The Associated Press . Return to. var wikiImage = new Image(); wikiImage. onload = function() &ob;if(this. height The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Great Britain, is a sovereign island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland. en. wikipedia. org/wiki/United_Kingdom. Portal to public service information from the UK Government, including directories, online services, news and information of relevance to specific groups. Please note that this website has a UK government accesskeys system. www. direct. gov. uk/. Facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, foreign relations of United Kingdom. Spring flowers in front of St. Stephen's tower, containing Big Ben, London, United Kingdom, March 7, 2002. [© AP Images] www. state. gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3846. htm. The United Kingdom (UK) is arguably Europe's most influential country. In simple terms, it's the union of the individual countries of England, Scotland and Wales, collectively called Great Britain (Europe's largest island) and the northeastern corner of Ireland - the constitutionally distinct region of Northern. www. worldatlas. com/webimage/countrys/europe/uk. htm. Country portal offers a map and links to Background Notes, the US embassy and the current ambassador, press releases, fact sheets, annual Human Rights Reports and other major reports including Industry Market Reports. Try the Subject Index! www. state. gov/p/eur/ci/uk/. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an independent US Government agency responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior US policymakers. For more on the Agency's mission, visit our Strategic Intent. www. cia. gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk. html. © 2008 United Kingdom Gifts. www. unitedkingdomgifts. co. uk/ www. unitedkingdomgifts. co. uk/.