United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign state in the European Union. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, it includes the island of "Great Britain" (a term also applied loosely to refer to the whole country), the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands.Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to its east, the English Channel to its south and the Celtic Sea to its south-southwest. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 93,800 square miles (243,000 km²), the UK is the 80th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also is the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 64.5 million inhabitants.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. Its capital city is London, an important global city and financial centre with an urban population of 10,310,000, the fourth-largest in Europe and second-largest in the European Union. The current monarch—since 6 February 1952—is Queen Elizabeth II. The UK consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The latter three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, respectively. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the United Kingdom, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation.

United Kingdom (disambiguation)

The United Kingdom is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe.

United Kingdom may also refer to:

United Kingdom (album)

United Kingdom is the fourth album by American Music Club. It was recorded primarily for the UK, where the band had a larger following than in their native USA, and consists of a mixture of studio and live tracks. The LP was produced by Tom Mallon who also produced the band's previous three LPs, The Restless Stranger, Engine and California. United Kingdom contained the song "Kathleen", the most obvious of many that Mark Eitzel has composed about his long-term muse, Kathleen Burns.

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Eitzel.

Personnel

Army Reserve (United Kingdom)

The Army Reserve (previously known as the Territorial Force, Territorial Army (TA) and the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve (TAVR) from 1920 to 2014) is the active-duty volunteer reserve force and integrated element of the British Army. The Army Reserve was created as the Territorial Force in 1908 by the Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane, when the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 combined the previously civilian-administered Volunteer Force, with the mounted Yeomanry (at the same time the Militia was renamed the Special Reserve). Most Volunteer infantry units had unique identities, but lost these in the reorganisation, becoming Territorial battalions of Regular Army infantry regiments. Some, notably the London, Monmouthshire and Hertfordshire Regiments maintained a separate identity.

Its original purpose was home defence, although the establishment of the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve in 1967 involved a restructuring and revised doctrine leading to the provision of routine support for the regular army overseas. Reservists in the past also served as constables or bailiffs, even holding positions of civic duty as overseer of their parish. The more modern Yeomen of the 18th century were cavalry-based units, which were often used to suppress riots (see the Peterloo Massacre). Several units that are now part of the Army Reserve bear the title "militia", reflecting their origins as part of that organisation prior to the formation of the Special Reserve in 1907.

Military reserve force

A military reserve force is a military organization composed of citizens of a country who combine a military role or career with a civilian career. They are not normally kept under arms and their main role is to be available to fight when a nation mobilizes for total war or to defend against invasion. Reserve forces are generally not considered part of a permanent standing body of armed forces. The existence of reserve forces allows a nation to reduce its peacetime military expenditures while maintaining a force prepared for war. It is analogous to the historical model of military recruitment before the era of standing armies.

In some countries, such as the United States, Spain and the United Kingdom, members of the reserve forces are civilians who maintain military skills by training, typically one weekend a month. They may do so as individuals or as members of standing reserve regiments, for example the Territorial Army of the United Kingdom. In some cases a militia, home guard,or state guard could constitute part of a military reserve forces, such as the United States National Guard, State Defense Forces, Home Guard of Norway, Home Guard of Sweden, or Home Guard of Denmark.

Army Reserve

Army Reserve is another term for a military reserve force and may refer to:

Army Reserve (Ireland)

The Army Reserve (Irish: Cúltaca an Airm) is the land component of Ireland's Reserve Defence Forces. It is the second line reserve of the Army. The Army Reserve is a part-time, fully voluntary organisation, and is one of two elements of the Reserve Defence Forces, the other element being the Naval Service Reserve.

It was established on 1 October 2005 to replace and reorganise the previous reserve organisation, and to improve training and courses similar to those of the Permanent Forces. This reorganisation saw the creation of an overriding Reserve Defence Forces structure which spans both the Army and Naval Service Reserve.

Prior to the 2005 restructure, the land component of the reserve forces were known as the Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil (lit. local defence force, FCA), which in turn has its origins in the Units formed in 1920s.

History

Early Reserve/Volunteer forces

In the years following the establishment of Defence Forces various classes of army reserves were experimented with. Between 1927 and 1939, these comprised several reserve classes.