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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom, the UK or - informally - Britain) is a country and sovereign state lying north-west of the continent of Europe. It occupies all of the island of Great Britain and the north-east of the island of Ireland, sharing a border with the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, and its ancillary bodies of water, including the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, St George's Channel, and the Irish Sea. It is linked to France and Continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy composed of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who is also the Queen and Head of State of fifteen other Commonwealth Realms, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man form a federacy with the United Kingdom collectively known as the British Islands. The UK also has fourteen overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire which at its height encompassed a quarter of the world's surface and population.

Although Britain was the foremost great power during the 19th century, and a superpower in the early 20th, the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its status in global affairs. However, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a nuclear power, a member of the G8, the world's fifth largest economy, and having the third highest defence spending, the UK remains an important political, economic and military world power. It is a member of the European Union and the Commonwealth of Nations.

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