as crimes against humanity under the International Criminal Court Act for his attacks on civilians in Damascus in 2011. (AP)
- 8 March 2026 –
- A fire occurs in a historic building adjoining the Glasgow Central railway station in Scotland, United Kingdom. The building collapses, destroying a number of businesses and shops. The fire also causes the disruption and cancellation of many train services, with Glasgow Central promptly shutting down until further notice. (BBC News)
- 7 March 2026 – Soham murders
- Child murderer Ian Huntley dies in a hospital nine days after being attacked by a fellow inmate at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham, England, United Kingdom. (BBC News)
- 5 March 2026 –
- The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reports that an explosion struck a tanker anchored in waters about 60 kilometers off the coast of Kuwait, causing an oil spill from a damaged cargo tank. (AFP via The New Zealand Herald)
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