Is the UK a country?

[aceyoung1]

A friend of mine reckons that the UK is not a country, I think it is. What is the exact definition of UK? any one got anything clever I can shut him up with?

[caledonian]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country. Its the proper name given to the countries of England Wales Scotland and N Ireland combined.  Its Head of State is HM Queen Elizabeth II. You could always show him your passport ???   When did you last see a passport for the Principality of Wales ?  

[drbsparks]

Sorry, but thats wrong. You cant be more than one country at a time. England is a country as is Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The UK is a conglomerate if thats the right word for the countries together. The passport issue is rubbish as that is merely the case because of the government which rules all these states. Remember the EU is now trying to bring in a Euro passport would that then mean that France, Belgium and Germany would become one country I think not.

[Hgrove]

Sorry, but the EU is NOT trying to bring in a Euro passport.  EU citizenship runs alongside nationality of a EU member state. That's all.

[drbsparks]

You obviously don't listen to the news. It might not be about to happen within the next 12 months but they are already looking into the idea. That aside the UK is still not  a country

[SteveD]

I was under the impression that we already have "Euro Passports".  If you look at your passport, at the top of the cover and on the page with the passport number on, it says "European Union". Underneath it says "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".  That does not stop the UK being a sovereign state.

 

What news item are you referring to?

[Gef]

Perhaps drbsparks would like to define what is meant by a country.

[greenday]

drbsparks , your first posting is inaccurate. Scotland and England are countries, but Wales is a principality, and Northern Ireland is a province. The UK is a nation state, just like any other you care to mention. Scotland and England originally were separate kingdoms who united, hence United Kingdom. England ruled Wales and Ireland at the time and so they were part of the union by default.

[Octavius]

From the CIA website:

England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927

[bernardo]

Of course the UK is a country.  What else does your friend think it is?  A species of hippopotamus?

[Octavius]

From Ordnance Survey:

The term United Kingdom (UK) refers to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It is a political union rather than a geographical term.

In international law and international relations, a state is a geographic political entity possessing politicial sovereignty, i.e. not being subject to any higher political authority. (see Montevideo Convention 1933)

In casual language, the idea of a "state" and a "country" are usually regarded as synonymous.  The United States are not made up of several 'countries' and the United Arab Emirates are made up of seven 'emirates'.  They are both countries too.

[bad11thebone]

 

I thought UK was a large Island but as History has it we are known as a Country.

[bernardo]

The UK is one large island, about a quarter of another large island, and about 1000 small islands.

[Octavius]

You are referring to the British Isles, which is also a name without official status and is geographical rather than political.

It comprises all the main and offshore islands of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

The UK is not an island, it is a united kingdom.

[boggyface]

so .... is it a country? Whats the diference between a country and a nation? does Ireland really exist?.. ive never seen it.

[soozie1970]

Thanks for the laugh all, my daughter came home from school in New Zealand (which is a large island and a country...no questions about that!) asking the very same question and I said to her that it was a tough question for me to answer...so like a good 21st century mom who needs to know the answer I googled it and found aceyoung1's question and all of your answers! And now I am still confused....so to keep the peace and not confuse her too much I just said "yes, it is a country, and a whole heap of other things...like lots of islands all joined together in one big union....but I was not entirely sure if that included Ireland!" Thanks for getting me even more confused, but providing me with some comfort that I am not the only one who is confused here ;)

[soozie1970]

Thanks for the laugh all, my daughter came home from school in New Zealand (which is a large island and a country...no questions about that!) asking the very same question and I said to her that it was a tough question for me to answer...so like a good 21st Century mom who needs to know the answers I googled it and found aceyoung1's question and all of your answers! And now I am still confused....so to keep the peace and not confuse her too much I just said "yes, it is a country, and a whole heap of other things...like lots of islands all joined together in one big happy union....but I was not entirely sure if that included Ireland!" Thanks for getting me even more confused, but providing me with some comfort that I am not the only one who is confused here ;)

[markus_the_meerkat]

To add further fuel to the fire of confusion, here's my views from some years doing politics at University:
England = Country
Scotland = Country
Wales = Principality
Northern Ireland = Province

England & Wales has a common Legal system, Scotland has it's own (and not sure about NI on that one). Who has ever heard of a "country" having different legal systems.

The United Kingdom is a nation state, but NOT a country.

To complicate things even more. Your nationality on a passport issued in the UK is British (not UKish).
Indicating you are a resident of the British Isles.

However the British Isles, consists of 2 main Islands: Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales), and Ireland (Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic). So you can actually call the Southern Irish British as they live in the British Isles.

Confusing eh?

[markus_the_meerkat]

A further Google search gives this excellent site. Hope it helps.

http://en.wikipedia.o..._of_the_British_Isles

[kinkycooral]

The UK is the unification of the countries England, Wales and Scotland and the province of Northern Ireland. Just because they are countries, does not mean they need to be independent ones.
The Republic of Ireland (the southern part) is an independent country. All of Ireland used to be together, but they fought for their independence against Great Britain and ended up compromising, and settling for leaving what is now Northern Ireland with the British. This is why it is more of a province than a country.
Wales was ruled over by the Kingdom of England when it unified with the Kingdom of Scotland to form Great Britain, but it is considered a country on it's own, and was not always under British Rule, it just happened to be during this time. They similarly fought for independence earlier on, but did not achieve similar results; however it is definitely not a principality.
I find that people in the UK tend to consider themselves as 'Scottish', 'English', 'Welsh' and 'Irish' (not usually specifying which part of Ireland). However, while in England they tend to use British and English as the same thing, people from elsewhere do not take kindly to being identified as such, and are much more patriotic. This is probably because they don't like the English very much.
Those who identified the UK as a country; try telling that to a Scottish, Irish or Welsh person. I dare you.

[jabuchanjx]

I maybe wrong, however I view the UK as a country. It’s kind of like the United States of America; the USA is a country with 50 states (little countries) under it. See each state has its own laws and constitutions with the main Federal Constitution blanketing over them.
From what I have read, sounds like there are several smaller countries with their own laws and by laws, governed or blanketed by the laws and by laws that form the United Kingdom. So yes the UK is a country, which governs over smaller countries that have their own laws.