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Great Britain: United Kingdom
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The population of Great Britain (1991 census, prelim.) was 55,508,789; its overall population density was 241 persons per sq km (625 per sq mi). For basic information on the kingdom's principal political divisions and their populations, see the table accompanying this article. For further information on population distribution, principal cities, racial origins, religion, and culture, see the articles dealing with the component parts of the kingdom. For the development and present state of languages and literature in Great Britain, see CELTIC LANGUAGES,; CORNISH LITERATURE,; DRAMA AND DRAMATIC ARTS.; ENGLISH LANGUAGE,; ENGLISH LITERATURE,; GAELIC LITERATURE,; IRISH LITERATURE,; SCOTTISH LITERATURE,; WELSH LITERATURE,.
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Great Britain is the largest island in Europe and the most populous island outside Asia. It contains England, Scotland, and Wales. It is separated from France by the English Channel and from other European mainland countries by the North Sea. To the west of it lies Ireland, which was all under the same monarchy, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, from 1801 till 1922 and has since been divided, with Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom.
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Ten athletes from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland competed in seven sports at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The British and Irish athletes were the fifth most successful in terms of overall medals (7) and tied for fifth in gold medals (2). The 7 medals came on 23 entries in 14 events.
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The United Kingdom, consisting of Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland, is twice the size of New York State. England, in the southeast part of the British Isles, is separated from Scotland on the north by the granite Cheviot Hills; from them the Pennine chain of uplands extends south through the center of England, reaching its highest point in the Lake District in the northwest. To the west along the border of Wales—a land of steep hills and valleys—are the Cambrian Mountains, while the Cotswolds, a range of hills in Gloucestershire, extend into the surrounding shires.
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In postwar foreign affairs Great Britain's loss of power was ... evident. Britain had undertaken to help Greece and Turkey resist Communist subversion, but the financial burden proved too great, and the task was assumed (1947) by the United States. The British Empire underwent rapid transformation. British India was partitioned (1947) into two self-governing states, India and Pakistan. In Palestine, unable to maintain peace between Arabs and Jews, Britain turned its mandate over to the United Nations. Groundwork was laid for the independence of many other colonies; like India and Pakistan, most of them remained in the Commonwealth after independence.
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The kingdom of Great Britain was formed by the Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland. England (including the principality of Wales, annexed in the 14th century) and Scotland had been separate kingdoms since the early Middle Ages, but after 1603 the same monarch had ruled both lands. Only in 1707... did London become the capital of the entire island. Great Britain from then on had a single Parliament and a single system of national administration, taxation, and weights and measures. All tariff barriers within the island were ended. England and Scotland continued, however, to have separate traditions of law and separate established churches—the Presbyterian in Scotland, the Anglican in England and Wales.
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