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British Isles (terminology)

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History;
Geography of Great Britain

   ██ The British Isles
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   ██ The British Isles
   An Euler diagram clarifying the terminology. ██ Geographical
   locations.██ Political entities.
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   An Euler diagram clarifying the terminology. ██ Geographical
   locations.██ Political entities.

   The various terms used to describe the different (and sometimes
   overlapping) geographical and political areas of the islands
   traditionally referred to collectively as the British Isles are often a
   source of confusion. The purpose of this article is to explain the
   meanings of and inter-relationships among those terms.

   In brief, the main terms and their simple explanations are:
     * Geographical terms
          + British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland and many
            smaller surrounding islands. There are some problems
            associated with the use of this term and its definition.
          + Great Britain is the largest island of the archipelago
            (sometimes informally referred to as Britain)
          + Ireland is the second largest island of the archipelago.

     * Political terms
          + The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a
            sovereign state occupying the island of Great Britain, the
            small nearby islands (but not the Isle of Man and the Channel
            Islands), and the North-Eastern part of the island of Ireland.
            Often shortened to 'United Kingdom', 'UK' or Britain.
          + Ireland / Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state occupying
            most of the island of Ireland.
          + England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the
            constituent countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
            and Northern Ireland.
          + Great Britain consists of England, Wales and Scotland
          + England and Wales share the same legal system.
          + British Islands consists of the United Kingdom of Great
            Britain and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle
            of Man.

   These various terms can be confusing not only in themselves (partly
   owing to the similarity between some of the actual words used), but
   also because they are often used loosely or inaccurately.

Terminology in detail

     * Britain is a shortened form of Great Britain. Also used very
       commonly to mean United Kingdom.
     * Great Britain (abbreviation: GB) is the largest of the British
       Isles and the political union of three nations, these being:

               o England and Wales Is a political and administrative term
                 referring to the two home countries of England and Wales,
                 which share the same legal system. Between 1746 and 1967
                 the term "England" did legally include Wales.

                    # England (see also the historical Kingdom of England
                      = England (and later, Wales) prior to 1707).
                    # Wales

               o Scotland (see also the historical Kingdom of Scotland)

          + The historical Kingdom of Great Britain is Britain for the
            period 1707-1801.
          + Britannia is the Roman province of Britain, or a poetic
            reference to later Britain, or a personification of Britain.

          On the history of the name, see Britain.

     * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually
       shortened to the United Kingdom (abbreviation UK) is Great Britain
       plus Northern Ireland since 1927. (The Partition of Ireland took
       place in 1922, but the consequent change in the official title of
       the UK was only made by Act of Parliament five years later.)

          + The historical United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is
            Great Britain plus Ireland, for the period 1801-1927.

          N.B.: While "United Kingdom" is normally abbreviated UK, the
          official ISO 3166 two-letter country code is GB and the three
          letter code is GBR (Ukraine has the two letter code UA and the
          three letter code UKR). The UK's internet top-level domain is
          .uk, a break from the normal practice of following ISO 3166.
          See also United Kingdom (disambiguation) for other united
          kingdoms and UK (disambiguation) for other meanings of the
          abbreviation.

     * Ireland (in Irish, Éire) refers, geographically, to the island of
       Ireland, or to any of the following:

          Historically:

          + The Kingdom of Ireland was Ireland for the period 1541-1801.
          + The Irish Republic was a unilaterally declared 32-county
            republic encompassing the entire island, during the period
            1919-22. During this period, Ireland legally remained part of
            the UK and its independence was not recognised internationally
            except by Russia.
          + Southern Ireland was a proposed Home Rule 26-county state
            under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It never came into
            practical existence, being superseded by:
          + The Irish Free State is Ireland excepting Northern Ireland
            during the period 1922-37.

                The terms "Irish Republic", "Southern Ireland" , "the Free
                State" and (in English language texts) "Éire" are still
                used as synonyms for the Republic of Ireland.

          Present:

          + Ireland (in Irish, Éire) is the political entity consisting of
            the island of Ireland excepting Northern Ireland,
            1937-present. This is the name of the state according to the
            Irish Constitution.
          + The Republic of Ireland a legal "description" of Ireland
            excepting Northern Ireland, 1949-present. This form is used
            where tact or disambiguity demands. It is also the name used
            by the international football team.
          + Northern Ireland 1922-present. That part of the island of
            Ireland north of the line of partition of 1922, and which is
            still part of the United Kingdom. It is sometimes referred to
            as "the North of Ireland", "the six counties" or (in extremist
            usage) the "occupied six counties," especially by Irish
            Nationalists.
          + Ulster The name of one of Ireland's four traditional
            provinces. It contains nine counties, six of which make up
            Northern Ireland, and three of which are part of the Republic
            of Ireland. It is now primarily used in sporting and cultural
            contexts by both communities. However, Northern Ireland itself
            is frequently also referred to as 'Ulster'. See Ulster
            (disambiguation).

          In sport

          + In soccer, the teams correspond to political entities:
            Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In accordance
            with UEFA and FIFA's rules, each of these countries has its
            own football league: the Football League and the League of
            Ireland respectively.
          + In rugby union, rugby league, field hockey , cricket, boxing,
            golf, athletics and others the Ireland team is drawn from the
            whole island (ie. both the Republic and Northern Ireland). The
            Irish Olympic Council is also an All-Island organisation. Many
            sports organisations are subdivided along provincial lines
            e.g. Gaelic Athletic Association, golf

     * The British Isles is the traditional term used to mean the island
       of Great Britain plus the island of Ireland and many smaller
       surrounding islands, including the Isle of Man and, in some
       contexts, the Channel Islands (Guernsey and Jersey). Due to the
       changes in the common usage of the word "British" (to mean "of the
       United Kingdom") it is a controversial term, and would be
       considered offensive by many Irish people, in 2006 the Irish
       minister for Education announced that school books would have this
       term removed.
     * Great Britain and Ireland is an increasingly common replacement or
       substitute for the term British Isles.
     * Islands of the North Atlantic is another suggested replacement term
       for the British Isles, without the same political connotations.
       However, its convolution, its vagueness, and the popularity of the
       older term have meant that it is not in common use. The term was
       used as part of the Strand 3 level of negotiations for the Belfast
       agreement. (Its acronym, IONA, is also the name of the small but
       historically important island of Iona off the coast of Scotland.)
     * British Islands (a political term not in common usage) is the UK,
       the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey (which in turn includes the
       smaller islands of Alderney, Herm and Sark).
     * Brittany, the historical Duchy in the West of France, now a French
       région; for this modern administrative sense, see Bretagne.

Geographical distinctions

The British Isles

   The British Isles is an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast
   of Continental Europe. It includes Ireland and Great Britain, and the
   Isle of Man, but usually excludes the Channel Islands. Also included
   are the thousands of small islands off the coast of both the larger
   islands such as Shetland and Orkney. The earliest known usage of this
   term is in a Greek text of 325 BC in the form Pretanikai nesoi
   (Pretanic isles).

Great Britain

   Great Britain refers to the largest of the British Isles. The word
   "Great" simply means "larger" (no connection with "greatness" in other
   senses is intended) in contrast to Brittany, a historical term for a
   peninsula in modern France that largely corresponds with the present
   day French province of Bretagne. That region was settled by many
   British immigrants during the period of Anglo-Saxon migration into
   Britain, and named "Little Britain" by them. The French term "Bretagne"
   now refers to the French "Little Britain", not to the British "Great
   Britain", which in French is called Grande-Bretagne.

Ireland

   The second largest island in the archipelago is Ireland. That Ireland
   is a part of the geographical "British Isles" in no way implies that
   all of the island is politically British.

Channel Islands

   Although the Channel Islands are associated with the United Kingdom
   politically, they are an outcrop of the nearby French mainland, and
   historically they are the last remaining parts of the former Duchy of
   Normandy still under the crown of the United Kingdom.

Political distinctions

The United Kingdom

   The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is usually
   shortened to United Kingdom, UK or Britain. Great Britain is also
   widely used as a synonym for the UK.

   The United Kingdom is a sovereign state. Its four constituent
   countries, whilst having equal rights to elect Members of Parliament on
   (nominally) the same terms, are sometimes considered to be of different
   status. This view may be supported by the existence of devolved
   governments with different levels of power in Scotland and Wales (see
   Asymmetrical federalism). Due to historical precedent, England,
   Scotland, and Wales are countries and nations in their own right
   (although none of these is sovereign today). Wales is also a
   principality of the United Kingdom ( Prince of Wales is a title usually
   given to the heir apparent to the British throne). Northern Ireland is
   sometimes described by United Kingdom citizens as a province of the
   United Kingdom, which derives from the Irish province of Ulster, which
   Northern Ireland is part of. This epithet is also applied because it
   originally was part of the UK as part of the country of Ireland rather
   than as a constituent country or nation in its own right. Northern
   Ireland also had, until 1972, a far greater degree of self-government
   than the other constituent parts of the UK. In contrast to the British
   unionist usage, Irish nationalists consider all of Ulster to be the
   province of Ulster, and organise their sporting and cultural
   institutions accordingly.

   The four constituent parts of the UK are also known to some as Home
   Nations or the "Four Nations"; sporting contests between them are known
   as "Home internationals" (for example in football, see the British Home
   Championship).

   The governing body for soccer in Northern Ireland is called the Irish
   Football Association, having been in existence since some 40 years
   before partition. Its counterpart in the Republic (plus Derry City FC)
   is the Football Association of Ireland. The Northern national team
   retained the name "Ireland" for some 50 years after partition. It is
   only since around 1970 that the two teams have been consistently
   referred to as "Northern Ireland" and "Republic of Ireland"
   respectively.

   However, in Rugby Union, the four Home Nations are England, Ireland
   (the whole island, i.e. the Republic of Ireland plus Northern Ireland),
   Scotland and Wales.

   Culturally, some consider the Cornish to be distinct from the English,
   but, politically, Cornwall is considered by the UK government to have
   the same status as any other county in England. However some have
   raised questions concerning the constitutional status of Cornwall.

   Thus, Great Britain is both a geographical and a political entity.
   Geographically, it is one island, but politically it also contains the
   islands that belong to its constituent nations - England, Wales and
   Scotland (most notably England's Isle of Wight, Wales' Anglesey and
   Scotland's Inner Hebrides, Outer Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland
   Islands).

   However, the abbreviation GB is sometimes officially used for the UK,
   for example in the Olympics - where athletes from Northern Ireland may
   choose whether to represent the UK or the Republic of Ireland - and as
   the vehicle registration plate country identification code, however the
   internet code " .gb", although allocated to the UK, is unused (the UK
   uses " .uk"). UK teams in the Olympics have competed under several
   different names - most recently in Athens the athletes were presented
   at the Opening Ceremony under a banner which said simply Great Britain,
   rather than the full Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Since the Good
   Friday Agreement, and the subsequent implementation legislation,
   sporting organisation (and several other organisations, e.g. tourism,
   and Irish Gaelic and Ulster Scots language boards) on the island of
   Ireland has increasingly been cross-border.

   Citizens of the UK are called British or Britons. The term Brits may
   also be used, sometimes pejoratively, for example by supporters of
   Scottish independence when referring to supporters of the Union. Some
   rather dated slang names for Britons are Tommy (for British soldiers),
   Pom, Anglo and Limey. Anglo properly refers only to England, but it is
   sometimes used as a broader reference as an element in compound
   adjectives: for example, "Anglo-French relations" may be used in
   newspaper articles when referring to relations between the political
   entities France and the United Kingdom. Anglo-Saxon may be used when
   referring to the whole English-speaking world, the Anglosphere,
   although ethnically very few of the world's one billion
   English-speakers are of Anglo-Saxon origin. Interestingly while the
   rest of the world refers to the 'English', derived from 'Angles',
   speakers of the Celtic languages refer to them as 'Saxons' (Sassannach
   in Scottish Gaelic, Saeson in Welsh).

Ireland

   Ireland is the name since 1937 of the independent state which covers
   the island of Ireland apart from Northern Ireland. Since the Republic
   of Ireland Act in 1949, the term "Republic of Ireland" has been widely
   used, but the official name in the Irish constitution is Ireland, or,
   in the Irish language, Éire. This is also the geographical term for the
   entire island.

   The Republic of Ireland gained full recognised independence from the
   United Kingdom in 1921. Northern Ireland is sovereign British
   territory, and a majority of the population of Northern Ireland
   consider themselves British. Traditionally Ireland is divided into four
   provinces - Leinster, Connacht, Munster and Ulster. The Republic of
   Ireland takes up 83% of the island, while Northern Ireland takes up six
   of the nine counties of Ulster. However, despite the label "Northern"
   Ireland, the most northerly point of the island is in County Donegal,
   territory of the Republic of Ireland.

   On the island of Ireland (as everywhere), the naming of places often
   raises political issues. The usage of "Ireland" as the official name of
   the state in the constitution of the Republic of Ireland causes offence
   to some Unionists in Northern Ireland as it implies that the Republic
   of Ireland still has a territorial claim to the whole island - the
   terminology of "Republic of Ireland" or "Éire" is much preferred by
   Northern unionists when referring to that political state. Similarly,
   some Nationalists in Northern Ireland also prefer to reserve to usage
   of "Ireland" to refer to the whole island.

   The Republic of Ireland is often referred to by Irish republicans by
   the term "the Twenty-six Counties", with the connotation that the state
   constituted as such forms only a portion of the ideal political unit,
   which would consist of all of the thirty-two counties into which the
   island is divided. From 1922 to 1937, the state comprising those 26
   counties was officially known by the term "The Irish Free State".

   Many people object to these latter two terms, as they are seen to imply
   that the Republic of Ireland is not a fully independent country.
   Conversely, some republicans and others refer to Northern Ireland as
   "the Six Counties" (in reference to Northern Ireland's six counties), a
   name that avoids the disputed link with Great Britain. Some even call
   it "the occupied six counties". Some nationalists use the terms, "the
   North of Ireland" and, "the North", instead of Northern Ireland; these
   are terms also used by the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ.

   Many people, especially some unionists, sometimes refer to Northern
   Ireland as Ulster - this is inaccurate as the Irish province of Ulster
   traditionally includes an additional three counties, which are in the
   Republic of Ireland. The term Ulster (and "the Province") are sometimes
   preferred by Unionists, sometimes because it can suggest an origin of
   the polity of Northern Ireland that pre-dates 1922, referring back to
   the Act of Union 1800, the Glorious Revolution of 1689, the Plantation
   of Ulster in 1610, the ancient migrations between Ulster and Scotland,
   and even to biblical tradition. So, it is understandable that certain
   local place names should still be in dispute: see Derry/Londonderry
   name dispute.

British Islands

   Under the Interpretation Act 1978 of the United Kingdom, the political
   term British Islands (as opposed to the geographical term British
   Isles) refers to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
   Ireland, together with the Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwicks of Jersey
   and of Guernsey (which in turn includes the smaller islands of
   Alderney, Herm and Sark) in the Channel Islands; and the Isle of Man.

Historical aspects

Origins of terms

   The earliest known names for the islands come from the Massaliote
   Periplus of the 6th century BC, fragments of which survived in the
   writings of Avienus around AD 400. Ireland was referred to as Ierne
   (Insula sacra, the sacred island, as the Greeks interpreted it)
   "inhabited by the race of Hiberni" (gens hiernorum), and Britain as
   insula Albionum, "island of the Albions". Earlier sources preserve
   fragments of the travel writings of the ancient Greek Pytheas around
   320 BC, and describe the British isles, including Ireland, as the αι
   Βρεττανιαι, the Brittanic Isles. The peoples of these islands of
   Prettanike were called the Ρρεττανοι, Priteni or Pretani.

   These names derived from a " Celtic language" term which is likely to
   have reached Pytheas from the Gauls who may have used it as their term
   for the inhabitants of the islands. The Romans called the inhabitants
   of Gaul (modern France) Galli or Celtae. The latter term came from the
   Greek name Κελτοι for a central European people, and 17th century
   antiquarians who found language connections developed the idea of a
   race of Celts inhabiting the area, but this term was not used by the
   Greeks or Romans for the inhabitants of Britain or Ireland.

   Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, and
   has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne. The latter referred
   to the early Brythonic speaking inhabitants of Ireland, the Scottish
   highlands and the north of Scotland, who are known as the Cruithne in
   Scottish Gaelic, and who the Romans called Picts or Caledonians.

Romans

   Caesar's invasions of Britain brought descriptions of the peoples of
   what he called Britannia pars interior, "inland Britain", in 55 BC.
   Throughout Book 4 of his Geography, Strabo is consistent in spelling
   the island Britain (transliterated) as Prettanikee; he uses the terms
   Prettans or Brettans loosely to refer to the islands as a group - a
   common generalisation used by classical geographers. For example, in
   Geography 2.1.18, …οι νοτιωτατοι των Βρηττανων βορηιοτηροι τουτον ηισιν
   (…the most southern of the Brettans are further north than this). He
   was writing around AD 10, although the earliest surviving copy of his
   work dates from the 6th century. Pliny the Elder writing around AD 70
   uses a Latin version of the same terminology in section 4.102 of his
   Naturalis Historia. He writes of Great Britain: Albion ipsi nomen fuit,
   cum Britanniae vocarentur omnes de quibus mox paulo dicemus. (Albion
   was its own name, when all [the islands] were called the Britannias; I
   will speak of them in a moment.). In the following section, 4.103,
   Pliny enumerates the islands he considers to make up the Britannias,
   listing Great Britain, Ireland, and many smaller islands. In his
   Geography written in the mid 2nd century and probably describing the
   position around AD 100, Ptolemy includes both Britain and Ireland – he
   calls it Hibernia – in the island group he calls Britannia. He entitles
   Book II, Chapter 1 of as Hibernia, Island of Britannia, and Chapter 2
   as Albion Island of Britannia.

   The name Albion for Great Britain fell from favour, and the island was
   described in Greek as Ρρεττανια or Βρεττανια, in Latin Britannia, an
   inhabitant as Βρεττανοζ, Britannus, with the adjective Βρεττανικοζ,
   Britannicus, equating to "British". With the Roman conquest of Britain
   the name Britannia was used for the province of Roman Britain. The
   Emperor Claudius was honoured with the agnomen Britannicus as if he
   were the conqueror, and coins were struck from AD 46 inscribed DE
   BRITAN, DE BRITANN, DE BRITANNI, or DE BRITANNIS. With the visit of
   Hadrian in AD 121 coins introduced a female figure with the label
   BRITANNIA as a personification or goddess of the place. These and later
   Roman coins introduced the seated figure of Britannia which would be
   reintroduced in the 17th century.

   In the later years of Roman rule Britons who left Latin inscriptions,
   both at home and elsewhere in the Empire, often described themselves as
   Brittanus or Britto, and where describing their citizenship gave it as
   cives of a British tribe or of a patria (homeland) of Britannia, not
   Roma. From the 4th century, many Britons migrated from Roman Britain
   across the English Channel and founded Brittany.

Medieval period

   While Latin remained the language of learning, from the early medieval
   period records begin to appear in native languages. The earliest
   indigenous source to use a collective term for the archipelago is the
   Life of Saint Columba, a hagiography recording the missionary
   activities of the sixth century Irish monk Saint Columba among the
   peoples of modern Scotland. It was written in the late seventh century
   by Adomnán of Iona, an Irish monk living on the Inner Hebridean island.
   The collective term for the archipelago used within this work is Oceani
   Insulae meaning "Islands of the Ocean" (Book 2, 46 in the Sharpe
   edition = Book 2, 47 in Reeves edition), it is used sparingly and no
   Priteni-derived collective reference is made.

   Another early native source to use a collective term is the Historia
   ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum of Bede written in the early eighth
   century. The collective term for the archipelago used within this work
   is insularum meaning "islands" (Book 1, 8) and it too is used
   sparingly. He stated that Britain "studies and confesses one and the
   same knowledge of the highest truth in the tongues of five nations,
   namely the Angles, the Britons, the Scots, the Picts, and the Latins",
   distinguishing between the Brythonic languages of the "ancient Britons"
   or Old Welsh speakers and other language groups.

   Early Celtic, Saxon and Viking kingdoms such as Rheged, Strathclyde and
   Wessex amalgamated, leading to the formation of Scotland, England and
   Wales. In Norman Ireland, local lords gained considerable autonomy from
   the Lordship of Ireland until it became the Kingdom of Ireland under
   direct English rule.

Renaissance mapmakers

   Ortelius: map of Ireland from 1573 titled Eryn. Hiberniae Britannicae
   Insulae Nova Descriptio Irlandt.
   Enlarge
   Ortelius: map of Ireland from 1573 titled Eryn. Hiberniae Britannicae
   Insulae Nova Descriptio Irlandt.

   Continental mapmakers Gerardus Mercator ( 1512), Balthasar Moretus (
   1624), Giovanni Magini ( 1596), Abraham Ortelius ( 1570) and Sebastian
   Munster ( 1550) produced maps bearing the term "British Isles".
   Ortelius makes clear his understanding that England, Scotland and
   Ireland were politically separate in 1570 by the full title of his map:
   "Angliae, Scotiae et Hiberniae, sive Britannicar. insularum descriptio"
   which translates as "a description of England, Scotland and Ireland, or
   the British Isles", additionally many maps from this period show Wales
   and Cornwall as separate nations, most notably those of Mercator.

Evolution of kingdoms and states

   A timeline of states in the British Isles. (Formally, Ireland continues
   to exist, but the term "Republic of Ireland" is more widely used).
   Enlarge
   A timeline of states in the British Isles. (Formally, Ireland continues
   to exist, but the term "Republic of Ireland" is more widely used).

   The diagram on the right gives an indication of the further evolution
   of kingdoms and states. In 1603 the Scottish King James VI inherited
   the English throne as "James I of England". He styled himself as James
   I of Great Britain, although both states retained their sovereignty and
   independent parliaments, the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament
   of England. The 1707 Act of Union united England and Scotland in the
   United Kingdom of Great Britain under the Parliament of Great Britain,
   then in 1800 Ireland was brought under British government control by
   the Act of Union creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
   Ireland. Irish unrest culminated in the Irish War of Independence and
   the 1922 separation of the Irish Free State which later became the
   Republic of Ireland. The mostly Protestant northeast continued to be
   part of what was now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
   Ireland.

   British overseas territories such as Bermuda, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, the
   Falkland Islands, and the British Antarctic Territory have (or have
   had) various relationships with the UK. The Commonwealth of Nations
   (formerly the British Commonwealth) is a loose confederation of nations
   roughly corresponding to the former British Empire, mostly for economic
   co-operation, formalised in 1931. (This has no connection with the
   Commonwealth of England and The Protectorate which were short-lived
   republics replacing the previous kingdoms during the Interregnum ( 1649
   - 1660).)

Adjectives

   The adjectives used to describe the contents and attributes of the
   various constituent parts of the British Isles also cause confusion.

   British is generally used to refer to the United Kingdom. However, in a
   specifically physical geographical sense, British is used to refer to
   the island of Great Britain. The cumbersome adjective Great British is
   very rarely used to refer to Great Britain, other than to contrive a
   pun on the word great, as in "Great British Food".

   Irish, in a political sense, is used to refer to the Republic of
   Ireland. Northern Ireland, as a constituent part of the United Kingdom,
   would be included within the umbrella of the political term British,
   though many unionists in Northern Ireland would also consider
   themselves Irish in a geographical sense. In order to be more specific,
   Northern Irish is therefore in common usage. The term Ulster can also
   be used as an adjective (e.g. " Royal Ulster Constabulary"), but this
   is more likely to be used by Unionists and has political connotations
   in the same fashion as its use as a proper noun (because only six of
   the traditional nine counties of Ulster, namely Antrim, Armagh, Down,
   Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, are included in Northern Ireland
   with the remaining three counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan forming
   part of the Republic). Likewise, Nationalists might describe, say, a
   lake in Northern Ireland as Irish. However, some Nationalists might
   attribute what they see as less attractive aspects of Northern Ireland
   to Britain or even to England (e.g. "The Northern Ireland squad is an
   English football team").

   Note that the geographical term "Irish Sea" thus far appears to have
   escaped political connotations, even though territorial control of the
   waters of the Irish Sea is divided between both the Republic of Ireland
   and the UK, and also includes a British Crown dependency, the Isle of
   Man — as yet there appears to be no controversy with the term’s usage
   to mirror that of "British Isles".

   The "Northern" in "Northern Ireland" is not completely accurate. A
   large portion of Northern Ireland lies to the south of County Donegal,
   which is in the Republic. The northern tip of the island, Malin Head,
   is on Donegal's Inishowen Peninsula.

   Scottish, English and Welsh are self-explanatory but the term English
   is sometimes used to mean British as well.

Problems with use of terms

   There is considerable sensitivity about some of the terms, particularly
   in relation to Ireland.

British Isles

   The term British Isles itself can be considered irritating or offensive
   by those who find that the association of the term British with the
   United Kingdom leads to a mistaken presumption that the Republic of
   Ireland is still in some way under British rule, or think that it
   implies that the UK has continuing territorial claims to that country.
   No branch of the Irish government, including the Department of Foreign
   Affairs and the Irish Embassy in London, uses the term, although it is
   on occasion used in a geographical sense in Irish parliamentary
   debates. In Northern Ireland, nationalists reject the term and use
   these islands as an alternative, whereas unionists, when countering
   nationalist insistence on the territorial integrity of the island of
   Ireland, change the geographical frame of reference to that of the
   whole archipelago of what they call the British Isles.

   Contemporary usage of the term "The British Isles" is also often
   inconsistent and confusing. Even highly regarded major media sources
   like the BBC and The Times use the term "The British Isles" in widely
   varied ways. Using the dictionary definition the term refers to the
   whole of Ireland and Great Britain as well as the surrounding islands.
   However, it is sometimes used as being identical to the UK, i.e.
   covering only a part of the island of Ireland while in other contexts
   it is used to refer to Great Britain and the surrounding islands but
   excluding the island of Ireland entirely.

   There have been several suggestions for replacements for the term
   British Isles. Although there is no single accepted replacement, both
   Great Britain and Ireland and The British Isles and Ireland are widely
   used. .

Ireland

   The term Ireland is also a matter of sensitivity. It is the official
   name of the Republic of Ireland as well as being a geographical term
   for the whole island. In Northern Ireland, Irishness is a highly
   contested identity, with fundamentally different perceptions between
   unionists who perceive themselves as being both British and Irish, and
   nationalists who consider both communities to be part of the Irish
   nation.

Further information

Isle of Man and Channel Islands

   The Isle of Man and the two bailiwicks of the Channel Islands are Crown
   Dependencies; that is, non-sovereign nations, self-governing but whose
   sovereignty is held by the British Crown. They control their own
   politics, but not their defence. They are not part of the United
   Kingdom nor part of the European Union.
     * The Isle of Man is part of the British Isles, situated in the Irish
       Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.
     * The Channel Islands consist politically of two self-governing
       bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey.
       They are the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, which was once in
       personal union with the Kingdom of England. They are sometimes,
       despite their location next to mainland France, considered part of
       the British Isles.

Celtic names

   The Celtic languages in the region — Cornish, Irish, Scottish Gaelic,
   Welsh and Manx— each have names for the various countries and
   subdivisions of the British Isles.

   Some of the above are:

   England
          Cornish: Pow an Sawson, Pow Saws ('Saxon country'), Inglond
          Irish: Sasana ('Saxony')
          Manx: Sostyn ('Saxony')
          Scottish Gaelic: Sasainn ('Saxony')
          Welsh: Lloegr

   Scotland
          Cornish: Alban, Scotlond
          Irish: Albain
          Manx: Nalbin
          Scottish Gaelic: Alba
          Welsh: Yr Alban

   Wales
          Cornish: Kembra
          Irish: An Bhreatain Bheag ('Little Britain')
          Manx: Bretin
          Scottish Gaelic: A' Chuimrigh
          Welsh: Cymru

   Cornwall
          Cornish: Kernow
          Irish: Corn na Breataine, An Chorn
          Manx: Yn Chorn
          Scottish Gaelic: A' Chòrn
          Welsh: Cernyw

   Ireland
          Cornish: Wordhen, Ywerdhon
          Irish: Éire, Éirinn
          Manx: Nerin
          Scottish Gaelic: Èirinn
          Welsh: Iwerddon

   Republic of Ireland
          Cornish: Republyk Wordhen
          Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann
          Manx: Pobblaght Nerin
          Scottish Gaelic: Poblachd na h-Èirinn
          Welsh: Gweriniaeth Iwerddon

   Northern Ireland
          Cornish: Wordhen North
          Irish: Tuaisceart Éireann, Tuaisceart na hÉireann
          Manx: Nerin Twoaie
          Scottish Gaelic: Èirinn a Tuath
          Welsh: Gogledd Iwerddon

   Note: In Irish there are actually several terms for Northern Ireland:
   An Tuaisceart, meaning "the North", is usually used, but a more recent
   term for official use is Tuaisceart Éireann. Ulaidh, the Irish word for
   Ulster, is also sometimes used, though the traditional region of Ulster
   also includes 3 counties which are not included in the political region
   of Northern Ireland. Ironically the most northern point in Ireland is
   'down South', that is ruled from Dublin, not London.

   The English word Welsh is from a common Germanic root meaning
   "foreigner" ( cognate with Wallonia and Wallachia, and also cognate
   with the word used in Mediaeval German to refer to the French and
   Italians). The English names Albion and Albany are related to Alba and
   used poetically for either England or Scotland, or the whole island of
   Great Britain. English Erin is a poetic name for Ireland derived from
   Éire (or rather, from its dative form Éirinn)

The term "Oileáin Bhriotanacha" for 'British Isles' in the Irish language

   In Irish, the term Oileáin Bhriotanacha is attested as a version of the
   English term 'British Isles'. The 1937 book Tír-Eóluíocht na h-Éireann
   ('The Geography of Ireland') by T. J. Dunne, translated by
   Toirdhealbhach Ó Raithbheartaigh and published in Dublin by the
   Government Publications Office, states: Tá Éire ar cheann de na
   h-oileáin a dtugar na h-Oileáin Bhreataineacha ortha agus atá ar an
   taobh Thiar-Thuaidh de'n Eóraip. Tá siad tuairim a's ar chúig mhíle
   oileán ar fad ann. (Oileánradh an t-ainm a bheirtear ar áit ar bith i
   n-a bhfuil a lán oileán agus iad i n-aice a chéile mar seo.) Éire agus
   an Bhreatain Mhór (Sasain, an Bhreatain Bheag, agus Alba) an dá oileán
   is mó de na h-Oileáin Bhreataineacha. 'Ireland is one of the islands
   which are called the British Isles and which are on the North-Western
   side of Europe. It is thought that there are five thousand islands in
   total there. (Archipelago is the name which is borne by a place in
   which there are many islands next to each other like these.) Ireland
   and Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) are the two largest
   islands of the British Isles.'

Other terms in the Irish language

   Dineen's 1927 Irish-English dictionary gives Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa
   'the British or West European Isles'. Most often the term is avoided
   and Éire agus an Bhreatain is used, though this ignores the thousands
   of small islands.

Rockall

   The island of Rockall is a disputed territory in the Atlantic Ocean. It
   is a small, uninhabited island lying some 301.4 km (187.3 miles) west
   of St Kilda (Outer Hebrides) and 424 km (229.1 miles) north-west of
   Ireland. It is claimed by the United Kingdom (as part of the Isle of
   Harris), whilst its surrounding continental shelf (but not the island
   itself) is claimed by the Republic of Ireland, Iceland and Denmark
   (through the Faroe Islands). Its remote position, however, means that
   it is open to question whether or not, geographically, it belongs to
   the British Isles. In any event The United Nations Convention on the
   Law of the Sea, states Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or
   economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or
   continental shelf.

Slang

   Blighty is a slang word for Britain derived from the Hindustani word
   bilāyatī ("foreign"). Depending on the user, it is meant either
   affectionately or archly. It was often used by British soldiers abroad
   in the First World War to refer to home.

Europe

   The term "Europe" may be used in one of several different contexts by
   British people; either to refer to the whole of the European continent,
   to refer to only to Mainland Europe, sometimes called "continental
   Europe" or simply "the Continent" by some people in the archipelago —
   as in the apocryphal newspaper headlining "Fog shrouds Channel,
   continent cut off."

   Europe and the adjective European may also be used in reference to the
   European Union, particularly in a derogative context such as "The new
   regulations handed out by Europe".
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