United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland^{[note 7]} (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country,^[7]^[8] spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland.^[9]^[10] Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

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Ériu

In Irish mythology, Ériu (Irish pronunciation: [ˈeːrʲu]; modern Irish Éire), daughter of Ernmas of the Tuatha Dé Danann, was the eponymous matron goddess of Ireland. Her husband was Mac Gréine (‘Son of the Sun’).^[1] She was the mother of Bres by Prince Elatha of the Fomorians.

.eu

.eu is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the European Union (EU). Launched 7 December 2005, the domain is available for organisations and citizens in EU member states. The TLD is administered by EURid, a consortium consisting of the national ccTLD registry operators of Belgium, Sweden, Italy and the Czech Republic. Trademark owners were able to submit registrations through a sunrise period, in an effort to prevent cybersquatting. Full registration started on 7 April 2006.^{[citation needed]}

.gb

.gb is a reserved Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom. Introduced at the same time as the UK's other top-level domain (.uk), it was never widely used. It is no longer possible to register under this domain.

.uk

.uk is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom. As of July 2008, it is the fifth most popular top-level domain worldwide (after .com, .cn, .de and .net), with over 7 million registrations.^[2]

1966 FIFA World Cup

The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England was chosen as hosts by FIFA in August 1960 to celebrate the centenary of the standardisation of football in England. England won the final, beating West Germany 4–2, giving them their first (and to date, only) World Cup win, and becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.

1 E11 m²

To help compare orders of magnitude of different geographical regions we list here surface areas between 100,000 km² and 1,000,000 km². See also areas of other orders of magnitude.

2012 Summer Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012.^[1] London will become the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times,^[2]^[3] having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.^[4]^[5]

A. A. Milne

Alan Alexander Milne (pronounced /ˈmɪln/) (18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.

AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock and are considered a pioneer of heavy metal,^[1]^[2] they have always classified their music as rock and roll.^[3]

Aberdeen F.C.

Aberdeen Football Club (also known as The Dons, The Dandies, The Reds or The Dandy Dons) is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen. They compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of the most successful teams in their country, having won four league titles and seven Scottish Cups, including a record three in a row during the 1980s, the only time a team other than Rangers has done this since 1882. They are also the only Scottish team to have won two European trophies, both in the same year. Despite competing in the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup finals, both in 2000, they have not won any silverware since 1995.

Absolute monarchy

Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government where the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, thus wielding political power over the sovereign state and its subject peoples. In an absolute monarchy, the transmission of power is two-fold, hereditary and marital; as absolute governor, the monarch’s authority is not legally bound or restricted by a constitution.

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi (Arabic: أبو ظبي‎ Abū ẓabī, literally Father of gazelle^[3]) is the capital of, and the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper, making up an area of 67,340 km² (26,000 sq mi), had an estimated population of 860,000 in 2007.^[4]

Acquittal

In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the innocence of the accused, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi. Under the rules of double jeopardy and autrefois acquit, an acquittal operates to bar the retrial of the accused for the same offense, even if new evidence surfaces that further implicates the accused. The effect of an acquittal on criminal proceedings is the same whether it results from a jury verdict, or whether it results from the operation of some other rule that discharges the accused.

Act of Parliament

An act of Parliament (Act of parliament)^[1] is a statute (commonly called a law) enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. It is not however above common law.

Adam Smith

Adam Smith (baptised 16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790 [OS: 5 June 1723 – 17 July 1790]) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. Adam Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics.^[1]^[2]

Administrative geography of the United Kingdom

The administrative geography of the United Kingdom is complex, multi-layered and non-uniform. The United Kingdom, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe, consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For local government in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have their own system of administrative and geographic demarcation. Consequently, there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".^[1]

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with the difference being that gas dynamics applies to all gases. Understanding the motion of air (often called a flow field) around an object enables the calculation of forces and moments acting on the object. Typical properties calculated for a flow field include velocity, pressure, density and temperature as a function of position and time. By defining a control volume around the flow field, equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy can be defined and used to solve for the properties. The use of aerodynamics through mathematical analysis, empirical approximation and wind tunnel experimentation form the scientific basis for heavier-than-air flight.

Afghanistan

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South-Central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia,^[5]^[6] South Asia,^[7]^[8] or the Middle East.^[9] It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area.^[2] With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the World's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Not counting the disputed territory of Western Sahara, there are 53 countries, including Madagascar and various island groups, associated with the continent.

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays. Her works, particularly those featuring detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, have given her the title the 'Queen of Crime' and made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre.

Agnosticism

Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable.^[1] Agnosticism can be defined in various ways, and is sometimes used to indicate doubt or a skeptical approach to questions. In some senses, agnosticism is a stance about the differences between belief and knowledge, rather than about any specific claim or belief.

Airbus

Airbus SAS (pronounced /ˈɛərbʌs/ in English,

/ɛʁbys/ in French, and /ˈɛːɐbʊs/ in German) is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Toulouse, France, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners.

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations. They have evolved from wooden vessels, used to deploy balloons, into nuclear powered warships that carry dozens of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.

Ajman

Ajmān (or Ujman; Arabic: عجمان‎ ‘ajmān) is one of the seven emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates (UAE). With an area of just 260 square kilometres, Ajman is the smallest emirate by area. Its seat of government is Ajmān, which is surrounded to its north, south, and east by Sharjah.^[1]

Akrotiri and Dhekelia

The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are two UK-administered areas on the island of Cyprus that comprise the Sovereign Base Areas military bases of the United Kingdom. The bases were retained by the UK following the granting of independence and the eventual transition of Cyprus from a crown colony to an independent sovereign state. The United Kingdom demanded and succeeded in continuing to occupy a portion of Cyprus in the form of military bases because of the strategic location of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea in pursuit of UK interests.

Alan Ayckbourn

Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE (born 12 April 1939) is a popular and prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-two full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their first performance. More than 40 have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company since his first hit Relatively Speaking opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1967.

Alan Turing

Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS (pronounced /ˈtjʊərɪŋ/, TYOOR-ing; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954), was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was influential in the development of computer science and providing a formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, playing a significant role in the creation of the modern computer.^[1]

Albania

Albania

/ælˈbeɪniə/ (help·info) (Albanian: Shqipëri/Shqipëria, Gheg Albanian: Shqipnia or Shqypnia), officially the Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika e Shqipërisë, pronounced [ɾɛpuˈblika ɛ ʃcipəˈɾiːs]), is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo^[a] to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the west, and on the Ionian Sea to the southwest. It is less than 72 km (45 mi) from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which links the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea.

Alex Salmond

Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond (pronounced /ˈsæmənd/ born 31 December 1954) is the First Minister of Scotland, heading a minority Scottish Government.

Alexander Fleming

Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. Fleming published many articles on bacteriology, immunology and chemotherapy. His best-known achievements are the discovery of the enzyme lysozyme in 1923 and the antibiotic substance penicillin from the fungus Penicillium notatum in 1928, for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Howard Walter Florey and Ernst Boris Chain.^[1]

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone.

Alfred Jules Ayer

Sir Alfred Jules Ayer (29 October 1910 – 27 June 1989), better known as A. J. Ayer or "Freddie" to friends, was a British philosopher known for his promotion of logical positivism, particularly in his books Language, Truth and Logic (1936) and The Problem of Knowledge (1956).

Alistair Darling

Alistair Maclean Darling (born 28 November 1953) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West since 1987, and was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on 28 June 2007. Prior to this, he held a number of Cabinet positions, being one of only three people to have served in Cabinet continuously since Labour was elected in 1997.

All-Ireland

As an attributive, all-Ireland emphasises the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. In Irish republicanism, the expression 32-county is often used instead: 32 as distinct from the 26 traditional counties of the Republic and the remaining 6 of Northern Ireland.

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War (1939-1945).^[1] The Allies became involved in World War II either because they had already been invaded or were directly threatened with invasion by the Axis or because they were concerned that the Axis powers would come to control the world.^[2] After 1941, the leaders of the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States of America, known as "The Big Three",^[3] held leadership of the Allied powers. France, before its defeat in 1940 and after Operation Overlord in 1944, as well as China^[4]^[1]^[5] at that time, were also major Allies.^[6] Other Allies included Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippine Commonwealth, Poland, the Union of South Africa, and Yugoslavia.^[7]

Alo (Wallis and Futuna)

Alo, also known unofficially as Tu`a or the Kingdom of Futuna,^[1] is one of three official chiefdoms of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna, which encompasses the eastern two thirds (53 km² out of 83 km²) of Futuna Island, and mostly uninhabited Alofi Island (32 km², pop. 2) 2 km to the southeast. The total area of the chiefdom is 85 km², with a population of 2993, in nine villages, as of the census of July 22, 2003. The capital is the village of Mala'e (pop. 238). The largest village is Ono (pop. 738). The current Tuigaifo, or King, of the Kingdom of Alo is Petelo Vikena, whose coronation took place on November 6, 2008, in the small village of Alo.^[2]

Alternative medicine

In Western culture, alternative medicine is any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine",^[1] or "that which has not been shown consistently to be effective."^[2] It is often opposed to evidence based medicine and encompasses therapies with a historical or cultural, rather than a scientific, basis. Commonly cited examples include naturopathy, chiropractic, herbalism, traditional Chinese medicine, Unani, Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, homeopathy, acupuncture, and diet-based therapies, in addition to a range of other practices.^[3] It is frequently grouped with complementary medicine, which generally refers to the same interventions when used in conjunction with mainstream techniques,^[4]^[5]^[6] under the umbrella term complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. Some significant researchers in alternative medicine oppose this grouping, preferring to emphasize differences of approach, but nevertheless use the term CAM, which has become standard.^[7]^[8]

Amaterasu Omikami

Amaterasu (天照^?), Amaterasu-ōmikami (天照大神／天照大御神^?) or Ōhiru-menomuchi-no-kami (大日孁貴神^?) is a sun goddess and one of the principal Shinto deities (神 kami^?). Her name, Amaterasu, means literally "(that which) illuminates Heaven". She was born from the left eye of Izanagi as he purified himself in a river and went on to become the ruler of the Higher Celestial Plain (Takamagahara).

Andorra

Andorra

/ænˈdɒrə/ (help·info), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra,^[4] is a small country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of 468 km² (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 84,484 in 2008. Its capital is Andorra la Vella. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also commonly spoken.

Anglo-America

Anglo-America is a region in the Americas in which English is a main language,^[1] or one which has significant British historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural links. Anglo-America is distinct from Latin America, a region of the Americas where Romance languages (namely, Spanish, Portuguese, and variably French) are prevalent.^[1]

Anglosphere

According to a post on Word Spy, a blog on unusual words, the term Anglosphere was first used by author Neal Stephenson in his 1995 novel The Diamond Age. Stephenson did not use the term in any specific geopolitical sense but rather to describe a fictional race called the Atlantans who, when immigrating to London, were drawn from across the English speaking world. The blog defines the term as meaning "the collection of English-speaking nations that support the principles of common law and civil rights".^[1]

Anish Kapoor

Anish Kapoor CBE (born 12 March 1954) is a sculptor. Born in Bombay (Mumbai), India, Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s where he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design.

Ankole

Ankole, also referred to as Nkore, is one of four traditional kingdoms in Uganda. The kingdom is located in the southwestern Uganda, east of Lake Edward. It was ruled by a monarch known as The Mugabe or Omugabe of Ankole. The kingdom was formally abolished in 1967 by the government of President Milton Obote, and is still not officially restored.^[1]The people of Ankole are called Banyankole (singular: Munyankole) in Runyankole language, a Bantu language.

Antibiotic

In common usage, an antibiotic (from the Ancient Greek: ἀντί – anti, "against", and βίος – bios, "life") is a substance or compound that kills, or inhibits the growth of, bacteria.^[1] Antibiotics belong to the broader group of antimicrobial compounds, used to treat infections caused by microorganisms, including fungi and protozoa.^{[citation needed]}

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda (Spanish for "Ancient" and "Bearded") is an island nation located on the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major islands — Antigua (pronounced /ænˈtiːɡə/) and Barbuda(/bɑrˈbjuːdə/) — and a number of smaller islets. All are close neighbors within the middle of the Leeward Islands, and are located roughly 17 degrees north of the equator.

Antiseptic

Antiseptics (from Greek αντί - anti, '"against" + σηπτικός - septikos, "putrefactive") are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction. Antiseptics are generally distinguished from antibiotics by their ability to be transported through the lymphatic system to destroy bacteria within the body, and from disinfectants, which destroy microorganisms found on non-living objects. Some antiseptics are true germicides, capable of destroying microbes (bacteriocidal), whilst others are bacteriostatic and only prevent or inhibit their growth. Antibacterials are antiseptics that have the proven ability to act against bacteria especially if they target systems which kill only bacteria. Microbicides which kill virus particles are called viricides or antivirals.

Antony Gormley

Antony Gormley OBE RA (born 30 August 1950) is an English sculptor. His best known works include the Angel of the North, a public sculpture in Gateshead commissioned in 1995 and erected in February 1998, and Another Place on Crosby Beach near Liverpool.

Archipelago

An archipelago (pronounced /ɑrkɨˈpɛləɡoʊ/) is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. The word archipelago is directly derived from the Greek ἄρχι- - arkhi- ("main") and πέλαγος - pelagos ("sea"). In Italian, possibly following a tradition of antiquity, the Archipelago (from medieval Greek *ἀρχιπέλαγος) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea and, later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea is remarkable for its large number of islands). It is now used to generally refer to any island group or, sometimes, to a sea containing a large number of scattered islands like the Aegean Sea.^[1]

Area

Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron. Area is an important invariant in the differential geometry of surfaces.^[1]

Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina, pronounced [reˈpuβlika aɾxenˈtina]), is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico, Colombia and Spain are more populous.

Armenia

Armenia

/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (help·info) (Armenian: Հայաստան, transliterated: Hayastan, IPA: [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe,^[8] it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.

Art of the United Kingdom

Art of the United Kingdom refers to the artistic works associated with the United Kingdom and its peoples since its formation in 1707.^[1] (For details about art in the individual countries of the United Kingdom, including prior to 1707, see English art, Irish art, Scottish art, Welsh art.)

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish^[1] physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.

Arthur Sullivan

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer, of Irish and Italian descent, best known for his operatic collaborations with librettist W. S. Gilbert, including such continually-popular works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado. Sullivan's artistic output included 23 operas, 13 major orchestral works, eight choral works and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and numerous hymns and other church pieces, songs, parlour ballads, part songs, carols, and piano and chamber pieces.

Ascension Island

Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres (994 mi) from the coast of Africa, and 2,250 kilometres (1,398 mi) from the coast of South America which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa. It is politically organized and governed as part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha^[1] from the capital Saint Helena, which is 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) to the southeast and the protectorate also includes the "remotest populated archipelago" on earth, the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago some thirty-degrees farther south — about half the way to the Antarctic circle. The Island is named after the day of its recorded discovery, Ascension Day and is located at 7°56′S 14°22′W / 7.933°S 14.367°WCoordinates: 7°56′S 14°22′W / 7.933°S 14.367°W about as far south of the equator as tropical Venezuela is to its north. Historically, it has played a role as an important safe haven and coaling station to mariners and for commercial airliners during the days of international air travel by air boats and during World War II was an important naval and air station especially providing antisubmarine warfare bases in the Battle of the Atlantic and throughout the war.^[2] Ascension Island was garrisoned by the British Royal Navy on 22 October 1815.

Ashanti

Ashanti, or Asante, are a major ethnic group of Ashanti Region in Ghana. They are an Akan people who speak Twi, an Akan language similar to Fante. For the Ashanti (Asante) Empire see Asanteman.

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

The Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands are two groups of small low-lying uninhabited tropical islands in the Indian Ocean situated on the edge of the continental shelf north-west of Australia and south of the Indonesian island of Rote at 12°14′S 123°5′E / 12.233°S 123.083°ECoordinates: 12°14′S 123°5′E / 12.233°S 123.083°E^{[citation needed]}.

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area (or 29.9% of its land area) and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.

Assemblies of God

The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of national Christian denominations which together form the world's largest Pentecostal body. With over 300,000 congregations and outstations in over 212 countries and territories and approximately 57 to 60 million adherents worldwide,^[1]^[2]^[3] it is the fourth largest international body of Christians.^[4]

Assemblies of God in the United Kingdom

Assemblies of God in Great Britain is a Pentecostal denomination and a part of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, the world's largest Pentecostal denomination with a global adherence of 52.5 million people.^[1]

Association football

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club (pronounced /ˈæstən ˈvɪlə/) (also known as The Villa, Villa and The Villans)^[3] is an English professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, who play in the Premier League. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder members of the Premier League in 1992.^[4] The club was floated by the previous owner and chairman Doug Ellis, but in 2006 full control of the club was acquired by Randy Lerner.

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca plc^[1] (LSE: AZN, NYSE: AZN, OMX: AZN) is a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company formed on 6 April 1999 by the remerger of Swedish Astra AB and British Zeneca Group plc. Zeneca had been part of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), as three divisions that were spun off from ICI on 1 June 1993.^[2]^[3] It is a public company and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange and the OMX exchange. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Astronomy

Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulæ, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe.

Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena (also called Athene and Pallas Athene, Attic: Ἀθηνᾶ, Athēnâ or Ἀθηναία, Athēnaía, Epic: Ἀθηναίη, Athēnaíē, Ionic: Ἀθήνη, Athḗnē, Doric: Ἀθάνα, Athána; Latin: Minerva) is the goddess of wisdom, war, strategy, industry, justice and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies these same exact attributes.^[2] Athena is also a shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens. The Athenians built the Parthenon, on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos)^[3]

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres (41.1 million square miles), it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The oldest known mention of this name is contained in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BCE (I 202); see also: Atlas Mountains. Another name historically used was the ancient term Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, whose name was sometimes used as a synonym for all of Africa and thus for the ocean. Before Europeans discovered other oceans, the term "ocean" itself was to them synonymous with the waters beyond Western Europe that we now know as the Atlantic and which the Greeks had believed to be a gigantic river encircling the world; see Oceanus.

Atlantic slave trade

History · Antiquity · Aztec · Ancient Greece · Rome · Medieval Europe · Thrall · Kholop · Serfdom · Spanish New World colonies

Australia

Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪljə/ ə-STRAYL-yə or /ɒˈstreɪljə/ o-STRAYL-yə,^[7] or more formally as /ɔːˈstreɪliə/ aw-STRAY-lee-ə), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent (the world's smallest),^[8]^[9] the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.^N4 Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor, and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia to the north-east, and New Zealand to the southeast.

Australian Antarctic Territory

The Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is the part of Antarctica claimed by Australia and is the largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation. It consists of all the islands and territory south of 60° S and between 45° E and 160° E, except for Adélie Land (136° E to 142° E), which divides the territory into Western AAT (the larger portion) and Eastern AAT. It is bounded by Queen Maud Land in the West and by Ross Dependency in the East. The area is estimated at 5,896,500 km².^[1] The territory is inhabited only by the staff of research stations. The Australian Antarctic Division administers the area primarily by maintaining three year-round stations (Mawson, Davis and Casey), which support various research projects.

Austria

Austria

/ˈɔːstriə/ (help·info) (German:

Österreich (help·info)), officially the Republic of Austria (German:

Republik Österreich), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people^[3] in Central Europe. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers 83,872 square kilometres (32,383 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below 500 metres (1,640 ft), and its highest point is 3,797 metres (12,457 ft).^[6] The majority of the population speaks German,^[7] which is also the country's official language.^[1] Other local official languages are Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.^[6]

Automotive industry in the United Kingdom

The British motor industry is known for exclusive brands such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and the iconic Mini. British cars have always had consistent representation in auto racing.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan (pronounced /ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ (

listen); Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), formally the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia,^[4] it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhichevan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest. The Nagorno-Karabakh region in the southwest of Azerbaijan proper declared itself independent from Azerbaijan in 1991, but it is not recognized by any nation and considered a legal part of Azerbaijan.

Bòrd na Gàidhlig

Bòrd na Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [b̊ɔːɾʃd̪̊ nə ɡ̊aːlɪɡ̊ʲ]) is a quango appointed by the Scottish Government with responsibility for Scottish Gaelic. It is not to be confused with Comunn na Gàidhlig or An Comunn Gaidhealach, which are much older.

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC",^[1] is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world.^[2] The BBC is a publicly owned corporation that operates under a Royal Charter issued by the British Crown and its operations are overseen by twelve Governors who are appointed by the Crown on the advice of the Government.^[3] It is funded principally by an annual television licence fee, which is charged to all United Kingdom households, companies and organisations using equipment capable of recording and/or receiving live television broadcasts ^[4]; the level of the fee is set by the UK Government and agreed by the UK Parliament under a multi-year agreement with the Corporation.

BBC News

BBC News is the department of the BBC responsible for news and current affairs output. The world's largest broadcast news organisation,^[1] it generates each day about 120 hours of radio and television, as well as online news coverage.^[2] The service maintains 44 foreign news bureaux and has correspondents in almost all the world's 240 countries.

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company, Ltd.

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed primarily at the 15–29 age group.^[1] Radio 1 was launched at 7:00am on 30 September 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, which had been outlawed by Act of Parliament.^[2]

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the UK.^[1] Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres. Radio 2 broadcasts throughout the UK on FM between 88.1 and 90.2MHz from studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. Programmes are relayed on digital radio via DAB, Sky Digital, Cable TV, IPTV, Freeview, Freesat and the Internet. The station's programming is broadcast on a network of FM transmitters of up to 250 kW, the strongest FM signals in the EU.^[2]

BBC Radio Cymru

BBC Radio Cymru is BBC Wales's Welsh language radio station, broadcasting throughout Wales from Cardiff on FM since 1977. It was one of the few FM-only radio services in the UK at the time of its launch. The station now broadcasts for 20 hours a day (0500–0100) and is also carried on DAB digital radio within Wales, and also on Freeview and satellite. The station has also been broadcasting on the Internet since January 2005.[3]

BBC Radio nan Gàidheal

BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is the BBC's Scottish Gaelic language station. It can also be heard on digital satellite television and DAB Digital Radio. BBC Radio nan Gàidheal also broadcasts on BBC Alba when not broadcasting television programmes.

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1932. The British Broadcasting Corporation has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927.

BBC Two

BBC Two (BBC2 until 1997) is the second major terrestrial television channel of the BBC, aimed at a wide range of subject matter and interests, and specialising in intelligent yet popular programme genres. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio networks, it is commercial-free and yet remains a comparatively well funded public service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most current public service networks worldwide. It was the second British television station to be launched by the BBC (starting in 1964), and Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour, from 1967, envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming.

BBC World News

BBC World News is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel and any news channel in the world. Founded in 11 March 1991 as BBC World Service Television outside Europe (the name was changed to BBC World in 1994 and to BBC World News in 2008), it broadcasts for 24 hours with programming including BBC News bulletins, documentaries, lifestyle programmes and interviews. Its main global competitor is CNN International, though it also competes with other major news broadcasting companies. It employs more correspondents and reporters than any other news channel and has more international bureaus. It is the world's most watched news channel, ahead of CNN, and also one of the most watched channels in the world.

BBC World Service

The BBC World Service is arguably the most widely recognised international broadcaster, currently broadcasting in 32 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays. It is politically independent (by mandate of the Agreement providing details of the topics outlined in the BBC Charter) ^[1] non-profit and commercial-free.

BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2009 it made a profit of £86m on a turnover of £1.04bn, mainly affected by the administration of Woolworths Group with which BBC Worldwide has joint ownership of 2 Entertain.^[1] The company had made a profit of £118m on a turnover of £916m in the previous financial year.^[2]

BFI Top 100 British films

In 1999 the British Film Institute surveyed 1000 people from the world of British film and television to produce the BFI 100 list of the greatest British films of the 20th century.^[1] Voters were asked to choose up to 100 films that were 'culturally British'.^[1] Some of the selected films were wholly or partly produced by non-UK companies, or made with input from film makers born overseas, but were perceived by voters as having significant British involvement.^{[citation needed]}

BMI (airline)

British Midland Airways Limited (styled as bmi, and formerly operating as British Midland), is a scheduled airline based in Donington Hall in Castle Donington, England, United Kingdom,^[1]^[2] close to East Midlands Airport. The airline flies to destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia from its operational base at London Heathrow Airport, where it holds 11% of all take off and landing slots and operates over 2,000 flights a week. In January 2007, BMI bought British Mediterranean Airways which has enabled it to serve a wider range of mid-haul destinations.

BMJ

BMJ is a partially open access medical journal. It is among the most influential and widely read peer-reviewed general academic journals in the field of medicine in the world.^[2]

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their opponents' half of the court. A rally ends once the shuttlecock has struck the ground, and each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net.

Bahrain

Bahrain, officially Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين‎, Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn, literally: "Kingdom of the Two Seas"), is a small island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway, which was officially opened on 25 November 1986. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain.

Bailiwick

A bailiwick is the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff. The term was also applied to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of authority, experience, activity, study, or interest.

Bank of England

The Bank of England (formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England) is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK Government. The Bank was privately owned and operated from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalized in 1946. In 1997 it became an independent public organisation, wholly-owned by Government, with independence in setting monetary policy.^[2]^[3]^[4] The Bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, although not in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee has devolved responsibility for managing the monetary policy of the country. The Treasury has reserve powers to give orders to the committee "if they are required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances" but such orders must be endorsed by parliament within 28 days.^[5]

Barbados

Barbados (pronounced /bɑrˈbeɪdoʊz, bɑrˈbeɪdɒs/), situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent West Indian continental island-nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. For over three centuries Barbados was a colony and protectorate of the United Kingdom, and still currently maintains Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Located at roughly 13° North of the equator and 59° West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles. Its closest island neighbours are Martinique, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines to the west. To the south lies Trinidad and Tobago—with which Barbados now shares a fixed official maritime boundary—and also the South American mainland. Barbados's total land area is about 430 square kilometres (166 square miles), and is primarily low-lying, with some higher in the country's interior. The highest point in Barbados is Mount Hillaby in the parish of Saint Andrew.

Barclays

Barclays plc is a global British financial services firm operating in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It is a holding company that is listed on the London and New York stock exchanges, and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange until 2008. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Barotseland

Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi. Its heartland is the Barotse Floodplain on the upper Zambezi River, also known as Bulozi or Lyondo, but it includes the surrounding higher ground of the plateau comprising all of what is now the Western Province of Zambia. In pre-colonial times, Barotseland included some neighbouring parts of what are now the Northwestern, Central and Southern Province as well as Caprivi in northeastern Namibia and parts of southeastern Angola beyond the Cuando or Mashi River.

Basque people

1^st row: Arista - Sancho III - Elcano - Loyola - Urdaneta - Oñate - Francis Xavier
2^nd row:Bolívar - Zumalakarregi - Gardoqui- Garat - Iraola - Arana - Errázuriz
3^rd row:Garrastazu - Ravel - Evita - Atano VII - Basterretxea - Guevara -Mariano
4^th row:Etxenike - Garamendi - Ibarretxe - Eyharts - Chao - Fernandez - Arteta

Battle of Britain

Europe
Poland – Phoney War – Denmark & Norway
France & Benelux – Britain – Balkans – Yugoslav Front – Eastern Front – Western Front (1944–45) – Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa
Asia & The Pacific
China – Pacific Ocean – South-East Asia
South West Pacific – Japan – Manchuria (1945)

Battle of the Somme

Main battles in small caps and other engagements below:
Albert – Bazentin Ridge – Delville Wood – Pozières Ridge – Guillemont – Ginchy – Flers-Courcelette – Morval – Thiepval Ridge – Transloy Ridges – Ancre Heights – Ancre

Bee Gees

The Bee Gees were originally a singing trio of brothers — Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their forty years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a harmonic "soft rock" act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as the foremost stars of the disco music era in the late 1970s. The group sang three-part tight harmonies that were instantly recognisable; brother Robin's clear vibrato lead was a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became a signature sound during the disco years. The three brothers co-wrote most of their own hits, as well as writing and producing several major hits for other artists.

Beeching Axe

The Beeching Axe is an informal name for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost^[1] of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard Beeching. Although this report also proposed new modes of freight service and the modernisation of trunk passenger routes, it is remembered for recommending wholesale closure of what it considered little-used and unprofitable railway lines, the removal of stopping passenger trains and closure of local stations on other lines which remained open.

Belarus

Belarus

/ˈbɛləruːs/ (help·info) (Belarusian: Беларусь or Biełaruś, Russian: Беларусь) is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe,^[3] bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno (Hrodna), Gomel (Homiel), Mahilyow (Mahiloŭ) and Vitebsk (Viciebsk). Forty percent of the country is forested,^[4] and its strongest economic sectors are agriculture and manufacturing.

Belgium

The Kingdom of Belgium

/ˈbɛldʒəm/ (help·info) is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO.^[5] Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of about 10.7 million.

Belize

Belize (formerly British Honduras), is a country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, composed of many cultures and speaking many languages. Although Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official language. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, Guatemala to the south and west, and the Caribbean sea to the east. With 8,867 square miles (22,960 km²) of territory and 320,000 people (2008 est.),^[4] the population density is the lowest in the Central American region and one of the lowest in the world. However, the country's population growth rate, 2.21% (2008 est.),^[4] is the highest in the region and one of the highest in the western hemisphere. Belize's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.

Ben Jonson

Benjamin Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems. A man of vast reading and a seemingly insatiable appetite for controversy, Jonson had an unparalleled breadth of influence on Jacobean and Caroline playwrights and poets.

Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Nibheis, pronounced [peˈɲivəʃ]) is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William.

Bermuda

Bermuda (pronounced /bɜrˈmjuːdə/; officially, the Bermuda Islands or the Somers Isles) is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, it is situated around 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi) northeast of Miami, Florida, and 1,350 kilometres (840 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 kilometres (640 mi) west-northwest. Its capital city is Hamilton.

Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British^[1] philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, socialist, pacifist and social critic.^[2] Although he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.^[3]