United Kingdom (Alternatively)

 

United Kingdom of France and Spain Royaume-Uni de France et d'Espagne (French) Reino Unido de Francia y España (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Montjoie Saint Denis!" Mountjoy Saint Denis!
Anthem: Marche Royale Marcha Real
Capital	Paris
Largest city	Madrid
Official languages	French Spanish
Recognised regional languages	Basque, Breton, Catalan, Galician, Occitan
Religion	90.XX% Christianity 89.XX% Roman Catholic 6.XX% Protestantism 5.XX% Other Christian 8.XX% Irreligion 1.XX% Islam 1.XX% other
Demonym(s)	Franco-Spanish; Franco-Hispanic
Constituent countries	France Spain
Government	Unitary Parliamentary Semi-Constitutional Monarchy
• Monarch	Louis XX
• Prime Minister	Georges Retailleau
Legislature	Estates General
• Upper house	Chamber of Peers
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Formation
• Spanish War of Succession	1701 to 1714
• Union of the Crowns	September 2, 1717
• Centralization	September 14, 1789
• Reform Wars	1799 to 1866
• Constitution	April 3, 1867
Area
• Total	1,149,795 km2 (443,938 sq mi)
Population
• 2022 estimate	108,394,552
• 2020 census	106,943,555
• Density	121/km2 (313.4/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$3.868 trillion
• Per capita	$58,765
HDI	0.895 very high
Currency	Bourbon ducat

The United Kingdom (French: Royaume-Uni; Spanish: Reino Unido), officially the United Kingdom of France and Spain (French: Royaume-Uni France et d'Espagne; Spanish: Reino Unido de Francia y España), and known informally as Franco-Spain or the Bourbon Kingdom, is a sovereign country located in Western Europe. The United Kingdom borders Italy to the southeast, Portugal to the west, and shares a maritime border with Great Britain to the north.

Various tribes, nation-states, and kingdoms had existed in the lands of France and Spain long before the formation of the United Kingdom. For several hundred years, the Roman Empire had claimed all of France and Spain, being respectfully known as Gaul and Hispania. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, France became populated by several tribes of the Franks, while Spain and the rest of Iberia were ruled by the Vandals and later was conquered by the Musilm Umayyad Caliphate. The Battle of Tours was a deceive moment in both French and Spanish history, with Frankish forces defeating the Caliphate and restricting their expansion in Europe to Iberia. Under the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, the Frankish kingdoms were united under the Frankish Empire, which existed from Pyrenees to the Danube. Following the death of Charlemagne, his empire fractured and the Kingdom of West Francia eventually formed into the Kingdom of France. Beginning in 732, Christian kingdoms gradually reconquered the entirety of Iberia from Al-Andalus in what is known as the Reconquista. In 1492, the Catholic Monarchs conquered the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, ending Muslim rule on the peninsula. The kingdoms of Castile and Aragon later merged to form the Kingdom of Spain.

In 1700, the childless Charles II died, leaving the Spanish throne to his appointed heir, Philippe, Duke of Anjou. Opposition by Austria to the potential of a Franco-Spanish union of crowns led to the War of Spanish Succession, in which France and Spanish forces loyal to Philippe decisively defeated Austria and forces loyal to the Habsburg claimant, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. The Treaty of Utrecht ensured French total victory, with the line of Spanish Bourbons established by Philippe being able to inherit the French throne, and vice versa. In 1717, Philip V was assassinated by Habsburg loyalists, resulting in the Spanish crown defaulting to Louis XV of France, who in turn was anointed Louis I of Spain.

From 1717 to 1789, the kingdoms of France and Spain operated as independent nations sharing the same monarch. In 1789, the French and Spanish reformations led to the Edicts of Versailles and the unification of the two nations into one kingdom. The debate regarding constitutionalism and absolutism produced the Reform Wars of the 19th century. The wars ultimately resulted in the Constitution of the United Kingdom and the solidification of constitutionalism over absolutism.

The United Kingdom is a semi-constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The Monarchy retains a large amount of executive political power, though in practice said power is devolved to the elected government. The Estates General is the national legislature, and is composed of the unelected Chamber of Peers and the elected Chamber of Deputies. The United Kingdom is classified as a great power with the potential to rise to superpower status sometime in the near future. The United Kingdom is a member of the United Nations, Global Economy Forum, and the Global Economy Forum. The country is considered a high income market economy and maintains one of the largest economies in Europe.

Politics

Government

Louis XX & VI
King of the United Kingdom

Georges Retailleau
Prime Minister

The United Kingdom is a semi-constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The modern Franco-Spanish form of government was established through a series of reforms that took place in the 19th century which saw a transition from absolutism to constitutionalism. The basis of governance is established by the Constitution of the United Kingdom, the founding document of modern France. Since its implementation in 18XX, the Constitution has undergone a series of changes through parliamentary amendments.

The head of state of the United Kingdom is the Monarch. Franco-Spain is a semi-constitutional monarchy, in that while the monarchy in theory is limited in power, it also retains a number of important executive powers and duties important to government. By law, the monarch must grant royal assent to legislation prior to being implemented as law, is the sole arbiter on matters of nobility, and has the power to call forth and dissolve the Estates General. The monarch is the supreme commander of the Franco-Spanish Armed Forces and is the presiding officer of the Chamber of Peers. The head of government is the Prime Minister. Selected from the Estates General, the prime minister is the de facto executive head of the country, running the day-to-day functions of government. The prime minister is appointed by the monarch and serves at their pleasure, though in practice serves at the will of the people, as they must be able to command a majority of the Chamber of Deputies.

The Estates General is the national legislature of Franco-Spain. It is composed of two chambers, the Chamber of Peers and the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Peers serves as the upper house of the legislature. It is composed of 256 members, who are appointed directly by the monarch. There are two different types of peers within the Chamber; ecclesiastical peers are members of the clergy who serve for life, hereditary peers are members of the nobility whose seat in the Chamber is passed down, and lifetime peers are members who are appointed to serve through their life time. The Chamber of Deputies is the lower chamber of the legislature. It is composed of 659 members, who are directly elected by the Franco-Spanish electorate in quinquennial elections. While both chambers are tasked with the creation and passage of legislation, the Chamber of Deputies is viewed as the more important of the two, as it is the only house elected by the people and the only house in which the chief minister, their government, and other important officials are selected from.

Diplomacy

The United Kingdom is a founding member of the United Nations and is a member of the Global Economy Forum, and the Unified World Financial Institutions. The United Kingdom is considered a great power on the globe scale, and is on track to one day become a potential superpower in the near future...

The United Kingdom maintains cordial relations with...

The United Kingdom maintains tense relations with...

See also

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page France, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).

This page uses material from the Wikipedia page Spain, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors).