England, UK, Britain??
 

This is generally a message going out to those of you lucky to be in a sunny, warm country rather than Britain. Or is it England, or the UK?

From reading a lot of the posts on this message board, l have noticed that a lot of tourists call the UK England. England is actually only one quarter of Britain. There are four home nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These are collectivly known as the UK or Britain.

It is easy for most people to say England when talking about the UK since it is so poorly advertised in the media. Many shows such as 'Friends' recall Britain as England, along with many news reports.

The Queen and Prime Minister are of Britain, not of England like some media organisations make out.

It's just like calling America Washington or calling Australia New South Wales.

Make sense??

Hope it does!

Glynn

If you're going to correct these nice people, you really have to get it right yourself.

The UK includes Northern Ireland, Britain doesn't. Both our Head of State and our Head of Government have Northern Ireland within their areas of responsibilty.

And you might think people who live in the skin-cancer belt lucky. Many of us much prefer not to spend our lives outdoors slathering ourselves in oil, wearing a hat and faffing with insect repellent.

Well l do apologise if l have hit a nerve there flanneruk. I'm sure there are many British folk who would love to exchange their lives with those who live in the sun.

You are correct though, l did make a mistake. But who doesn't?

The UK (United Kingdom) consists of Great Britain (ie England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland/Southern Ireland is nothing to do with the UK.

My experience has been that many people on this forum do not know much about the countries or cities they are going to, especially how to spell them.

Yes, but people should know the correct name for their country!!

Actually the Queen is "Queen of the British Commonweath" i.e. not just the island of Britain.

Might it be easier to note that England, Scotland and Wales comprise Great Britain (the big island) and if you add Northern Ireland, it is the UK?

Yes, the Queen is the 'Queen of the British Commonwealth', but there have been so many American films that l have seen where they have referred to her as the Queen of England.

As for Britain being 'the big island', that is a way of remembering it, but the fact is that some people believe England is the only thing in the UK!

Yep, some people believe England is the only thing in the UK.

I'd be willing to wager that everyone, everywhere, has at least one belief that is factually incorrect. We cannot possibly all know everything.

Still, apparently this one issue really gets your goat, so hopefully posting this has helped get the feelings off your chest.

But keep in mind that of all the people in the world who believe that England is the only thing in the UK, it's unlikely that anywhere near even half of them will read this post. ;)

Also, consider asking yourself what harm there really is in most people having this false belief?

And you would be, Glyn....Irish?:)

After the way your lot played on Sunday I imagine you're thinking of becoming Irish anyway:)

Sorry, I am English, not a Scot, Irishman, or Welshman and I don't like being lumped together (no offence, Sheila). There are many, many others in the UK who feel the same. We all have our distinct cultures.

Okay, I'm not saying this makes any particular sense, but here's what I do. I was born in England, and live in the US. When someone asks where I'm from, I refer to myself as English -- but in an expat kind of conversation, I call myself a Brit. And when I enter place of birth on an official form, I put UK for country. No logic here, it's just how I've evolved as a mid-Atlantic kind of person (more of my life now lived in the US than in the UK: I'm very confused about where exactly "home" is!)

No offense taken. We feel the same way.

I was trying to lighten it up a bit. Nothing so boring as the private grief of others.

If Prince Charles is the Prince of Wales, does that make him only the Prince of Wales or is he the Prince of the British Commonwealth?

Another question what are the British Isles? Do the two large islands have their own names? The one island containing England, Wales, Scotland and the other island N.Ireland and Ireland.

It's Unst's oil.

>>>>>>Another question what are the British Isles? Do the two large islands have their own names? The one island containing England, Wales, Scotland and the other island N.Ireland and Ireland.<<<<<<

The British Isles is a geographical and not a political designation. From a geographical point of view, the island containing England, Scotland and Wales is called Great Britain. Also from a geographical point of view, the island containing the country known as Ireland and the British home state known as Northern Ireland is called Ireland.

Here's a website that gives a really clear explanation of the British Isles, both from the political and geographical points of view:

http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/british_isles/

Interestingly enough, I sometimes have seen the Faroe Islands included in the geographical definition of the British Isles (but that is not so in the case of the above mentioned website). From a political point of view, the Faroe Islands are a dependency of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Good to see that l have brought this important fact to those who are unaware of it.

I was fed up of going to countries and being asked 'Where in England are you from then?'

It's okay for those who are from England, but for those from the home nations, it can get a tad annoying.

Hope you all understand and realise that this is quite a big mistake!

If I may add to the nit-picking, the Queen is styled Head, rather than Queen, of the Commonwealth, as many members of the Commonwealth are republics, and at least one other would like to be. For Canada and New Zealand, she is styled "Queen of Canada" and "Queen of New Zealand"

Charles is not only the Prince of Wales, but also Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, and holds a number of titles in the Scootish peerage which I couldn't even begin to relate. He has no commonwealth title, so far as I know.

Big Ears is Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick and Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

Correct, Prince Charles' main title is the Prince of Wales. However, he also has many titles around the country, but has no commonwealth title whatsoever.