User:Adam Dent/sandbox

The United Republic of Celtic Nations and Northern England, commonly known as the United Republic (UR) or Celtia, is a sovereign state in Europe. Mostly lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the country includes the island of Ireland, most of the island of Great Britain and many smaller islands including the Channel Islands near the Northern coast of France; it also includes the peninsula of Gibraltar on the southern coast of the Iberian peninsula. Parts of the UR share land borders with the Kingdom of England and Gibraltar shares a land border with Spain. Apart from these land borders, the UR is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east and the Celtic Sea to its south-southwest, while Gibraltar is otherwise surrounded by the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Channel Islands are surrounded by the English Channel. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. The UR has an area of 224800 km2, making it the 84th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 12th-largest in Europe.

The United Republic is the 45th-most populous country, with an estimated 30.1 million inhabitants. It is a constitutional republic with a federal parliamentary system of governance. Its capital city is Dublin and its largest city is the Manchester-Liverpool conurbation; both, along with Edinburgh, are global cities; Glasgow is also a culturally important city and the Leeds-Bradford conurbation is also a large legal and financial centre. With an urban population of 4,794,379, Manchester-Liverpool is the eighth-largest city in Europe and fifth-largest in the European Union. The UR consists of nine federated states, called countries: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and Northern England. Each country has its own administration based in their capitals, Dublin, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Truro, Douglas, St Helier, St Peter Port, Gibraltar and Manchester-Liverpool, respectively. Yorkshire and Northumbria also have further devolved governments within Northern England, as do Alderney and Sark within Guernsey.

The United Republic is a developed country and has a medium-to-large economy. The UR is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index, and holds considerable cultural and scientific influence internationally. The UR is a fully-integrated member state of the European Union (EU), participating in both the Schengen Area and the Eurozone, as well as of the Council of Europe.