An informative map that illustrates the difference between England, Britain and the United Kingdom, which appears as the same place in general, but are geographically different places. Click to expand the legend button on top-left corner of the map window and click to check-uncheck the layer names to visualize the differences.
Difference between England, Britain and the United Kingdom
When people refer the terms United Kingdom, England, or Britain, I am sure most of them think these are the same place, unless they know the truth. And the truth is that these are different places. The above map on top of Google map tries to illustrate the differences, highlighting the following areas:
1. The United Kingdom - The United Kingdom is not a single country but instead is a country of countries. It contains the following 4 sovereign nations:
1. England - Often confused as United Kingdom, largest and most populous of the 4 countries, shown in red.
2. Scotland – Situated towards north of England, shown in green.
3. Wales – Situated towards west of England, shown in orange.
4. Northern Ireland - Often forgotten or excluded, shown in light blue.
Although people of United Kingdom are thought as British, but actually people from England are English, people from Scotland are Scottish, Wales are Welsh, and Northern Ireland are Northern Irish. So the full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
2. Great Britain - Great Britain is a geographical term rather than a political term and within the United Kingdom it covers the area formed by England, Scotland, and Wales, excluding Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the biggest island within United Kingdom.
Great Britain is also an island of islands belonging to the individual admins England, Scotland, and Wales. For example, the Isle of Wight, Isles of Scilly and Lundy belongs to England. The Isle of Anglesey belongs to Welsh. Scotland has maximum number of islands grouped under Hebrides, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, and Islands of the Clyde. Apart from these islands there are some other islands which come directly under the Crown, controlled by the British monarchy, and are called the Crown Dependencies.
3. Crown Dependencies –These includes the following islands. These are not considered independent nations, but are granted local autonomy by the Crown and British Citizenship by the United Kingdom.
1. The Isle of Man
2. Guernsey Islands
3. Bailiwick of Jersey
4. British Islands – The United Kingdom countries, together with the Crown Dependencies form the British Islands. So British Islands includes Great Britain (i.e., England, Scotland, and Wales), Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Guernsey, and Bailiwick of Jersey. One interesting thing to note here is that the British Islands do not cover the whole Ireland, but only Northern Ireland. Ireland is the biggest island in the British Isles. Like Great Britain, Ireland is not a country; it is a geographical term, not political.
5. Ireland - The island of Ireland contain on it two countries - Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. One interesting fact is that when people say they are ‘Irish’ they are actually referring to the Republic of Ireland and not Northern Ireland.
6. British Isles - So the two largest islands in the British Isles are Ireland and Great Britain.
Apart from the above entities two other types of Crown Dependencies, not shown in the map, are:
1. Commonwealth Countries – These are independent nations of the former British Empire that still recognize the Crown. These countries do not rely on the United Kingdom for military and economic assistance.
2. British Overseas Territories - Unlike the Commonwealth Realm, these have not become independent nations and continue to rely on the United Kingdom for military and (sometime) economic assistance. Like the Crown Dependencies, everyone born in their borders is a British Citizen.
Source: CGP Grey
