Simple question for anyone living in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, or Northern Ireland.?

Question

This probably sounds really dumb, but I don't understand which countries apply to the terms "UK" and "the British" and "Great Britain". Please explain EXACTLY which countries are considered part of the UK because I used to think it meant England, Wales, Scotland, AND Ireland & Northern Ireland. But I've heard that Ireland & Northern Ireland aren't part of it? I thought the same countries applied as being "British" but I think I heard somewhere that British is simply the people born in England...IDK. I feel so dumb! So basically:

1) Which countries are part of the UK?
2) Which countries are considered British?
3) Which countries does Great Britain include?

Please only answer this question if you honestly know what you're talking about. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

"UK" is short for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. So,



UK = Great Britain + Northern Ireland

Great Britain = England + Scotland + Wales (it's the big island)



"British" is the nationality and citizenship of everyone in the UK (i.e., English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish people). "Britain" is used as an alternative short name for the whole UK, hence you hear about the British prime minister, British army etc when referring to the leader or army of the UK.



Ireland used to be part of the United Kingdom but it separated and became a republic in 1922. Now, only Northern Ireland remains part of the UK.

Answer 2

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all countries.



England + Scotland + Wales = Great Britain (the big island)



Great Britain + Northern Ireland = UK



Citizens of all four countries are considered British.



To add to the confusion, although the island containing Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland is called one of "The British Isles", the Republic of Ireland is not part of UK. Its citizens are not British!

Answer 3

the UK is: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland [the UK is also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]

Great Britain is the same thing as Britain - and it is made up of England, Wales and Scotland.

the countries are considered british if they are part of Great Britain



where did you hear that British is simply people born in England? - they have got their facts wrong

the difference is people who are born in England are more likely to call themselves British than English - where as Welsh and Scottish people are more likely to call themselves Welsh and Scottish as they generally have a stronger national identity - but this is a social factor and does not change the fact that they are British

Answer 4

Yes it IS a bit complicated! The UK and its constituent parts probably have the longest continuous history in the world without a revolution of some kind apart from maybe Japan - the English Civil War of 1642-48 is probably the nearest we ever came to it - so nothing about this part of the world is ever quite that simple.



Great Britain is the name of the island that includes England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom used to include the whole of Ireland as well, but it got independence in 1922 except for Northern Ireland. The reason for the split is that those six counties contain a majority that wants to stay part of the UK, while the rest didn't.



If I may digress a little, that is a long and bloody story too long to put here and has resulted in a lot of recent terrorism in the campaign by nationalists for Northern Ireland to join the rest of Ireland. When I was younger, going into central London always carried a slight risk of being blown up by Irishmen. In 1983, they almost did - I was shopping in Harrods when they exploded a car bomb outside. So I have a slightly different view on American fears of terrorism.



The full name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and that's what it says on the cover of my passport. So having defined Great Britain, there's your answer to question 1.



The problem with the name of the country is it doesn't lend itself easily to forming an adjective. The USA has the same problem - I mean, "United Statesian"? It doesn't work. We have the same problem. So people from the USA are American, and people from the UK are British. OK, that ignores the Northern Irish but it's the best we could do. Back to my passport again - my national status as printed in it is "British Citizen".



That answers the questions but here are some more random facts which will hopefully fill it out a bit.



Great Britain - isn't there a Little Britain? Yes there was - it is now the French province of Brittany. In French, Brittany is "Bretagne" and Great Britain is "Grande Bretagne". Brittany actually has a historic Celtic language all of its own - Breton - which has no relation to French whatsoever, but is very similar to Welsh (which in its turn has absolutely no resemblance to English, which is a branch of West Germanic and is most closely related to Dutch and German, according to linguistics experts - the main differences are because of the Norman Conquest of 1066, which caused English to absorb a lot of French words). A couple of examples - good morning in Welsh is "bore da", pronounced "borreh da". One that most British people know if only from having seen it on signs is "Welcome to Wales", which in Welsh is "Croeso i Gymru", pronounced "croy-so ee gum-ree". See what I mean?



Timeline:

About a thousand years ago - England finally became one country forged out of a lot of little kingdoms.

About 700 years ago - England took over Wales.

1603 - Queen Elizabeth I died and her nearest relative just happened to be the King of Scotland, so he became King of England as well. But England and Scotland remained independent: they just happened to have the same king.

1707 - Act of Union between England and Scotland, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

1800 - Act of Union between the UK and Ireland, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1920 - Act passed to make Ireland an independent republic except for Northern Ireland, to take effect in 1922, thus creating the UK as it is now.

Answer 5

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The Republic of Ireland was included once, but it got Independence around 1921 or something like that.



Great Britain is the name of the biggest (Greatest) island in the British isles, and includes the English, Scottish and Welsh mainland.

Answer 6

1) England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland

2) England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (although the Republican minority in Northern Ireland consider themselves to be Irish, not British)

3) England, Scotland, Wales



This video explains it on a map, which is often better than words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pwWPuZQ2_I

Answer 7

"Can someone tell me in simple terms the relationship" Very basically they are members of a "club". The south of Ireland however left the "club". The north wanted to stay, thus creating Northern Ireland in the process. -- - "Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are all parts of the country called the United Kingdom." The United Kingdom is NOT a country. It is a State made up of different "things".

Answer 8

This link should clarify it



http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/Roddysul/UKforidiots.jpg