United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is made up of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It has a long history as a major player in international affairs and fulfils an important role in the EU, UN and Nato.

The economy - one of the largest in the world - is no longer manufacturing but services-based, with e-commerce of growing significance. The City of London is a global financial centre.

The country has not yet adopted the euro currency and the debate continues over when, and indeed whether, it will do so. The government has said that a series of economic criteria must be met before it considers putting the issue to a referendum.

After decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland, the Good Friday agreement of 1998, which led to a new assembly with devolved powers, brought hope of lasting peace. The assembly was suspended in autumn 2002 when a row erupted over allegations about IRA activities. It has yet to reconvene.

Although tensions still simmer, optimism was fuelled again in summer 2005 when the IRA announced an end to its armed campaign. Soon afterwards the arms decommissioning body declared that it was satisfied that the organization had put all its weapons beyond use.

In recent years the United Kingdom has made significant moves on devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff opened in 1999, and the possibility of devolution for the English regions has also been discussed.

The United Kingdom is home to a multicultural population, partly as the legacy of empire. There are more Asian restaurants in many towns than there are burger bars and a former government minister described a popular variety of curry as "Britain's true national dish".

The UK has been at the forefront of youth culture since the heyday of the Beatles and Rolling Stones in the 1960s.

It has a rich literary heritage encompassing the works of Englishman William Shakespeare, Scot Robert Burns, Welshman Dylan Thomas and Northern Irishman Seamus Heaney. Traditional music has deep roots across the UK which has also produced classical composers from Henry Purcell in the Baroque period to Benjamin Britten in the 20th century.