什么是英国

正式名称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国（United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland）

别名大不列颠（Great Britain）或不列颠（Britain）

欧洲西部王国，领土包括大不列颠（英格兰、苏格兰和威尔斯）和北爱尔兰。面积244,110平方公里。人口约59,953,000（2001）。首都︰伦敦。主要的种族是英格兰人（大的种族分支），还有苏格兰、爱尔兰和威尔斯人，以及来自印度、西印度群岛、巴基斯坦和孟加拉国的移民。语言︰英语（官方语）、威尔斯语和苏格兰盖尔语。宗教：设有确认的英格兰和苏格兰圣公会，在北爱尔兰及威尔斯则没有确认的教会；其他还有天主教、新教、伊斯兰教、犹太教、印度教和锡克教。货币︰英镑。境内地形有低地、台地、高地及高山区。锡和铁矿曾对经济十分重要，但现已耗竭或开采已不经济。英国的煤炭业自1950年代初期以来持续衰退，仍属於欧洲最大、技术最先进的煤炭工业。近海石油和天然气蕴藏量丰富。主要作物有大麦、小麦、甜菜和马铃薯。制造业主要产品有机动车辆、航天设备、电子数据处理、电信设备及石化制品等。渔业和出版业为重要的经济活动。政府形式为君主立宪国家，两院制。国家元首是君主，政府首脑为首相。

前罗马时期英国的早期居民（参阅Stonehenge）是操塞尔特语的民族，包括威尔斯的布里索尼人、苏格兰的匹克特人和不列颠的不列颠人。西元前500年左右，塞尔特人在爱尔兰定居。凯撒在西元前55～西元前54年入侵不列颠。罗马所属的不列颠行省持续至5世纪，它包括今日的英格兰和威尔斯。5世纪时，北欧的盎格鲁人、撒克逊人和朱特人等部落入侵不列颠。这些入侵对威尔斯和苏格兰的塞尔特民族少有影响。6世纪时基督教开始蓬勃发展。8～9世纪期间，维京人（尤其是丹麦人）侵扰不列颠海岸。9世纪末，阿佛列大王击退丹麦人的入侵，有助於使英格兰统一在艾塞斯坦（Athelstan）之下，苏格兰人在苏格兰取得优势，马尔科姆二世（1005～1034年在位）最後完成对苏格兰的统一。1066年诺曼第的威廉征服英格兰（参阅William I）。诺曼诸国王建立起一个强大的中央政府和封建国家。诺曼统治者所使用的法语同平民所使用的盎格鲁－撒克逊方言融合成英语。从11世纪起，苏格兰便处在英格兰国王的势力范围之内。亨利二世在12世纪末叶征服了爱尔兰。亨利之子理查一世和约翰同教士和贵族发生冲突，最後迫使约翰在大宪章（1215）中对贵族做出某些让步。王国共同体的概念在13世纪得到发展，它为议会制政府奠定了基础。在爱德华一世统治期间，发展成文法以补充英格兰的普通法，并召开了第一届议会。1314年罗伯特一世为苏格兰赢得独立地位，蔷薇战争（1455～1485）後，都铎家族成为英格兰的统治王室。亨利八世建立英国国教，并将威尔斯并入英格兰。伊莉莎白一世在位期间开始了殖民扩张的阶段，1588年英军击败西班牙「无敌舰队」。1603年苏格兰的詹姆斯六世登上英格兰王位，成为詹姆斯一世，他以个人身分促成了两个王国的联合。1642年保皇党和议会党之间爆发内战，以处死查理一世（1649）而结束。经过克伦威尔父子十一年的清教徒统治（1649～1660）後，查理二世恢复了君主统治。1707年英格兰和苏格兰签订「联合条约」，组成大不列颠王国。1714年当汉诺威的选侯乔治.路易成为大不列颠的乔治一世时，汉诺威家族登上了英国王位。乔治三世在位时期，英国的美洲殖民地於1783年赢得独立，接着先後同大革命的法国以及拿破仑所建的法兰西帝国发生战争（1789～1815）。1801年的立法将大不列颠和爱尔兰联合起来，成立大不列颠及爱尔兰联合王国。18世纪末不列颠是工业革命的诞生地，直到19世纪後期仍然是世界上经济最强的国家。在维多利亚女王执政时期殖民地扩张达到顶点，然而一些较老的领地，如加拿大和澳大利亚，分别於1867和1901年获得独立。1914年英国联同法、俄结盟加入第一次世界大战。战後爱尔兰爆发革命骚乱，1921年爱尔兰自由邦（参阅Ireland）具有自治领的地位，阿尔斯特的六个郡则仍保留在英国的版图内，称北爱尔兰。英国於1939年参加第二次世界大战，战後爱尔兰自由邦脱离国协成立爱尔兰共和国，印度也脱离英国独立。从战後时期直至1970年代英国继续丧失其在海外的殖民地和属地。1950～1953年与联合国部队投入韩战。1956年在苏伊士危机期间派兵进入埃及。1982年在福克兰群岛战争中打败阿根廷。北爱尔兰持续不断的社会抗争结果是与爱尔兰协议了一些和平提案，最後他们同意在北爱尔兰成立一个议会。1997年公民投票决议下放权力给苏格兰和威尔斯这两个国家，但它们仍是英国的一部分。

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.