What are some of the most surprising facts about the United Kingdom?

 1. Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, is the legal owner of one-sixth of the land area of ​​the Island.

2. In the United Kingdom, if you reach 100 years old, you will receive a personalized card from the Queen on your birthday.

3. The United Kingdom spent US$15.8 billion on a health computer system that failed and was abandoned in 2013.

4. In the United Kingdom, all horses, ponies, and donkeys must have a passport.

5. In London, it is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

6. Since all British passports are issued in the Queen's name, she herself does not need to have one.

7. There is a "rent a mourner" service in the UK to fill a funeral with fake friends.

8. The world's shortest air service lasts 2 minutes and connects two islands in the United Kingdom.

9. 92% of baby changing tables in public restrooms in the UK contain traces of cocaine.

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

What are some of the most mind-blowing facts about the United Kingdom?

 

• It doesn’t have an official language. Why?
• It doesn’t have a written Constitution. But it has.
• It doesn’t have Identity cards. Why?
• The City of London Corporation: a city within a city, which has its own Lord Mayor who serves a single one year term. The current Lord Mayor (2016–17) is Andrew Charles Parmley. He is also the principal of a day school.
• Tube drivers have a sense of humor.
• The House of Commons (UK Parliament) has 650 Members of Parliament but only 427 seats. There is a way to book a seat on the green benches but it’s quite bizarre: MPs have to roll up at 8am, and place a "prayer card" in the place they would like to sit.
• Every day since 1558, the sittings at the House of Commons and House of Lords begin with prayers, which last for three minutes and require MPs to face the wall behind them. It is thought this practice developed due to the difficulty members would historically have faced of kneeling to pray while wearing a sword.
  
  Update: Odd laws
• The Queen of England has legally unexercised ownership rights for unmarked mute swans in open water.
• It is illegal to destroy or deface money, according to the Currency and Banknotes Act.
• It is illegal to sing any profane or obscene song or ballad in any street (Metropolitan Police Act).
• You are not allowed to carry a plank along a pavement in London.
• It’s illegal for someone to "import into England potatoes which he knows to be or has reasonable cause to suspect to be Polish potatoes".

What are some of the most mind-blowing facts about the United Kingdom?

 Many people finds it difficult to differentiate between England, The Great Britain and The United Kingdom.

They use it alternatively according to their will and wish. So let's see what's​ the difference between the three of them.

• ENGLAND

England is just the right-hand part of the island located in the vicinity of Scotland and Wales.

• THE GREAT BRITAIN

The term “Great Britain” refers to the land mass that comprises England, Scotland, and Wales.

• THE UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom comprises of The Great Britain ( i.e England, Wales and Scotland) plus the Northern Ireland. And the full name is the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”

To make it more clear, see the following map

SUMMARY

• Great Britain = England, Scotland, and Wales
• UK = England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (and the full name is the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”)
• England = Just the part of the island that is England

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For those who are curious to know how the flag of The United Kingdom came into existence, this is how it came