Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena and
Ascension, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and
Caicos Islands

Independence:
England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the
union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of
Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in
another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to
permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great
Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of
the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the
Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six
northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as
Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927

National holiday:
the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday

Constitution:
unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Legal system:
common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental
influences; has judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the
Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with
reservations

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir
Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)
head of government: Prime Minister Anthony (Tony) BLAIR (since 2 May
1997)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative
elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the
majority coalition is usually the prime minister

Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of
approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and
House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections; members are
elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is
dissolved earlier)
elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as
provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House
of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain
there; pending further reforms, elections are held only as vacancies
in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held 5 May
2005 (nex