United Kingdom at a Glance

• Population: 59.6 million


• Capital city: London, approx. 7.3 million inhabitants


• Language: English, Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish


• Religions: 35 million Anglicans (Church of England), 1.3 million Church of Scotland, 5.6 million Catholics, 2 million Muslims, 1.4 million Hindus und Sikhs, 300,000 Jews


• Form of government: Parliamentary Monarchy with two chambers

Economy

Germany is Britain's second most important trading partner – just behind the United States. For Germany, Britain comes third after the United States and France.
Direct investment plays a prominent role, with German investment in the UK higher as a rule than vice versa. Since German reunification, British companies have extended their investments to include Germany's new federal states.

Culture and Science

Cultural relations between Germany and the United Kingdom are many and varied in both the public and private/commercial sector. The many German artists living and working there enliven the German contemporary arts scene in Britain, as do the many tours and exhibitions in both directions. German music and fine arts play a very prominent role in the United Kingdom, especially in London. Particularly notable at present is the Berlin Philharmonic’s collaboration with the British conductor, Sir Simon Rattle.

There are many different exhibitions in Britain of the German visual arts down the centuries, more recent examples of outstanding exhibitions being Albrecht Dürer at the British Museum, Mies van der Rohe at the Whitechapel Gallery, Max Beckmann at the Tate Modern, Blinky Palermo at the Serpentine Gallery, masterpieces from Dresden, Kirchner and Sigmar Polke at the Royal Academy of Arts, Joseph Beuys in the Tate Modern and German photographers at the Waddington Gallery.

Links

www.britischebotschaft.de (Official representation of the United Kingdom in Germany)
www.geman-embassy.org.uk (German Embassy in the United Kingdom)
www.germanbritishchamber.co.uk (German-British Chamber of Industry and Commerce)
www.goethe.de/london (Goethe-Institute in London)