United Kingdom Multinational state

the 4 countries of united kingdom.

while office national statistics describes united kingdom nation state, other people, including former prime minister gordon brown, describe multinational state. term home nations used describe national teams represent 4 nations of united kingdom: england, northern ireland, scotland, , wales.

the kingdom of great britain created on 1 may 1707 political union of kingdom of england , kingdom of scotland. unification result of treaty of union, agreed on 22 july 1706 , ratified parliament of england , parliament of scotland in 1707 acts of union. 2 kingdoms, along kingdom of ireland, had been in personal union result of 1603 union of crowns, in james vi, king of scots, inherited kingdoms of england , ireland , moved court edinburgh london. however, until 1707, 3 had remained separate political entities separate political institutions.

prior acts of union, kingdoms of england , scotland both had minority populations of own called nations. wales , cornwall part of kingdom of england (wales had been officially incorporated england laws in wales acts 1535 , 1542, although had been de facto english territory since 13th century; cornwall had been conquered during anglo-saxon period). northern isles, norse-derived culture, part of scotland, having been pledged norway security against payment of dowry margaret of denmark , integrated in 1471. when kingdom of great britain created, many of inhabitants retained sense of english, scottish, or welsh identity. many of them spoke languages other english: principally scottish gaelic, scots, welsh, cornish, , norn.

almost century later, kingdom of ireland merged kingdom of great britain form united kingdom of great britain , ireland under 1800 acts of union. united kingdom became union of kingdoms of england, ireland, , scotland. eventually, disputes within ireland on terms of irish home rule led partition of island: irish free state received dominion status in 1922, while northern ireland remained part of uk. result, in 1927, formal title of uk changed current form, united kingdom of great britain , northern ireland.

political, ethnic, , religious tensions between irish , british groups in northern ireland culminated in troubles. period of armed conflict erupted in 1966 between loyalist paramilitaries, seeking maintain country s position in uk, , republican paramilitaries, seeking unify ireland 32-county independent republic. british army played key role. following deaths of on 3,500 people, peace treaty reached in 1998, although divisions remain high in areas , sporadic violence still occurs.

the end of 20th century brought major governing changes, establishment of devolved national administrations northern ireland, scotland, , wales following pre-legislative referendums.

the scottish national party, current party of government in scotland, committed goal of independent scotland within european union, opposed leadership of next 3 largest parties in scottish parliament. referendum on scottish independence held in september 2014, , electorate rejected it. plaid cymru, welsh party, has similar ambition wales. several parties in northern ireland, including second- , third-largest, seek establish independent united ireland, , have repeatedly called border polls. d hondt system used here means either first minister or deputy first minister 1 of these parties.