Kingdom of Great Britain

This article is about the historical kingdom, before the Acts of Union 1800 with Ireland. For the modern state, see United Kingdom. For the island, see Great Britain.

Kingdom of Great Britain
← ← 1707–1801 →
Flag Royal Coat of arms
Motto Dieu et mon droit (English: "God and my right")2
Anthem None Official – Unofficially "God Save The King/Queen"
Territory of Great Britain
Capital	London
Language(s)	English (de facto official), Cornish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Norn, Welsh
Government	Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
Monarch
- 1707–1714	Anne
- 1714–1727	George I
- 1727–1760	George II
- 1760–1801	George III
Prime Minister
- 1721–1742	Robert Walpole
- 1742–1743	Earl of Wilmington
- 1757–1762	Duke of Newcastle
- 1766–1768	William Pitt the Elder
- 1770–1782	Lord North
- 1783–1801	William Pitt the Younger
Legislature	Parliament of Great Britain
- Upper house	House of Lords
- Lower house	House of Commons of Great Britain
Historical era	18th century
- Established	1 May 1707
- 1801 Union[1]	1801
Area
- 1801	230,977 km2 (89,181 sq mi)
Population
- 1801 est.	16,345,646
Currency	Pound sterling
Today part of	United Kingdom3
1Cornish: Rywvaneth Breten Veur; Scots: Kinrick o Great Breetain; Scottish Gaelic: Rìoghachd na Breatainne Mòire; Welsh: Teyrnas Prydain Fawr. 2 The Royal motto used in Scotland was In My Defens God Me Defend. 3 England, Scotland, Wales.

The Kingdom of Great Britain, described occasionally as the United Kingdom of Great Britain,^[2][3][4] was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, that existed from 1707 to 1801. It came into being on 1 May 1707, with the political union of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England (which included Wales). With the 1706 Treaty of Union (ratified by the Acts of Union 1707), it was agreed to create a single, united kingdom, encompassing the whole of the island of Great Britain and its minor outlying islands, excluding Ireland, which remained a separate realm under the newly created British crown. A single parliament and government, based at Westminster, controlled the new kingdom. The former kingdoms had already shared the same monarch since James VI, King of Scots became King of England in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, bringing about a "Union of the Crowns".
On 1 January 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland united to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Most of Ireland left the union as the Irish Free State in 1922, leading to the remaining state being renamed as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1927