1986 Edition

Agriculture

food imported; some dates, alfalfa, vegetables, fruit, tobacco raised

mixed farming predominates; main products — wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, livestock, dairy products; 62.1% self-sufficient (1983); dependent on imports for more than half of consumption of refined sugar, butter, oils and fats, bacon and ham

Aid

donor — ODA and OOF economic aid commitments (1970-82) $14.4 billion

Airfields

42 total, 31 usable; 19 with permanent-surface runways; 5 with runways over 3,659 m, 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 6 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

legislative authority resides in Parliament (House of Lords, House of Commons); executive authority lies with collectively responsible Cabinet led by Prime Minister; House of Lords is supreme judicial authority and highest court of appeal

Budget

(1984) current expenditures, $3.7 billion; development, $0.2 billion; revenue, $3.9 billion

national and local government revenues (FY85 est), $208.6 billion; expenditures, $221.2 billion; deficit $12.6 billion

Capital

London

Civil air

4 major transport aircraft

Communists

15,961

Crude steel

15.2 million metric tons produced (1984); 267 kg per capita (1984); 23.6 million tons capacity (1984)

Elections

at discretion of Prime Minister but must be held before expiration of a fiveyear electoral mandate; last election held 9 June 1983 Political parties and leaders: Conservative, Margaret Thatcher; Labor, Neil Kinnock; Social Democratic, David Owen; Communist, Gordon McLennan; Scottish National, Donald Stewart; Plaid Cymru, Dafydd Wigley; Official Unionist, James Molyneaux; Democratic Unionist, Ian Paisley; Social Democratic and Labor, John Hume; Provisional Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams; Alliance, John Cushnahan; Liberal, David Steel

Electric power

6,015,000 kW capacity (1985); 15.807 billion kWh produced (1985), 12,300 kWh per capita

95,533,000 kW capacity (1985); 292.661 billion kWh produced (1985), 5,186 kWh per capita

Exports

$14.1 billion (f.o.b., 1984); $12.3 billion in crude oil, $1.8 billion consisting mostly of gas, reexports, dried fish, dates

$94.2 billion (f.o.b., 1984); manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

1 April-31 March Communications

Fishing

catch 846,535 metric tons (1983); imports 707,000 metric tons (1983), exports 379,000 metric tons (1983)

GDP

$28.2 billion (1984 est), $24,000 per capita

GNP

$426.3 billion (1984), $7,640 per capita; 60.3% consumption, 17.1% investment, 21.6% government; 0.0% stockholding, 1.0% net foreign balance, real growth 2.0% (1984)

Government leader

ELIZABETH II, Queen (since 1952); Margaret THATCHER, Prime Minister (since 1979)

Highways

2,000 km total; 1,800 km bituminous, 200 km gravel and graded earth

Imports

$6.9 billion (f.o.b., 1984); food, consumer and capital goods

$105.2 billion (c.i.f., 1984); manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods

Labor force

(1985) 27.58 million; 23% manufacturing and construction, 49.4% services, 9.5% self-employed, 10.4% government, 1.2% agriculture; 13.1% unemployed (November 1985)

Legal system

common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Literacy

99%

Major industries

machinery and transport equipment, metals, food processing, paper and paper products, textiles, chemicals, clothing

Major trade partners

Japan, EC, US

exports — 44.8% EC (10.6% FRG, 10% France, 8.7% Netherlands), 14.4% US, 2.3% Communist (1984); imports— 44.7% EC (14.1% FRG, 7.8% Netherlands, 7.5% France), 11.9% US, 2.6% Communist (1984)

Member of

ADB, CENTO, Colombo Plan, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ELDO, ESCAP, ESRO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDE— InterAmerican Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC — International Whaling Commission, IWC — International Wheat Council, NATO, OECD, UN, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, W?4O, WSG Economy

Monetary conversion rate

3.671 UAE dirhams=US$l (October 1985)

0.701 pound sterling=US$l (December 1985)

National holiday

Birthday of the Queen, 16 June

Natural resources

oil and natural gas; oil production in 1984, 1.1 million b/d

coal, oil, gas (North Sea), tin, limestone, iron, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica

Official name

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Organized labor

40% of labor force Government

Other political or pressure groups

Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers' Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Pipelines

830 km crude oil; 870 km natural gas, including natural gas liquids

Political subdivisions

54 counties in England and Wales, 12 regions in Scotland and islands area, 26 districts in Northern Ireland

Ports

7 major, 25 minor

Railroads

none

Great Britain — 17,249 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 16,964 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (3,749 km electrified, 12,591 km double or multiple track), and 19 km 0.597-meter gauge; several additional small standard-gauge and narrowgauge lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, 190 km double track

Suffrage

universal over age 18

Telecommunications

adequate system of radio-relay and coaxial cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubayy; 281,000 telephones (25.0 per 100 popl.); 8 AM, 3 FM, 9 TV stations; 3 INTELSAT stations with 1 Atlantic and 2 Indian Ocean antennas; Arab satellite station under construction; submarine cable to Qatar and Bahrain; planed submarine cables to India and Pakistan; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; radio-relay to

Type

constitutional monarchy

Voting strength

(1983 election) House of Commons — Conservative, 394 seats (42.4%); Labor, 210 seats (27.6%); Social DemocraticLiberal Alliance, 23 seats (18 Liberal, 7 SDP) (25.4%); Scottish National Party, 2 seats; Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalist), 2 seats; Ulster (Official) Unionist (Northern Ireland), 10 seats; Ulster Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland), 3 seats; Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland), 2 seats; Social Democratic and Labor (Northern Ireland), 1 seat; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), 1 seat