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[b]Basic information:[/b]
-Official Name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
-Language: English.
-Capital: London.
-Population: ~50.5 million.

[b]History:[/b] The Kingdom of Great Britain came into being with the unification of England and Scotland on 1 May 1707, and was renamed to the United Kingdom in 1801. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, particularily after the defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars, the UK became the worlds dominant naval and imperial power, and built an empire that expanded to include India, large parts of Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Asia, and many other islands around the world. The UK fought against Germany and its allies in the First World War, and afterwards took over many former German/Ottoman territories, so the British Empire reached its greatest extent, covering one fifth of the land and one quarter of the population in the world.

The UK entered World War II by declaring war on Germany in 1939, after it had invaded Poland and Czechoslovakia. In 1940, Winston Churchill became prime minister and head of a coalition government. Despite the defeat of its European allies in the first year of the war, the UK continued the fight alone against Germany. In 1940, the RAF defeated the German Luftwaffe in a struggle for control of the skies in the Battle of Britain. The UK suffered heavy bombing during the Blitz. There were also eventual hard-fought victories in the Battle of the Atlantic, the North Africa campaign and Burma campaign. UK forces played an important role in the Normandy landings of 1944, achieved with its ally the US. After Germany's defeat, the UK was one of the Big Three powers who met to plan the post-war world; it was an original signatory to the Declaration of the United Nations. The UK became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. However, the war left the UK severely weakened and depending financially on Marshall Aid and loans from the United States.

Between 1945 and 1953, a rise in nationalism in its colonies combined with a much-diminished economic position meant that a period of decolonisation was unavoidable, losing India and Pakistan in 1947. The UK was the third nation to develop a nuclear weapons program, successfully testing a nuclear bomb in 1952.

[b]Politics and Government:[/b] Constitutional Republic. The Queen is Elizabeth II, and the Prime Minister is Winston Churchill.

[b]Military:[/b] Post-WW2 economic and political decline have led to a contracted global role of the British Armed Forces. However, it still maintains a powerful navy, a sizeable airforce including jet aircraft, and a modern army numbering around 690 000.

[b]Geography:[/b] The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 243,610 square kilometres (94,060 sq mi). The country occupies the major part of the British Isles archipelago and includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland and some smaller surrounding islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea with the south-east coast coming within 22 miles (35 km) of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. 

The United Kingdom also maintains colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, South and Central America, the Pacific, Asia, the Middle East, and islands throughout the world.

[b]Economy:[/b] Once the world's most powerful economy, the UK economy is still a major force in the world. The UK enjoys a high standard of living, with high levels of employment in the tertiary sector. However, the UK's economy faced major economic challenges, orginally from the USA and Germany, and more recently the USSR, and is struggling heavily to deal with the costs of the war and maintaining the empire. The Second World War was very damaging to the UK economy, bringing it almost to a standstill.

The UK was the biggest receiver of aid through the US Marshall Aid Plan, receiving almost $3.3 billion between 1948-1951.

[b]Culture:[/b] The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by the UK's history as a developed island country, a liberal democracy and a major power, its predominantly Christian religious life, and its composition of four countries—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales—each of which has distinct customs, cultures and symbolism. The wider culture of Europe has also influenced British culture, and Humanism, Protestantism and representative democracy developed from broader Western culture.

British literature, music, cinema, art, theatre, media, television, philosophy and architecture are influential and respected across the world. The United Kingdom is also prominent in science and technology. Sport is an important part of British culture; numerous sports originated in the country, including football. The UK has been described as a "cultural superpower", and London has been described as a world cultural capital.

The Industrial Revolution, with its origins in the UK, had a profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural conditions of the world. As a result of the British Empire, significant British influence can be observed in the language, culture and institutions of a geographically wide assortment of countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa and the United States. These states are sometimes collectively known as the Anglosphere, and are among Britain's closest allies. In turn the empire also influenced British culture, particularly British cuisine.

The cultures of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are diverse and have varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness.

[b]Infrastructure, science, and development:[/b] The United Kingdom is still at the forefront of the world's science and technology. As a developed nation, the infrastructure of the UK is of the highest quality, and many scientific and technological discoveries and inventions happen in the UK. The UK was the third nation in the world to develop nuclear weapons.

[b]Analysis:[/b] The UK is torn between a desire to remain dominant in world politics, and to recover from the war. The UK is capitalist, pro-American, and a major member of NATO. It is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The future will likely see it trying to assert its dominance where it can and recover its economy. If the Cold War escalates any further, it will most likely side with the USA.