What's the Difference Between England, Britain and the U.K

7/25/2019 What's the Difference Between England, Britain and the U.K

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smithsonianmag.com

What's the Difference BetweenEngland, Britain and the U.K.?

Erin Blakemore

SmartNews Keeping you current

smithsonian.com

June 24, 2016

Unless you are living under a rock, you likely woke up today to

plenty of news and commentary on the decision of U.K. voters to

Brexit the European Union. But what is the United Kingdom,

anyway? The telltale Br in the term seems to have created some

confusion as to whos really saying bye-bye to the EUprompting

well-intentioned onlookers abroad to perpetuate some

misconceptions about how to refer to the political dramas players.

Understanding complex geopolitical dynamics may be hard, butthats no excuse not to refer to countries by their proper names.

Heres a quick primer to help you sort out whos who when it comes

to the U.K.:

First, lets talk geography

Part of the confusion could come from the fact that much of the

United Kingdom is located on a single island that is itself a part of a

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larger set of islands. In strict geographic terms, Great Britain (also

known as Britain) is an island tucked between the North Sea and

the English Channel, which at its narrowest point is about 20 miles

away from the European continent. Great Britain is part of the British

Isles, a collection of more than 6,000 islands including Ireland in thewest and smaller islands like Anglesey and Skye.

What about countr ies?

To start with, there's the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland. The U.K., as it is called, is a sovereign state that

consists of four individual countries: England, Scotland, Wales and

Northern Ireland. Within the U.K., Parliament is sovereign, but each

country has autonomy to some extent. For the most part, Scottish,

Welsh and Northern Irish parliaments defer to the U.K. Parliamentin

reserved matters that deal with things like foreign policy and EU

membership, but retain authority over devolved matters that deal

with things like education and housing.

Non-Brits tweeting about #brexit: you need this.

pic.twitter.com/rlObCi5OSq

Henry Williams (@digitalhen) June 23, 2016

Though bound to the Crown and tied together in unity, the individual

countries within the U.K. retain their own local identities and even

their own regional languages. (Welsh, for example, is the official

language in Wales even though the official language in the U.K., as

a whole, is English.)

Since becoming a republic in the 1940s, the Republic of Ireland

(which shares a border with Northern Ireland) has operated as a

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sovereign state of its own. Though it is physically close to the U.K.,

the Republic of Ireland has its own relationships and memberships

with the United Nations, the European Union and other international

organizations.

Other ins and outs

The word British is confusing in and of itselfit can refer to things

that relate to the United Kingdom, Great Britain or the former British

Empire. Though it used to be the worlds most powerful colonial

force, the reach of that Empire has waned. However, the present-day

U.K. does have a few remaining colonies worldwide, which are

referred to as British Overseas Territories. These territories remain

subject to British rule, though some are self-governing:

Anguilla

Bermuda

British Antarctic Territory

British Indian Ocean Territory

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Falkland Islands

Gibraltar

Montserrat

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Pitcairn Island

St. Helena

St. Helena dependencies

South Georgia and the South Islands

Turks and Caicos Islands

Three islands within the British Isles retain special status as Crown

Dependencies. Though the U.K. is technically responsible for them,

they are independently administered and self-governing. Instead of

having a relationship with the U.K., they have a relationshipwith

The Crownthe British monarchy:

Bailiwick of Jersey

Bailiwick of Guernsey

Isle of Man

Then theres the Commonwealth Realmcountries that accept the

Crown, aka Queen Elizabeth, as their constitutional monarch. As

members of the Commonwealth of Nations, each Commonwealth

Realm governs itself, makes its own decisions and foreign policy

decisions, but retains ties to the U.K. and to one another. This

streamlines diplomatic relations and fosters ongoing community

between nations that used to be part of Britains formidable empire:

Antigua and Barbuda

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Australia

The Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Canada

Grenada

Jamaica

New Zealand

Papua New Guinea

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Solomon Islands

Tuvalu

Technically, the U.K. itself is part of the Commonwealth Realm, too.

Alrightnow theres no excuse to refer to Britain when youre

talking #Brexit or to lump a country like Canada in with the U.K.s

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exit from the EU. But while youre at it, watch for another gaffe:

Calling the EU the UN. (Suffice it to say that its not, and that the

U.K. has not announced any intention to sever its membership with

the United Nations.) When Fox News did so yesterday, British

onlookers were not amused.

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What's the Difference Between England, Britain and the U.K