legislative_body united kingdom
The Kingdom of Great Britain , officially Great Britain , was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800 . The state came into being following the Treaty of Union in 1706 , ratified by the Acts of Union 1707 , which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands . It did not include Ireland , which remained a separate realm . The unitary state was governed by a single ___MASK52___ and government that was based in Westminster . The former kingdoms had been in personal union since James VI , King of Scots , became King of England and King of Ireland in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I , bringing about a " Union of the Crowns ". Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714 , the kingdom was in a personal union with the Electorate of Hanover . The Northern Ireland Act 1998 ( c . 47 ) is an Act of the ___MASK88___ which established a devolved legislature for Northern Ireland , the Northern Ireland Assembly , after decades of direct rule from Westminster . A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch ( the government ) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature ( the ___MASK52___ ). There are a number of variations of parliamentary republics . Most have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state , with the head of government holding real power , much like constitutional monarchies . Some have combined the roles of head of state and head of government , much like presidential systems , but with a dependency upon parliamentary power . The Acts of Union were two Acts of ___MASK52___ : the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the ___MASK69___ , and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the ___MASK52___ of Scotland . They put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706 , following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries . By the two Acts , the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotlandwhich at the time were separate states with separate legislatures , but with the same monarchwere , in the words of the Treaty , " United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain ". A lower house is one of two chambers of a ___MASK74___ , the other chamber being the upper house . The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK ) or Britain , is a sovereign state in Europe . Lying off the north - western coast of the European mainland , it includes the island of Great Britain -- a term also applied loosely to refer to the whole country -- the north - eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another state -- the Republic of Ireland . Apart from this land border , the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to its east , the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south - southwest . The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland . With an area of 93 , 800 square miles ( 243 , 000 km2 ) , the UK is the 80th - largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th - largest in Europe . It is also is the 21st - most populous country , with an estimated 64 . 5 million inhabitants . The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance . Its capital city is London , an important global city and financial centre with an urban population of 10 , 310 , 000 , the fourth - largest in Europe and second - largest in the European Union . The current monarch -- since 6 February 1952 -- is Queen Elizabeth II . The UK consists of four countries : England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . The latter three have devolved administrations , each with varying powers , based in their capitals , Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast , respectively . The nearby Isle of Man , Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the United Kingdom , being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation . The relationships among the countries of the United Kingdom have changed over time . Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542 . A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain , which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In 1922 , five - sixths of Ireland seceded from the country , leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The UK has fourteen Overseas Territories . These are the remnants of the British Empire which , at its height in the 1920s , encompassed almost a quarter of the world ' s land mass and was the largest empire in history . British influence can be observed in the language , culture , and legal systems of many of its former colonies . The United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world ' s fifth - largest economy by nominal GDP and tenth - largest economy by purchasing power parity . The UK is considered to have a high - income economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index , currently ranking 14th in the world . It was the world ' s first industrialised country and the world ' s foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries . The UK remains a great power with considerable economic , cultural , military , scientific , and political influence internationally . It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fifth or sixth in the world . The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 . It has been a member state of the European Union ( EU ) and its predecessor , the European Economic Community ( EEC ) , since 1973 ; it is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , the Council of Europe , the G7 finance ministers , the G7 forum , the G20 , NATO , the Organisation for Economic Co - operation and Development ( OECD ) , and the World Trade Organization ( WTO ) . The Netherlands is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three island territories in the Caribbean . The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east , Belgium to the south , and the North Sea to the northwest , sharing maritime borders with Belgium , the United Kingdom , and Germany . The largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague and Utrecht . Amsterdam is the country ' s capital , while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of government and ___MASK52___ . The name " Holland " is used to refer informally to the whole of the country of the Netherlands . The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain , Scandinavia , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium , and France . An epeiric ( or " shelf ") sea on the European continental shelf , it connects to the ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north . It is more than long and wide , with an area of around . Ireland , also described as the Republic of Ireland ('), is a sovereign state in north - western Europe occupying about five - sixths of the island of Ireland . The capital and largest city is Dublin , which is located on the eastern part of the island , and whose metropolitan area is home to around a third of the country ' s 4 . 75 million inhabitants . The state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland , a part of the United Kingdom . It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the Celtic Sea to the south , Saint George ' s Channel to the south - east , and the Irish Sea to the east . It is a unitary , parliamentary republic . The legislature , the ', consists of a lower house , ', an upper house , ', and an elected President (') who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state , but with some important powers and duties . The head of government is the ' ( Prime Minister , literally ' Chief ', a title not used in English ), who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President , and appoints other government ministers . An upper house , sometimes called a ___MASK75___ , is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature ( or one of three chambers of a tricameral legislature ), the other chamber being the lower house . The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller , and often has more restricted power , than the lower house . Examples of upper houses in countries include the UK ' s House of Lords , Canada ' s ___MASK75___ , India ' s Rajya Sabha , Russia ' s Federation Council , Ireland ' s Seanad , Germany ' s ___MASK59___ and the United States ___MASK75___ . The ___MASK100___ ( Ulster Scots : " Norlin Airlan Assemblie ") is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland . It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the ___MASK88___ , and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive . It sits at Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast . Northern Ireland (; Ulster Scots : "") is a top - level constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the northeast of Ireland . It is variously described as a country , province , region , or " part " of the United Kingdom , amongst other terms . Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland . In 2011 , its population was 1 , 810 , 863 , constituting about 30 % of the island ' s total population and about 3 % of the UK ' s population . Established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement , the ___MASK100___ holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters , while other areas are reserved for the British government . Northern Ireland co - operates with the Republic of Ireland in some areas , and the Agreement granted the Republic the ability to " put forward views and proposals " with " determined efforts to resolve disagreements between the two governments ".