Editing Multinational state (section)

==== United Kingdom ====
{{further|Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom}}
{{Home Nations}}
While the [[Office for National Statistics]] describes the [[United Kingdom]] as a nation state,<ref>{{cite web|title=ONS Glossary of economic terms|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about/glossary/economic_terms.asp|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=24 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110907093405/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/glossary/glossary-u.html|archive-date=7 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Giddens|first=Anthony|title=Sociology|year=2006|publisher=Polity Press|isbn=978-0-7456-3379-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd/page/41 41]|location=Cambridge|url=https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd/page/41}}</ref> other people, including former Prime Minister [[Gordon Brown]],<ref>"[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3556535/Gordon-Brown-We-must-defend-the-Union.html Gordon Brown: We must defend the Union]", ''The Telegraph'', 25 March 2008.</ref> describe it as a multinational state.<ref>{{cite web|last=Hogwood|first=Brian|title=Regulatory Reform in a Multinational State: The Emergence of Multilevel Regulation in the United Kingdom|url=http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/jointsessions/paperarchive/grenoble/ws20/hogwood.pdf|access-date=24 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608053831/http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/jointsessions/paperarchive/grenoble/ws20/hogwood.pdf|archive-date=8 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.devon.gov.uk/sc-feb0659017b.pdf |title=Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615160114/http://www.devon.gov.uk/sc-feb0659017b.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-15 |website=Devon County Council |access-date=13 August 2010}}</ref> The term "[[Home Nations]]" is used to describe the national teams that represent the four nations of the United Kingdom: [[England]], [[Northern Ireland]], [[Scotland]], and [[Wales]] in various sports.<ref>{{cite news|last=Magnay|first=Jacquelin|title=London 2012: Hugh Robertson puts Home Nations football team on agenda|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/7768436/London-2012-Hugh-Robertson-puts-Home-Nations-football-team-on-agenda.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428173322/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/7768436/London-2012-Hugh-Robertson-puts-Home-Nations-football-team-on-agenda.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 April 2011|access-date=11 September 2010|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=26 May 2010}}</ref>

The [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] was created on 1 May 1707 by the [[political union]] of the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]].<ref>William E. Burns, ''A Brief History of Great Britain'', p. xxi</ref> This unification was the result of the [[Treaty of Union]], which was agreed on 22 July 1706 and then ratified by the parliaments of [[Parliament of England|England]] and [[Parliament of Scotland|Scotland]] in the 1707 [[Acts of Union 1707|Acts of Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/docs/articles_union.htm|title=Articles of Union with Scotland 1707 |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=19 October 2008}}</ref> The two kingdoms, along with the [[Kingdom of Ireland]], had already been in a [[personal union]] as a result of the 1603 [[Union of the Crowns]], in which [[James I of England|James VI, King of Scots]], inherited the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and moved his [[court (royal)|court]] from [[Edinburgh]] to [[London]]. However, until 1707, all three had remained separate political entities with separate political institutions.<ref name="D. Ross, 2002 p. 56" /><ref name="J. Hearn, 2002 p. 104" />

Prior to the Acts of Union, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland both had minority populations of their own that could themselves be called nations. [[Wales]] and [[Cornwall]] were part of the Kingdom of England (Wales had been officially incorporated into England by the [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542]], although it had been a ''de facto'' English territory [[Conquest of Wales by Edward I|since the 13th century]]; Cornwall had been conquered during the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon period]]). The [[Northern Isles]], with their [[Norsemen|Norse]]-derived culture, were part of Scotland, having been pledged by Norway as security against the payment of a [[dowry]] for [[Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland|Margaret of Denmark]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.historychannel.com.au/this-day-in-history/orkney-and-shetland-are-pawned-as-dowry/|title=Orkney and Shetland Are Pawned as Dowry ⋆ History Channel|date=2016-06-20|newspaper=History Channel|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-05}}</ref> and then integrated in 1471. When the Kingdom of Great Britain was created, many of its inhabitants retained a sense of English, Scottish, or Welsh identity. Many of them also spoke languages other than English: principally [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Scots language|Scots]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Cornish language|Cornish]], and [[Norn language|Norn]].

Almost a century later, the Kingdom of Ireland merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] under the 1800 [[Act of Union (1800)|Acts of Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.actofunion.ac.uk/actofunion.htm#act |title=The Act of Union |publisher=Act of Union Virtual Library |access-date=15 May 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415061235/http://www.actofunion.ac.uk/actofunion.htm#act |archive-date=15 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The United Kingdom thus became the union of the kingdoms of England, Ireland, and Scotland.<ref name="D. Ross, 2002 p. 56">D. Ross, ''Chronology of Scottish History'' (Glasgow: Geddes & Grosset, 2002), {{ISBN|1-85534-380-0}}, p. 56.</ref><ref name="J. Hearn, 2002 p. 104">J. Hearn, ''Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture'' (Edinburgh; Edinburgh University Press, 2002), {{ISBN|1-902930-16-9}}, p. 104.</ref> Eventually, disputes within [[Ireland]] over the terms of [[Irish Home Rule movement|Irish home rule]] led to the [[Partition of Ireland|partition of the island]]:<ref>[[SR&O 1921]]/533 of 3 May 1921</ref> The [[Irish Free State]] received [[Dominion|dominion status]] in 1922, while Northern Ireland remained part of the UK.<ref name="CAIN">{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/docs/ait1921.htm |title=The Anglo-Irish Treaty, 6 December 1921 |publisher=CAIN |access-date=15 May 2006}}</ref> As a result, in 1927, the formal title of the UK [[Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927|was changed]] to its current form, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.<ref>P. Cottrell, ''The Irish Civil War 1922–23'' (London: Osprey, 2008), {{ISBN|1-84603-270-9}}, p. 85.</ref>

Political, ethnic, and religious tensions between [[Irish people|Irish]] and [[British people|British]] groups in Northern Ireland culminated in [[The Troubles]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/archive/events/the-troubles-gallery-40-years-of-conflict-in-northern-ireland-from-the-belfast-telegraph-archives-29947576.html|title=The Troubles gallery – 40 years of conflict in Northern Ireland from the Belfast Telegraph archives – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk|work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk|access-date=2017-05-22|language=en}}</ref> This period of armed conflict erupted in 1966 between [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] paramilitaries, seeking to maintain the country's position in the UK, and [[Irish republicanism|republican]] paramilitaries, seeking to [[United Ireland|unify Ireland as a 32-county independent republic]]. The [[British Army]] also played a key role. Following the deaths of over 3,500 people,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/topics/troubles_violence|title=BBC – History – The Troubles – Violence|access-date=2017-05-22}}</ref> a [[Good Friday Agreement|peace treaty]] was reached in 1998,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-belfast-agreement|title=The Belfast Agreement – GOV.UK|website=www.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-05-22}}</ref> although divisions remain high in some areas and sporadic violence still occurs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/03/union-flag-protests-arrested-northern-ireland|title=Union flag protests: more than 200 arrested in Northern Ireland|agency=Press Association|date=2013-04-03|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-05-22|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

The end of the 20th century brought major governing changes, with the establishment of [[devolution|devolved]] national administrations for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales following pre-legislative [[Referendums in the United Kingdom|referendums]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Reforging the Union: Devolution and Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom|journal=Publius: The Journal of Federalism |volume=28 |issue=1 |page=217 |last=Keating |first=Michael |date=1 January 1998 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a029948}}</ref>

The [[Scottish National Party]], the largest political party in Scotland, is committed to the goal of an [[Scottish independence|independent Scotland]] within the [[European Union]], but this is opposed by three of the four other parties in the Scottish Parliament. A [[referendum on Scottish independence]] was held in September 2014, and 55% of the electorate rejected independence in favour of retaining the union.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-29270441|title=Scottish referendum: Scotland votes 'No' to independence|date=2014-09-19|newspaper=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-05}}</ref> [[Plaid Cymru]], a Welsh nationalist party, has a similar ambition for Wales. Plaid Cymru is currently the second- or third-largest party in Wales depending on how it is measured.<ref>Simon Jenkins, [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article641379.ece We'd be a more united kingdom with an independent Scotland]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' dated September 17, 2006</ref> Several parties in Northern Ireland, including the second- and third-largest,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/ni2017/results|title=Northern Ireland Assembly election 2017 results|website=BBC News|access-date=2017-05-22}}</ref> seek to establish an independent United Ireland, and have repeatedly called for border polls.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sinn-fein-chief-gerry-adams-in-fresh-call-for-united-ireland-border-poll-35249176.html|title=Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams in fresh call for united Ireland border poll – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk|work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk|access-date=2017-05-22|language=en}}</ref> The [[D'Hondt method|d'Hondt system]] used in Northern Ireland means that either the First Minister or Deputy First Minister will be from one of these parties.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-13359731|title=D'Hondt system for picking NI ministers in Stormont|date=2011-05-11|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-05-22|language=en-GB}}</ref>