Brief introduction of Britain

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (English: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), referred to as Britain (English: United Kingdom, referred to as? UK) or British (English: British), commonly known as Britain in Chinese (also known as the United Kingdom in the early Chinese world), is a sovereign country with overseas territories. Britain is one of the seven largest countries in the world, located in the northwest of the European continent, which consists of the island of Great Britain, the northeast of Ireland and a series of smaller islands. The only land border between Britain and another country is Northern Ireland, which is adjacent to Ireland and China. Britain is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, bordering the North Sea in the east, the English Channel in the south, celtic sea in the south-southwest and Ireland across the Irish Sea. With a total area of 94,060 square miles (243,600 square kilometers), it is the 80th largest sovereign country in the world and the 1 1 largest sovereign country in Europe, with a population of 6,565,438+million, ranking second in the world and third in Europe.

National flag:

Imperial emblem

Britain is a constitutional monarchy, which is governed by a parliamentary system. Its capital, London, is an A++ global city and an international financial center. The population of the Capital Region is 6.5438+0.38 million, which is the third largest in Europe and the first in the European Union. The current British monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended the throne on February 6, 1952. Britain consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, among which the latter three countries have their own powers under the decentralized system. The capitals of the three places are Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. The nearby isle of man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of Britain, but are royal possessions, and the British government is responsible for national defense and foreign affairs.

Geographical location:

The relationship between the constituent countries of Britain has experienced a series of developments in history. The Kingdom of England incorporated Wales into its territory through the Joint Acts 1535 and 1542. The treaty of 1707 merged England and Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain, while at 180 1, the latter further merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the Union, and today's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was born. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland also has 65,438+04 overseas territories [20], which is the legacy of the former empire. The British Empire reached its peak in 192 1, with 22% of the world's territory, making it the largest empire in history. Britain has retained some influence on its former colonies in language, culture and legal system, thus attracting many immigrants from former Commonwealth countries to settle here.

Britain is a developed country, the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP and the ninth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Meanwhile, Britain is the first industrialized country in the world. It was once the world's first power in1815-1914, and it is still one of the powerful countries, and it has a decisive influence in global economy, culture, military affairs, science and technology, politics and so on. Britain is an internationally recognized nuclear power, and its military expenditure ranks fifth in the world. Since 1946, Britain has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and since 1973, it is a member of the European Union (EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EC), as well as the Commonwealth, Council of Europe, the G-7 Finance Ministers Summit, the G-7, the G-20, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and other countries. In the Brexit referendum on 20 16, the British people decided to leave the EU, but because of its indirect impact on the global economy, it did not get the support of most countries. On June 26th, 20 18, the British monarch signed the "EU (Withdrawal) Act 20 18", according to which Britain will leave the EU at 23: 00 on March 29th, 20 19.