united kingdom, great britain, british isles

[bednobs]

can anyone tell me the main differences between the above please?

[MarkRae]

http://www.google.co....kingdom+great+britain

[Buenchico]

Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales.

The United Kingdom's full title is 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (which is self-explanatory).

The 'British Isles' is a looser term but it usually refers to the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland (although many Irish citizens, understandably, object to inclusion in anything described as 'British'!)

Chris

[Jonathan-Joe]

http://www.neatorama....british-venn-diagram/

[New Judge]

Great Britain = England, Scotland and Wales.

United Kingdom = above plus Northern Ireland

British Isles = The island of England, Scotland and Wales, plus the entire island of Ireland, plus many hundreds of smaller islands around the two large ones.

[factor-fiction]

I think we get confused ourselves though sometimes- for example, in the Olympics doesn't team GB represent the UK?

[ChuckFickens]

If you understand venn diagrams it's not a bad way to show it.

this is a better one though.

http://upload.wikimed...nn_Diagram_en.svg.png

[Buenchico]

Yes, Factor30:
http://www.olympics.org.uk/teamgb/about/
Many people from Northern Ireland (especially republicans) aren't too happy about that!

[jno]

on what basis is Scotland not in the same circle as England and Wales, Chuck?

[bednobs]

thanks everyone. I am reading a book called something like what makes great britain great, which is basically about all the things britons have done for the world (basically stuff i would have learnt in school had i been paying attention. Where do britons come from? Great britain?

[Buenchico]

Another confusion relating to Northern Ireland is in relation to the nationality of its inhabitants. NI is outside Britain but, confusingly, 'officialdom' defines the the nationality of its citizens as 'British'.

[supapapa]

Wales is not part of the United Kingdom, it is a principality in its own right.

[jno]

I think the Northern Irish can be Britons, as the adjective British seems to mean "of the UK" as well as "of GB".

For what it's worth, Little Britain (as opposed to Great) is Brittany

[factor-fiction]

Great Britain is also called Britain for short (or is Britain not quite the same?)

[Buenchico]

The 'Great', in 'Great Britain', has nothing to do with declaring how wonderful the country is. It means 'greater' and comes about through the union of England and Scotland in 1707, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain.

[MarkRae]

Correct. England and Scotland are countries, Wales is a principality and Northern Ireland is a province.

[Buenchico]

Supapapa:
Wales is part of Great Britain.
Great Britain is part of the UK
Ergo, Wales is part of the UK.

[bednobs]

crumbs, no wonder i'm confused

[ChuckFickens]

"The 'Great', in 'Great Britain', has nothing to do with declaring how wonderful the country is."

You'll have AOG on your case with such Hearsay!

[jno]

Wales isn't part of the UK? When did that happen? And has anyone told the, er, British government?

http://www.direct.gov...ngintheUK/DG_10012517

[MarkRae]

^^ Not to mention heresy!