Government and politics

The UK

The UK of Great British and Northern Irealand is situated on the British Isles.It consists of four parts: England,Wales,Scotland,Northern Ireland.England ,Wales,Scotland and Northern Ireland occupy the territory of Great Britian.Northern Oreland is situated in the northern part of Ireland.The territory of The UK us about 244,000 square km.The capital of the country is London.Great Britian is separated from the continent by the English Channel which is 34 km wide in its narrorest point.The country is also washed by the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.The most famous educational centers are Oxford and Cambridge universities.

population_estimate = 60,975,000

Government

The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system. The parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses; an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords. All bills passed are given Royal Assent before becoming law.

The prime minister chooses a cabinet and they are formally appointed by the monarch to form Her Majesty's Government. By convention, the Queen respects the prime minister's decisions of government.

Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, and become Ministers of the Crown.

The UK's three major political parties are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. The Labour party with Antony Blair at the head is the ruling party nowarday.

Existing parties such as the Scottish National Party (Scotland only); Plaid Cymru (Wales only); and the Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Ulster Unionist Party, and Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland only, though Sinn Féin also contests elections in the Republic of Ireland).

The Palace of Westminster, seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Symbols

The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth. Britannia is a national personification of the UK.

The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack).

It was created in 1606 by the superimposition of the Flag of England on the Flag of Scotland and updated in 1801 with the addition of Saint Patrick's Flag. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag, as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom.

The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the King", with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman.

Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom, originating from Roman Britain. Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon's three-pronged trident and a shield, bearing the Union Flag.

^SCOTLAND

^{Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centers.}

^{1 May 1707, Scotland entered into an incorporating political union with England to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain.}

^{Scotland is a member nation of the British–Irish Council, the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly and also participates within Scotland has over 790 islands, which are divided into four main groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. There are numerous bodies of freshwater including Loch Lomond and Loch Ness. Some parts of the coastline consist of machair, a low lying dune pasture land. the Common Travel Area agreement.}

^{The high point of the Southern Uplands is Merrick with an elevation of 843 m .}

Government and politics

Scotland's head of state is the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952).

Scotland has partial self-government within the United Kingdom as well as representation in the UK Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature comprising 129 Members, 73 of whom represent individual constituencies and are elected on a first past the post system; 56 are elected in eight different electoral regions by the additional member system, serving for a four-year period. The Queen appoints one Member of the Scottish Parliament, (MSP), on the nomination of the Parliament, to be First Minister. Other Ministers are also appointed by the First Minister and serve at his/her discretion, together they make up the Scottish Government, the executive arm of government.

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Scotland.

Bute House, official residence of the First Minister of Scotland, located within 6 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.

In the 2011 election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a majority government after winning 69 of the 129 seat Parliament; This was the first majority government since the modern post-devolutionary Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. The leader of the SNP, Alex Salmond, continued as First Minister. The next Scottish Parliament general election will be held on 5 May 2016.

Scotland is represented in the British House of Commons by 59 MPs elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies. The Scotland Office represents the UK government in Scotland on reserved matters and represents Scottish interests within the UK government. The Scotland office is led by the Secretary of State for Scotland, who sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, the current incumbent being Michael Moore.

Languages

Scotland has three officially recognised languages: English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic. Almost all Scots speak Scottish English,

Popullation

In August 2012, the Scottish population had reached an all time high, reaching 5.25 million people. The reason given was that in Scotland births were out numbering the number of Scottish deaths, and due to immigrants coming into Scotland from overseas. In 2011, 43,700 people moved from Wales, Northern Ireland or England to live in Scotland.

Although Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland it is not the largest city. With a population of just over 584,000, this honour falls to Glasgow. The Greater Glasgow conurbation, with a population of almost 1.2 million, is home to nearly a quarter of Scotland's population.

Religion

Iona Abbey, an early centre of Christianity in Scotland.

Main article: Religion in Scotland

Many Scots Presbyterian, and their religious life takes place within the Church of Scotland. Proponents of this church shall be 2/3 of all the faithful,

Scotland also has a significant Roman Catholic population, 19% claiming that faith, particularly in the west.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Scotland

The first thing to know about Scottish dress is that only men wear the kilt. Women wear a pleated skirt in the tartan colors. The kilt is shorter and has more pleats than the woman's skirt. Other parts of the Scottish men's dress include the jackets, sporran, kilt hose and garters. There more than 4,000 recognized Scottish tartan patterns.

A Pipe Major playing the Great Highland Bagpipe

A famous traditional Scottish instrument is the Great Highland Bagpipe, a wind instrument . The clàrsach (harp), fiddle and accordion are also traditional Scottish instruments, the latter two heavily featured in Scottish country dance bands. Today, there are many successful Scottish bands and individual artists in varying styles including Runrig, Boards of Canada, Cocteau Twins, Franz Ferdinand, Susan Boyle, Emeli Sande, Texas, The View, The Fratellis, Twin Atlantic and Biffy Clyro. Other Scottish musicians include Paolo Nutini and Calvin Harris

Media and papers

Television in Scotland is largely the same as UK-wide broadcasts, however the national broadcaster is BBC Scotland, It runs three national television stations, and the national radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, amongst others. The main Scottish commercial television station is STV.

National newspapers such as the Daily Record, The Herald, and The Scotsman are all produced in Scotland.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 790