UK Facts: 111 Facts about The United Kingdom ←FACTSlides→

The Queen of the UK is the legal owner of one-sixth of the Earth's land surface.

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In the UK, if you reach your 100th birthday, you get a personalized card from the Queen.

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The UK spent US$15.8 billion in a health service computer system that failed and was shut down in 2013.

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In the U.K., it is legal for kids over 5 years old to drink alcohol at home or on other private premises.

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UK's Internet Porn Filter Architect was Arrested On Child Porn Offences in 2014.

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In the UK, accents change noticeably about every 25 miles (40km).

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In the UK, all horses, ponies and donkeys must have a horse passport.

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In London,

it is illegal

to die

in the Houses of Parliament.

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Slavery was not made a statutory offense in the UK until April 6, 2010.

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Nearly 6,000 people per year get hurt or die in the UK after tripping over their trousers or falling down stairs while pulling them up.

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The UK

is smaller than

the U.S. state of

Oregon.

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The death penalty was outlawed in the UK partly because a man was wrongfully executed for the murder of his wife and daughter in 1950.

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Nigeria has
more English speakers than the United Kingdom.

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In the 16th century, a London law forbade wife beating after 9:00 P.M., but only because the noise disturbed people's sleep.

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KitKats' year production could stretch around the London Underground more than 350 times.

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The Queen Mary of Scotland became queen when she was only six days old.

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Since all British passports are issued in the Queen Elizabeth II's name, she herself doesn't have one.

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Concentration camps were first used by the British during the Second Anglo-Boer War.

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U.S. eggs are illegal in Britain because they are washed. British eggs are illegal in the U.S. because they are not.

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The average car in Britain is parked for 96% of the time.

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There's a 'Rent a Mourner' service in the UK to fill your funeral with fake friends.

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Centenarians are the fastest-growing demographic in the UK.

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Passports issued by the UK, Sweden and Finland offer visa-free travel to more countries than any other passports.

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In 1999, it was reported in the UK that over 3,000 people were hospitalized after tripping over a laundry basket.

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The average age

in the UK

for a first kiss

is 15.

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The UK is the first country in the world to allow the creation of babies from the DNA of three people.

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Kate Middleton is credited with boosting the UK economy by £1 billion in 2012.

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In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning UK monarch ever, surpassing Queen Victoria.

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The world's shortest scheduled airline flight lasts 2 minutes. It connects two islands in the UK.

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92% of public baby changing tables tested in the UK carried traces of cocaine.

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The average woman in the UK has 150 different hairstyles in her lifetime.

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Alcohol is prohibited in the UK Parliament with one exception: the chancellor can drink while delivering the annual budget statement.

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The oldest house in the UK is nearly 6000 years old and has stone furniture that is still intact.

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Edward VIII, King of the UK in 1936, was a Nazi sympathiser and later argued that bombing England could bring peace by ending WW2.

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The UK and Portugal hold the longest standing alliance in the world that is still in force. It was ratified in 1386.

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You can use Skype to call toll free numbers at no charge in the U.S., UK, Taiwan and France.

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There is a limit of 12 minutes of commercials, per hour of television, in the UK.

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The British Navy uses Britney Spears' songs to scare off Somali pirates.

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Life expectancy in the UK was around 47 in 1900; it is now 80.

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The "keep calm and carry on" slogan was originally dreamt up as a way of preserving morale in the event of a Nazi invasion of Britain.

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In the UK, nearly 1 in 10 couples are ethnically mixed.

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In the UK, the most common cause of death for men under 50 is suicide.

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Margaret Thatcher was reportedly more proud of becoming the first Prime Minister with a science degree than the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

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British Pennies are used to adjust the time in London's Big Ben clock tower.

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The UK is the only country not required to name itself on its postage stamps.

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The British Empire at its height was larger than Africa and was even comparable in size to the Moon.

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In the UK, it is illegal to ride a hoverboard scooter in public.

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The terms "UK" and "Great Britain" are not interchangeable: the United Kingdom includes Northern Ireland, while Great Britain does not.

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Of all the countries that celebrate an independence day, 58 are independent of the UK, 26 of France, 21 of Russia and 21 of Spain.

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51%

of Britons have never had a one-night stand.

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The King of Norway is 73rd in line to the British throne.

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In the UK, you can never be more than 70 miles away from the sea.

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Prince Charles has been first in line as heir to the UK's throne for more than 64 years.

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1 in 3 women

in the UK

have an abortion

in their lifetime.

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The British monarchy has nominal assets worth about US$34.8 billion. They're among the world's top 20 richest people.

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The BBC holds regular rehearsals for the Queen's death to make sure staff get it right when the real announcement is made.

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In the Saxon Kingdoms of Britain, 240 "sterlings" were minted from a pound of silver, hence the currency "Pound Sterling."

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Vegans in the UK went from 150,000 in 2006 to 542,000 in 2016.

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After the Crimean war, and until 1916, soldiers in the British army were required to sport mustaches.

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Queen Elizabeth II was courted by Prince Philip when he was 18 and she was only 13. They are also cousins.

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The remains of England's King Richard III were found buried under a parking lot in Leicester in 2013. He was killed on the battlefield in 1485.

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Queen Victoria survived at least 7 assassination attempts.

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The BBC can't run ads. It is financed instead by a TV licence fee paid by households.

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UK's Dyslexia Research Centre is in Reading.

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Klingon was the chosen language for the Welsh government in its response to queries about UFO sightings at Cardiff Airport.

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An estimated 150,000 people die in the UK every year because too few people can give first aid.

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In 2008, UK police granted a weapons licence to a 7-year-old child.

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London has more Indian restaurants than Mumbai or Delhi.

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After the Brexit, the British Pound reached a 31-year low.

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The BBC offers free online language courses.

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On April Fool's day in 1976, BBC convinced many listeners that a special alignment of the planets would temporarily decrease gravity on Earth. Phone lines were flooded with callers who claimed they felt the effects.

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Despite being a 177 m (581 ft) tall structure in the middle of central London, the location of the Post Office Tower was a national secret for years.

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The names of the English rivers Avon, Axe, Esk, Exe and Ouse all mean ‘river' or ‘water' in various ancient languages.

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London's after-hours economy generates £26.3bn ($32.3bn) every year.

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The company which maintains Big Ben has staff on 24-hour call should something go wrong.

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People in Britain who wake in the middle of the night are most likely to do it at 3:44 a.m.

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In 1949, a flock of starlings perched on the minute hand of Big Ben, slowing it by 4.5 minutes.

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The word "Britain" is derived from "Pretain" meaning "painted", originally because the Britons had tattoos.

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Two-thirds of Britons lie about having read a book in order to seem more intelligent. The commonest book that people lie about is George Orwell's 1984.

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Turning back the giant hands on Big Ben's four clock faces takes an incredible 5 hours in total.

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Britain boasts the largest Indian restaurant in the world, The Aakash, which can seat up to 750 people in one sitting.

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The average Briton has 174,000 sixth cousins, enough to fill Wembley stadium twice over.

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The highest-value notes issued by the Bank of England are Giants (£1 million) and Titans (£100 million).

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There are more than 5,000 people who are eligible to succeed the British throne.

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Windsor Castle is England's biggest and Europe fourth biggest castle. It is also the longest occupied castle in Europe.

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13 children under the age of 10 have been issued with shotgun certificates in the UK over the past 3 years.

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Queen Elizabeth I owned at least 150 wigs.

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Almost 50% of adults in England can't do basic maths.

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10% of British train toilets flush directly onto the tracks.

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Before 1917, members of the British Royal Family had no surname, but only the name of the house or dynasty to which they belonged.

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Until 2015

it was illegal

for the British monarch

to be Catholic or married to one.

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Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on the same airplane. British Royal protocol is that two heirs should never fly on the same flight together so that the royal lineage is protected.

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King Harold II was penetrated through the eye with a flying arrow. He died instantly.

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Kids in the UK spend less time outside than prison inmates.

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If Prince Charles becomes king, he will be the oldest monarch ever crowned in Britain.

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The average Brit will spend one year and eight months of their life in a bad mood.

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Babies in Britain, Canada and Italy cry more than elsewhere, says an International study.

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In Slovakia, using the names Britain or Great Britain instead of the United Kingdom can land you with a €6,600 fine.

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Every year, a 9 lb round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled from the top of Cooper's Hill, in England, with competitors racing down after it. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese.

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The UK continues printing and storing its laws on vellum, made from calf or goat-skin.

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The British pound is the world's oldest currency still in use: it's 1200 years old.

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The Bank of England has an inflation calculator that goes all the way to 1209.

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For over 1,000 years, a horn has been blown in Ripon, UK, every night at 9pm in the four corners of the town square. It is allegedly the longest running unbroken daily ritual in the world.

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90% of Britons eat pizza at least once a week.

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Homosexuality was against the law in Britain until 1967.

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Henry VIII of England's Buggery Act of 1533 made sodomy punishable by death.

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British trains cost 5 times more than ones in Europe.

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20 babies born in Britain since WWII have been named Adolf.

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The oak is the national tree of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia and the UK.

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England is smaller than

New York state.

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Before Queen Elizabeth II puts her shoes on, a member of the royal household wears them first, to make sure they are comfortable.

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UK Facts 111 Facts about The United Kingdom

UK Facts
111 Facts about The United Kingdom