ABSTRACT
The United Kingdom (U.K.) is an entity that consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is a constitutional monarchy governed by a parliament situated in London, its capital. The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately 243,610 square kilometers, and it had 58.8 million inhabitants at the last official census in 2001, rising to an estimated 61.8 million in 2009 (ONS, 2010). This makes the U.K. the third most populous country in the European Union, of which it has been a member since 1973.
