Editing Geography of the United Kingdom (section)

==Human geography==
{{Largest Urban Areas of the United Kingdom}}

=== Demographics ===
{{main|Demographics of the United Kingdom}}

===Political geography===
{{Main|Politics of the United Kingdom}}
{{see|Politics of England|Politics of Scotland|Politics of Northern Ireland|Politics of Wales}}
[[File:United Kingdom labelled map7 vector.svg|200px|thumb|right|The [[United Kingdom]] is made up of [[Countries of the United Kingdom|four countries]]: [[England]], [[Northern Ireland]], [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]].]]

====Government====
{{main|HM Government|Scottish Government|Northern Ireland Executive|Welsh Government}} 

The United Kingdom as a whole is governed by the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. The Parliament of the United Kingdom, based at the [[Palace of Westminster]] in London, only legislates for [[Scotland]], [[Wales]] and [[Northern Ireland]] on [[Devolved, reserved and excepted matters#Reserved|reserved matters]], such as national security, broadcasting and currency, as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved governments and legislatures – the [[Scottish Parliament]], [[Senedd (Welsh Parliament)]] and [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] respectively. The [[devolution in the United Kingdom|devolved governments and legislatures]] can make laws in a number of areas, such as culture, education

The Scottish Parliament has been described as "one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world",<ref>{{cite web |title=Powerhouse Parliaments: is Holyrood the world's most devolved? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35716653 |website=BBC News |access-date=28 September 2024 |date=16 May 2016}}</ref> and can legislate for Scotland in areas in which the Northern Ireland Assembly or Welsh Parliament cannot for their respective countries, such as in areas as the distribution of money from dormant bank accounts, policing, criminal investigations and private security, anti-social behaviour and public order, air gun licensing, consumer advocacy and advice, Pubs Code Regulations, Sunday trading, heating and cooling, policing of railways and railway property, public sector compensation, the [[Crown Estate]], registration of births, deaths and places of worship, Registration of land, agricultural charges and debentures, bank holidays and marriage, family relationships, matters concerning children.<ref>{{cite web |title=Government of Wales Act 2006 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/32/schedule/7A |website=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Scotland Act 1998 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46/schedule/5 |website=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref>

By contrast, England has no devolved system of government, that is, the Parliament of the United Kingdom makes laws for England, as well as for [[Devolved, reserved and excepted matters|reserved]] matters in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England is governed by UK government ministers and legislated for by the UK parliament. The [[London region]] has a devolved assembly but proposals for elected [[Regional Assemblies in England]] were rejected in the first referendum covering [[North East England]]. (''See [[Government of England]].'')

The UK (specifically, Northern Ireland) has an international land boundary with the [[Republic of Ireland]] of 499&nbsp;km.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/> There is also a boundary between the jurisdiction of France and the UK on the Channel Tunnel.

====Local government====
{{Main|Local government in England|Local government in Scotland|Local government in Wales|Local government in Northern Ireland}}
[[File:UnitedKingdomCitiesandTownsOMC.png|thumb|right|200px|The United Kingdom's [[City status in the United Kingdom|cities]], other large centres, and selected smaller places]]

Each part of the UK is subdivided into further local governmental regions:
*England: [[Unitary authorities of England|Unitary Authorities]], [[county council]]s, [[Districts of England|district councils]], [[Parish councils in England|parish councils]]
*Wales: [[Subdivisions of Wales|Principal areas]], [[community council|communities]]
*Scotland: [[Subdivisions of Scotland|Council areas]], [[community council|communities]]
*Northern Ireland: [[Districts of Northern Ireland|Districts]]

Historically the UK was divided into counties or [[shire]]s: administrative areas through which all civil responsibilities of the [[government]] were passed. Each county or shire had a [[county town]] as its administrative centre and was divided into individual [[parish]]es that were defined along [[ecclesiastic]] boundaries.

Between 1889 (1890 in Scotland) and 1974, the political boundaries were based on the traditional counties, but due to changes in population centres, the traditional counties became impractical as local government areas in certain highly urbanised areas. The [[Local Government Act 1972]] created a new system of administrative counties, designed to take account of the widely differing populations across different parts of the country.

In the 1990s further population growth led to more political changes on a local level.  [[Unitary authority|Unitary authorities]] were formed across the entirety of Scotland and Wales, and in larger [[city|cities]] in England. Many unpopular administrative counties were also abolished at this time, leading to a mixture of two-tier and single-purpose authorities. Further reorganisations are planned if and when regional assemblies in England are revisited in the future.

===Economic geography===
{{Main|Economic geography of the United Kingdom}}
The economic geography of the UK reflects not only its current position in the global economy, but its long history both as a trading nation and an [[British Empire|imperial power]].

The UK led the [[Industrial Revolution]] and its highly urban character is a legacy of this, with all its major cities being current or former centres of various forms of manufacturing. However, this in turn was built on its [[exploitation of natural resources]], especially [[coal]] and [[iron ore]].

====Primary industry====
The UK's primary industry was once dominated by the [[coal]] industry, heavily concentrated in the north, the [[English Midlands|Midlands]] and [[south Wales]]. This is all but gone and the major primary industry is [[North Sea oil]]. Its activity is concentrated on the [[UK Continental Shelf]] to the north-east of [[Scotland]].

====Manufacturing====
The UK's heavy manufacturing drove the industrial revolution. A map of the major UK cities gives a good picture of where this activity occurred, in particular [[Belfast]], [[Birmingham]], [[Glasgow]], [[Liverpool]], [[London]], [[Manchester]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] and [[Sheffield]]. Today there is no heavy manufacturing industry in which UK-based firms can be considered world leaders. However, areas of the UK still have a notable manufacturing base, including the [[English Midlands|Midlands]] which remains a strong manufacturing centre, and the [[North West England|North West]] which accounts for 60% of the United Kingdom's manufacturing output.<ref>{{cite news|title=1,800 new jobs to be created at Manchester Airport|url=http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2012-08-22/1-800-new-jobs-to-be-created-at-manchester-airport/|work=ITV News|date=22 August 2012|access-date=25 September 2017}}</ref> More recently, high technology firms have concentrated largely along the [[M4 motorway]], partly because of access to [[Heathrow Airport]], but also because of agglomeration economies.

====Finance and services====
Once, every large city had a [[stock exchange]]. Now, the UK financial industry is concentrated overwhelmingly in the [[City of London]] and [[Canary Wharf]], with back office and administrative operations often dispersed around the south of England. London is one of the world's great financial centres and is usually referred to as a [[world city]]. There is also a significant legal and [[ebusiness]] industry in [[Leeds]].

====Regional disparity====
The effect of changing economic fortune has contributed to the creation of the so-called [[North-South divide in the United Kingdom|North-South divide]], in which decaying industrial and ex-industrial areas of Northern England, Scotland and Wales contrast with the wealthy, finance and technology-led southern economy. This has led successive governments to develop [[regional policy]] to try to rectify the imbalance. However, this is not to say that the north–south divide is uniform; some of the worst pockets of deprivation can be found in [[London]], whilst parts of [[Cheshire]] and [[North Yorkshire]] are very wealthy. Nor is the [[North-South divide in the United Kingdom|North-South divide]] limited to the economic sphere; cultural and political divisions weigh heavily too.