United Kingdom (2024)

FAQs

Are UK and Great Britain the same? ›

The United Kingdom (UK) is a country that consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The name Great Britain refers to the island on which most of the non-sovereign countries of England, Scotland, and Wales are situated.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is an island country that sits north-west of mainland Europe. It is made up of mainland Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and the northern part of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland). It has numerous smaller islands.

England is a country, like Scotland and Wales. Great Britain is the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales. Ireland is the island that contains Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom is the combination of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain, therefore, is a geographic term referring to the island also known simply as Britain. It's also a political term for the part of the United Kingdom made up of England, Scotland, and Wales (including the outlying islands that they administer, such as the Isle of Wight).

In the history of Irish partition the Third Home Rule Bill was the first time the concept of dividing Ireland politically was raised as a serious proposal to resolve the conflict of two opposing nationalisms on the island of Ireland.

On 6 December 1922 (a year after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty) Ireland was partitioned. At that time the territory of Southern Ireland left the UK and became the Irish Free State, now known as the Republic of Ireland.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the official title of the state. Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England are often called the Home Nations. All of them can be described as countries, or nations, as can the UK in its entirety. None of them are independent states, however.

Wales is a country that forms part of the island of Great Britain. There are three countries that make up this island: Wales, and our neighbours England and Scotland.

The United Kingdom (UK) is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Most people in Scotland think of themselves as Scottish rather than British, or more Scottish than British (54% in the West of Scotland and 51% for the rest of Scotland). Just under a third of people in the west of Scotland and rest of Scotland considered themselves to be equally Scottish and British.

Are Wales and England separate countries? ›

Wales is part of the United Kingdom, which is a fully independent sovereign state. But, the 'United Kingdom' is made up of a political union between four nations, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, that are countries in their own right and have varying degrees of autonomy.

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.

As of 2024, there are 15 Commonwealth realms: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom.

Great Britain (commonly shortened to Britain) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland and Wales.

The United Kingdom is used to describe the political unit consisting of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Great Britain is the geographical term referring to the island simply known as Britain. England is one of the countries that make up the British Isles.