United Kingdom
(缩略词： UK)
- a country of western Europe consisting of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland; pop. 61,113, 200 (est. 2009); official language, English; capital, London. Full name UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND.联合王国（西欧一国家, 由英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰组成, 2009年估计人口61,113, 200, 官方语言为英语, 首都伦敦; 全称大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国）。
England (which had incorporated Wales in the 16th century) and Scotland have had the same monarch since 1603, when James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English crown as James I; the kingdoms were formally united by the Act of Union in 1707. An Act of Parliament joined Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, but the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) broke away in 1921. The UK became a member of the EC (now the EU) in 1973.