The United Kingdom, made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is an island nation in northwestern Europe. England – birthplace of Shakespeare and The Beatles – is home to the capital, London, a globally influential center of finance and culture. England is also site of Neolithic Stonehenge, Bath’s Roman spa and centuries-old universities at Oxford and Cambridge.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state established by the Acts of Union 1800 , which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland . The United Kingdom, having financed the European coalition that defeated France during the Napoleonic Wars , developed a large Royal Navy that enabled the British Empire to become the foremost world power for the next century.
