United Kingdom

Understand

Made up of four home countries, the United Kingdom comprises an area of 243,610 km². As an island country, it offers a wide range of history, shared culture, pulse of vibrating cities, and miles of stunning countryside.

Orientation The UK occupies all of the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern portion of the island of Ireland and most of the remaining British Isles. The other part of the British Isles is the Republic of Ireland, which gained its independence in 1922. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are crown dependencies, governing themselves by their own legislatures with Crown assent. These dependencies are not part of the United Kingdom, but neither are they completely sovereign nations. The four constituent nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each has its own capital city: London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. The "Great" in Great Britain is due to it being the largest of the British Isles, as well as to distinguish it from the other, smaller "Britain": Brittany in north-west France. This terminology has been in use since the time of Ptolemy. "Britain" is often used as another name for the United Kingdom.

History

Great Britain and Ireland have been inhabited since at least the last Ice Age, more than 10,000 years ago. While little is known about the inhabitants of the Stone Age British Isles, the world famous monument of Stonehenge and dozens of other surviving stoneworks around the islands survive to this day as a testament to their legacy. The people of the British Isles were known as the Prettanoi by the Greeks, giving rise to the terms 'British' and 'Britain'. Some three thousand years ago, the people started to become influenced by the Celtic languages and culture from mainland Europe. The islands were, over time, to

Getting there

England is connected to France by the Channel Tunnel. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland. The UK is not a member of the European Union or the Schengen Agreement, which means that travel to and from EU countries (except Ireland) involves systematic passport checks at the border and separate visa requirements. A Schengen visa does not allow entry to the UK, so if required for your nationality, you will need to obtain a separate UK visa. Entering the UK from a Schengen country will invalidate a single entry Schengen visa. British overseas territories have their own separate visa requirements, which are covered in their respective articles. Visas for the UK are generally not valid for visits to British overseas territories, and you will need to obtain separate visas for them from a British diplomatic mission. Also, do not assume that just because you do not need a visa for the UK, you will not need a visa for the specific British overseas territory you wish to visit. Most passengers travelling to the UK from outside Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man go through systematic passport and selective customs checks carried out by the United Kingdom Border Force (UKBF) on arrival in the UK. However, juxtaposed controls exist for some cross-Channel services. Passengers travelling by Eurostar from Paris, Lille, Brussels, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam and by ferry from Calais and Dunkirk, undergo UK passport checks before embarkation and selective customs checks on arrival in the UK. Those entering the UK by Eurotunnel from France go through both UK passport and UK customs checks in Coquelles before boarding the train. The juxtaposed controls are reversed for travel in the opposite direction, with French border police carrying out entry contro

Getting around

Traveline, ☏ +44 871 2002-233 (calls cost £0.12 / min. from within the UK). Traveline provides online travel planner services for all public transportation across Great Britain. They also have separate planners dedicated to specific regions. Alternatively you can download their free regional apps. Just search "traveline + the region you want, e.g. Traveline West Midlands" on the App Store or Play Store. (updated Feb 2016) Translink, ☏ +44 28 9066-6630. For navigation purposes, they are Northern Ireland's version of Traveline, though they also operate most of the Province's bus and train services themselves. (updated Feb 2016)

By train

For Northern Ireland, see Rail travel in Ireland

Train travel is very popular in Britain, as Britain invented it—you'll find many services busy, and passenger numbers have been rising