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 wrangling over the peace process.
Geography
Great Britain is located in 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. Great Britain has a temperate climate moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast. It's natural resources are: coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land.
Social
There is an old saying the "sun never sets on the Empire of Great Britain" due to how the people colonized distant lands. Great Britain is the fourth most populous country in Europe. The English constitute more than 80% of the nation's inhabitants.
Great Britain
Very Informative and well structured. Well done! This essay really was a joy to read.
As a resident of Scotland I would like to point out that perhaps a little more information could maybe have been added to the 'political' section of the essay, as the British democratic system is diverse and fairly complex as a whole.
You describe the Westminster Parliament superbly, but, as you only touched upon earlier - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now have devolved power. Scotland has the most power, with the establishment of its own Parliament in 1999. This means all issues involving health, education, agriculature and many more are completely devolved to the Scottish Parliament. It also has tax raising powers and (like the Welsh Assembly) an entirely different voting system. These systems used for the Scottish and Welsh elections were completely revolutionary as they were hailed as a success and a step forward for democracy as they are more representative and present a fairer proportion of the vote in Parliament. Scotland used to use the Additional Member System but it has since then been changed to the Single Transferable Vote (details of these can be found on the Scottish Parliament Website). Because of these fairer voting systems smaller parties gained seats in Parliament where previously they would not, destroying the 'two-tier' party system common to Britain and resulting in a coalition government for Scotland of Labour/Liberal Democrat. This meant parties such as the Green Party, the Socialist Party and the Scottish National Party (or as in Wales, Plaid Cymru) gained seats in Parliament. The Scottish National Party is opposition party in Parliament, as is Plaid Cymru opposition party in the Welsh Assembly. While the Conservative Party remains popular in the South of England it is largely hated (due to the legacy of Margaret Thatcher (the old witch)) in the North of England, Scotland and Wales - and the proof of this is seen in the 1997 General Election Results for these parts of the country.
Britain's political system, mainly because it consists of Four countries rather than one, and because it is based on such an ancient system of government, is complex and diverse and I think, very interesting.
While the Scottish Parliament has been slated since its beginning a few years ago I would like to point out that it is only due to it's establishment that I (and every other Scottish person) can study at the country's top university for four years completely free of charge. It has outlawed fox hunting, gives free personal care to elderly people, free bus/train travel for retired people and just 10 days ago banned smoking in all public places in Scotland.
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