Terminology of The British Isles

Terminology Of The British Isles

Various terms are used to describe the different (and sometimes overlapping) geographical and political areas of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, and the smaller islands which surround them. The terminology is often a source of confusion, partly owing to the similarity between some of the actual words used, but also because they are often used loosely. In addition, many of the words carry both geographical and political connotations which are affected by the history of the islands—reflecting this, the Government of Ireland does not use the term 'British Isles'. The purpose of this article is to explain the meanings of and relationships among the terms in use.

In brief, the main terms and their simple explanations are as follows.

• Geographical terms:
  • The British Isles is an archipelago consisting of the two large islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and many smaller surrounding islands. By tradition, it also includes the Channel Islands, although they are physically closer to the continental mainland.
  • Great Britain is the largest island of the archipelago.
  • Ireland is the second largest island of the archipelago and lies directly to the west of Great Britain.
  • The full list of islands in the British Isles includes over 1,000 islands, of which 51 have an area larger than 20 km².

• Political terms
  • The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the constitutional monarchy occupying the island of Great Britain, the small nearby islands (but not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands), and the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland. Usually, it is shortened to United Kingdom or the UK, though Britain is also an officially recognised short form. 'Great Britain' is sometimes used as a short form, and although technically incorrect is the name used by the UK in some international organisations. The abbreviation GB is frequently used for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international agreements, e.g. Universal Postal Union and Road Traffic Convention, as well as in the ISO 3166 country codes (GB and GBR).
  • Ireland is the sovereign republic occupying the larger portion of the island of Ireland. However, to distinguish the state from the island, or to distinguish either of these from Northern Ireland, it is also called "the Republic of Ireland" or simply "the Republic". Occasionally, its Irish-language name, Éire (or Eire, without the diacritic), will be used in an English-language context to distinguish it from "Northern Ireland", even though the word "Éire" directly translates as "Ireland".
  • England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the four countries of the United Kingdom though they are also referred to as the constituent countries or, especially in sporting contexts, home nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
  • England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are legal jurisdictions within the United Kingdom.
  • Great Britain means the countries of England, Wales and Scotland considered as a unit.
  • British Islands consists of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. These are the states within the British Isles that have the British monarch as head of state.

• Linguistic terms
  • The two sovereign states in the region, the United Kingdom and Ireland, are frequently referred to as countries. So too are England, Wales, Scotland and, to a lesser extent, Northern Ireland (as is the whole island of Ireland).
  • British is an adjective pertaining to the United Kingdom; for example, a citizen of the UK is called a British citizen.
  • Anglo- is often used as an adjectival prefix referring to the United Kingdom (notwithstanding that its original meaning is "English") particularly in the field of diplomatic relations.
  • Wales is sometimes called the Principality of Wales, although this has no modern constitutional basis.
  • Northern Ireland is often referred to as a province or called Ulster, after the traditional Irish province of Ulster in which it is located.
• Sport
  • Forms of national representation vary from sport to sport. England, Scotland and Wales often compete separately as nations. In some sports – such as rugby and cricket – the island of Ireland competes as a nation; in others, most notably association football, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland field separate teams. In these contexts England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland/Northern Ireland are sometimes described as the home nations.
  • Rugby union players from both Ireland and Great Britain play for British and Irish Lions representing the four "Home Unions" of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
  • Great Britain is sometimes used to mean United Kingdom. For example, at the Olympic Games, the team officially known as 'Team GB' (and often informally still called "Great Britain") represents Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, the "Ireland" Olympic team continues to represent the whole island of Ireland. Athletes from Northern Ireland have, by virtue of their entitlement to dual nationality, the choice of participating in either the "Great Britain" team or the "Ireland" team.
  • In the majority of individual sports (e.g. tennis and athletics), at international level competitors are identified as GB if they are from Great Britain or Northern Ireland. A small number of sports (e.g. golf) identify participants as representing their constituent country. In the Commonwealth Games, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each compete as separate nations, as do each of the three Crown Dependencies (Ireland is not part of the Commonwealth and is not eligible to participate).