United Kingdom

Where the name comes from

United Kingdom names the union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; “Great” tells the island of Britain apart from Brittany in France.

First people

People built Stonehenge about 5,000 years ago, and Celtic-speaking societies later lived across Britain.^1,2

Known for

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, Britain became the world’s first industrial nation, as steam-powered machines and factories moved much of economic life into industrial towns.³

Outside contact

Roman rule in parts of Britain was followed by Germanic settlement, Norse migrations and the Norman conquest of 1066.⁴

The modern country

The modern union grew through political agreements, including the union of England and Scotland in 1707 and with Ireland in 1801; most of Ireland left in 1922.⁵