We’re at that time of year when much of what you read has a retrospective air to it.

Just a few days ago, we reported on Twitter’s 2011 year in review, and now Facebook has revealed what the most popular UK news stories have been across the social network in 2011.

Did X-Factor dominate the news headlines across Facebook? Hell no. What about the weather? Nope. It seems that Brits have been sharing a plethora of stories ranging from major news events to celebrity meltdowns, with a few bizarre tales thrown in for good measure.

So which stories resonated with UK Facebook users?

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Back in October we noted that the Earth was soon to be home to 7bn people, and we highlighted the BBC’s wonderful online tool which helped you see where you fit in. And, well, it seems that the BBC’s The world at seven billion was the number one most shared story on Facebook by UK users in 2011.

Facebook looked at select top media outlets in the UK and found the articles that received the most clicks from Facebook after being posted, liked or shared by friends. This follows the top status update trends from 2011 Facebook recently released.

Any news site can now integrate with Facebook, meaning that stories are consumed on the platform itself rather than linking to content held on a publisher’s own website. Last month, we reported that the Guardian had received 4m downloads since it launched its Facebook app in September, but the BBC came up trumps with 11 of the 20 most shared stories, whilst the Guardian managed 4.

The top 20 most shared UK news stories

1. BBC: The World at Seven Billion
2. The Sun: Tatt-poo for cheating
3. The Guardian: The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy
4. BBC: Amy Winehouse: Tributes paid to dead singer
5. BBC: Austrian driver allowed ‘pastafarian’ headgear photo
6. The Guardian: Charlie Sheen v Muammar Gaddafi: whose line is it anyway?
7. The Guardian: The meaning of 9/11’s most controversial photo
8. Daily Mail: Amy Winehouse, 27, found dead at her London flat
9. BBC: Drunk Swedish elk found in apple tree near Gothenburg
10. BBC: ‘Brinicle’ ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic
11. Daily Mail: Robber who broke into hair salon is beaten by its black-belt owner and kept as a sex slave for three days…fed only Viagra
12. The Sun: Frankie Cocozza kicked off X Factor
13. BBC: Japan earthquake: Footage of moment tsunami hit
14. BBC: Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda leader, dead – Barack Obama
15. The Guardian: Osama bin Laden corpse photo is fake
16. BBC: Japan earthquake: Tsunami hits north-east
17. BBC: Speed-of-light results under scrutiny at Cern
18. BBC: Arrest over video of ‘racist rant’ on Croydon to Wimbledon tram
19. Daily Mail: Heart-breaking photo shows Navy SEAL’s dog guarding his coffin
20. BBC: LIVE: Osama Bin Laden dead