Name: United Kingdom Continent: Europe Population: 59,600,000 Religion: Anglican 27 million, Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000, Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.)

Great Britain, the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the European Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999. Information from the CIA World Fact Book

Timeline of Events Date Event 825   825 King Egbert of Wessex conquers Kent, Sussex, and Essex; Wessex becomes dominant power in England 1209   1209 Foundation of Cambridge University 1666 2 September 1666 Great Fire of London is started 1763   1763 French and Indian War ends 1780  March 1780 Battle of Charleston 1781 6 October 1781 American and French forces trap British army of Cornwallis at Yorktown 1812 18 June 1812 War of 1812 begins with U.S. declaration of war on the United Kingdom 1815 18 February 1815 The War of 1812 ends with the Treaty of Ghent, reaffirming prewar status quo between the United States and United Kingdom 1842   1842 First Opium War between China and Britain 1850  December 1850 Taiping Rebellion in China; Up to 30 million Chinese die in civil war between Qing government and Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly Kingdom 1861 13 May 1861 Great Britain declares its neutrality in the American Civil War 1868   1868 Diamonds discovered in South Africa 1898 10 July 1898 British and French resolve the Fashoda Incident over colonial boundaries in Africa, confirming British control over Sudan; Seen as important precursor to the Entente Cordiale 1901 1 January 1901 Australia unified as a Dominion of the British Empire 1917 2 November 1917 The Balfour Declaration expresses official British support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine 1918 27 May 1918 German Army begins the Great March Offensive and drives the Allied army back 40 miles before losing momentum 1919 28 June 1919 Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris 1920 25 April 1920 Mesopotamia becomes a British mandated territory under Article 22 of the League of Nations 1938 30 September 1938 Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier, and Mussolini sign the Munich Agreement, which transfers the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia to Germany 1940 12 September 1940 Italian Tenth Army commanded by Marshal Rodolpho Graziani invades Egypt 1941 11 March 1941 The US Congress passes the Lend-Lease Bill which will provide billions of dollars of war materials to the Allied powers 1943 10 June 1943 The Combined Bomber Offensive launches Operation Pointblank, a strategic bombing campaign against German industry and civilian morale 1944 17 September 1944 Allied armored and airborne forces fail to secure Rhine crossing in Operation Market-Garden 16 December 1944 Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes) begins 1963 12 December 1963 Kenya becomes independent from Great Britain; Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union (KANU) party forms the first independent government 1971  August 1971 Bahrain declares its independence from Britain Go here for timeline sources.