Medieval[edit]

Rabban Bar Sauma from China visited France and met with King Edward I of England in Gascony.

Between England and the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)[edit]

See also: Levant Company, Kingdom of Tungning, and Zheng Jing

• English ships sailed to Macau in the 1620s, which was leased by China to Portugal. The Unicorn, an English merchant ship, sank near Macau and the Portuguese dredged up sakers (cannon) from the ships and sold those to China around 1620, where they were reproduced as Hongyipao.
• 27 June 1637: Four heavily armed ships under Captain John Weddell, arrived at Macao in an attempt to open trade between England and China. They were not backed by the East India Company, but rather by a private group led by Sir William Courteen, including King Charles I's personal interest of £10,000. They were opposed by the Portuguese authorities in Macao (as their agreements with China required) and quickly infuriated the Ming authorities. Later, in the summer, they easily captured one of the Bogue forts, and spend several weeks engaged in low-level fighting and smuggling. After being forced to seek Portuguese help in the release of three hostages, they left the Pearl River on 27 December. It is unclear whether they returned home.^[1][2][3]

Great Britain and the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)[edit]

See also: Canton System, Maritime fur trade, and Old China Trade

Skilled diplomat, Li Hongzhang acted as a negotiator between the West and the late Qing Dynasty. Queen Victoria made him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

• 1685 Michael Shen Fu-Tsung visits Britain and meets James II.^[4]
• 1793 George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney led the Macartney Embassy to Beijing
• 1816 William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst led the Amherst Embassy to China.
• ca. 1820-1830 - British merchants turn Lintin Island in the Pearl River estuary into a centre of opium trade.^[5][6]
• 1839-42 First Opium War
  • 1841 - Convention of Chuenpi, intended to end the war and to cede Hong Kong Island to the British, signed, but never ratified
  • 29 August 1842 - Treaty of Nanking ends the war. It includes the cession of Hong Kong Island to the British, and opening of five treaty ports to international trade^[7]
  • October 1843 - Treaty of the Bogue supplements Treaty of Nanking by granting extraterritoriality to British subjects in China and most favored nation status to Britain
• 1856-60 Second Opium War
  • June 1858 - The Treaty of Tientsin is signed by Lord Elgin
  • October 1860 - the sack and destruction of the Old Summer Palace by the victorious British and French troops
  • October 1860 - Convention of Peking ends the war. Kowloon Peninsula is ceded to Britain
• 26 March 1861 - In accordance with the treaties, a British Legation opens in Beijing (Peking). In the following few years consulates open throughout the Empire, including Hankou (Wuhan), Takao (Kaohsiung), Tamsui (near Taipei), Shanghai and Xiamen.
• 1868 - The Yangzhou riot.
• 1875 - The Margary Affair.
• 1877 - A Chinese Legation opens in London under Guo Songtao (Kuo Sung-t'ao)
• 1877-1881 - Britain advises on the Ili Crisis.
• 1886 - After Britain took over Burma, they maintained the sending of tribute to China, putting themselves in a lower status than in their previous relations.^[8] It was agreed in the Burmah convention in 1886, that China would recognise Britain's occupation of Upper Burmah while Britain continued the Burmese payment of tribute every ten years to Beijing.^[9]
• 1888 - War in Sikkim between the British and Tibetans. By the Treaty of Calcutta (1890), China recognises British suzerainty over northern Sikkim.
• 17 March 1890 Convention Between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim & Tibet, fixes the border between Sikkim and Tibet.^[10]
• 1896 - Sun Yat-sen is detained in the Chinese Legation in London. Under pressure from the British public, the Foreign Office secures his release.
• 9 June 1898 - Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory (Second Convention of Peking): New Territories are leased to Britain for 99 years, and are incorporated in Hong Kong
• 1898 - The British obtain a lease on Weihai Harbour, Shandong, to run for as long as the Russians lease Port Arthur. (The reference to the Russians was replaced with one to the Japanese after 1905). An incident occurred where Mail-steamers arrived in Shanghai and dropped off "four young English girls" in December 1898.^{[11][12][13][14]}
• 1900-1901 - The Boxer Rebellion
• 1901 - The Boxer Protocol
• 1906 - Anglo-Chinese Treaty on Tibet, which London interprets as limiting China to suzerainty over the region
• 1909 - The Japanese Government claims foreign consulates in Taiwan; the British consulates at Tamsui and Takoa close the following year.

Britain and the Republic of China (1912–present)[edit]

See also: Taiwan–United Kingdom relations

British diplomats rescued Sun Yat-sen from their Qing counterparts in 1896. Sun later founded the Republic of China.

Chiang-Kai-Shek and Winston Churchill heads, with Nationalist China flag and Union Jack.

• 1916 - The Chinese Labour Corps recruits Chinese labourers to aid the British during World War I.
• 14 August 1917 - China joins Britain as part of the Allies of World War I.
• 4 May 1919 - The anti-imperialist May Fourth Movement begins in response to the Beiyang government's failure to secure a share of the victory spoils from the leading Allied Powers, after Britain sides with its treaty ally Japan on the Shandong Problem. From this point the ROC leadership moves away from Western models and towards the Soviet Union.
• November 1921-February 1922. At the Washington naval disarmament conference rivalries persisted over China. The United States, Japan and Britain supported different warlords. The US and Britain were hostile to the nationalists revolutionary government in Guangzhou (Canton) and supported Chen Jiongming's rebellion. Chinese reactions led to the Northern Expedition (1926-27).^[15]
• 30 May 1925 - Shanghai Municipal Police officers under British leadership kill nine people while trying to defend a police station from Chinese protesters, provoking the anti-British campaign known as the May 30 Movement.
• 19 February 1927 - Following riots on the streets of Hankow (Wuhan) the Chen-O'Malley Agreement is entered into providing for the hand over of the British Concession area to the Chinese authorities.
• 1930 - Weihai Harbour returned to China.
• 17 May 1935 - Following decades of Chinese complaints about the low rank of Western diplomats, the British Legation in Beijing is upgraded to an Embassy.^[16]
• 1936-37 - British Embassy moves to Nanjing (Nanking), following the earlier transfer there of the Chinese capital.

A sign displayed in Japanese-occupied Beijing in May 1940

• 1937-41 - British public and official opinion favours China in its war against Japan, but Britain focuses on defending Singapore and the Empire and can give little help. It does provide training in India for Chinese infantry divisions, and air bases in India used by the Americans to fly supplies and warplanes to China.^[17]
• 1941-45 - Chinese and British fight side by side against Japan in World War II. The British train Chinese troops in India and use them in the Burma campaign.
• 6 January 1950 - His Majesty's Government (HMG) removes recognition from the Republic of China. The Nanjing Embassy is then wound down. The Tamsui Consulate is kept open under the guise of liaison with the Taiwan Provincial Government.
• 13 March 1972 - The Tamsui Consulate is closed.^[18]
• February 1976 - The Anglo Taiwan Trade Committee is formed to promote trade between Britain and Taiwan.^[19]
• 30 June 1980 - Fort San Domingo is seized by the Republic of China authorities in lieu of unpaid rent.^[18]
• 1989 - The Anglo Taiwan Trade Committee begins issuing British visas in Taipei.
• 1993 - British Trade and Cultural Office opened in Taipei.^[20]

Between the UK and the People's Republic of China (1949–present)[edit]

The British Embassy in Beijing

Chinese Embassy in London

British and Chinese Flags together.

Union Flag flies from the PLAN ship Changbai Shan during a visit to Portsmouth in 2015

The United Kingdom and the anti-Communist Nationalist Chinese government were allies during World War II. Britain sought stability in China after the war to protect its more than £300 million in investments, much more than from the United States. It agreed in the Moscow Agreement of 1945 to not interfere in Chinese affairs but sympathised with the Nationalists, who until 1947 were winning the Chinese Civil War against the Communist Party of China.^[21]
By August 1948, however, the Communists' victories caused the British government to begin preparing for a Communist takeover of the country. It kept open consulates in Communist-controlled areas and rejected the Nationalists' requests that British citizens assist in the defence of Shanghai. By December, the government concluded that although British property in China would likely be nationalised, British traders would benefit in the long run from a stable, industrialising Communist China. Retaining Hong Kong was especially important; although the Communists promised to not interfere with its rule, Britain reinforced the Hong Kong Garrison during 1949. When the victorious Communist government declared on 1 October 1949 that it would exchange diplomats with any country that ended relations with the Nationalists, Britain—after discussions with other Commonwealth members and European countries—formally recognised the People's Republic of China in January 1950.^[21]

This article is about the island. For the state of which it is a part, see United Kingdom. For the historical state, see Kingdom of Great Britain. For other uses, see Great Britain (disambiguation) and Britain (disambiguation).

Great Britain

Native names[show] Great Breetain  (Scots) Prydain Fawr  (Welsh) Breten Veur  (Cornish) Breatainn Mhòr  (Scottish Gaelic)
Satellite image, 2002
Geography
Location	Northwestern Europe
Coordinates	53°50′N 2°25′W / 53.833°N 2.417°W / 53.833; -2.417
Archipelago	British Isles
Adjacent bodies of water	Atlantic Ocean
Area	209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi)[1]
Area rank	9th
Highest elevation	1,345 m (4,413 ft)
Highest point	Ben Nevis[2]
Administration
United Kingdom
Countries	England, Scotland, and Wales
Largest city	London (pop. 8,878,892)
Demographics
Population	60,800,000 (2011 census)[5]
Population rank	3rd
Pop. density	302 /km2 (782 /sq mi)
Languages	English, Scots, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish
Ethnic groups	86.8% White 7.1% Asian 3.1% Black 2.0% Mixed 0.3% Arab 0.6% Other[3][4]
Additional information
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC)
• Summer (DST)	British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km² (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, and the ninth-largest island in the world.^{[6][note 1]} In 2011, Great Britain had a population of about 61 million people, making it the world's third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan.^[8][9] The island of Ireland is situated to the west of Great Britain, and together these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands, form the British Isles archipelago.^[10]
The island is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. Politically, Great Britain and Northern Ireland together, constitute the United Kingdom.^[11] Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island. The term "Great Britain" is often used to include the whole of England, Scotland and Wales including their component adjoining islands; and is also occasionally but contentiously applied to the UK as a whole in some contexts.^[12]
A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England (which had already comprised the present-day countries of England and Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland by the 1707 Acts of Union. In 1801, Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" after the Irish Free State seceded in 1922.

Contents

• 1 Terminology
  • 1.1 Toponymy
  • 1.2 Derivation of Great
  • 1.3 Modern use of the term Great Britain
  • 1.4 Political definition
• 2 History
  • 2.1 Prehistoric period
  • 2.2 Roman and medieval period
  • 2.3 Early modern period
• 3 Geography
  • 3.1 Geology
  • 3.2 Fauna
  • 3.3 Flora
  • 3.4 Fungi
• 4 Demographics
  • 4.1 Settlements
  • 4.2 Language
  • 4.3 Religion
• 5 See also
• 6 Notes
• 7 References
  • 7.1 Bibliography
• 8 External links
  • 8.1 Video links

Terminology[edit]

See also: Terminology of the British Isles

Toponymy[edit]

Main article: Britain (place name)

The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term 'British Isles' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a collective name for the British Isles.^[13] However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, and later Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia.^[14][15][16]
The earliest known name for Great Britain is Albion (Greek: Ἀλβιών) or insula Albionum, from either the Latin albus meaning "white" (possibly referring to the white cliffs of Dover, the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the Albiones".^[17] The oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by Aristotle (384–322 BC), or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle, in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne".^[18]

Greek geographer, Pytheas of Massalia

The first known written use of the word Britain was an ancient Greek transliteration of the original P-Celtic term in a work on the travels and discoveries of Pytheas that has not survived. The earliest existing records of the word are quotations of the periplus by later authors, such as those within Strabo's Geographica, Pliny's Natural History and Diodorus of Sicily's Bibliotheca historica.^[19] Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) in his Natural History records of Great Britain: "Its former name was Albion; but at a later period, all the islands, of which we shall just now briefly make mention, were included under the name of 'Britanniæ.'"^[20]
The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons. Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne) and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond). Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north

Cats

Cats, also called domestic cats (Felis catus), are small, carnivorous (meat-eating) mammals, of the family Felidae. Domestic cats are often called house cats when kept as indoor pets. Cats have been domesticated (tamed) for nearly 10,000 years. They are one of the most popular pets in the world.