Facebook’s location feature, dubbed Facebook Places, has launched in the UK today, one month after it went live in the U.S.

Facebook is rolling out the feature for UK users gradually, meaning it may not be available for everyone immediately. To check it out, try tapping on the Facebook Places option on your Facebook for iPhone app, or on Facebook’s mobile site touch.facebook.com.

If you haven’t used Places yet, it’s a simple feature that lets you check into real-world locations through your Facebook profile, similar to the functionality offered by services such as Foursquare or Gowalla. For a detailed explanation on how to use Places, go here.

Facebook again points out that the users have full privacy control, and that checkins are defaulted to friends only (unless, of course, your master privacy setting is “everyone”). Also, minors will not appear in posts or check-ins to anyone except their friends, and users can remove any checkin from their phone or the web.

We’ve seen reports that Places has launched in other European countries, too, but have not been able to confirm it.

Update: Facebook has confirmed that today’s launch of Places was UK-only. Places will be coming to the rest of Europe “soon.”

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