Short answers, pulled from the story.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign country in northwestern Europe made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its capital and largest city is London, while Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.
The United Kingdom had a population of over 69 million in 2024, the fourth-largest in Europe and the 22nd-largest in the world. England's population in 2021 was 56 million, representing some 84 per cent of the UK total.
The Kingdom of Great Britain was formed on the 1st of May 1707 by the Acts of Union between England and Scotland. The Acts of Union 1800 added Ireland on the 1st of January 1801, and the present name, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927 after most of Ireland became independent.
The United Kingdom has three distinct legal systems, English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law, because the 1706 Treaty of Union provided for the continuation of Scotland's separate legal system. English and Northern Ireland law are based on common law, while Scots law is a hybrid of common-law and civil-law principles.
The United Kingdom had an estimated nominal GDP of 2.819 trillion pounds in 2025, making it the fifth-largest national economy in the world and the second-largest in Europe. The service sector made up around 80 per cent of its gross value added in 2023.
The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016, with 51.9 per cent of voters in favour, and formally left in 2020. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force on the 1st of May 2021.