Great+Britain+Pd.+3+General+Information

__**Geographic Information**__
 * Location: Great Britain is located off the coast of continental Europe with France to the South and Ireland to the West in the Atlantic Ocean.
 * Major Cities: London, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton
 * Capital City: London[[image:uk-map.gif width="247" height="452" align="right" caption="Map of Great Britain (from CIA Factbook)"]]


 * __Brief History of Great Britain__**
 * The founding of Great Britain began with the unification of various kingdoms (hence the name United Kingdom) including England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
 * William the Conquerer of Normandy defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 becoming the first true king of England and during his reign extended rule over the whole of the British Isles.
 * England and Wales were united with the Acts of Unions of 1536 and 1542.
 * Scotland joined the union officially in 1707.
 * The Magna Carta was created in 1215 and checked the unlimited power of the monarchy by stating the rights of the political community.
 * Feudal barons began to be summoned by the king for consent in 1236 forming the basis of what is now Parliament which gained the power to make laws in the 1400s.
 * Great Britain saw a long history of religious conflicts, national rivalries with Spain and France, and conflicts between the Monarch and Parliament, largely appearing in the Civil Wars that took place in the 1640s.
 * Political Revolution of 1688 was the last successful coup d'etat in British history and marked the formation of the current balance between Parliament and the Monarch and ended conflict between the Roman Catholics and the Church of England.
 * The mid 18th century saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution which saw the great expansion of technology and changed the British way of life.
 * Great Britain by the 19th century controlled 25% of the world having one of the largest empires the world had ever seen.
 * Britain was an interventionist state and therefore played a large role as one of the allied powers in both World War I and World War II.
 * Margaret Thatcher held the office of Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, the longest time of any Prime Minister, and was noted for her major political reforms and turn around in the British economy.
 * Following 9/11 Great Britain under Tony Blair and the New Labour Party became America's main ally in the war on terror and on 7/7/2005 faced its own series of terroristic bombings in London that are remembered by the British in a similar sense to the US memory of September 11th.


 * __Important Leaders:__**
 * Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II Heir to Throne: Prince Charles[[image:uk-lgflag.gif width="290" height="251" align="right" caption="Flag of Great Britain (the Union Jack) (From the CIA Factbook)"]]
 * Head of Government: Prime Minister David Cameron
 * Deputy Prime Minister: Nicholas Clegg
 * Chancellor of the Exchequer: George Osborne
 * Ambassador to the US: Sir Nigel Elton Sheinwald


 * __Type of Government:__** Parliamentary democracy, Constitutional monarchy


 * __Major Religions:__**
 * Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.8%
 * No Religion 15.2%
 * Muslim 2.8%
 * Other 1.7%
 * Hindu 1%

__**Economic Information:**__
 * GDP: $2.128 trillion (2009 est.)
 * GNP:$2.23 Trillion
 * Gini Index: 34 (2005)
 * Primary Sector: 1.4%
 * Secondary Sector: 18.2%
 * Tertiary Sector: 80.4%
 * Development Level: 21 (HDI Index)


 * __Literacy:__**
 * Male: 99%
 * Female: 99%
 * School Enrollment: 0.957 (HDI Education Index)

Great Britain Pd. 3 Table of Contents