# England, Britain, Great Britain, United Kingdom **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2001, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587 "2001-10-05T14:52:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/1 "2001-10-05T14:52:07Z")
Finally moved all my books into one area and have found the reference I was looking for months ago. The 1973 Official Stationary Office Guidebook to Britain states quite clearly that the Government had made the decision to use Great Britain to mean England Wales and Scotland, and Britain to mean the UK- strange but true. I suppose it accords with usage of Brits- which includes people from NI as demonstrated by Ali G’s brilliant interview with the Ulster Unionist Politician in Northern Ireland Ali G: Is you British then? Politician: Of course I am Ali G: Is you here on holiday (Trans.: vacation) then? Anyway, its just nice to know that I can continue to use Britain as meaning the UK and have the HMSO publication on my side to ward off pedants ;). ---
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/2 "2001-10-05T15:05:49Z")
So Great Britain covers less land than Britain covers? That’s going to make my head hurt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/3 "2001-10-05T15:20:48Z")
Where does that leave Ireland? I’ve always thought United Kingdom refers to all of England’s possessions and Great Britain to the British Isles. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/4 "2001-10-05T15:23:39Z")
Presumably all this means is that HMG allows its official publications to use ‘Britain’ when other forms would be too cumbersome or too formal. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/5 "2001-10-05T15:25:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robb \* > \*\*So Great Britain covers less land than Britain covers? That’s going to make my head hurt. 🙂 \*\* Even more bizarrely, “Great Britain” is also used as the name of the island that London, Edinburgh, etc sit on, so that Orkney, the Isle of Wight, Lewis etc etc are not included. This means that in some contexts Great Britain covers less land than Great Britain covers. A few years back it was reported that the minister on Gigha (approx 6 miles by 3) asked his congregation to pray for the inhabitants of Gigha “and of our neighbouring island, Great Britain.” This is a quote from memory; I think the original was funnier. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/6 "2001-10-05T15:37:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*Where does that leave Ireland? I’ve always thought United Kingdom refers to all of England’s possessions and Great Britain to the British Isles. \*\* Great Britain (in the larger sense) and the island(s) of Ireland make up the British Isles, but some Irish people do not like this use of “British”, since the Republic of Ireland is not part of Britain. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England does not “possess” Scotland or Northern Ireland (I don’t know enough about Wales to comment). Within the Union, Scotland has the same constitutional status as England (in the same way that California and Wisconsin have the same constitutional status). This applied even before Scotland got its parliament back in 1997. The reason this is all so complicated and hard to explain / understand is that the UK is not a proper federation like the US. Our constitution has been improvised over the centuries with one bit being changed without considering any overall perspective. ---
**Author:** ![labradorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@labradorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labradorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/7 "2001-10-05T16:36:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by G. Odoreida \* > > England does not “possess” Scotland or Northern Ireland (I don’t know enough about Wales to comment). Within the Union, Scotland has the same constitutional status as England (in the same way that California and Wisconsin have the same constitutional status). This applied even before Scotland got its parliament back in 1997. The reason this is all so complicated and hard to explain / understand is that the UK is not a proper federation like the US. Our constitution has been improvised over the centuries with one bit being changed without considering any overall perspective. \*\* Actually, in one respect Wales and Scotland (and until the suspension, Northern Ireland) have one up on England: England doesn’t have its own regional assembly. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/8 "2001-10-05T16:44:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*Where does that leave Ireland? I’ve always thought United Kingdom refers to all of England’s possessions and Great Britain to the British Isles. \*\* Oh dear. You have **no** idea how much trouble that statement is going cause. England does not own the United Kingdom and more than Texas owns the United States. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/9 "2001-10-05T18:57:03Z")
Just to stir the pot a little… Sports teams from this part of the world are interesting. There are 5 football teams: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. Ok, how many Rugby teams would you expect? There are 4: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. OK, how many Athletics teams? There are 2: UK and Ireland. And in case you knew that lot - what is the Governing body for chess in Scotland? The Scottish Chess Federation. what is the Governing body for chess in Wales? The Welsh Chess Federation. what is the Governing body for chess in England? The British Chess Federation. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/10 "2001-10-05T19:54:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by glee \* > \*\*OK, how many Athletics teams? > > There are 2: UK and Ireland.\*\* I thought that was _GB_ and Ireland, with NI included in the GB team? Of course, during the Commonwealth Games there are four – Eng, Sco, Wal & NI. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/11 "2001-10-05T20:27:53Z")
Just for the halibut: [What’s the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/muk.html) ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/12 "2001-10-06T01:22:41Z")
That link is very informative, but did not mention the capital of Ireland, which, BTW, is a very rich nation. “Very rich,” you say. “How so?” Well, it’s capital is always Dublin. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/england-britain-great-britain-united-kingdom/85587/13 "2001-10-06T06:54:08Z")
[QUOTE Of course, during the Commonwealth Games there are four – Eng, Sco, Wal & NI. \*\*[/QUOTE] No. Also Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Isle of Man! How many ways can you divide a small group of islands???