OLC (Europe) Ltd

The United Kingdom is four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These are all theoretically ruled by the Queen, currently Elizabeth the Second; but like the Emperor of Japan she has very little real power and is more of a “figure head”. Power principally lies with the Houses of Parliament. There are two, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Lords are appointed by the House of Commons and whilst they are required to approve laws from the House of Commons they have little real power as they have to eventually agree with what the House of Commons approves.

The House of Commons consists of 600+ members of parliament, (MPs). They all represent a constituency, an area based upon population. MPs are elected, in theory at least, to protect and promote the rights of their electors. They are all elected by the population in their constituency, the whole of the United Kingdom votes on the same day in what is called a general election. Everyone over 18 is allowed to vote once in one constituency. Normally the MPs will be allied to a political party such as Labour, Conservatives, etc. They are very powerful both individually and as a group. From this number the party with most MPs after an election will form the government, their leader becoming Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will appoint senior politicians such as the Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer amongst others. These people chosen by the prime minister are known as ministers of state and collectively they form what is called the Cabinet; they are the most powerful MPs. Click here to learn more about the UK's House of Commons.

Below the central government there are layers of local government; again all politicians are elected by the electors, in smaller areas than constituencies. These areas are usually known as wards, and the people elected are normally known as councillors. The first level down from central government is the county council, these being large counties such as Lancashire or based upon large cities such as Greater Manchester. They have less power than the central government but are important for permission to do business. They give grants and are also responsible for matters like keeping major roads repaired. Below these there are district or town councils such as West Lancashire District Council or Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. They are responsible for local schools, planning permission to build buildings, etc. Again both of these have councillors elected by the electors.

There are also elections for the European Union which is a group of European countries working together to create a large trading block who together are very powerful. United Kingdom citizens can visit or work in any European Union country without gaining visas. They are governed by a parliament which is run by full time officials and by elected officials called Member of European Parliament, (MEP). Again MEPs are elected by electors in all the countries on a constituency basis. The European Parliament can force individual countries to adopt some laws and there is always much disagreement but the European Union is gaining new member countries all the time and could eventually include countries outside of mainland Europe. Many countries which are now part of the European Union were recently part of Russia. Russia itself may well join the European Union in the near future.

The United Kingdom is based on 2 large islands and many smaller ones. One island is shared with the country of Eire, this being in the south of the island and Northern Ireland in the North. The other island contains Scotland to the north and England below with Wales to the west. All people speak English but there are local languages as well such as Welsh. There are smaller islands such as the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man. England has more population than the other countries in the United Kingdom and London and the South of England have more people than other regions though there are some big cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow. The South of England has less manufacturing than other areas. Agriculture is common and also there is much land kept as forests, plains, etc. Some belongs to the government and anyone can use it and some is in private ownership and can be bought and sold, but not necessarily built on.

The South is generally richer than the North of England and other areas and so it is cheaper to live in the North than the South. Property prices are the highest in the South of England but elsewhere it is still more expensive to buy properties in big cities than in the countryside.

The United Kingdom is generally not too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter, it does get colder as you go north. There is a fair amount of rain and the United Kingdom is a very green country with plentiful plants and wildlife. There are good rail and road links to many parts of the United Kingdom and many international airports. There are also several ferry crossings to mainland Europe and a tunnel under the sea. The population of the United Kingdom is 60,776,000 and the United Kingdom measures approximately 1300 kilometres long and 700 kilometres wide giving a surface area of 241,590 square kilometres.