Portal:United Kingdom

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Flag of the United Kingdom	Coat of Arms for the United Kingdom

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 various oceans and seas globally. 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...)

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The Action of 13 January 1797 was a small naval battle fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany during the French Revolutionary Wars. The action is notable for its outcome: the frigates successfully outmanoeuvred the much larger French vessel and drove it on shore in heavy seas, resulting in the death of over 900 of the 1,300 persons aboard. One of the British frigates was also lost in the engagement, running onto a sandbank after failing to escape a lee shore. The French ship Droits de l'Homme had been part of the Expédition d'Irlande, a disastrous attempt by a French expeditionary force to invade Ireland. During the operation, the French fleet was beset by poor co-ordination and extremely violent weather, eventually being compelled to return to France without landing a single soldier ashore. Two British frigates, HMS Indefatigable and HMS Amazon, had been ordered to patrol the seas off Ushant in an attempt to intercept the returning French force and sighted Droits de l'Homme on the afternoon of 13 January. The damage the more nimble British vessels inflicted on the French ship was so severe that as the winds increased, the French crew lost control and Droits de l'Homme was swept onto a sandbar and destroyed. (Full article...)

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Isaac Brock was a British major-general and administrator, who served in various parts of the Empire for nearly thirty years, serving in the Caribbean, Denmark, and elsewhere. During that time he challenged duelists, nearly died from fever, was injured in battle, faced both desertions and near mutinies, and also had the privilege of serving alongside Lord Nelson. However, he is best remembered for his actions while assigned to the Canadian colonies. Brock was assigned to Canada in 1802, eventually reaching the rank of Major-General. In this capacity, he was responsible for defending Canada from the United States during the War of 1812. While many in Canada and in England believed war could be averted, Brock began preparing the army, the militia, and the populace for what was to come. Thus, when war broke out, Canada was prepared, and quick victories at Fort Mackinac and in the Battle of Detroit crippled American invasion efforts, securing Brock's reputation as a brilliant leader and strategist. His death in the Battle of Queenston Heights was a crushing blow to British leadership. Brock's efforts earned him accolades, a knighthood, and the moniker "The Hero of Upper Canada".

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The following are images from various United Kingdom-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1London Symphony Orchestra (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 2An award-winning Victoria sponge from an English village fête. Competitive baking is part of the traditional village fête, inspiring The Great British Bake Off television series. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 3Emmeline Pankhurst. Named one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time, Pankhurst was a leading figure in the suffragette movement. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 4The Battle of Trafalgar is an oil painting executed in 1822 by J. M. W. Turner (c.1775–1851). The experience of military, political and economic power from the rise of the British Empire led to a very specific drive in artistic technique, taste and sensibility in the United Kingdom. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 5The Notting Hill Carnival is Britain's biggest street festival. Led by members of the British African-Caribbean community, the annual carnival takes place in August and lasts three days. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 6The Examination and Trial of Father Christmas (1686), published after Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 7Broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough is the only person to have won BAFTAs for programmes in each of black and white, colour, HD, and 3D. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 8The Christmas Pantomime 1890. Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 9A Sunday roast of roast lamb, rosemary roast potatoes, green beans and Yorkshire pudding with gravy. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 10Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785) (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 11Daniel Defoe was famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 12Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse, 9 miles out to sea. John Smeaton pioneered hydraulic lime in concrete which led to the development of Portland cement in England and thus modern concrete. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 13Ice dancers Torvill and Dean in 2011. Their historic gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 14Tea, biscuits, jam and cakes. Tea is the most popular beverage in the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 15Animator Nick Park with his Wallace and Gromit characters (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 16William III and Mary II Presenting the Cap of Liberty to Europe, 1716, Sir James Thornhill. Enthroned in heaven with the Virtues behind them are the royals William and Mary who had taken the throne after the Glorious Revolution and signed the English Bill of Rights of 1689. William tramples on arbitrary power and hands the red cap of liberty to Europe where, unlike Britain, absolute monarchy stayed the normal form of power execution. Below William is the French king Louis XIV. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 17King Edward's Chair in Westminster Abbey. A 13th-century wooden throne on which the British monarch sits when he or she is crowned at the coronation, swearing to uphold the law and the church. The monarchy is apolitical and impartial, with a largely symbolic role as head of state. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 18Engraving of the English pirate Blackbeard from the 1724 book A General History of the Pyrates. The book is the prime source for many famous pirates of the Golden Age. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 19One of Britain's oldest indigenous breeds, the Bulldog is known as the national dog of Great Britain. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 20English Heritage blue plaque commemorating Sir Alfred Hitchcock at 153 Cromwell Road, London (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 21Caricature of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in Vanity Fair, 30 January 1869 (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 22The first colour photograph in 1861. Produced by the three-colour method suggested by James Clerk Maxwell in 1855, it is the foundation of all colour photographic processes. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 23Hadrian's Wall was built in the 2nd century AD. It is a lasting monument from Roman Britain. It is the largest Roman artefact in existence. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 24The British Shorthair was an inspiration for the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 25Mo Farah is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, winning the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at two Olympic Games. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 26Physicist Stephen Hawking set forth a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. His 1988 book A Brief History of Time appeared on The Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 27Trooping the Colour is an annual ceremony, most notably associated with the British Army, and involves a grand parade featuring hundreds of soldiers, horses, and musicians. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 28The Royal Stewart tartan. It was also the personal tartan of Queen Elizabeth II Tartan is used in clothing, such as skirts and scarves, and has also appeared on tins of Scottish shortbread. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 29Peter O'Toole as T. E. Lawrence in David Lean's 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 30One of the UK's many stately homes, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, surrounded by an English garden. The house is one of the settings of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 31Cricketer W. G. Grace, with his long beard and MCC cap, was the most famous British sportsman in the Victorian era. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 3210 Downing Street, official residence of the Prime Minister (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 33Jack In the Green, a traditional English folk custom being celebrated in Hastings Old Town, known for its many historic buildings. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 34Stonehenge, Wiltshire at sunset (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 35The Oxford Union debate chamber, dubbed the "world's most prestigious debating society", the Oxford Union has hosted leaders and celebrities. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 36Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales prior to a Wales vs England Six Nations Championship game. The annual rugby union tournament (which includes Scotland and Ireland) takes place over six weeks from late January/early February to mid March. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 37A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 38A 21st-century detached Mock Tudor house in Scotland. Its timber framing is typical of English Tudor architecture. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 39Old Bushmills Distillery, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1608, it is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 40Music hall evolved into variety shows. First performed in 1912, the Royal Variety Performance was first held at the London Palladium (pictured) in 1941. Performed in front of members of the Royal Family, it is held annually in December and broadcast on television. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 41A Christmas dinner plate in Scotland, featuring roast turkey, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 42Centre Court at Wimbledon. The world's oldest tennis tournament, it has the longest sponsorship in sport with Slazenger supplying tennis balls to the event since 1902. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 43Titanic Belfast museum on the former shipyard in Belfast where the RMS Titanic was built (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 44New College, University of Edinburgh (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 45Charles Darwin established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 46Wembley Stadium, London, home of the England football team and FA Cup finals. Wembley also hosts concerts: Adele's 28 June 2017 concert was attended by 98,000 fans, a stadium record for a music event in the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 47The founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale tending to a patient in 1855. An icon of Victorian Britain, she is known as The Lady with the Lamp. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 48Two of the current Ravens of the Tower of London. The ravens' presence is traditionally believed to protect the Crown and the tower; a superstition holds that "if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it". (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 49Queen Victoria's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, published in the Illustrated London News, 1848 (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 50Union Flag being flown on The Mall, London looking towards Buckingham Palace (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 51Featherweight champion "Prince" Naseem Hamed was a major name in boxing and 1990s British pop culture. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 52Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle in East Sussex. Today there are thousands of castles throughout the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 53Yard, foot and inch measurements at the Royal Observatory, London. The British public commonly measure distance in miles and yards, height in feet and inches, weight in stone and pounds, speed in miles per hour. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 54William Shakespeare has had a significant impact on the history of theatre and drama. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 55The Old English heroic poem Beowulf is located in the British Library. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 56Terraced houses are typical in places of high population density. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 57The Forth Railway Bridge is a cantilever bridge over the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. It was opened in 1890, and is designated as a Category A listed building. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 58The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in popular music, with estimated sales of over one billion. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 59Lincoln Cathedral (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 60Naomi Campbell appeared on the era-defining January 1990 cover of British Vogue. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 61R. White's soft drinks sold in London. Selling carbonated lemonade in 1845, by 1887 they sold strawberry soda, raspberry soda and cherryade. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 62The Grenadier Guards band playing "The British Grenadiers" at Trooping the Colour. Formed in 1685 the band performs at British ceremonial events. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 63Statue of Minnie the Minx, a character from The Beano, in Dundee, Scotland. Launched in 1938, The Beano is known for its anarchic humour, with Dennis the Menace appearing on the cover. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 64Concorde (and the Red Arrows with their trail of red, white and blue smoke) mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee. With its slender delta wings Concorde won the public vote for best British design. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 65The Proms are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall during the summer. Regular performers at the Albert Hall include Eric Clapton who has played at the venue over 200 times. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 66The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 67Welsh native Roald Dahl is frequently ranked the best children's author in British polls.
Image 68Banksy's Grin Reaper (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 69Westminster Abbey is an example of English Gothic architecture. Since 1066, when William the Conqueror was crowned, the coronations of British monarchs have been held here. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 70Chicken tikka masala, served atop rice. An Anglo-Indian meal, it is among the UK's most popular dishes. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 71The red telephone box and Royal Mail red post box appear throughout the UK. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)

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Featured pictures

Image 1
Lake District
Photo: David Iliff
A panoramic view of Skiddaw mountain, the town of Keswick, and Derwentwater, as viewed from Walla Crag on a clear autumn afternoon in the Lake District. Located in North West England, the district is a popular tourist destination and is famous for its lakes and mountains, especially those within its national park.
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Image 2
London King's Cross railway station
Photo: Colin
The western departures concourse of London King's Cross railway station as seen through a fisheye lens. This semi-circular concourse, designed by John McAslan, built by Vinci, and completed in March 2012, is designed to cater to much-increased passenger flows, and provide greater integration between the intercity, suburban and Underground sections of the station.
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Image 3
Thomas More
Painting: Hans Holbein the Younger
Thomas More (1478–1535) was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England, humanist, and author of several books, including Utopia. During the English Reformation More was staunchly against the King's separation from the Roman Catholic Church and refused to accept him as Supreme Head of the Church of England. As a result More was imprisoned, convicted of treason, and beheaded. As such, More was canonised by the Catholic Church in 1935 as an early martyr in the schism.
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Image 4
Red telephone box
Photograph: Christoph Braun
A 'K6' model red telephone box outside of St Paul's Cathedral in London. These kiosks for a public telephone were designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and painted "currant red" for easy visibility. Although such telephone boxes ceased production when the KX series was introduced in 1985, they remain a common sight in Britain and some of its colonies, and are considered a British cultural icon.
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Image 5
City of London
Photo credit: David Iliff
The City of London skyline as viewed toward the northwest from the top floor viewing platform of London City Hall on the southern side of the River Thames. Not to be confused with the London metropolitan area, the City covers 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²) and, along with Westminster is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew.
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Image 6
Beachy Head
Photo: David Iliff
Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m (530 ft) above sea level. The peak allows views of the south east coast from Dungeness to the east, to Selsey Bill in the west.
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Image 7
Beer Street and Gin Lane
Image credit: William Hogarth
Beer Street and Gin Lane are a pair of 1751 engravings by William Hogarth in support of the then-proposed Gin Act 1751. This Act of Parliament made the distillation of gin illegal in England. Beer Street shows a happy city drinking the "good" beverage of English beer, whereas Gin Lane claims to show what would happen if people started drinking gin, a harder liquor. People are shown as healthy, happy and hardworking in Beer Street, while in Gin Lane they are scrawny, lazy and acting carelessly, including a drunk mother accidentally sending her baby tumbling to its doom.
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Image 8
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts
Painting: John Singer Sargent
Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1832–1914), was a British soldier who was one of the most successful commanders of the 19th century. He served in the Indian Rebellion, the Expedition to Abyssinia, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War before leading British Forces to success in the Second Boer War. He also became the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces before the post was abolished in 1904.
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Image 9
Gilbert and Sullivan
Image credit: Alfred Bryan
Gilbert and Sullivan created fourteen comic operas, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado, many of which are still frequently performed today. However, events around their 1889 collaboration, The Gondoliers, led to an argument and a lawsuit dividing the two. In 1891, after many failed attempts at reconciliation by the pair and their producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan's music publisher, Tom Chappell, stepped in to mediate between two of his most profitable artists, and within two weeks he had succeeded. This cartoon in The Entr'acte expresses the magazine's pleasure at the reuniting of D'Oyly Carte (left), Gilbert (centre), and Sullivan (right).
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Image 10
St Matthew's Church, Paisley
Photograph: Colin
St Matthew's Church in Paisley, Scotland, is an Art Nouveau church built between 1905 and 1907. The architect, WD McLennan, designed the building and many interior furnishings, including the organ case, font and pulpit. This view of the interior is from the rear gallery and features the stained glass window by Robert Anning Bell.
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Image 11
Caterpillar, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Artist: Sir John Tenniel
Sir John Tenniel's illustration of the Caterpillar for Lewis Carroll's classic children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The illustration is noted for its ambiguous central figure, which can be viewed as having either a human male's face with pointed nose and protruding lower lip or as the head end of an actual caterpillar, with the right three "true" legs visible. The small symbol in the lower left is composed of Tenniel's initials, which was how he signed most of his work for the book. The partially obscured word in the lower left-center is the last name of Edward Dalziel, the engraver of the piece.
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Image 12
Loch Torridon
Photo: Stefan Krause
Loch Torridon is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the Northwest Highlands. The 15 mile- (25 km-) long body of water is home to several islets and a prominent prawn and shellfish fishery.
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Image 13
World War I
Photograph: Lt. J. W. Brooke
World War I was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel participated, making it one of the largest wars in history. An estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a direct result of the war with losses exacerbated by technological developments and the tactical stalemate caused by trench warfare (pictured). The war is also considered a contributory factor in a number of genocides and the 1918 influenza epidemic, which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths worldwide. Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the outbreak of World War II about twenty years later.
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Image 14
George IV
Artist: Sir Thomas Lawrence
An oil on canvas portrait of George IV of the United Kingdom as the Prince Regent, by Sir Thomas Lawrence. In 1814, Lord Stewart, who had been appointed ambassador in Vienna and was a previous client of Thomas Lawrence, wanted to commission a portrait by him of the Prince Regent. He arranged that Lawrence should be presented to the Prince Regent at a levée. Soon after, the Prince visited Lawrence at his studio in Russell Square. Lawrence wrote to his brother that: To crown this honour, [he] engag'd to sit to me at one today and after a successful sitting of two hours, has just left me and comes again tomorrow and the next day.
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Image 15
Tower Bridge
Photo credit: Diliff
The Tower Bridge, a bascule bridge that crosses the River Thames in London, England, at twilight. It is close to the Tower of London, which gives it its name. It has become an iconic symbol of London and is sometimes mistakenly called London Bridge, which is the next bridge upstream. The bridge replaced the Tower Subway for carrying pedestrian traffic across the river.
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Did you know - load new batch

... that many places in the United Kingdom were racially segregated and non-white customers were banned from using spaces and facilities, even though the law never officially permitted such a colour bar?
... that a Space Forge satellite is scheduled to fly on the first-ever satellite launch from the United Kingdom?
... that "one of the finest cut brick façades" in the United Kingdom has been partially obscured by scaffolding for four years, as funds are raised for its repair?
... that Joanna Cherry showed a printed copy of an Internet meme featuring Lily Hoshikawa during a UK parliamentary committee meeting?
... that Phil Fletcher as Hacker T. Dog caused Lauren Layfield to make the "most famous snort" in the United Kingdom in 2016?
... that Surinder Singh Bakhshi led the successful containment of smallpox in the community during Birmingham's smallpox outbreak in 1978?