Other major cities include Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester in England, Belfast and Londonderry in Northern Ireland, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, and Swansea and Cardiff in Wales. 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. At its height in the 1920s, the empire encompassed almost a quarter of the world’s landmass and population, and was the largest empire 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. Like the Retail Price Index, the Consumer Price Index inflation rate also reached a recent peak in October 2022.
Government facing hard choices
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. In 2024, the average salary for full-time workers in the UK was 37,430 British pounds a year, up from 34,963 in the previous year. In London, the average annual salary was far higher than the rest of the country, at 47,455 pounds per year, compared with just 32,960 in North East England.
- There also still exists a noticeable gender pay gap in the UK, which was seven percent for full-time workers in 2024, down from 7.5 percent in 2023.
- The archipelago formed by Great Britain and the numerous smaller islands is as irregular in shape as it is diverse in geology and landscape.
- Between September 2022 and March 2023, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022.
- Inflation nevertheless remains elevated, fueled not only by high food inflation, but also by underlying core inflation.
- It has more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland.224 The Senedd can legislate on any matter not specifically reserved to the UK Parliament by Acts of Senedd Cymru.
Other statistics on the topicWeather in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom bears the extra burden of Brexit, which has knocked billions off the economy since the country left the European Union in 2020. Unfortunately for Reeves, the UK economy, the world’s sixth-largest, isn’t doing as well as she hoped, with many critics blaming her decision last year to slap taxes on business. Though there were signs the economy was improving in the first half of the year, when it was the fastest-growing among the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, it has faltered again. The Met Office has issued a yellow “be aware” warning for western and northern Scotland. In 2025 there were 197 restaurants with a Michelin Star; 55 of them consider their cuisine to be ‘Modern British’.508 Sweet foods are common within British cuisine, and there is a long list of British desserts.
As a result of these factors, inflation surged across Europe and in other parts of the world, but typically declined in 2023, and approached more usual levels by 2024. The United Kingdom comprises four geographic and historical parts—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom contains most of the area and population of the British Isles—the geographic term for the group of islands that includes Great Britain, Ireland, and many smaller islands. Together England, Wales, and Scotland constitute Great Britain, the larger of the two principal islands, while Northern Ireland and the republic of Ireland constitute the second largest island, Ireland.
The Welsh Government is currently a Welsh Labour minority non gamstop casinos government led by the first minister, Eluned Morgan. Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities, each led by a leader and cabinet elected by the council itself. England accounts for 53 per cent of the UK, covering 50,350 square miles (130,395 km2).153 Most of the country consists of lowland terrain,154 with upland and mountainous terrain northwest of the Tees–Exe line which roughly divides the UK into lowland and upland areas. Lowland areas include Cornwall, the New Forest, the South Downs and the Norfolk Broads. Upland areas include the Lake District, the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales, Exmoor and Dartmoor. England’s highest mountain is Scafell Pike, at 978 metres (3,209 ft) in the Lake District; its largest island is the Isle of Wight.
