Quick note: Simon who wrote this article also runs a very interesting little blog called Transition Consciousness. Please feel free to drop by and take a look : )
If you are not from the UK, then understanding the many ways in which we British describe ourselves can be a little confusing.
Here is a map of the UK:
What does my passport say?
“United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island”
Nationality: British Citizen
I was born in Scotland, I am a British Citizen, and I tend to describe myself more as British rather than Scottish, since my parents are English, but I grew up in Scotland before moving to England when I was 8.
So the United Kingdom is made up of four countries – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These are not countries in the same way that say France or Germany are countries, because these four countries have just one Parliament and government, based in London.
Therefore the United Kingdom is a political union of four countries. It gets a little bit complicated since Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have their own local parliaments for local laws and things, and this annoys English people who do not have their own parliament for English stuff, but let’s not worry about that.
Great Britain refers to the geographical land mass which includes England, Scotland and Wales. The British Isles refers to both Great Britain and also the 9000 little islands which are also part of the UK. However, “the British Isles” also includes the country of the Republic of Ireland, which is not part of the UK, and which is a sovereign European state. Confused?
The money in the UK is called Sterling, and we do not use Euros, unlike the rest of Europe. In daily life though, we use the word “pounds” to refer to our cash, i.e. “How much is that CD?” “Ten pounds”.
When you watch the football World Cup, you will see England play. (We use the word football whereas in the US they call the game soccer). Obviously in theory Scotland, Wales and Northern Island could qualify for the world cup, but they rarely do, having such smaller populations than England. Not that England are that good, they always cause fans much grief!
In the Olympic Games, you will see “Team GB” rather than teams from the four countries, and are officially known as the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team. So you will see the athletes with our “Union Jack” flag, and not the individual country flags.
Just one other thing. The United Kingdom is part of Europe and the European Union. However, if you listen to British people, they will sometimes say things such as
“I went to Europe on holiday last year”
What this means is that they travelled to continental Europe, i.e. the rest of Europe, but this phrase often annoys other Europeans who will reply that
“But you are already in Europe!”
Us Brits do know that, but maybe it is because we are an island people that we do not really see ourselves as fully European, and of course many Brits can not stand the European Parliament, due to waste and incompetence and other such nonsense. But that again is another story, and I am just trying to explain the basics.
So there you go. There is much more information on Wikipedia, but this article will hopefully help you begin to understand the UK!
Thanks… It is really helpfull..
You’re welcome. Out of all my posts on my three blogs, this article gets by far the most number of hits. I am glad it is useful.
Thank you for this. I’ve recently become obsessed with Hilary Mantel’s historical novels and your blog is helping it all coalesce with present day for me.
No problem. Us Brits sometimes have problems when we live abroad. For example I am in Brazil, and I had to fill in an official form. I had to explain that my country of birth was Scotland, but that my nationality is British. if the officials do not know that then it can cause a lot of confusion!
It was of a great help for me since I have to explain my students the difference between The UK and Great Britain next class!!! Thanks a lot!!!
I am glad I could help – it is complicated for us Brits too!
Thank you, now I know where to play golf.
Hi, a couple of slightly complicating factors to your review! First, apparently (according to Wkipedia at least) The British Isles, although thought of as a geographical description in the UK is not accepted by many (southern) Irish in that it has political overtones – something to do with its first use as a term in the 17th/18th centuries.
Second – Team GB also includes the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. These three are not part of the UK but are separate Crown Dependencies (.e. separate nation states e.g. like Girbraltar). They are not even part of the EU! Each are tiny compared to the UK (about 80k population each). They have their own Parliaments (e.g. Tynwald in the IOM), tax systems etc although in many areas the rely on the UK Government (e.g. defence etc). For those not familiar the IOM is in the middle of the Irish Sea and Guernsey and Jersey are in the English Channel but closer to France than England. In terms of Team GB they have made important (disproportionately so) contributons e.g. IOM are key members of the cycling squad (Mark Cavendish etc) and one of the winning equestrian team is from Sark (I believe – an Island included within the “Bailiwick of Guernsey”). Therefore though the BBC used Team GB & NI this is actually still wrong – it would need to include GB, NI, IOM, Guernsey and Jersey – bit of a mouthful hence Team GB is a useful simplification.
Hope this helps!
Hi Keith
Thanks for adding this information. My own article was never meant to be fully exhaustive and you have made some excellent additions. I had to research this article myself even though I am British and yes, I did live in Gibraltar for 2 years so have a little idea about the complexities of these places.
Cheers again
Simon