Those whacky Brits

[JJR512]

I'm just a dumb, fat, ignorant, lazy American, so of course there are a few things about the rest of the world that I don't know or understand.

Which of the following is technically a country:

A. Great Britain
B. United Kingdom
C. England

What are the other two called?

Are A and B just different names for the same thing or is there a difference between A and B, and if so, what is that difference?

Other than England, Scotland, and Ireland (or is it Northern Ireland? I forget...Can't they all just get along?), what are the other parts that make up the UK and/or GB? I forget if Wales is as distinct as all those or not.

 

[Luis G]

I asked that a long time ago.

England is a country. As for the difference between GB and UK, I think the main island is what you would call GB and UK is the main island along with one of the two Irelands (can't remember which).

 

[paul_valaru]

UK is a Union of 4 countries

England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales

Great Britain is the name of an island, one of the 2 british Isles.

 

[JJR512]

OK, so the UK and Great Britain should never be referred to as "countries", correct?

And, obviously, the UK is the larger of the two entities, as it encompasses both isles, whereas Great Britain is just the name of one of them. Hmm... What is the actual name of the other one? Ireland? The Emerald Isle?

 

[Luis G]

I believe it is just Ireland.

 

[JJR512]

I believe it is just Ireland.

I decided to look it up, and you are indeed correct.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as United Kingdom, UK, or Britain) is the name of a country or union (my source referred to the UK alternately as both, with "country" being the most common term) that geographically includes all of the island called Great Britain and about 1/6th of the island called Ireland, and over a thousand smaller islands. Collectively the islands are known as the British Isles.

Politically, the UK is composed of the constituent countries of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These are also, apparently, countries. So what confuses me is the way that the UK is a country made up of other countries. In the United Nations, are England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland represented individually, or are they represented collectively as the UK? Does the USA have ambassadors to each constituent country (and each country to the USA), or to just the UK?

The rest of the island of Ireland belongs to an independent (not part of the UK union) country called Ireland (Republic of Ireland is its description, not it's name; it's name is just plain Ireland).

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

you spell "wacky" weird.

 

[BeardofPants]

Whacky
I spell it with an 'h' too. Who knew you could spell it both ways. LOL.

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

yeah, i looked it up in the dictionary, and learned that with or without an h is proper, i just more often see it without!