Great Britain

Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19thcentury, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its height, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw its strength depleted in two World Wars, while the second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the nation rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. It is a member of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Climate: mild and maritime, normally not going much below zero in the winter and never much above 25º C in summer; most of the time it is between 10º and 20º C

Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land

Population: 59,647,790

Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Capital: London

Independence: England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales was enacted under the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284; in the Act of Union of 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanent union as Great Britain

National holiday: Birthday of Queen Elizabth II, celebrated on the second Saturday in June (1926)