 .UK - United Kingdom
Registration · Renewal · Transfer
.CO.UK | .ORG.UK | .ME.UK
|
|
Special Requirements:
|
Registration process:
- You need to submit the order for .UK in PDR system and fill out the special forms required there.
- Go HERE if not yet done.
- For Transfer read FAQ HERE
- Follow the payment way link in PDR system.
|
| Introduction |
Great Britain |
|
Background: |
Great Britain, the dominant
industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role
in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and
science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of
the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's
strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed
the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern
and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN
Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the
UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing
the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU,
it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time
being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The
Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern
Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter is suspended due
to bickering over the peace process. |
|
Location: |
Western Europe, islands
including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the
North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
54 00 N, 2 00 W |
|
Map references: |
Europe |
|
Area: |
total: 244,820 sq km
land: 241,590 sq km
water: 3,230 sq km
note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands |
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly smaller than Oregon
|
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 360 km
border countries: Ireland 360 km |
|
Coastline: |
12,429 km |
|
Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: as
defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon
boundaries |
|
Climate: |
temperate; moderated by
prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than
one-half of the days are overcast |
|
Terrain: |
mostly rugged hills and low
mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast |
|
Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: The Fens
-4 m
highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m |
|
Natural resources: |
coal, petroleum, natural gas,
iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum,
potash, silica sand, slate, arable land |
|
Land use: |
arable land: 23.46%
permanent crops: 0.21%
other: 76.33% (2001) |
|
Irrigated land: |
1,080 sq km (1998 est.) |
|
Natural hazards: |
winter windstorms; floods
|
|
Environment - current issues: |
continues to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from
1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move
towards a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the
government aims to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste
disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and to recycle or
compost at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015;
between 1998-99 and 1999-2000, household recycling increased from 8.8% to
10.3% |
|
Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Air Pollution,
Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air
Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants |
|
Geography - note: |
lies near vital North Atlantic
sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the
English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is
more than 125 km from tidal waters |
|
Population: |
60,441,457 (July 2005 est.)
|
|
Age structure: |
0-14 years: 17.7% (male
5,490,592/female 5,229,691)
15-64 years: 66.5% (male
20,329,272/female 19,855,862)
65 years and over: 15.8% (male
4,063,357/female 5,472,683) (2005 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 38.99 years
male: 37.89 years
female: 40.13 years (2005 est.)
|
|
Population growth rate: |
0.28% (2005 est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
10.78 births/1,000 population
(2005 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
10.18 deaths/1,000 population
(2005 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
2.18 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2005 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.05
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64
years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74
male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005
est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total: 5.16 deaths/1,000
live births
male: 5.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 78.38
years
male: 75.94 years
female: 80.96 years (2005
est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
1.66 children born/woman (2005
est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
0.2% (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
51,000 (2001 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
less than 500 (2003 est.)
|
|
Nationality: |
noun: Briton(s), British
(collective plural)
adjective: British |
|
Ethnic groups: |
white 92.1%, black 2%, Indian
1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census) |
|
Religions: |
Christian (Anglican, Roman
Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other
1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census) |
|
Languages: |
English, Welsh (about 26% of
the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in
Scotland) |
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and
over has completed five or more years of schooling
total
population: 99% (2000 est.)
male: NA%
female:
NA% |
| Government |
United Kingdom |
|
Country name: |
conventional long form:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - Great Britain
includes England, Scotland, and Wales
conventional short form:
United Kingdom
abbreviation: UK |
|
Government type: |
constitutional monarchy |
|
Capital: |
London |
|
Administrative divisions: |
England - 47 boroughs, 36
counties, 29 London boroughs, 12 cities and boroughs, 10 districts, 12
cities, 3 royal boroughs
: boroughs: Barnsley, Blackburn with
Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and
Hove, Bury, Calderdale, Darlington, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Halton,
Hartlepool, Kirklees, Knowsley, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton
Keynes, North Tyneside, Oldham, Poole, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland,
Rochdale, Rotherham, Sandwell, Sefton, Slough, Solihull, Southend-on-Sea,
South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Swindon,
Tameside, Thurrock, Torbay, Trafford, Walsall, Warrington, Wigan, Wirral,
Wolverhampton
: counties: Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire,
Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset,
Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire,
Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire,
Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, North Yorkshire,
Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire,
Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Worcestershire
: London boroughs: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent,
Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith
and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington,
Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames,
Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth
:
cities and boroughs: Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Leeds, Liverpool,
Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Salford, Sheffield, Sunderland,
Wakefield, Westminster
: districts: Bath and North East
Somerset, East Riding of Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire, North
Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Rutland, South Gloucestershire, Telford and
Wrekin, West Berkshire, Wokingham
: cities: City of Bristol,
Derby, City of Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, City of London, Nottingham,
Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, York
: royal boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames,
Windsor and Maidenhead
: Northern Ireland - 24 districts, 2
cities, 6 counties
: districts: Antrim, Ards, Armagh,
Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine,
Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady,
Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down,
Omagh, Strabane
: cities: Belfast, Derry
: counties:
County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County
Londonderry, County Tyrone
: Scotland - 32 council areas:
Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, The Scottish
Borders, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East
Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of
Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian,
Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and
Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South
Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, Eilean Siar (Western Isles),
West Lothian;
: Wales - 11 county boroughs, 9 counties, 2
cities and counties
: county boroughs: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend,
Caerphilly, Conwy, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Newport,
Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen, Wrexham
: counties: Isle of
Anglesey, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire,
Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys, The Vale of Glamorgan
:
cities and counties: Cardiff, Swansea |
|
Dependent areas: |
Anguilla, Bermuda, British
Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland
Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn
Islands, Saint Helena and Ascension, South Georgia and the South Sandwich
Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands |
|
Independence: |
England has existed as a
unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and
Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized
until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England
and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative
union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the
adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the
Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern
Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and
the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927 |
|
National holiday: |
the UK does not celebrate one
particular national holiday |
|
Constitution: |
unwritten; partly statutes,
partly common law and practice |
|
Legal system: |
common law tradition with early
Roman and modern continental influences; has judicial review of Acts of
Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal
|
|
Executive branch: |
chief of state: Queen
ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of
the queen, born 14 November 1948)
head of government: Prime
Minister Anthony (Tony) BLAIR (since 2 May 1997)
cabinet:
Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
elections:
none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the
leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is
usually the prime minister |
|
Legislative branch: |
bicameral Parliament comprised
of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary
peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections;
members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the
House is dissolved earlier)
elections: House of Lords - no
elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act,
elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary
peers who would remain there; pending further reforms, elections are held
only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons -
last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010)
election
results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labor 35.2%,
Conservative 32.3%, Liberal Democrats 22%, other 10.5%; seats by party -
Labor 356, Conservative 197, Liberal Democrat 62, other 31
note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland
Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the
transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of
1999 and has been suspended four times the latest occurring in October
2002); in 1999 there were elections for a new Scottish Parliament and a
new Welsh Assembly |
|
Judicial branch: |
House of Lords (highest court
of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the
monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland
(comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the
Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary
|
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Conservative and Unionist Party
[Michael HOWARD]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian
PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) BLAIR]; Liberal Democrats [Charles
KENNEDY]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd IWAN]; Scottish National
Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS];
Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Mark
DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [David TRIMBLE] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union;
Trades Union Congress |
|
International organization participation: |
AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group,
BIS, C, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8,
G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM
(guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club,
PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WEU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador David G. MANNING
chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 588-6500
FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San
Francisco
consulate(s): Dallas, Denver, Miami, and Seattle
|
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires David T. JOHNSON
embassy: 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W1A 1AE
mailing
address: PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040
telephone: [44]
(0) 20 7499-9000
FAX: [44] (0) 20 7629-9124
consulate(s)
general: Belfast, Edinburgh |
|
Flag description: |
blue field with the red cross
of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on
the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which
is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint
of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the
Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been
the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth
countries and their constituent states or provinces, as well as British
overseas territories |
|
Economy - overview: |
The UK, a leading trading power
and financial center, is one of the quartet of trillion dollar economies
of Western Europe. Over the past two decades the government has greatly
reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare
programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by
European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of
the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves;
primary energy production accounts for 10% of GDP, one of the highest
shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking,
insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest
proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. GDP
growth slipped in 2001-03 as the global downturn, the high value of the
pound, and the bursting of the "new economy" bubble hurt manufacturing and
exports. Output recovered in 2004, to 3.2% growth. The economy is one of
the strongest in Europe; inflation, interest rates, and unemployment
remain low. The relatively good economic performance has complicated the
BLAIR government's efforts to make a case for Britain to join the European
Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Critics point out that the economy is
doing well outside of EMU, and they cite public opinion polls that
continue to show a majority of Britons opposed to the euro. Meantime, the
government has been speeding up the improvement of education, transport,
and health services, at a cost in higher taxes. |
|
GDP: |
purchasing power parity -
$1.782 trillion (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
3.2% (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - per capita: |
purchasing power parity -
$29,600 (2004 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 26.3%
services: 72.7% (2004 est.) |
|
Investment (gross fixed): |
16.2% of GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
17% (2002 est.) |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 28.5% (1999) |
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index: |
36.8 (1999) |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
1.4% (2004 est.) |
|
Labor force: |
29.78 million (2004 est.)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture 1.5%, industry
19.1%, services 79.5% (2004) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
4.8% (2004 est.) |
|
Budget: |
revenues: $834.9 billion
expenditures: $896.7 billion, including capital expenditures of
NA (2004 est.) |
|
Public debt: |
39.6% of GDP (2004 est.) |
|
Agriculture - products: |
cereals, oilseed, potatoes,
vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish |
|
Industries: |
machine tools, electric power
equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding,
aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications
equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products,
food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
0.9% (2004 est.) |
|
Electricity - production: |
395.9 billion kWh (2003) |
|
Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 73.8%
hydro: 0.9%
nuclear: 23.7%
other: 1.6%
(2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
337.4 billion kWh (2003) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
2.959 billion kWh (2003) |
|
Electricity - imports: |
5.119 billion kWh (2003) |
|
Oil - production: |
1.957 million bbl/day (2003
est.) |
|
Oil - consumption: |
1.692 million bbl/day (2003
est.) |
|
Oil - exports: |
1.498 million bbl/day (2001)
|
|
Oil - imports: |
1.084 million bbl/day (2003)
|
|
Oil - proved reserves: |
25.41 billion bbl (2003) |
|
Natural gas - production: |
105.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - consumption: |
92.85 billion cu m (2001 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - exports: |
15.75 billion cu m (2001 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - imports: |
2.7 billion cu m (2001 est.)
|
|
Natural gas - proved reserves: |
714.9 billion cu m (2003)
|
|
Current account balance: |
$-33.46 billion (2004 est.)
|
|
Exports: |
$347.2 billion f.o.b. (2004
est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
manufactured goods, fuels,
chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco |
|
Exports - partners: |
US 15%, Germany 10.7%, France
9.2%, Ireland 6.8%, Netherlands 6.1%, Belgium 5.2%, Spain 4.5%, Italy 4.2%
(2004) |
|
Imports: |
$439.4 billion f.o.b. (2004
est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
manufactured goods, machinery,
fuels; foodstuffs |
|
Imports - partners: |
Germany 13%, US 9.2%, France
7.5%, Netherlands 6.6%, Belgium 5%, Italy 4.3%, China 4.2% (2004) |
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: |
$48.73 billion (2004) |
|
Debt - external: |
$4.71 trillion (2003) |
|
Economic aid - donor: |
ODA, $4.2 billion (2004) |
|
Currency: |
British pound (GBP) |
|
Currency code: |
GBP |
|
Exchange rates: |
British pounds per US dollar -
0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002), 0.6947 (2001), 0.6609 (2000)
|
|
Fiscal year: |
6 April - 5 April
|
| Communications |
United Kingdom |
|
Telephones - main lines in use: |
34.898 million (2002) |
|
Telephones - mobile cellular: |
49.677 million (2002) |
|
Telephone system: |
general assessment:
technologically advanced domestic and international system
domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay,
and fiber-optic systems
international: country code - 44; 40
coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7
Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region),
and 1 Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centers |
|
Radio broadcast stations: |
AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3
(1998) |
|
Radios: |
84.5 million (1997) |
|
Television broadcast stations: |
228 (plus 3,523 repeaters)
(1995) |
|
Televisions: |
30.5 million (1997) |
|
Internet country code: |
.uk |
|
Internet hosts: |
3,398,708 (2004) |
|
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): |
more than 400 (2000) |
|
Internet users: |
25 million (2002)
|
| Transportation |
United Kingdom |
|
Railways: |
total: 17,186 km
standard gauge: 16,726 km 1.435-m gauge (5,243 km electrified)
broad gauge: 460 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland) (2003)
|
|
Highways: |
total: 392,931 km
paved: 392,931 km (including 3,431 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (2003) |
|
Waterways: |
3,200 km (620 km used for
commerce) (2004) |
|
Pipelines: |
condensate 370 km; gas 21,446
km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 6,420 km; oil/gas/water 63 km; refined
products 4,474 km (2004) |
|
Ports and harbors: |
Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol,
Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Felixstowe, Glasgow, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith,
Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Ramsgate,
Scapa Flow, Southampton, Sullom Voe, Teesport, Tyne |
|
Merchant marine: |
total: 429 ships (1,000
GRT or over) 9,181,284 GRT/9,566,275 DWT
by type: bulk carrier
18, cargo 55, chemical tanker 48, container 134, liquefied gas 11,
passenger 12, passenger/cargo 64, petroleum tanker 40, refrigerated cargo
19, roll on/roll off 25, vehicle carrier 3
foreign-owned: 202
(Australia 3, Canada 15, Denmark 38, Finland 2, Germany 56, Greece 4,
Ireland 1, Italy 9, Netherlands 12, Norway 28, South Africa 4, Sweden 15,
Taiwan 7, United States 8)
registered in other countries: 446
(2005) |
|
Airports: |
471 (2004 est.) |
|
Airports - with paved runways: |
total: 334
over
3,047 m: 8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 33
1,524 to 2,437
m: 150
914 to 1,523 m: 86
under 914 m: 57 (2004
est.) |
|
Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 137
2438
to 3047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m:
23
under 914 m: 112 (2004 est.) |
|
Heliports: |
11 (2004 est.) |
|
Military branches: |
Army, Royal Navy (includes
Royal Marines), Royal Air Force |
|
Military manpower - military age and obligation: |
16 years of age for voluntary
military service (January 2004) |
|
Military manpower - availability: |
males age 16-49:
14,607,724 (2005 est.) |
|
Military manpower - fit for military service: |
males age 16-49:
12,046,268 (2005 est.) |
|
Military expenditures - dollar figure: |
$42,836.5 million (2003) |
|
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: |
2.4% (2003) |
| Transnational Issues |
United Kingdom |
|
Disputes - international: |
in 2003, Gibraltar residents
voted overwhelmingly by referendum to remain a British colony and against
a "total shared sovereignty" arrangement while demanding participation in
talks between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant
Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos
Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants
since their eviction in 1965; most Chagosians reside in Mauritius, and in
2001 were granted UK citizenship but no right to patriation in the UK; UK
rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich
Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)
overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland,
the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands'
continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm |
|
Illicit drugs: |
producer of limited amounts of
synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of
Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs;
money-laundering center |
| |
