Monarchy of Jamaica facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "God Save the King"
Royal coat of arms in Scotland:
Show globe Show map of Europe Show overseas territories and Crown dependencies Location of the  Monarchy of Jamaica  (dark green) on the European continent  (dark grey)
Capital and largest city	London 51°30′N 0°7′W / 51.500°N 0.117°W / 51.500; -0.117
Official language and national language	English (de facto)
Regional and minority languages	Scots Ulster Scots Welsh Cornish Scottish Gaelic Irish British Sign Language
Ethnic groups (2011)	87.1% White 7.0% Asian 3.0% Black 2.0% Mixed 0.9% Other
Religion (2011)	Christianity (59.5%) Irreligion (25.7%) Islam (4.4%) Hinduism (1.3%) Sikhism (0.7%) Judaism (0.4%) Buddhism (0.4%) Other religions (0.4%) Not stated (7.2%)
Demonym(s)	British Briton Brit (colloquial)
Constituent countries	England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Charles III
• Prime Minister	Liz Truss
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	House of Lords
• Lower house	House of Commons
Formation
• Laws in Wales Acts	1535 and 1542
• Union of the Crowns	24 March 1603
• Acts of Union of England and Scotland	1 May 1707
• Acts of Union of Great Britain and Ireland	1 January 1801
• Irish Free State Constitution Act	5 December 1922
Area
• Total	242,495 km2 (93,628 sq mi) (78th)
• Water (%)	1.51 (2015)
Population
• 2021 estimate	67,326,569 (21st)
• 2011 census	63,182,178 (22nd)
• Density	270.7/km2 (701.1/sq mi) (50th)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$3.752 trillion (8th)
• Per capita	$55,301 (28th)
GDP (nominal)	2022 estimate
• Total	$3.376 trillion (6th)
• Per capita	$49,761 (25th)
Gini (2019)	▲ 36.6 medium · 33rd
HDI (2021)	0.929 very high · 18th
Currency	Pound sterling (GBP)
Time zone	UTC (Greenwich Mean Time, WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time, WEST)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy yyyy-mm-dd (AD)
Driving side	left
Calling code	+44
ISO 3166 code	GB
Internet TLD	.uk
Preceded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,495 square kilometres (93,628 sq mi), with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The capital and largest city is London, a global city and financial centre with a metropolitan area population of over 14 million. Other major cities include Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers.

The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 formed the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its union in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which formally adopted that name in 1927.

The nearby Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown Dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. There are also 14 British Overseas Territories, the last remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and a third of the world's population, and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and the legal and political systems of many of its former colonies.

The United Kingdom has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the eighth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating, ranking 13th in the world. It also performs well in international rankings of education, healthcare, life expectancy and human development. The UK became the world's first industrialised country and was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the UK retains considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, technological and political influence internationally. It is a recognised nuclear state and is ranked fourth globally in military expenditure. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946.

The United Kingdom is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the United Nations, NATO, AUKUS, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Interpol, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It was a member state of the European Communities (EC) and its successor, the European Union (EU), from its accession in 1973 until its withdrawal in 2020 following a referendum held in 2016.