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rynd

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Well the country is not one it is 3 plus a Principality

 

The countries are

 

England

Scotland

Northern Ireland

 

And Wales is a Principality

 

Together they make Great Britain, but if you remove Northern Ireland it become The United Kingdom

 

Think that is correct

 

Milton

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England is the name of my country, but those who live in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland live in Great Britain, whilst, as far as I know, the United Kingdom is simply England, Wales and Scotland.

 

Clear isn't it? :D

 

Now I await correction! :D

You didn't have to wait long.

 

the United Kingdom, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain (E,S,W) and Northern Ireland.

 

-

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Actually:

 

England - Only includes the southern part of Great Britain, the territory known as England.

 

Great Britain or Britain - The entire island off the coast of Western Europe, includes England, Wales, and Scotland.

 

United Kingdom, full name: The United Kindom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. So the UK is Britain+N. Ireland

 

Oh, and for the record, I'm Scottish :D

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OK add this to the confusion.

 

British Isles - which as far as I know is different from Great Britain. British Isles I believe is a geographical, non political term for the group of islands of the main continental coast.

 

The politics are:

 

There is a Parliament in England, where MPs from England Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make laws that affect England and Wales (and sometimes N Ireland and very occasionally Scotland)

 

Scotland has a parliament, but MPs from England Wales and NI can't go there.

 

Wales has an Assembly with fewer powers, I haven't yet had a good explanation of what they can do.

 

NI is complex. It's part of a different land mass. The Southern part is a completely separate country from the British/England/Wales/Scotland bit. But the Northernmost part is currently seen by most of the people that live there as affiliated to the Parliament in England.

 

Various attempts at creating political Assemblies etc to give that region more autonomy have been set up and abandoned over the years.

 

Money in England Wales and Scotland is totally interchangable i.e. all Pounds, but will have slightly different designs.

 

As you can see, much confusion here. Much debate about whether we feel English, Welsh, Scottish, British, European. Funny, nobody feels United Kingdomish.

 

I remember being told that when the UN or perhaps its forerunner was being set up the countries were to sit alphabetically. If we were Great Britain we would be sitting next to Greece. So we invented or adopted United Kingdon so we could sit next to the US.

 

No idea if there's any truth in that. Can anybody find the date of the first use of United Kngdom?

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OK add this to the confusion.

 

British Isles - which as far as I know is different from Great Britain. British Isles I believe is a geographical, non political term for the group of islands of the main continental coast.

 

The politics are:

 

There is a Parliament in England, where MPs from England Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make laws that affect England and Wales (and sometimes N Ireland and very occasionally Scotland)

 

Scotland has a parliament, but MPs from England Wales and NI can't go there.

 

Wales has an Assembly with fewer powers, I haven't yet had a good explanation of what they can do.

 

NI is complex. It's part of a different land mass. The Southern part is a completely separate country from the British/England/Wales/Scotland bit. But the Northernmost part is currently seen by most of the people that live there as affiliated to the Parliament in England.

 

Various attempts at creating political Assemblies etc to give that region more autonomy have been set up and abandoned over the years.

 

Money in England Wales and Scotland is totally interchangable i.e. all Pounds, but will have slightly different designs.

 

As you can see, much confusion here. Much debate about whether we feel English, Welsh, Scottish, British, European. Funny, nobody feels United Kingdomish.

 

I remember being told that when the UN or perhaps its forerunner was being set up the countries were to sit alphabetically. If we were Great Britain we would be sitting next to Greece. So we invented or adopted United Kingdon so we could sit next to the US.

 

No idea if there's any truth in that. Can anybody find the date of the first use of United Kngdom?

Commonly interchangeable maybe.... but... Scottish Banknotes aren't legal tender in England - or indeed in Scotland!

 

An interesting feature of the Scottish banknotes issue has been the fact that they have never, apart from under temporary provisions introduced in both World Wars, been "legal tender" even in Scotland, although they are, of course, accepted as legal currency.

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Commonly interchangeable maybe.... but... Scottish Banknotes aren't legal tender in England - or indeed in Scotland!

 

An interesting feature of the Scottish banknotes issue has been the fact that they have never, apart from under temporary provisions introduced in both World Wars, been "legal tender" even in Scotland, although they are, of course, accepted as legal currency.

OOh, I like that... feels very quiz night.

 

What was the source of the quote?

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The most important thing for you to take away from this rynd is that WE are not ENGLAND. A very common mistake made by many Americans.

Even one that was made by Groundspeak on their list of countries, until I complained and it got changed immediately to the United Kingdom. Which by the way, despite all the differences within the termonology, you will get away with calling us British and the country either the United Kingdom (U.K.) or Great Britain (G.B.).

If you refer to England, Scotland, N. Ireland or Wales, then you must mean that particular country.

 

If I was asked to describe my nationality I would say Scottish / British.

 

I hope that has helped :D

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Commonly interchangeable maybe.... but... Scottish Banknotes aren't legal tender in England - or indeed in Scotland!

 

An interesting feature of the Scottish banknotes issue has been the fact that they have never, apart from under temporary provisions introduced in both World Wars, been "legal tender" even in Scotland, although they are, of course, accepted as legal currency.

OOh, I like that... feels very quiz night.

 

What was the source of the quote?

I too would like to know the source of the quote, as if you look on any Scottish bank note you will see the word sterling printed on it.

 

Better check your pound coins whilst you are at it, I bet you have got a scottish one on you??

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The Channel Islands aren't technically a part of the UK, but are a crown protectorate. They still have £1 notes, no VAT and the post boxes are blue. :D

 

An ex girlfriend's parents used to live on Guernsey and I visited a couple of times. If you want to get really weird, look up the feudal laws of Sark, one of the smaller islands where car ownership isn't illegal, but driving one is...

 

SP :D

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Well rynd above is the simple explanation but in reality it is far more complicated :-). For example we have Islands (including the Channel Islands) that are British because that swear allegiance to the Queen but are not part of Great Britain.

 

As kbootb touched on the political boundaries can cause confusion. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Island are political boundaries while Ireland is a landmass that is actually part of the British Isles, but not Great Brittan.

 

Did I touch on the declaration of proclamation and independent legislation? Probably best not to get on to that, as well as devolution.

 

In summary we have a monarchy, a few governments, the odd few landmasses and even more countries whose border all overlap and have different names. Religion and culture also plays a part in places.

 

As a general rule (as mentioned earlier) Great Britain is a governmental union of England, Scotland and Wales with Scotland having a slightly different legal system and Wales maintaining it’s own language in addition to English. The UK is Grate Britain and Northern Island. Northern Island is the part of Ireland governed by the same government as the rest of the UK but is in the process of governing it’s self subject to continued political and social will. Northern Island also has a separate road numbering system that may not be of interest to most, but I am a travel reporter so it is to me ;-).

 

I only started writing this to take the mick out of the French and completely forgot to do so and look what happened (The British and French were never meant to get on). So does someone else want to explain Eurovision and Terry Wogan while we are here?

Edited by alistair_uk
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The Isle of Man is a Crown dependency, so not really an independent country but not part of the UK (or Great Britain), or the EU. It is part of the British Isles, however, as this is a geographical term. Just to make it more baffling, it is regarded as part of the UK for some purposes, and also part of the EU at times (on a vague, ad-hoc basis).

 

It has its own currency, based on the British pound, and accepts British money as legal tender (although you can't use IOM currency outside the island).

 

Is there any part of the world outside the British Isles where most of the residents aren't entirely sure what they should call the country they live in? It's all typically, confusingly, British.

 

HH

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At least that would be better than being England and having to sit next to the French!!  :lol:  :lol:

...and indeed the Scots and the Welsh too. It is indeed tough being English! :lol:

When God created Scotland, He looked down on it with great satisfaction. Finally He called the Archangel Gabriel to have a look.

 

"Just see", said God. "This is the best yet. Splendid mountains, beautiful scenery, brave men, fine women, nice cool weather. And I've given them beautiful music and a special drink called whisky. Try some."

 

Gabriel took an appreciative sip.

 

"Excellent," he said. "But haven't you perhaps been too kind on them? Won't they be spoiled by all these things? Should there not be some drawback?"

 

"Just wait till you see the neighbours they're getting," said God.

 

Edit for spelling

Edited by Haggis Hunter
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OK I can accept the fact that Scottish bank notes are not legal tender, but it makes me feel better to know that English bank notes are only legal tender in England, Wales, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. So they mean nout to us up here?? :lol::lol:

 

(visit link)

If English notes are of no use to you I'll send my address so you can send them to me - or perhaps CIN? :lol:

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OK I can accept the fact that Scottish bank notes are not legal tender, but it makes me feel better to know that English bank notes are only legal tender in England, Wales, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. So they mean nout to us up here?? :lol:  :lol:

 

(visit link)

If English notes are of no use to you I'll send my address so you can send them to me - or perhaps CIN? :lol:

I would love to, however there is a slight glich in your thinking, all the notes up here are Scottish. Last time I seen an English note was back in July. Oh Yeah I was in England at the time.

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