UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom (UK), officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom's 242,500 square kilometres were home to an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, respectively. Apart from England, the countries have their own devolved governments, each with varying powers, but such power is delegated by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which may enact laws unilaterally altering or abolishing devolution. The nearby Isle of Man, Bailiwick of Guernsey and Bailiwick of Jersey are not part of the UK, being Crown dependencies with the British Government responsible for defence and international representation. The medieval conquest and subsequent annexation of Wales by the Kingdom of England, followed by the union between England and Scotland in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the union in 1801 of Great Britain with the Kingdom of Ireland created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen British Overseas Territories, the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's landmass and was the largest empire in history. British influence can be observed in the language, culture and political systems of many of its former colonies.

The United Kingdom is a developed country and has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialized country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a recognized nuclear weapons state and is sixth in military expenditure in the world. It has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a leading member state of the European Union (EU) and its predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), since 1973. A referendum in 2016 resulted in 51.9% of the turnout being in favour of leaving the EU, which is scheduled to take place on or before 31 January 2020. The United Kingdom was a member at the time of placement of this geocache and its removal from the EU may or may not have occurred by CARW2020.

LETTERBOX: 

The cache contains a stamp. This is not Swag, please leave it in the cache for use in letterboxing.

NOTE: THE UNITED KINGDOM CACHE IS NOT AT THE POSTED COORDINATES

To find the UNITED KINGDOM,  follow these letterbox directions starting at the posted coordinates:

1. Drive north to the end of the road (350m)

2. Park and get out of your geomobile

3. Walk north along the west side of the fence until you reach a path (850m)

4. Turn right and after walking under a big structure, continue until you reach the end of the fence on your left (300m)

5. Walk around the fence to the other side

6. Walk along the fence and then on the flat area between two rock beds for 130m.

7. Look up to your left for a big red rock and a large flat rock.

8. Cache is in a burlap bag between the big red rock and flat rock. We've propped a few sticks in to mark the spot.

9. Mind the gaps and climb on up to the cache location.

This cache has been placed for CARW2020

1. This CARW2020 cache will be published about 6pm on Thursday, February 20, 2020.
2. This cache has been placed for the CARW event with the intention that it not be located prior to 9:00 a.m. Saturday February 22, 2020. The caches for the CARW event are released early so that the geocaching community has an opportunity to plan their routes and strategies prior to the event start.
3. Should you hunt and find this cache before the event start, it will not count for the event, and FTF points are only valid as of 9AM February 22nd.