by Rex Wockner
More than 16,100 same-sex couples registered under the United Kingdom's marriagelike civil-partnership law in 2006, its first full year of existence, the Office for National Statistics said Oct. 11.
About 4,000 of the ceremonies took place in London. Ninety percent of the unions were in England, 6 percent in Scotland, 3 percent in Wales and 1 percent in Northern Ireland.
The average age of men entering a partnership was 47; for women, it was 44. Sixty percent of the unions were between men.
A civil partnership carries the same rights and obligations as a marriage within the UK.
