Portal:United Kingdom
The United Kingdom Portal
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
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. 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). Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The UK maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across the Atlantic, Pacific and other oceans. The United Kingdom had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom is London. The cities of Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.
The UK has been inhabited continuously since the Neolithic. In AD 43, the Roman conquest of Britain began; the Roman departure was followed by Anglo-Saxon settlement. In 1066, the Normans conquered England. With the end of the Wars of the Roses, the English state stabilised and began to grow in power, resulting by the 16th century in the annexation of Wales, and the establishment of the British Empire. Over the course of 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. In the Georgian era, the office of prime minister became established. 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 British 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 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...)
Featured article
The history of Stoke City F.C., an English association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, covers the years from the club's formation to the present day. The Stoke Ramblers were formed in 1863, playing their first documented match on 17 October 1868 at the Victoria Cricket Club ground. In 1878 the club moved to the Victoria Ground, its home for the next 119 years, and merged with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club to become Stoke Football Club. The club joined the Football League upon its formation in 1888, making it the second oldest club in the Football League. The club moved in 1997 to the Britannia Stadium, a 28,383 all-seater stadium; the Victoria Ground was demolished later that year. In the 2007–08 season, Stoke won promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, and as of 2008–2009 are playing in the top flight (currently English Premier League) for the first time since 1985, when they were relegated with just 17 points, a record low unsurpassed for 21 years. Stoke's only major trophy was the 1972 League Cup, won by beating Chelsea 2–1 in the final before a crowd of 97,852. (Full article...)
Featured biography
James I of England was a King who ruled over England, Scotland, and Ireland, and was the first Sovereign to reign in the three realms simultaneously. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 until his death, and in England and Ireland as James I from 24 March 1603 until his death. James I was the first English monarch of the Stuart dynasty, succeeding the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, who died unmarried and childless. James was a popular and successful monarch in Scotland, but the same was not true in England. He was unable to deal with a hostile English Parliament; the refusal on the part of the House of Commons to impose sufficiently high taxes crippled the royal finances. His taste for political absolutism, his mismanagement of the kingdom's funds and his cultivation of unpopular favourites established the foundation for the English Civil War, during which James's son and successor, Charles I, was tried and executed. (Full article...)
General images -
Subportals
WikiProjects
Things you can do
- Visit the British Wikipedians' notice board.
- The noticeboard is the central forum for information and discussion on editing related to the United Kingdom.
- Comment at the British deletion sorting page.
- This page lists deletion discussions on topics relating to the United Kingdom.
Featured pictures
Did you know -

- ... that Graham Fraser pioneered cochlear implantation in the United Kingdom?
- ... that Youlgreave in Derbyshire is one of only a few villages in the United Kingdom to be supplied by its own private waterworks?
- ... that when Westminster City Council in London agreed to use "global majority" as a more inclusive term than BAME or "ethnic minority", a Conservative MP called it "deeply sinister"?
- ... that the 1st Armoured Division of the British Army chose a white rhinoceros on a black oval as their insignia?
- ... that Anita Rivas, an Ecuadorian mayor, visited the United Kingdom and offered to stop oil drilling in a rainforest in Yasuní National Park?
- ... that the 2023 United Kingdom student protests were organised on TikTok and Snapchat?
In the news
- 13 March 2025 –
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces that NHS England will be abolished in a drive to reduce bureaucracy and bring National Health Service management back under "democratic control". The move is expected to result in around 6,500 job losses. (BBC News)
- 2 March 2025 – Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- United Kingdom prime minister Keir Starmer announces after a meeting of European Union leaders in London that a "coalition of the willing" is working on a Ukraine peace plan that they will present to U.S. president Donald Trump. (Sky News)
- 1 March 2025 – United Kingdom–Ukraine relations
- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with UK prime minister Keir Starmer in London, where they sign off on a British loan of GB£2.26 billion to buy military supplies for Ukraine. (BBC)
- 27 February 2025 – United Kingdom–United States relations
- U.S. President Donald Trump meets with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington, D.C., for talks that include the Russo-Ukrainian War peace negotiations. Starmer also presents a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump to visit London later this year. (NPR)
- 25 February 2025 – 2020s European re-armament
- The United Kingdom announces an increase in military spending to 2.5% of its GDP by 2027, and 3% by 2034 at the latest. The move comes just before UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday in Washington, D.C. (The New York Times)
- 25 February 2025 – Rwanda–United Kingdom relations, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict
- The UK government suspends financial aid and imposes economic sanctions on several high-ranking Rwandan officials over the country's military support for M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)
Categories
Other UK-connected Wikipedias
Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus