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| }} | common_name = United Kingdom | linking_name = the United Kingdom | image_flag = Flag of the United Kingdom.svg | alt_flag = A flag featuring both cross and saltire in red, white and blue | image_coat = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg | alt_coat = Coat of arms containing shield and crown in centre, flanked by lion and unicorn | symbol_type = | national_anthem = | image_map = EU-United Kingdom.svg | alt_map = Two islands to the north-west of continental Europe. Highlighted are the larger island and the north-eastern fifth of the smaller island to the west. | map_caption = | languages_type = Official language | languages = English | languages2_type = Recognised regional languages | languages2 = | ethnic_groups = | ethnic_groups_year = 2011 | demonym = | capital = London | latd=51 |latm=30 |latNS=N |longd=0 |longm=7 |longEW=W | largest_city = capital | government_type = Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | leader_title1 = Monarch | leader_name1 = | leader_title2 = Prime Minister | leader_name2 = David Cameron | legislature = Parliament | upper_house = | lower_house = | sovereignty_type = History | established_event1 = Acts of Union of England and Scotland | established_date1 = | established_event2 = Acts of Union of Great Britain and Ireland | established_date2 = | established_event3 = Irish Free State Constitution Act | established_date3 = | established_event4 = EEC accession | established_date4 = | EUseats = 78 | area_rank = 80th | area_magnitude = 1 E11 | area_km2 = 242495 | area_sq_mi = 93628 | area_footnote = | percent_water = 1.34 | population_estimate_rank = 22nd | population_estimate = 64,511,000〔 | population_census = 63,181,775〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=2011 UK censuses )〕 | population_estimate_year = 2014 | population_census_year = 2011 | population_census_rank = 22nd | population_density_km2 = 255.6 | population_density_sq_mi = 661.9 | population_density_rank = 51st | GDP_PPP_year = 2015 | GDP_PPP = | GDP_PPP_rank = 10th | GDP_PPP_per_capita = $40,958〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=United Kingdom )〕 | GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 28th | GDP_nominal_year = 2015 | GDP_nominal_rank= 5th | GDP_nominal_per_capita = $44,118〔 | GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 19th | GDP_nominal = | Gini_year = 2014 | Gini_change = decrease | Gini = 31.6 | Gini_ref =〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=ilc_di12 )〕 | Gini_rank = 33rd | HDI_year = 2013 | HDI_change = steady | HDI = 0.892 | HDI_ref = | HDI_rank = 14th | currency = Pound sterling (£) | currency_code = GBP | time_zone = GMT | utc_offset = | time_zone_DST = BST | utc_offset_DST = +1 | date_format = dd/mm/yyyy (AD) | drives_on = left | calling_code = +44 | cctld = .uk }} The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, : * *|group="nb"}} is a sovereign state in Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, it includes the island of Great Britain—a term also applied loosely to refer to the whole country—the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another state—the Republic of Ireland.〔Although Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another state, two of its Overseas Territories also share land borders with other states. Gibraltar shares a border with Spain, while the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia share borders with the Republic of Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and UN buffer zone separating the two Cypriot polities.〕 Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-southwest. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. The country has an area of , making it the 80th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. The United Kingdom is the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 64.5 million inhabitants.〔 It is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance.〔(The British Monarchy, ''What is constitutional monarchy?'' ). Retrieved 17 July 2013〕〔(CIA, ''The World Factbook'' ). Retrieved 17 July 2013〕 Its capital city is London, an important global city and financial centre with an urban population of 10,310,000, the fourth-largest in Europe and second-largest in the European Union.〔The 30 Largest Urban Agglomerations Ranked by Population Size at Each Point in Time, 1950-2030, (World Urbanization Prospects, the 2014 revision ), Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved 22 February 2015.〕 The current monarch—since 6 February 1952—is Queen Elizabeth II. The UK consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The latter three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Country Overviews: United Kingdom )〕 based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, respectively. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the United Kingdom, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The relationships among the countries of the United Kingdom have changed over time. Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the country, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.〔The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December 1921 to resolve the Irish War of Independence. Effective one year later, it established the Irish Free State as a separate dominion within the Commonwealth. The UK's current name was adopted in 1927 to reflect the change.〕 The UK has fourteen Overseas Territories.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Supporting the Overseas Territories )〕 These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land mass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture, and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP and tenth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. The UK is considered to have a high-income economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index, currently ranking 14th in the world. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, and political influence internationally.〔 ''Accordingly, the great powers after the Cold War are Britain, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States'' p.59〕 It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fifth or sixth in the world.〔(The Military Balance 2014: Top 15 Defence Budgets 2013 ) (IISS)〕 The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a member state of the European Union (EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), since 1973; it is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7 finance ministers, the G7 forum, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). ==Etymology and terminology== The 1707 Acts of Union declared that the kingdoms of England and Scotland were "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain", though the new state is also referred to in the Acts as the "Kingdom of Great Britain", "United Kingdom of Great Britain" and "United Kingdom".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Treaty of Union, 1706 )〕〔Compare to section 1 of both of the 1800 Acts of Union which reads: the ''Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall...be united into one Kingdom, by the Name of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland"''〕 However, the term "United Kingdom" is only found in informal use during the 18th century and the country was only occasionally referred to as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain"—its full official name, from 1707 to 1800, being merely ''Great Britain'', without a "long form".〔See Article One of the Act of Union 1707.〕〔"After the political union of England and Scotland in 1707, the nation's official name became 'Great Britain'", ''The American Pageant, Volume 1'', Cengage Learning (2012)〕〔"From 1707 until 1801 ''Great Britain'' was the official designation of the kingdoms of England and Scotland". ''The Standard Reference Work: For the Home, School and Library, Volume 3'', Harold Melvin Stanford (1921)〕〔"In 1707, on the union with Scotland, 'Great Britain' became the official name of the British Kingdom, and so continued until the union with Ireland in 1801". ''United States Congressional serial set, Issue 10; Issue 3265'' (1895)〕 The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was adopted following the independence of the Irish Free State, and the partition of Ireland, in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland within the UK. Although the United Kingdom, as a sovereign state, is a country, England, Scotland, Wales, and to a lesser degree, Northern Ireland, are also regarded as ''countries'', though they are not sovereign states. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government.〔(Population Trends, Issues 75–82, p.38 ), 1994, UK Office of Population Censuses and Surveys〕〔(Life in the United Kingdom: a journey to citizenship, p. 7 ), United Kingdom Home Office, 2007, ISBN 978-0-11-341313-3.〕 The British Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.〔 Some statistical summaries, such as those for the twelve NUTS 1 regions of the UK, also refer to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "regions".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Statistical bulletin: Regional Labour Market Statistics )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=13.4% Fall In Earnings Value During Recession )〕 Northern Ireland is also referred to as a "province". With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences." The term ''Britain'' is often used as synonym for the United Kingdom. The term ''Great Britain'', by contrast, refers conventionally to the island of Great Britain, or politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination. However, it is sometimes used as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom as a whole.〔New Oxford American Dictionary: "Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland considered as a unit. The name is also often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom."〕 ''GB'' and ''GBR'' are the standard country codes for the United Kingdom (see ISO 3166-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3) and are consequently used by international organisations to refer to the United Kingdom. Additionally, the United Kingdom's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain" or "Team GB".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.olympic.org/great-britain )〕 The adjective ''British'' is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom. The term has no definite legal connotation, but is used in law to refer to UK citizenship and matters to do with nationality. People of the United Kingdom use a number of different terms to describe their national identity and may identify themselves as being British; or as being English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, or Irish; or as being both. In 2006, a new design of British passport was introduced. Its first page shows the long form name of the state in English, Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. In Welsh, the long form name of the state is "Teyrnas Unedig Prydain Fawr a Gogledd Iwerddon" with "Teyrnas Unedig" being used as a short form name on government websites. (However it is usually abbreviated to "DU" for the mutated form "Y Deyrnas Unedig".) In Scottish Gaelic, the long form is "Rìoghachd Aonaichte Bhreatainn is Èireann a Tuath" and the short form "Rìoghachd Aonaichte". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United Kingdom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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