United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a political union made up of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The United Kingdom also has fourteen overseas territories, including Bermuda, Gibraltar, the Pitcairn Island group, British Indian Ocean Territory, the Falkland Islands, and British Antarctic Territory among others. The dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, formally possessions of the Crown, form a federacy with the United Kingdom collectively known as the British Islands.

After the Industrial Revolution and the defeat of Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars, Britain became the principal world power at the beginning of the nineteenth century. At its peak in 1921, the British Empire stretched to almost one-quarter of the Earth's surface and encompassed a third of its population, making it in terms of population and territory the largest empire in history.