Is england a country or a state?

Question

i always thought england, scotland and wales were their own separate countries but i looked in an atlas at school today and they were only recognised as STATES of the UK. are they states or countries?....im confused.

Answer 1

Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland (confusingly, sometimes also called Ulster), are the four biggest constituent countries of the United Kingdom.  The Republic of Ireland - sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Southern Ireland" - is an independent state. 

The idea of a country within a country might be confusing to non-Britons, but we're used to it!  In the UK, a "Unionist" is somebody who favours maintaining the Union (i.e. remaining part of the UK), while a Scottish or Welsh "Nationalist" is someone who wants Scotland and/or Wales to become independent states.  Irish Nationalists want NI to leave the UK and join the Republic of Ireland.  In NI, nationalism is linked to religion, with Catholics overwhelmingly being nationalists, and Protestants Unionists.  Scottish and Welsh nationalism have nothing to do with religion or community, and have always been far less violent.  As a result, constitutional issues are far less contentious in Scotland and Wales.  Scots will be friends with people from the other side of this divide, while NI is fragmented into two "communities", with their own education systems, businesses and suburbs. 

Unlike Canada, the US or Australia, the different constitutent parts of the UK have different degrees of control over their own affairs.  Scotland has a full Parliament, which controls everything other than defence, the economy, foreign policy, firearms legislation and constitutional issues.  Wales and NI have less powerful "assemblies".  England has no parliament or assembly, as has been mentioned, but, controversially, Scottish, Welsh and NI MPs can vote on English issues.  This matters because the centre-left Labour party is massively over-represented in Scotland and Wales, which are much poorer than England, while richer English voters favour the right-of-centre Conservatives.  This causes controversy in all three countries.  Scots blame the English for conservative rule, and the English blame the Scots for Labour rule.  

 

There is also a tiny collection of islands, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, which are both "Crown dependencies".