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United Arab Republic ► United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland I 1965
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rulers agreed to entrust foreign relations to Britain, but the British never assumed sov¬ ereignty; each state maintained full inter¬ nal control. The states formed the Trucial States Council in 1960 and in 1971 termi¬ nated defense treaties with Britain and established the six-member fed¬ eration. Ra’s al-Khaymah joined it in 1972. The UAE aided coalition forces against Iraq in the First Persian Gulf War (1991).
United Arab Republic See Egypt
United Artists Corp. U.S. film company. It was founded in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith so that they could produce and distribute their own movies and distribute other independently produced movies. The first major production company con¬ trolled by its artists, it prospered with the films of its founders, including The Gold Rush (1925), and those of producers such as Samuel Goldwyn, Howard R. Hughes, and Alexander Korda. After 1951 it became mainly a distributor, releasing successful movies such as High Noon (1952), Some Like It Hot (1959), and West Side Story (1961). It was sold to TransAmer- ica Corp. in 1967 and resold to MGM in 1981. By the late 20th century United Artists was a specialty films division of MGM, producing movies such as Leaving Las Vegas (1995), The Birdcage (1996), and Tea with Mussolini (1999).
United Automobile Workers (UAW) in full International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America U.S.-based industrial union rep¬ resenting automotive and other vehicular workers in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. The UAW was founded in Detroit, Mich., in 1935, when the Committee for Industrial Organization (see AFL-CIO) began to orga¬ nize automotive workers. The union successfully countered automakers’ initial resistance with sit-down strikes and a 1937 Supreme Court deci¬ sion upholding the right to organize as declared in the Wagner Act. Gen¬ eral Motors Corp. was the first to recognize the UAW, and most other automakers followed suit, though Ford Motor Co. continued to resist until 1941. Under Walter Reuther, the union won contracts providing for cost- of-living adjustments, health plans, and paid vacations. Reuther’s friction with George Meany led the UAW to withdraw from the AFL-CIO in 1968. A short-lived alliance with the Teamsters was dissolved in 1972, and the UAW rejoined the AFL-CIO in 1981. Toward the end of the 20th century, the union’s bargaining strength was eroded by an increasingly global labour market, effectively reducing the wages and benefits manufacturers were willing to pay American workers.
United Fruit Co, Historic U.S.-based produce company that became Chiquita Brands International, Inc., in 1990. It was founded in 1899 when
the Boston Fruit Co. merged with other companies selling bananas grown in Central America, Colombia, and the Caribbean. Minor C. Keith, its principal founder, gained extensive land rights in Costa Rica in return for constructing railroads. United Fruit became the largest employer in Cen¬ tral America, developing vast tracts of jungle lands and building one of the largest private merchant navies in the world. Its exploitation of cor¬ rupt Central American politicians dependent on income from the banana business led to the term banana republic. Attacked in the Latin Ameri¬ can press as el pulpo (“the octopus”), the company was widely accused of exploiting workers and influencing governments during the era of “dol¬ lar diplomacy” in the early to mid-20th century. United Fruit later trans¬ ferred portions of its landholdings to individual growers. “Miss Chiquita,” its well-known trademark, was introduced in 1944. The familiar blue Chiquita stickers were first applied to the company’s bananas in 1963. In 1970 United Fruit merged with AMK Corp. to form United Brands Co., which took the Chiquita name in 1990. In the early 21st century the com¬ pany concentrated its efforts on produce, notably bananas and packaged salads.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or United Kingdom or Great Britain Island country, western Europe, North Atlantic Ocean. It comprises Great Britain (England, Scotland, and
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Wales) and Northern Ireland. Area: 93,788 sq mi (242,910 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 60,020,000. Capitaclass="underline" London. The population is composed of English (major ethnic group), Scots, Irish, and Welsh and
immigrants and their descendants from India, the West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Africa. Languages: English (official); also Welsh, Scot-
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1966 I United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ► United Mine Workers of America
tish Gaelic. Religions: Christianity (Protestant [Church of England— established; Church of Scotland—national], Roman Catholic, other Christians); also Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism. Currency: pound sterling. The country has hill, lowland, upland, highland, and mountain regions. Tin and iron ore deposits, once central to the economy, have become exhausted or uneconomical, and the coal industry, long a staple of the economy, began a steady decline in the 1950s that worsened with pit closures in the 1980s. Offshore petroleum and natural gas reserves are significant. Chief crops are barley, wheat, sugar beets, and potatoes. Major manufactures include motor vehicles, aerospace equipment, electronic data-processing and telecommunication equipment, and petrochemicals. Fishing and publishing also are important economic activities. The U.K. is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the sovereign, and the head of government is the prime minister.