What's the difference between England, Great Britain and UK?

Question

do they pertain to just one country?

Answer 1

England is, well, England. It's basically the area of the British Isles conquered by the Romans. Great Britain includes England, Scotland to the north and Wales to the southwest (plus one or two other smaller areas). The United Kingdom is Great Britain and my parents' homeland of Northern Ireland. The whys and wherefores would take a while to explain but that's the basics.

Answer 2

Yes and no - Great Britain and the UK (United Kingdom) are different titles for the same thing - that is the once separate but now "united" countries of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. If you look at Great Britain (the UK) on a world map then you see the funny shaped island that is the UK. England is the large central and southern landmass of the UK. Scotland is the top part and Wales is the left hand side. Ireland is a large island alongside the UK (off the coast of Wales) Ireland is another country, but a small part of the north-west of the island, called Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

Hundreds of years ago England, Scotland and Wales were separate countries with their own languages and currencies. Although they are now one country with the shared currency of Pounds Sterling there are still very pronounced differences between them and they are all proud of this.The Welsh language is still taught alongside English in Welsh schools and you still have to pass over a border to arrive in Scotland or Wales although of course no passports are required. The UK is a relatively small landmass by US standards, infact the UK could fit snugly into California!

I hope this helps clarify things for you, and although I am English I am sure that will have grossly oversimplified things, so I won't be suprised if someone else contributes to this question for you! (Oh and just to complicate things the whole lot can also be refered to as The British Isles)

Answer 3

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the entity . Great Britain comprises Scotland , England and Wales . Both Wales and Scotland have separate Parliaments unlike England which for some peculiar reason remains governed by the " federal " Parliament in Westminster and both Scots and Welsh members of Parliament can vote on purely English issues but the converse does not apply . Perhaps things will change .  

Answer 4

The United Kingdom is a country that consists of four constituent countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Geographically it comprises the island of Great Britain, the northern part of the island of Ireland, and a very large number of smaller islands.

The United Kingdom also has fourteen overseas territories, including Gibraltar, Bermuda, and the Falkland Islands. These do not include the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, which are Crown Dependencies and part of the British Isles, but are not part of the United Kingdom.

Great Britain is the name of the largest island of the British Isles. It comprises all mainland parts of England, Scotland and Wales, but does not include Northern Ireland, which is part of the island of Ireland.

Answer 5

The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, The Channel Islands  and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales, Isle of Man and The Channel Islands, England is just England.

A person can be both British AND English, or British AND Scottish and so on.

It's kind of like an American can be an American and a Texan.

Answer 6

This question gets asked quite a lot, and it's no wonder it can be confusing for people who are not from these islands when some of the people from here get it mixed up too. (with all due respect to them)

England is the largest of the three countries that make up Great Britain (Britain).  The other two are Wales and Scotland.

Britain was called Great Britain to distinguish it from the area in France known as Bretagne

The United Kingdom is a political union of the countries which make up GB plus six of the counties of Northern Ireland (Ulster).  It's official title is:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

which is abbreviated to The UK.

Although the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are a part of the British Isles and are Crown Dependencies they are not, as many assume, part of the United Kingdom...indeed they are not even in the European Union....(lucky them!)

For lots of useful info about the UK etc you could have a look around this award winning site for The Woodlands Junior School...it really is very informative...

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/...

NB

Southern Ireland, also known as Eire and the Republic of Ireland, has not been part of the UK since the early 1920's.

Answer 7

Populations may help you a little. England is about 50 million people. Great Britain (or the entire island including Scotland and Wales) is about 60 million people. The United Kingdom is Great Britain and Northern Ireland plus a few scattered islands and has about 62 million people.

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England or Angle-land is the majority of the island that was controlled by the Roman Empire and conquered by the Anglo-Saxons who conquered the island when the Romans left. One of them was Cerdic who became the first king of Wessex. Cerdic is 51 generations removed from the current Queen Elizabeth.

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Northern ireland is sometimes referred to as the six counties (it is the northernmost six counties of the island of Ireland). Southern Ireland is known as the Republic of Ireland and was part of the United Kingdom until it gained it's independence about in the early part of the 20th century.

Answer 8

The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is a political entity. Great Britain is the island containing England Scotland and Wales. It is a Geographical entity. England is a country within both Great Britain and the UK. Confusion arises because all of these names are used interchangeably to mean the UK, not unlike the way 'America' is frequently used to mean the USA. This confusion and loose terminology often causes offence to citizens of Scotland and Wales, who will usually be resentful of being described as English. This is because of a long and occasionally violent history of repression of these two countries by the English. What is particularly stupid, just at the moment, is the adoption of the slogan or name 'Team GB' for the UK Olympics team, as if Northern Ireland wasn't included. This sort of thing, perpetrated by an official body of the UK, is very unhelpful.