Geography

Location: Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than half of the days are overcast

Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast , lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

People

Population: 58,295,119 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 19%
(female 5,572,189; male 5,843,192)
15-64 years: 65%
(female 18,723,583; male 18,935,931)
65 years and over: 16%
(female 5,471,383; male 3,748,841) (July 1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77 years
male: 74.18 years
female: 79.95 years (1995 est.)

Ethnic divisions: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%

Religions: Anglican 27 million, Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000, Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.)

Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland) Names:
conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
conventional short form: United Kingdom

Capital: London

National holiday: Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)

Flag: blue with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack;

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