60+ Interesting Facts About UK

1. The United Kingdom, commonly known as Britain, is the third most populous country in Europe (after Germany and France).
2. Britain was the world’s first industrialized country. The Industrial Revolution started in the UK in the 18^th Century. (Source)
3. London Underground is the oldest and one of the longest metro systems in the world. It opened in 1863 and has a total length of 402 km with 270 stations. (Source)
4. The world’s first speeding ticket was issued to a motorist in 1896 in Kent, England. At that time, the speed limit for cars was 2 mph, while the motorist was driving his vehicle at 8 mph. (Source)
5. The world’s oldest calendar was discovered in Scotland in 2013. It is a lunar calendar that is almost 10,000 years old. (Source)
6. The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 is known as the shortest war in history. The war ended after 38 minutes with an easy British victory. (Source)
7. The United Kingdom is one of the few countries in the world without a written constitution. (Source)
8. The British Empire was the largest in history. This great empire was at its peak in the 1920s. At that time, the British Empire was ruling over 23% of the global population and 24% of the earth’s land area.
9. The British pound is the oldest currency still in use. It is more than 1,200 years old and the 4^th most traded currency in the world.
10. Windsor Castle in England is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. The size of this castle is 5.3 hectares (13 acres), built more than 1,000 years ago. It is the royal residence of the Queen for her private weekends. (Source)

    

    Windsor Castle is the world's oldest and largest castle

    
    
11. Buckingham Palace in London, the residence of Great Britain’s Queen, is the world’s most expensive mansion, with an estimated worth of $1.55 billion. Witanhurst in London is the 4^th most expensive mansion in the world. Its estimated value is $450 million. (Source)
12. Thames tunnel in London is the world’s first underwater tunnel. It was constructed between 1825 and 1843 beneath River Thames. (Source)
13. According to the 2019 Global Cities report, UK’s capital London is one of the two cities (the other being New York in the USA) with Alpha++ (the best) rank due to the best economic activity. (Source)
14. London is also one of the best financial centers in the world. It usually changes place with New York for the world’s best financial center. (Source)
15. Liverpool and Manchester railway is the world’s first inter-city railway line. It has been constantly in use since 15^th September 1830. (Source) 
16. The UK has the highest smartphone penetration in the world. Around 83% of its population owns a smartphone. (Source)
17. The world’s oldest working clock is in Salisbury Cathedral, UK. This faceless clock has been operating since 1386. (Source)
18. The world’s oldest mini-golf course is present in Scotland. This female-exclusive golf course, the Ladies’ Putting Club of St. Andrews, was established in 1867. (Source)
19. The UK has the second-highest external debt in the world. The country is just behind the USA on this list.
20. The M25 ring road around London is one of the world’s longest ring roads. The length of this ring road, also known as the London Orbital Motorway, is 117 m (188 km). It was completed after 11 years (1975-1986) of construction.
21. Britain has produced world-renowned scientists (Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Alexander Fleming, James Watt, Stephen Hawking, etc.), writers (William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, etc.), and artists.
22. The UK has no active volcanoes. The last time volcanoes erupted in the UK was 60 million years ago. (Source)
23. The name of a town in Wales has 58 letters. It is the second-longest name of any town in the world. (Source)
24. The British Library in London is the 2^nd largest library in the world. It has more than 150 million items. (Source)
25. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the oldest national public service broadcasting organization in the world. (Source)
26. The UK is the world’s largest producer of legal cannabis. The country produced 95 tonnes of marijuana in 2016 for scientific and medicinal use. It accounts for around 45% of the total legal cannabis in the world. (Source)
27. York in the UK is one of the most haunted cities in the world. It was also named the most haunted metropolis in Europe. (Source)
28. Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, is a cousin of American founding father George Washington and Francis Scott Key, writer of the American national anthem. (Source) 
29. The UK has the 3^rd highest per capita tea consumption in the world. The British consume 1.94 kg of tea per capita every year. (Source) 

    

    UK has the world's 3rd highest consumption of tea
    
    

30. The UK has the 3^rd highest obesity rate in Europe. The percentage of obese people in the country is 27.8%. (Source)
31. According to census data, more than 100 languages are spoken in every borough of London. 22% (1.7m) of residents of London don’t have English as their first language, while 300,000 can’t even speak English. (Source) 
32. French became the official language of England after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. French retained its official status in England till 1362. (Source)
33. The shortest flight in the world is between two remote British islands. The duration of this flight of 2.7 km (1.7 miles) is around 2 minutes. (Source)
34. J.K. Rowling of the UK is the world’s first billionaire author. She has earned more than $1 billion from her novels of Harry Potter. (Source)
35. The world’s first postage stamp was created in 1840. It is present in the British Library.
    
36. In 1535, King Henry VIII introduced the beard tax. It was the first-ever tax on beards in the world. (Source)
37. In 2015, the UK became the first country in the world to allow babies with the DNA of 3 people. (Source)
38. The Knap of Howar in Scotland is one of the oldest buildings in the world. It was established in 3500 BC. (Source)
39. The UK is comprised of 4 countries: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. All these countries are autonomous in most of the affairs under British law.
40. Apart from these four countries, there are also 16 dependencies of the UK. These are known as crown dependencies.
41. The only wild monkeys in Europe are present in Gibraltar, an overseas territory of the UK. (Source)
42. Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning living monarch in 2016 after the death of the Thai King. She became queen of the United Kingdom in 1952. (Source)
43. The queen sends birthday cards to people of age 100 and above in the UK every year. There are thousands of people over 100 years of age in the country. (Source)
44. The UK is the only country without having names on postage stamps. Instead, there is an image of the reigning monarch on all stamps. (Source)
45. The UK has the second-most Nobel Prizes in the world. The country has won 130 Nobel Prizes and is just behind the USA (375) on this list. (Source)
46. The UK is one of only two countries in the world (along with Denmark) without having any national day. (Source)
47. The oldest house in the UK is around 6,000 years old. The house still has its stone furniture intact. (Source)
48. Before 1877, the university fellows of the University of Oxford were not allowed to marry. (Source)
49. Stonehenge is one of the most famous historical monuments in the UK. Work on Stonehenge started in 3000 BC and continued to change till 1500 BC. (Source)

    

    Construction on Stonehenge started in 3000 BC
    
    

50. The Shard in London is the tallest building in Europe. It is 309 m high. One Canada Square (235 m) in London is the 5th tallest building in the continent. (Source)
51. London’s Heathrow airport is the world’s 7^th busiest airport system in the world and also the busiest airport in Europe. It received more than 80 million passengers in 2018. (Source)
52. It is a common assumption that champagne originated in France in 1697. In reality, it was invented by a scientist in the UK in 1662. (Source)
53. A horse passport is necessary for animals like horses, donkeys, ponies, and zebras. This passport identifies the animal, while failing to show the passport can result in a fine. (Source)
54. There is a strange subspecies of mosquito in the London Underground. The London Underground mosquito is different from other mosquitoes at the surface. (Source)
55. Adder is the only venomous snake native to the UK. It bites nearly 100 people every year, but has not caused any fatality in the last 20 years. (Source)
56. The flood of beer in 1814, as a result of an industrial accident, claimed the lives of eight people in London. The stench of beer lasted for months in that area after the London Beer Flood. (Source)
57. There are 32 UNESCO World Heritage sites in the UK, the 8^th highest in the world. Three of these are in the UK Overseas Territories.
58. Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire for 63 years. During her tenure, she survived eight assassination attempts. (Source)
59. The Queen of the UK doesn’t need a passport to travel abroad. However, all the other members of the royal family require passports to visit foreign countries. (Source)
60. London's West End is the most expensive place for office space in the world for Q4 2022. London City has the world's fifth-most expensive offices. (Source)
61. Simple household items (bath sponges, tea cosies, and place mats) cause more deaths in the UK than road accidents. (Source)
62. The UK has the largest cinema industry in Europe and the 3rd largest in the world after the USA and China. (Source)
63. A British man harvested the heaviest bell pepper in 2020 in the UK. This person is also the record holder for growing heaviest beetroot, heaviest eggplant, and longest cucumber. (Source)