£

The United Kingdom and its adjacent regions use the pound sterling as their official currency. The pound is the primary unit of sterling and is sometimes referred to as the British pound or the compound noun pound sterling, however neither of these is the actual name of the currency. In one pound, there are 100 pence. The oldest currency that is still in circulation and has been used continuously since its origin is sterling. After the US dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen, it is currently the fourth most traded currency on the foreign exchange market. It makes up the basket of currencies used to determine the value of IMF special drawing rights along with the other three currencies and the renminbi. Sterling is also the fourth-most-held reserve currency in the world's reserves as of mid-2021. These are all fiat currencies that have been issued by governments. Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory, and Tristan da Cunha all use the pound sterling as their official currency. The Guernsey pound, Jersey pound, Manx pound, Gibraltar pound, Falkland Islands pound, and Saint Helena pound are local issues of the pound that are valued on par with the British pound. Other nations have made the switch to the American currency, such as Bermuda in 1970. The Bank of England, which issues its own banknotes and controls the issuance of notes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland, serves as the central bank for the pound sterling. The Bank of England does not control the sterling banknotes issued by other countries, whose governments guarantee parity conversion. Historically, the British Empire's colonies and possessions used sterling to varied degrees.