United Kingdom

The United Kingdom includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

CURIOSITY

Often we tend to confuse the name of these three territories United Kingdom, England and Great Britain, to clarify any doubts:

• United Kingdom consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
• Great Britain is the name of the island and is formed by Wales, England and Scotland
• England is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom

A BIT OF HISTORY

HOW THE UNITED KINGDOM IS CREATED

In 1707 the Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland by the Act of Union 1706. Later in 1800 in the Kingdom of Ireland it became part of the Kingdom of England. The Republic of Ireland gained its independence in 1922, but six of the nine counties of Ulster remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. Relations between these constituent states and England were marked by controversy and, at times, open rebellion and even war. These tensions loosened somewhat at the end of the 20th century, when decentralized assemblies were introduced in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Nevertheless, even with the establishment of a power-sharing assembly after referendums in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, relations between trade unionists in Northern Ireland (favouring the maintenance of British sovereignty over Northern Ireland) and nationalists (favouring unification with the Republic of Ireland) remained tense even in the 21st century.

THE UNITED KINGDOM’S CONTRIBUTION

The UK has made a significant contribution to the world economy, especially in technology and industry. Since World War II, however, the UK’s most important exports have been cultural, including literature, theater, cinema, television and popular music that draw from all parts of the country. Perhaps Britain’s largest export was the English language, now spoken in every corner of the world as one of the leading international media of culture.

THE UNITED KINGDOM IN EUROPE

The United Kingdom was one of the 12 founding countries of the European Union with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.
On 23 June 2016 a consultative referendum was held on the permanence of the European Union, 51.9 % voted for the exit from the European Union.

WHEN TO GO

The best time to visit the country is from April to September with long days and pleasant temperatures. The months of March and October are intermediate and the temperatures are colder.
The winter months from November to February are colder and the days shorter.

DOCUMENT

For Italian citizens, at the moment and throughout 2020, they can visit the country with an identity card valid for expatriation or passport.

HOW TO GET:

There are various solutions on how to get to the UK:

• by air only the City of London has 5 airports Heathrow (connected to central London via the Picadilly line) and Gatwick (connected to Victoria station via the Gatwick express train) for international flights, Luton and Stansted for cheap flights and the London city especially for business travelers.
  There are also other major airports within the country such as Bristol (a good starting point for visiting Wales), Manchester and Edinburgh.
• overland via the Channel Tunnel with the Eurostar train (high-speed train) or Eurotunnel a rail service for cars, buses and motorcycles.
  You can get there via the very used bus company Flixbus or Eurolines.
• by water taking a ferry from Dover to Calais and the trip takes an hour and a half also there are other connections with Belgium, Holland, Norway and Sweden.

CURRENCY

The official currency of the United Kingdom is the British pound or pound sterling.
1 GBP = 1,18 EURO (january 2020). There are numerous Atms and currency exchanges.

PLUGS SOCKETS AND ELECTRICITY

The voltage used is 230V and the electric frequency is 50 Hz.
The plug used and the type “G”

TIME ZONE

The difference is an hour behind Italy

Miriam Ferrarin