The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, also called the UK, is the third largest economy in Europe behind Germany and France..
The UK does have four separate and noticeable seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Generally it rains once for every three days in the UK. On the other hand, different regions have varied amounts of precipitation. In many instances, the west is wetter than the east and there is more rainfall in the highlands compared to the lowlands.
| Capital: | London; (largest city and population 13,709,000) |
| Leader: | Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II |
| Leader: | Prime Minister: David Cameron |
| Government type: | Constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm |
| Population: | 63,742,977 (July 2014 est.) (source: CIA) |
| Languages: | English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic, and Hindi (480,000), Eastern Panjabi (471,000), Bengali (400,000), Urdu (400,000), Sylheti (300,000), Yue Chinese (300,000), Greek (200,000), Italian (200,000), Southern Caribbean Creole English (170,000), Gujarati (140,000), Kashmiri (115,000), Western Panjabi (103,000) 1. |
| Ethnic Diversity: | White 87.2%, Black/African/Caribbean/British 3%, Asian/Asian British: Indian 2.3%, Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 1.9%, Mixed/Multi-ethnic 2%, other 3.7% (2011 est.) |
| Life Expectancy: | 81 years |
| Official Currency: | Pound Sterling (£) Currency exchange against the Pound Sterling |
| Climate: |
Moderate; the North Atlantic Current brings about southwesterly winds; the days are covered with clouds more than half of the time. |
| Religion: | Christian (includes Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 59.5%, Muslim 4.4%, Hindu 1.3%, other 2%, none 25.7%, unspecified 7.2% (2011 est.) |
| Area: | total: 242,514 sq km (93,638 sq miles) |
| Country Dialing Code: | +44 |
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