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Great Britain or Britain ( Welsh : Prydain Fawr, Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn Mhòr, Cornish: Breten Veur) is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe . It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populous island in the world, after Java and Honshū. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west . Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England , Scotland and Wales .
All of the island is territory of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and most of the United Kingdom's territory is in Great Britain. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain, as are their respective capital cities: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff .
The Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland with the Acts of Union 1707 on 1 May 1707 under Queen Anne. In 1801, under a new Act of Union, this kingdom merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After the Irish War of Independence most of Ireland seceded from the Union, which then became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The relatively limited variety of fauna and flora on the island is due to its size and the fact that wildlife has had little time to develop since the last glacial period . The high level of urbanisation on the island has contributed to a species extinction rate that is about 100 times greater than the background species extinction rate.
The economy of the United Kingdom is the seventh-largest national economy in the world. In the 18th century the UK was the first country in the world to industrialise, and during the 19th century possessed a dominant role in the global economy. From the late 19th century the Second Industrial Revolution in the United States and the German Empire presented an increasing challenge to Britain's role as leader of the global economy. The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack). It was first created in 1606 by the superimposition of the Flag of England on the Flag of Scotland and updated in 1801 with the addition of Saint Patrick 's Flag. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom; the possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales has not been completely ruled out.[436] The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the King ", with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman.
Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom, originating from Roman Britain. Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon 's three-pronged trident and a shield , bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding on the back of a lion. Major sports, including association football , rugby league , rugby union, rowing, boxing , badminton, cricket, tennis, darts and golf , originated or were substantially developed in the United Kingdom and the states that preceded it. A 2003 poll found that football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom. In most international competitions, separate teams represent England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, including at the Commonwealth Games . (In sporting contexts, these teams can be referred to collectively as the Home Nations). However there are occasions where a single sports team represents the United Kingdom, including at the Olympics where the UK is represented by the Great Britain team. London was the site of the 1908 and 1948 Olympic Games, and in 2012 will become the first city to play host for a third time.