Kingdom of Great Britain

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This article is about the state that existed from 1707 to 1801. For the modern state, see United Kingdom.

Great Britain[show]
1707–1801
Flag Royal coat of arms
Location of  Great Britain in 1801  (green) in Europe  (green & grey)
Capital		London 51°30′N 0°7′W
Languages		English (official), Scots, Norn, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish Gaelic, Angloromani
Demonym		British, Briton
Government		Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Monarch
•	1707–1714[a]	Anne
•	1714–1727	George I
•	1727–1760	George II
•	1760–1801[b]	George III
Prime Minister
•	1721–1742	Robert Walpole
•	1742–1743	Spencer Compton
•	1757–1762	Duke of Newcastle
•	1766–1768	William Pitt the Elder
•	1770–1782	Lord North
•	1783–1801	William Pitt the Younger
Legislature		Parliament
•	Upper house	House of Lords
•	Lower house	House of Commons
History
•	Treaty of Union	22 July 1706
•	Acts of Union	1 May 1707
•	Union with Ireland	December 31, 1800 1800
Area
•	Total	230,977 km² (89,181 sq mi)
Population
•	1707 est.	7,000,000
Density		30.3 /km²  (78.5 /sq mi)
•	1800 est.	10,500,000
Density		45.5 /km²  (117.7 /sq mi)
Currency		Pound sterling
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of England Kingdom of Scotland United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Today part of		United Kingdom
a.	^ Monarch of England and Scotland from 1702 to 1707.
b.	^ Continued as monarch of the United Kingdom until 1820.

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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain,^[1][2][3] was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. The state came into being following the Treaty of Union in 1706, ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm. The unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. The former kingdoms had been in personal union since James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, bringing about a "Union of the Crowns". Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the kingdom was in a personal union with the Electorate of Hanover.
The early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. Later on in 1763, victory in the Seven Years' War led to the dominance of the British Empire, which was to become the foremost global power for over a century and later grew to become the largest empire in history.
On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.^[4] In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom and the state was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" – a title it has retained to date.

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