•The British sovereign or monarch serves as an important symbol of the British government, but not as the leader.•Elected leaders (parliament) govern the country and Queen Elizabeth the II serves England more with ceremonial duties.

Queen Elizabeth the II with Prince Charles on her left

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, where the monarch’s power is limited by the constitution.

Unlike the United States its has an unwritten constitution made up of the laws , court decision and political customs.

The Parliament is the United Kingdom’s legislature.

The Parliament house in London

Parliament is made up of two houses and the sovereign. (Queen)

Members of the first house are the House of lords which are usually appointed. (has little power)

The House of commons is the other part of the parliament and it is the key law making body.

The House of commons consists of elected officials .

House of Commons in parliament

Usually the leader of the House of Commons with the most seats becomes Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister heads the executive branch of the government.

The current prime minster of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland is David Cameron. David Cameron Prime

Minister of U.K.

All four regions of the United Kingdom- England. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are represented in parliament.

Establishing a government in Northern Ireland has been difficult with constant warfare between the nationalists (Catholics) who want to unify with Ireland and the unionists (protestant) who want to stay as a part of the United kingdom.

The UK has long depended on natural resources such as iron ore, coal, and oil deposits in the North sea, but those resources are running out and the UK must find alternative energy sources such as wind power.

Over ¾ of Britain’s labor forces work in service industries as the production of textiles declines.

London’s bank and stock exchange has made it one of Europe’s leading business centers.

Although great Britain is part of the European Union, it has not changed its currency to the Euro and still uses British pounds.

The nation of U.K. has a trillion dollar economy and trades with many of its European Union members.

It also is a leader in technology with the channel tunnel a 31 mile tunnel which links Britain to France by Train.