The United Kingdom leaves the European Union on Friday with a mixture of joy, anger and indifference, casting off into the unknown after nearly five decades and dealing a blow to Europe's drive to forge unity from the ruins of World War Two.
The EU's most powerful leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, saw Brexit - due at 2300 GMT - as a sad moment that was a turning point for Europe. The EU warned that leaving would be worse than staying.
console.log("catid body is "+catID);if(catID==120){document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none";var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://player.anyclip.com/anyclip-widget/lre-widget/prod/v1/src/lre.js'; script.setAttribute('pubname','jpostcom'); script.setAttribute('widgetname','0011r00001lcD1i_12258'); document.getElementsByClassName('divAnyClip')[0].appendChild(script);}else if(catID!=69 && catID!=2){ document.getElementsByClassName("divConnatix")[0].style.display ="none"; var script = document.createElement('script'); script.src = 'https://static.vidazoo.com/basev/vwpt.js'; script.setAttribute('data-widget-id','60fd6becf6393400049e6535'); document.getElementsByClassName('divVidazoo')[0].appendChild(script); }In the United Kingdom's biggest geopolitical upheaval since its post-war loss of empire, it turns its back on 47 years of membership and must begin charting its own course for generations to come.