Part 786

Population growth rate: 0.22% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 13.12 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 11.24 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female all ages: 0.96 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 6.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 76.41 years male: 73.78 years female: 79.17 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.82 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality: noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural) adjective: British

Ethnic divisions: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%

Religions: Anglican 27 million, Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000, Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.) note: the UK does not include a question on religion in its census

Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Literacy: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling (1978 est.) total population: 99% male: NA% female: NA%

Government ----------

Name of country: conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland conventional short form: United Kingdom abbreviation: UK

Data code: UK

Type of government: constitutional monarchy

Capital: London

Administrative divisions: 47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas England: 39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire Northern Ireland: 26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane Scotland: 9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside, Western Isles* Wales: 8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan

Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong (scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China on 1 July 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

Independence: 1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)

National holiday: Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)

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

Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) is a hereditary monarch; Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948) head of government: Prime Minister John MAJOR (since 28 November 1990) is the leader of the party which holds the majority in the House of Commons and must have the consent of the monarch cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers was appointed by the prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament House of Lords: consists of a 1,200-member body, four-fifths are hereditary peers, two archbishops, 24 other senior bishops, serving and retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, other life peers, Scottish peers House of Commons: elections last held 9 April 1992 (next to be held by NA April 1997); results - Conservative 41.9%, Labor 34.5%, Liberal Democratic 17.9%, other 5.7%; seats - (651 total) Conservative 336, Labor 271, Liberal Democratic 20, other 24

Judicial branch: House of Lords, several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life