Western European Countries

Information from CIA World Fact Book

United Kingdom• Capital: London• Major Cities: Manchester,

Birmingham, Glasgow, Belfast• Population: 60,776,238• Area Comparative: Slightly

smaller than the State of Oregon.

United Kingdom Cultural Aspects• Religions: Christian

(Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%.

• Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

United Kingdom Gov. and Economy• Government:

Constitutional Monarchy

• GDP: $1.928 trillion• GDP per capita:

$31,800

United Kingdom Famous Landmarks and People

• Landmarks: Big Ben, Stonehenge, The Eye of London, The London Bridge

• Famous People: The Beatles, Radiohead, Eric Clapton, Winston Churchill, Shakespeare, Princess Diana, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling

France• Capital: Paris• Major Cities: Marseille,

Nice• Population: 63,713,926

60,876,136 in métropolitain France (July 2007 est.)

• Area Comparative: Slightly less than the size of Texas

France Cultural Aspects• Religions: Roman

Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%

• Languages: French 100%

France Gov. and Economy• Government:

Republic

• GDP: $1.902 trillion• GDP per capita:

$31,200

France Famous Landmarks and People

• Landmarks: Eiffel Tower, Palace of Versailles

• People: Napoleon, Marie Curie, André the Giant

Germany• Capital: Berlin• Major Cities: Munich,

Hannover, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Mannheim

• Population: 82,400,996

• Comparative Area: Slightly smaller than Montana

German Cultural Aspects• Religions: Protestant

34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%

• Languages: German

German Gov. and Economy• Government: Federal

Republic

• GDP: $2.632 trillion• GDP per capita:

$31,900

German Famous Landmarks and People• Landmarks:

Reichstag,

• People: David Hasselhoff, Adolf Hitler, Ludwig van Beethoven

Italy• Capital: Rome• Major Cities: Naples,

Florence, Milan, Venice• Population: 58,147,733• Comparative Area:

Slightly larger than Arizona

Italian Cultural Aspects• Religions: Roman

Catholic 90% (approximately; about one-third regularly attend services), other 10% (includes mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community)

• Languages: Italian

Italy Gov. and Economy• Government:

Republic• GDP: $1.756 trillion• GDP per capita:

$30,200

Italian Famous Landmarks and People• Landmarks:

Roman Coliseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Leaning Tower of Pisa

• People: Benito Mussolini, Leonardo Da Vinci, Julius Caeser

Spain• Capital: Madrid• Major Cities:

Barcelona, Valencia• Population:

40,448,191• Comparative Area:

slightly more than twice the size of Oregon

Spain Cultural Aspects• Religions: Roman

Catholic 94%, other 6%

• Languages: Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally

Spain Gov. and Economy• Government: Parliamentary

Monarchy• GDP: $1.109 trillion • GDP per capita: $27,400

Spain Famous Landmarks and People• Landmarks:

Running of the Bulls in Pamplona

• People: Penélope Cruz, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso

Ireland• Capital: Dublin• Major Cities:

Shannon, Cork, Limerick

• Population: 4,109,086

• Comparative Area: slightly larger than West Virginia

Irish Cultural Aspects• Religions: Roman

Catholic 88.4%, Church of Ireland 3%, other Christian 1.6%

• Languages: English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard

Irish Gov. and Economy• Government: Republic• GDP: $180.9 billion• GDP per capita: $44,500

Ireland Famous People and Landmarks

• Landmarks: Guinness Plant, Blarney Stone• People: Colin Ferrell, Bono, U2, Pierce Brosnan,

C.S. Lewis

The United States of America• Capital: Washington D.C.• Major Cities: New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston,

Boston, Detroit, Seattle, Lincoln• Population: 301,139,947 (July 2007 est.)• Comparative Area: About half the size of Russia; slightly larger than

Brazil; slightly larger than China; more than twice the size of the European Union

U.S. Cultural Aspects• Religions: Protestant 51.3%,

Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)

• Languages: English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii

United States Gov. and Economy• Government: Constitution-based

federal republic; strong democratic tradition

• GDP: $13.86 trillion (2007 est.)• GDP per capita: $46,000 (2007 est.)

U.S. Famous People and Landmarks• Landmarks: Statue of

Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, St. Louis Arch, Space Needle, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon, etc., etc., etc.