正式名稱大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯合王國（United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland）
別名大不列顛（Great Britain）或不列顛（Britain）
歐洲西部王國，領土包括大不列顛（英格蘭、蘇格蘭和威爾斯）和北愛爾蘭。面積244,110平方公里。人口約59,953,000（2001）。首都︰倫敦。主要的種族是英格蘭人（大的種族分支），還有蘇格蘭、愛爾蘭和威爾斯人，以及來自印度、西印度羣島、巴基斯坦和孟加拉國的移民。語言︰英語（官方語）、威爾斯語和蘇格蘭蓋爾語。宗教：設有確認的英格蘭和蘇格蘭聖公會，在北愛爾蘭及威爾斯則沒有確認的教會；其他還有天主教、新教、伊斯蘭教、猶太教、印度教和錫克教。貨幣︰英鎊。境內地形有低地、台地、高地及高山區。錫和鐵礦曾對經濟十分重要，但現已耗竭或開採已不經濟。英國的煤炭業自1950年代初期以來持續衰退，仍屬於歐洲最大、技術最先進的煤炭工業。近海石油和天然氣藴藏量豐富。主要作物有大麥、小麥、甜菜和馬鈴薯。製造業主要產品有機動車輛、航天設備、電子數據處理、電信設備及石化製品等。漁業和出版業為重要的經濟活動。政府形式為君主立憲國家，兩院制。國家元首是君主，政府首腦為首相。
前羅馬時期英國的早期居民（參閲Stonehenge）是操塞爾特語的民族，包括威爾斯的布里索尼人、蘇格蘭的匹克特人和不列顛的不列顛人。西元前500年左右，塞爾特人在愛爾蘭定居。凱撒在西元前55～西元前54年入侵不列顛。羅馬所屬的不列顛行省持續至5世紀，它包括今日的英格蘭和威爾斯。5世紀時，北歐的盎格魯人、撒克遜人和朱特人等部落入侵不列顛。這些入侵對威爾斯和蘇格蘭的塞爾特民族少有影響。6世紀時基督教開始蓬勃發展。8～9世紀期間，維京人（尤其是丹麥人）侵擾不列顛海岸。9世紀末，阿佛列大王擊退丹麥人的入侵，有助於使英格蘭統一在艾塞斯坦（Athelstan）之下，蘇格蘭人在蘇格蘭取得優勢，馬爾科姆二世（1005～1034年在位）最後完成對蘇格蘭的統一。1066年諾曼第的威廉征服英格蘭（參閲William I）。諾曼諸國王建立起一個強大的中央政府和封建國家。諾曼統治者所使用的法語同平民所使用的盎格魯－撒克遜方言融合成英語。從11世紀起，蘇格蘭便處在英格蘭國王的勢力範圍之內。亨利二世在12世紀末葉征服了愛爾蘭。亨利之子理查一世和約翰同教士和貴族發生衝突，最後迫使約翰在大憲章（1215）中對貴族做出某些讓步。王國共同體的概念在13世紀得到發展，它為議會制政府奠定了基礎。在愛德華一世統治期間，發展成文法以補充英格蘭的普通法，並召開了第一屆議會。1314年羅伯特一世為蘇格蘭贏得獨立地位，薔薇戰爭（1455～1485）後，都鐸家族成為英格蘭的統治王室。亨利八世建立英國國教，並將威爾斯併入英格蘭。伊莉莎白一世在位期間開始了殖民擴張的階段，1588年英軍擊敗西班牙「無敵艦隊」。1603年蘇格蘭的詹姆斯六世登上英格蘭王位，成為詹姆斯一世，他以個人身分促成了兩個王國的聯合。1642年保皇黨和議會黨之間爆發內戰，以處死查理一世（1649）而結束。經過克倫威爾父子十一年的清教徒統治（1649～1660）後，查理二世恢復了君主統治。1707年英格蘭和蘇格蘭簽訂「聯合條約」，組成大不列顛王國。1714年當漢諾威的選侯喬治.路易成為大不列顛的喬治一世時，漢諾威家族登上了英國王位。喬治三世在位時期，英國的美洲殖民地於1783年贏得獨立，接着先後同大革命的法國以及拿破崙所建的法蘭西帝國發生戰爭（1789～1815）。1801年的立法將大不列顛和愛爾蘭聯合起來，成立大不列顛及愛爾蘭聯合王國。18世紀末不列顛是工業革命的誕生地，直到19世紀後期仍然是世界上經濟最強的國家。在維多利亞女王執政時期殖民地擴張達到頂點，然而一些較老的領地，如加拿大和澳大利亞，分別於1867和1901年獲得獨立。1914年英國聯同法、俄結盟加入第一次世界大戰。戰後愛爾蘭爆發革命騷亂，1921年愛爾蘭自由邦（參閲Ireland）具有自治領的地位，阿爾斯特的六個郡則仍保留在英國的版圖內，稱北愛爾蘭。英國於1939年參加第二次世界大戰，戰後愛爾蘭自由邦脱離國協成立愛爾蘭共和國，印度也脱離英國獨立。從戰後時期直至1970年代英國繼續喪失其在海外的殖民地和屬地。1950～1953年與聯合國部隊投入韓戰。1956年在蘇伊士危機期間派兵進入埃及。1982年在福克蘭羣島戰爭中打敗阿根廷。北愛爾蘭持續不斷的社會抗爭結果是與愛爾蘭協議了一些和平提案，最後他們同意在北愛爾蘭成立一個議會。1997年公民投票決議下放權力給蘇格蘭和威爾斯這兩個國家，但它們仍是英國的一部分。
United Kingdom
Kingdom, western Europe, comprising Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland. Area: 94,248 sq mi (244,101 sq km). Population (2000 est.): 59,714,000. Capital: london. The population is composed of English (major ethnic group), Scots, Irish, and Welsh and immigrants from India, the West Indies, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Languages: English (official), also Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. Religions: Churches of England and Scotland (established); no established church in Northern Ireland or Wales; Roman Catholicism, Protestant denominations, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism. 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 to work. The coal industry, despite its steady decline since the early 1950s, remains one of the largest and most technologically advanced in Europe. 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, telecommunication equipment, and petrochemicals. Fishing and publishing also are important economic activities. It is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses; its chief of state is the sovereign, and the head of government is the prime minister. The early pre-Roman inhabitants of Britain (see Stonehenge) were Celtic-speaking peoples, including the Brythonic people of Wales, the Picts of Scotland, and the Britons of Britain. Celts also settled in Ireland c. 500 BC. Julius Caesar invaded and took control of the area 55-54 BC. The Roman province of Britannia endured until the 5th century and included present-day England and Wales. In the 5th century Nordic tribes of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded Britain. The invasions had little effect on the Celtic peoples of Wales and Scotland. Christianity began to flourish in the 6th century. During the 8th-9th century, Vikings, particularly Danes, raided the coasts of Britain. In the late 9th century Alfred the Great repelled a Danish invasion, which helped bring about the unification of England under Athelstan. The Scots attained dominance in Scotland, which was finally unified under Malcolm II (1005-34). William of Normandy (see William I the Conqueror) took England in 1066. The Norman kings established a strong central government and feudal state. The French language of the Norman rulers eventually merged with the Anglo-Saxon of the common people to form the English language. From the 11th century, Scotland came under the influence of the English throne. Henry II conquered Ireland in the late 12th century. His sons Richard I and John had conflicts with the clergy and nobles, and eventually John was forced to grant the nobles concessions in the Magna Carta (1215). The concept of community of the realm developed during the 13th century, providing the foundation for parliamentary government. During the reign of Edward I, statute law developed to supplement English common law, and the first Parliament was convened. In 1314 Robert Bruce (see Robert I) won independence for Scotland. The Tudors became the ruling family of England following the Wars of the Roses (1455-85). Henry VIII established the Church of England and incorporated Wales as part of England. The reign of Elizabeth I began a period of colonial expansion; 1588 brought the defeat of the Spanish Armada. In 1603 James VI of Scotland ascended to the English throne, becoming James I, and established a personal union of the two kingdoms. The English Civil Wars erupted in 1642 between Royalists and Parliamentarians, ending in the execution of Charles I (1649). After eleven years of Puritan rule under Oliver Cromwell and his son (1649-60), the monarchy was restored with Charles II. In 1707 England and Scotland assented to the Act of Union, forming the kingdom of Great Britain. The Hanoverians ascended to the English throne in 1714, when George Louis, elector of Hanover, became George I of Great Britain. During the reign of George III, Great Britain's American colonies won independence (1783). This was followed by a period of war with revolutionary France and later with the empire of Napoleon (1789-1815). In 1801 legislation united Great Britain with Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Britain was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, and it remained the world's foremost economic power until the late 19th century. During the reign of Queen Victoria, Britain's colonial expansion reached its zenith, though the older dominions, including Canada and Australia, were granted independence (1867 and 1901, respectively). The United Kingdom entered World War I allied with France and Russia in 1914. Following the war, revolutionary disorder erupted in Ireland, and in 1921 the Irish Free State (see Ireland) was granted dominion status. The six counties of Ulster, however, remained in the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom entered World War II in 1939. Following the war the Irish Free State became the Irish Republic and left the Commonwealth. India also gained independence from the United Kingdom. Throughout the postwar period and into the 1970s, the United Kingdom continued to grant independence to its overseas colonies and dependencies. With U.N. forces, it participated in the Korean War (1950-53). In 1956 it intervened militarily in Egypt during the Suez Crisis. In 1982 it defeated Argentina in the Falkland Islands War. As a result of continuing social strife in Northern Ireland, it joined with Ireland in several peace initiatives, which eventually resulted in an agreement to establish an assembly in Northern Ireland. In 1997 referenda approved in Scotland and Wales devolved power to both countries, though both remained part of the United Kingdom.
