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 As
the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland played a leading role in developing
parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science.
At its zenith, the British Empire
stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th
century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two Places Wars and the Irish
republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of
the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European
nation.
As one of five permanent members of
the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the
UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the
degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose
to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being.
Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK.
The Scottish Parliament, the
National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established
in 1999, but the latter was suspended until May 2007 due to wrangling over the
peace process.
England: 34 two-tier counties, 32
London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan
counties, 46 unitary authorities
two-tier counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire,
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East
Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire,
Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire,
Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset,
Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire,
Worcestershire
London boroughs and City of London or Greater London: Barking and Dagenham,
Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich,
Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon,
Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth,
Lewisham, City of London, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames,
Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster
metropolitan counties: Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale,
Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowlsey, Leeds, Liverpool,
Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham,
Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, St. Helens,
Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral,
Wolverhampton
unitary authorities: Bath and North East Somerset, Blackburn with Darwen,
Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, City of Bristol,
Darlington, Derby, East Riding of Yorkshire, Halton, Hartlepool, County of
Herefordshire, Isle of Wight, City of Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Luton,
Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, North
Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole,
Portsmouth, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland, Rutland, Slough, South
Gloucestershire, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent,
Swindon, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, Warrington, West Berkshire,
Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, York
Northern Ireland: 26 district council areas
district council areas: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge,
Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Derry,
Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry
and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane
Scotland: 32 unitary authorities
unitary authorities: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute,
Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East
Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Eilean Siar
(Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian,
Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross,
Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, The
Scottish Borders, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian
Wales: 22 unitary authorities
unitary authorities: Blaenau Gwent; Bridgend; Caerphilly; Cardiff;
Carmarthenshire; Ceredigion; Conwy; Denbighshire; Flintshire; Gwynedd; Isle of
Anglesey; Merthyr Tydfil; Monmouthshire; Neath Port Talbot; Newport;
Pembrokeshire; Powys; Rhondda, Cynon, Taff; Swansea; The Vale of Glamorgan;
Torfaen; Wrexham
Source: The Places Factbook, CIA.
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