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( British Armed Forces) The armed forces of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majesty's Armed Forces, and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown,^[1] encompasses a navy, an army, and an air force. With a reported personnel strength of 429,500 in 2006 (195,900 regular force, 191,300 regular reserve, and 42,300 volunteer reserve), the British Armed Forces constitutes one of the largest militaries in Europe, though only the 26th largest in the world by number of troops.^[2] The British Armed Forces however have the second highest declared expenditure of any military in the world. Their Commander-in-Chief is the British monarch, HM Queen Elizabeth II and they are managed by the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence. Consistent with longstanding constitutional convention, however, the Prime Minister holds de facto authority over the armed forces.^{[citation needed]}

The British Armed Forces are charged with protecting the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, promoting Britain's wider security interests, and supporting international peacekeeping efforts.^[3] They are active and regular participants in NATO and other coalition operations.

Recent operations have included wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (2001 and 2003 respectively), intervention in Sierra Leone (2000), and ongoing peacekeeping responsibilities in the Balkans and Cyprus. Overseas garrisons and facilities are maintained at Ascension Island, Belize, Brunei, Canada, Diego Garcia, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kenya, and the Sovereign Base Areas (Cyprus).^[4][5]

The military history of the United Kingdom has been greatly influential in World history, beginning in 1707 with the merging of the armed forces of England and Scotland to become the armed forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Important conflicts in which the British took part later on in history include the Seven Years' War and the Napoleonic Wars of the 18th century/early 19th century, the Crimean War of the mid 19th Century, and the First and Second World Wars of the 20th century. The British Empire, which reached its apogee in the 1920s, was the largest empire in history; almost a third of the World's population were subjects of the British Crown and it controlled a quarter of the World's total land area (and arguably its seas).

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