Railroads: Great Britain--16,629 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 16,629 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (4,205 km electrified and 12,591 km double or multiple track); several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, 190 km double track

Highways: UK, 362,982 km total; Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km limited-access divided highway); Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved, 592 km gravel)

Inland waterways: 2,291 total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km; other, 979 km

Pipelines: 933 km crude oil, almost all insignificant; 2,993 km refined products; 12,800 km natural gas

Ports: London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Folkestone, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe, Southampton

Merchant marine: 310 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,324,682 GRT/9,401,385 DWT; includes 8 passenger, 22 short-sea passenger, 51 cargo, 2 passenger-cargo, 39 container, 24 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 10 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 78 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 5 liquefied gas, 2 combination ore/oil, 52 bulk, 2 combination bulk

Civil air: 618 major transport aircraft

Airports: 489 total, 333 usable; 240 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 36 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 131 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: modern, efficient domestic and international system; 30,200,000 telephones; excellent countrywide broadcast systems; stations--223 AM, 115 (396 relays) FM, 205 (3,210 relays) TV; 38 coaxial submarine cables; 7 communication satellite ground stations operating in INTELSAT, MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems

NOTE: The information regarding United Kingdom on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United Kingdom Communications 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United Kingdom Communications 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.