United Kingdom is one of the oldest country of Europe. This group of islands includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Presently, London remains the capital of this sovereign state. United Kingdom has an estimated population of 63.1 million people. In fact, London alone holds about 8.1 million people. Furthermore, the Great Britain is entirely surrounded by water. The Atlantic Ocean surrounds it on the west, while North Sea surrounds its north. On the other hand, the English Channel covers it from south and the Irish sea from the west. The flag of United Kingdom is popular as the Union jack. The country uses pound sterling as their official currency throughout the country. In the recent times there’s no official religion in the country. In fact, United Kingdom is one of the most secular state in the world. However, most of its citizens have Christian heritage. English as we know is the official language of United Kingdom. Throughout the country you will find various dialect of the same language. Let’s unfold more interesting facts about United Kingdom.
Facts:
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Political System:
You might have heard about its great monarchy and empire. But not anymore. Presently, United Kingdom is running under parliamentary constitutional monarchy. However, Queen Elizabeth II is still the head of the state.
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Economy:
United Kingdom has been a strong economy from the very beginning. Presently, they have a nominal GDP of $2.434 trillion. While their per capita GDP is also high with $38,591. Moreover, United Kingdom has good nominal GDP. In fact, they are the 6th highest in the world. And the Third largest economy in Europe.
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Purchasing power:
The United Kingdom also has a good purchasing power. In fact, they stand as the 8th largest economy in terms of purchasing power. Unarguably, they contribute a lot into world economy.
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Automobiles:
After Germany, Britain is also famous for manufacturing some quality automobiles. For this reason, the automobile sector contributes a lot into their economy. It generates about 26.6 billion pounds every single year.
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Agriculture:
United Kingdom grows about 60 percent of their own food. This keeps the food imports low as possible. In the end making them self-efficient in a long run.
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Natural Resources:
Every major economy needs huge amounts of natural resources to sustain its industries. United Kingdom is blessed with plenty of natural resources. In fact, their land is blessed with iron ore, limestone, clay, gypsum, lead and coal etc.
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How the nation formed:
You must know that United Kingdom falls in a cold region. That’s the reason why its people witness rainfall and snowfalls most of the time. Scientists have argued that the formation of the United Kingdom took place due an ice age. It was the last ice age which created the geography of nation.
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Rural legend of Scotland:
Okay, this may not be fact. Instead this could be a great story. People still believe that there is a huge monster named Nessie in Loch Ness in Scotland.
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The country of sports:
England might have invented most of the sports. But they are unable to master any of the game. You should know that United Kingdom invented soccer, rugby, golf, boxing and cricket.
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Harry Potter:
J.K Rowling the author of the greatest children fiction Harry Potter is British. That’s the reason why the characters and the settings are related to United Kingdom.
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England:
Yes, England is the largest country in United Kingdom.
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Various Olympics:
England has successfully hosted the summer Olympics thrice.
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It’s Queen’s birthday:
Well, not today. But every year in the month of June. Queen’s birthday is celebrated with parade and various parties. In that day most of the shops and businesses are closed. The families get together to have some good time. In short, it’s just like a grand festival.
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Patrick’s Day:
The people of Northern Ireland common celebrates the St. Patrick’s Day as a public holiday. To celebrate the occasion, the Irish folks drinks lots of beer and enjoys pink bacon.
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The Royal weddings:
In United Kingdom whenever there’s a royal wedding. It often becomes a public holiday. For example, when Prince William and Catherine Middleton got married in 2011, the day was considered as a public holiday. For this reason, everyone was given an off that day.
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The boxing day:
Every year the Scottish people celebrates the boxing day just after Christmas. It resembles the old days when the servants used to get gifts from their employers. Presently, it has just become a bank holiday.
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The Big Ben:
The famous clocktower from London has been the hallmark of British heritage around the world. Almost everyone could easily associate the clock tower to England as soon they see it. How did you know the fact that Big Ben is not the name of the tower? Instead it is the name of the bell installed in the clock tower. Quite interesting!
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The French Heritage:
There was a time when most of the people were Monsieur instead of Mister. This is no joke! French was the official language of United Kingdom for over 300 years. It was considered as a language of the elite.
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The Buckingham palace:
This palace is the sign of absolute power of monarchy in the country. But did you know the fact that the Buckingham Palace has its own police station?
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Chickens, Chickens:
United Kingdom maybe hugely populated by humans. But it is a funny fact that there are more chickens in United Kingdom than humans. This is due to the high number of people with nonvegetarian diets.
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The weird and funny law:
Monarchy sometimes becomes absolute dictatorship. And tries to implement ridiculous laws for its residents. There was a time when William the Conqueror made a law that everyone must sleep before 8 pm. Come on are we kids or something?
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The Railways:
With the introduction of industrial revolution. United Kingdom became the first country to bring railway tracks to its nation. You will definitely find some of the earliest railway tracks in the old England.
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Lost umbrellas:
It rains a lot in England. Quite literally, it almost rains the entire year. For this reason, people have to carry umbrellas everywhere. It estimated about 80,000 umbrellas are lost in London alone.
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United Kingdom is made of:
The United Kingdom comprises of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. This group of islands makes it a complete nation.
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The change of names:
It was called the Great Britain when Scotland got added into the group of islands in 1707. However, later the name changed into United Kingdom when Ireland was added in 1801.
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Most populous country:
Presently, England stands as the most populous country from the group of islands.
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The official name:
Okay, we might be calling it by various names. But there’s an official name to the group of countries. It is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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A perfect habitat for animals:
The United Kingdom has an impressive shoreline of 7,700 miles. This shoreline is perfect for the habitat of various variety of sea birds and seals.
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They left the European Union:
The United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union in 2016. They did it become economically independent from the Union of European nations.
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Christian nation?
: Even though the United Kingdom stands a secular nation. But still more than 60 percent of its citizens are Christian followers.
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Language of the nation:
Presently, English is the official language of United Kingdom. However, there are several other regional languages. This includes Welsh, Irish, Cornish as well as Scottish Gaelic.
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The UNESCO recognition:
United Kingdom consists of 28 UNESCO World Heritage sites. This includes Bath, Canterbury and Chester.
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Alcohol is legal for kids:
Yes, you read that right. In fact, it is legal for a child over 5 years to consume alcohol at home or in some private place.
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United Kingdom is small in terms of area:
Yes, no matter how great the nation boasts it to be. In fact, United Kingdom is smaller than the state of Oregon.
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The London Underground:
England was the first country in the world to have an underground subway system. Furthermore, during the Second World War these underground tunnels helped countless British citizens to save their lives from German Bombing.
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Longest-reigning monarch:
In 2015, Queen Elizabeth became the longest-reigning monarch in United Kingdom.
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The oldest home:
There’s no doubt that United Kingdom holds one of the oldest history in the world. For this reason, you will find a home which is about 6,000 years old. Don’t even think that it’s just made up of some walls holding up. In fact, there’s proper furniture made of stone.
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The limit of commercial:
The Government of United Kingdom makes sure that there’s not more than 12 minutes of commercial per hour of television.
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The oldest heir to the throne:
Prince Charles has been the heir to the throne of Britain for over 60 long years.
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High abortion rates in the country:
This fact is rather worrying than interesting. Over 30 percent women in United Kingdom had one abortion in their lifetime.
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The country of tea:
Tea is often associated with UK. In fact, they were the one who brought tea to the countries like India. And today tea has become a stable beverage in India. However, you will be astonished to learn that over 165 million cups of tea are consumed daily in United Kingdom.
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Land of languages:
Okay, by now you must be aware that United Kingdom is a multilingual land. But you will be amazed to know that there are over 300 languages spoken in London alone. This is more than any other country in the world.
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One of the wonder of the world:
The famous Stonehenge was built estimated 3,000 years ago. In fact, it is older than the pyramids of Egypt.
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High vegan population:
Okay, earlier I have stated that United Kingdom has a high non vegetarian population. But on the other hand, the country also has over half a million vegans.
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Pound Sterling went down:
The value of Pound sterling went record low (in 31 years) when United Kingdom made its exit from the European Union.
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Something interesting about the Big ben:
It will take about four hours if you turn back the clock hands of the Big Ben.
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The largest Italian restaurant:
Okay, it’s quite a wonder that the world’s largest Italian restaurant is not located in Italy itself. Yes, it is the famous Aakash located in Britain which seats up to 750 people.
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The city that hoisted Olympics thrice:
After the 2012 Olympics, London became the first city to host the games thrice. No other city in the world holds the same record.
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No written constitution:
This is the most shocking fact about United Kingdom. Yes, Britain is the one and only country in the world with no written constitution. I just wonder how they managed to establish such a huge empire in their past.
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Windsor Palace:
It Is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. Presently, it is one of the major tourist’s destination in the UK.
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