Social differences are evident in how people from these countries perceive their identities. Scottish, Welsh and Irish people tend to be more aware of a dual identity (e.g. being both Scottish and British). English people

The British are judged on which supermarket they shop at and the hierarchy often goes like this: Waitrose/M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Aldi.

The most culturally recognized aspect of British tradition is their monarchy. When people say 'The Queen,' it's a pretty safe bet that they're referring to the Queen of England. Royalty is a significant part of British culture and the many ceremonies surrounding royalty has been a celebrated custom for over 1000 years.

The recent Olympic games in London, especially the opening and closing ceremonies, provided an opportunity to look again at what defines 'Britishness' and 'British culture'. Both ceremonies provdided a delicate balance between tradition and modernity, and took account of a diverse history, with multiple definitions of what it means to be 'British'.

Identification. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the formal name of the sovereign state governed by Parliament in London. The term "United Kingdom" normally is understood to include Northern Ireland; the term "Great Britain" refers to the island of Britain and its constituent nations of England, Wales, and Scotland but does not include Northern Ireland. Any citizen of Great Britain may be referred to as a Briton.

In a country which has four national football teams, where the favourite national dish is an Indian curry and the people happily drive on the wrong side of the road, you would be forgiven for getting a little confused about the United Kingdom. That is why we have published our free guide to the UK! Valuable for anyone researching British culture, customs, language, society, manners, etiquette, values, business norms and essentially wanting to understand the people better.

Vladimir Putin has started his new term with big promises: over the next six years, the Russian economy needs “breakthrough scientific-technological and social-economic development”, the president decreed after his inauguration on Monday . 

According to official figures, Russia’s economy experienced a minor but surprising contraction in November. The country’s Ministry of Economic Development observed that gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.3 percent from November 2016 levels, which stands in stark contrast to the 1.5-percent growth that was being predicted by economists.

In the years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, the economy of Russia and of the entire country was in a state of decline, and official statistics masked industrial inefficiencies.

Medvedev refused to rate his own six-year performance, but complained about the harmful sanctions regime and low oil prices. Still, he said it was “good” that Russia’s aggregated growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012 – 2018 was 5 percent.

This list contains projected GDP's of 192 Countries/Economies in current prices (U.S. dollars) of year 2018 and 2023. GDP's of Pakistan and Egypt are missing in nominal methods. Both figure has been calculated by interpolation.

US GDP Growth Revised Lower to 2.2% in Q1 Brazilian Economy Grows the Least in Near a Year German Inflation Rate Rises to 15-Month High Brazil GDP Growth at 0.4% in Q1, Matches Forecasts

The overall trend is that the old economies of the West (G7) are year by year falling further behind in growth as the more vigorous countries of the emerging world are surging ahead. Since 2000, the Chinese economy has grown more than 5 times (525%), while the U.S. economy could not even double in that time (88%). In 2000, China’s economy ($3.7 trillion) was about equal in size with Japan’s ($3.4 trillion), but in 17 years Japan grew only 0.6 times (60%), being now more than 4 times smaller than China.

Growing up in the 1980s, Brian Brown was taught to think of the communist Soviet Union as a dark and evil place.

The judiciary is vulnerable to corruption, and weak protection of property rights undermines prospects for optimal long-term economic development.

Beset by tough sanctions and worldwide political isolation, a casual observer might be surprised to learn that Russia's economy isn't doing all that badly – even if it still has a litany of problems.

The U.S. just levied fresh sanctions against the Eastern European country for its alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and early last week President Donald Trump warned Russia that the U.S. military could soon strike its ally Syria in response to its use of chemical weapons—a promise he kept Friday evening.

So were my Russian relatives, in their vacation photos. My parents’ high-school graduation pictures show them frolicking about in bellbottoms with their young classmates, looking absolutely crestfallen.

No matter how the decisions were actually made, the scandal is instructive. As one Bolshoi insider confided, “What happens in the Bolshoi always reflects what’s happening in the country.”