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United Kingdom Government 1996
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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Administrative divisions:
47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands
areas
39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham,
Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset,
Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater
Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle
of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk,
Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford,
Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and
Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire
26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge,
Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down,
Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt,
Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane
9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife,
Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside,
Western Isles*
8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South
Glamorgan, West Glamorgan
Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands,
Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong (scheduled
to become a Special Administrative Region of China on 1 July 1997), Jersey,
Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and
the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)
Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)
unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no
judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction,
with reservations
18 years of age; universal
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES
(son of the Queen, born 14 November 1948)
Prime Minister John MAJOR (since 28 November 1990)
consists of a 1,200-member body, four-fifths are hereditary peers, 2
archbishops, 24 other senior bishops, serving and retired Lords of Appeal in
Ordinary, other life peers, Scottish peers
elections last held 9 April 1992 (next to be held by NA April 1997); results
- Conservative 41.9%, Labor 34.5%, Liberal Democratic 17.9%, other 5.7%;
seats - (651 total) Conservative 336, Labor 271, Liberal Democratic 20,
other 24
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Political parties and leaders:
Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party, Anthony (Tony)
Blair; Liberal Democrats (LD), Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN; Scottish National
Party, Alex SALMOND; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru), Dafydd Iwan WIGLEY;
Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), James MOLYNEAUX; Democratic
Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), Rev. Ian PAISLEY; Ulster Popular Unionist
Party (Northern Ireland); Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP, Northern
Ireland), John HUME; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), Gerry ADAMS
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Other political or pressure groups:
Trades Union Congress; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers'
Union; Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional),
CE, CERN, EBRD, EC, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, FAO, G- 5,
G- 7, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM
(observer), ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN,
UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR,
UNPROFOR, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC
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Diplomatic representation in US:
Ambassador Sir Robin William RENWICK
3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San
Francisco,
Dallas, Miami, and Seattle
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US diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Adm. William W. CROWE
24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W. 1A1AE
PSC 801, Box 40, FPO AE 09498-4040
blue 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); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack;
the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a
number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and
others
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