Sunday, January 25, 2009

England is not a country?

Last night I had an opportunity to have to think a bit... My neighbor Sean Vest just returned home from an LDS Mission to Leeds England... and someone at his welcome home party asked a question about...

"What is the difference between England, Britain and the UK"?


It made me think... I thought I knew the answer - and answered accordingly. But this morning I wanted proof that I was correct, and so did a bit of research and here are the results.


By the way... my answer last night was correct, but it's so much easier to explain with pictures and maps.


First, the players -
England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland. Each of these is a distinct area on the map. England and Scotland were once Kingdoms, and Wales a Principality.

Britain
- an old Roman term describing the area of just Wales and England.

Great Britain
- Wales, England and ScotlandUnited Kingdom - Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland (this is a country today)British Isles - all the above, plus the Republic of Ireland and all the little islandsBritish Empire - All of the British Isles, plus all of their past coloniesThe Flag of the United Kingdom is blue; the red cross of Saint George (England's patron saint) edged in white is superimposed on red cross of Saint Patrick (Ireland's patron) and white cross of Saint Andrew (Scotland's patron saint); properly called Union Flag. This is a combination of the England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland flags.

5 comments:

Janet said...

You're always making us smarter!

Tina & Martin said...

Hi Keith.
A trickey question for you?

Whay to "English" cars have GB as a country identity sign if the country is UK?

Martin.

Keith Parsons said...

The 'GB' for English cars is for 'Great Britain' - this includes Wales, England and Scotland.

Tina & Martin said...

Yes of course, but the country name is UK so it should not be GB.

Cars in Northen Ireland also have a GB on them.

Explain that :-)

PSST
There is no logic involved becuase it is the English way.

Richard B said...

I'm so glad you started your blog and willing to share your books and trips. You are providing an education for all of us. Thanks.