What is the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain?
What are the British Isles?
These are common questions people have especially when they are not from that part of the world.
What does Great Britain mean?
Great Britain refers to the island that consists of
England, Scotland and Wales.
It is the largest island in Europe and the ninth largest in the world.
In general,
you can think of Great Britain as just the main island,
though politically, it includes nearby islands such as
the Isle of Wight in the southern part,
and the Orkney Islands and Shetland islands to the north.
Note: it does NOT include the Isle of Man here in the middle
What is the United Kingdom?
The United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the UK,
consists of England, Scotland, and Wales,
which is known as Great Britain
as well as Northern Ireland.
Officially, it is called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
What does Ireland refer to?
Ireland is an island to the west of Great Britain
that contains Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
commonly just called Ireland.
You will notice that Northern Ireland
is considered both a part of Ireland, the island, not the state,
as well as a part of the United Kingdom.
What are the Crown Dependencies?
Crown Dependencies are three self-governing islands that are possessions of the British Crown.
These three islands are
the Isle of Man,
which is an island between Great Britain and Ireland
and the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey.
These are near the coast of France.
Since these three are independently administered jurisdictions,
they are not considered a part of the United Kingdom.
What are the British Isles?
The British Isles refers to all the places we have already mentioned.
This is the group of islands north-west of continental Europe
and consists of Great Britain: England, Scotland, Wales
Ireland: the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
as well as the Crown Dependencies: Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey
So in summary,
Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales.
The United Kingdom is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Ireland is the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
The Channel Islands are Guernsey and Jersey.
The Crown Dependencies are the Isle of Man, Guernsey, and Jersey.
The British Isles are England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
Of course, this could change at some time in the future due to Brexit or some other reason,
though these are the current definitions of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
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