# Do you know the difference between England/UK/Great Britain/British Isles? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743 "2014-10-08T11:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743/21 "2014-10-08T14:30:07Z")
I knew them all, but I’m a bit of a massive Anglophile, so that’s not too surprising. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743/22 "2014-10-08T14:44:51Z")
Got 'em all. I would think most people here would get them all, too, except maybe “Great Britain”. I expect a lot of people would think it was equivalent to the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743/23 "2014-10-08T14:47:29Z")
The British Isles are two largish islands and a plethora of smaller ones in the North Sea. The larger of the two islands is Great Britain, while the smaller is Ireland. The isle of Great Britain is divided into three nations (England in the southeast, Wales in the southwest, and Scotland in the north), while the isle of Ireland holds a single nation, also named Ireland. Ireland is traditionally divided into four provinces and further divided into 32 counties. The three nations of Great Britain, plus six of the eight counties in Ireland’s northern province of Ulster, together form the country called the United Kingdom. The remaining 26 counties of Ireland form the country called the Republic of Ireland. The interplay between these four nations on the one hand, and two countries on the other, is complicated, and one’s nation is relevant for some purposes, while one’s country is relevant for others. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743/24 "2014-10-08T14:49:11Z")
^ That’s me. And it took a long time to figure out and even longer for it to stick. (Reply to **Smeghead**. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743/25 "2014-10-08T15:09:07Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > In the run-up to the recent referendum, I heard a BBC announcer talking about Scotland voting to “leave Great Britain” which would be quite a trick. Well yeah but before union with Ireland, Great Britain was also a country and it’s _that_ union that would have been undone by the referendum. Sort of like, if there were separatism in Queensland, they could leave Australia the country although obviously not Australia the continent. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743/26 "2014-10-08T17:47:34Z")
Yes, but then again I am British. It’d be a tad embarrassing if I didn’t. People here do the whole England/Britain/UK mix up all the time. I’m an a one man quest to educate them all. I start by correcting them when they refer to me as “English/Engelsk”. I’m great fun at parties. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743/27 "2014-10-08T19:22:36Z")
Born in London and lived in England all my life, so I should know. Mind you, I’ve rarely heard of ‘British Isles’ in conversation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-difference-between-england-uk-great-britain-british-isles/700743.md?page=1)