Why do most american's call England England but most people from there call it the UK?

Question

I'm an American...just curious, is it England, Britain, or what the h**l is it?? lol

Answer 1

Basically because a great deal of Americans (and those from here) do not know the difference between England, Britain and the UK

England is the largest of the three countries which make up Great Britain (Britain).  The others are Wales and Scotland.

The UK consists of the countries which make up Great Britain plus the province of Northern Ireland.  It is commonly known as...

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Southern Ireland has not been part of the UK since the early 1920's.

Answer 2

England is just one part of the UK, which includes Wales, Scotland and part of Ireland.  I think the British use the term UK to be more inclusive of the other territories.  I am American born British, and my mother used to get so upset if I said I was English.  She was born in Wales and always wanted me to say I was British or from the UK.  I think Americans refer to it as England, because they focus on where the power is.  If you are referring to just England, than using the term England is correct.  If you are referring to the Country (including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) then using the term UK is correct.

Answer 3

depends what you're talking about - generally i call it the uk

perhaps all americans aren't aware of the other countries? (for example, george bush thought wales was a state rather than a country...)

Answer 4

UK is more than just England, my friend, but you also may have noticed that when referring to the country Americans come from most Europeans say 'America', whereas we tend to call it 'The States'.

And watch your apostrophes.

Answer 5

All the above is correct.

It's like if I was talking about the whole of the United States but just said "Florida" repeatedly.

"Hey, that accent! You're Floridan!"

"No, I'm from California".

"But that's in Florida, right?"

"Um... no."

Answer 6

It is also very rude to call England UK.

Answer 7

I'm from England which is part of the United Kingdom, so I'm British. Does that help? lol

Answer 8

I call it England, not the UK. In fact, when I started using the internet I found it really confusing as most websites don't have England as an option (we have to choose the UK).

Yahoo Answers doesn't have an English flag in their avatar section either- although they do have a Scottish and Welsh flag. Makes no sense.

I think some Americans use England and the UK synonymously, which they obviously aren't. I think if I were from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland I would find that quite offensive.

What I have noticed, though, is that people from Britain never refer to their accent as a 'British accent'- a term that is only used by Americans, to my knowledge

Answer 9

people in wales/Scotland/northern Ireland would find it offensive if you call the UK England as I'm from wales i get angry for some reason but if your referring to England you say England if your referring to the 4 nations you say great Britain or Britain or UK

Answer 10

UK is made up of four countries:

England,

Scotland,

Wales, and

Northern Ireland.

The name United Kingdom is short for The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain is one of the two major islands that comprise the British Isles.  Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland, and Wales.

I hope that makes sense.  It's like the difference between Holland and the Netherlands...I'm still not sure about that one!

Answer 11

I was born in England, so I am English, I hate being called a brit or british. I can't have been born in all 3 countries of britain. It's like calling a Canadian a North American, where is the national identity ?. As most of the natives from the other countries want independence from England ( the seat of power), it shouldn't be called UNITED Kingdom.

If you are talking to someone from England refer to them as English, the Irish are from Ireland, Scots from Scotland and Welsh from Wales

Answer 12

Well, UK is the state formed by England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland states...

England is one of 4 countries that formed the UK, like Iowa is one of the federative states in U.S.A.....

Great Britain is the largest isle where there are England, Wales and Scotland....

If u call the 4 states u must say UK, if u talk about the English regio u must say England, if u talk about the largest British isle u must say Great Britain!!!!