History UsefulNotes / BritainVersusTheUK

This may sound strange and contrary, but there is no nation in the world called "Great Britain". No really, there isn't. There isn't even one called "UsefulNotes/{{Britain}}" either – though there ''kind of'' is. It's complicated.

* '''The Republic of Ireland''' (a ''political'' term) takes up the majority of the island of Ireland and is a separate country from Northern Ireland. It is no longer part of the UK, which has caused what might charitably be called [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishQuestion "a spot of bother"]] [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles or two]] in the past. "Ireland", confusing though this is, is the correct official name of the country, though 'Republic of Ireland' (with a capital R, sometimes abbreviated ROI) is frequently used to differentiate the state from the island. Another common, though faintly patronising, way to get round this is to use the Irish word for Ireland, "Éire", when referring to the country. Saying Éire (''airer'') is the greatest way to avoid confusion and now the Irish seem to be more grateful when it is used, treating it almost like some sign of respect.

Of course, the existence of a "Great" Britain suggests the existence of a "Mediocre" Britain somewhere else that it needs a superlative to be distinguished from. A misconception that the term implies 'really rather jolly good' is perpetuated by slogans and titles that happily play on it, e.g. "the Great British Sausage" or ''Series/TheGreatBritishBakeOff''. In fact, the "Great" in this instance just means 'large' or 'main', to distinguish the island from that smaller nearby geographic area once known as Lesser, Less or Little Britain[[note]]not to be confused with ''LittleBritain''[[/note]] – the region of Brittany, now the northwest corner of France (''Bretagne'', as opposed to ''Grande Bretagne''), formerly semi-independent, often fought over throughout history. Before it became what the Romans termed "Britannia minor" or "Britannia cismarina" ("Britain on this side of the sea") when it was occupied by refugees from (Great) Britain in the 5th century A.D., it was called [[Franchise/{{Asterix}} Armorica]]. Breton, the Celtic language of Brittany (now largely replaced by French), is closely related to Cornish (see below), and more distantly to Welsh, it is therefore "British" and "Insular Celtic" in a linguistic sense, and distinct from the Gaulish (a Continental Celtic language) spoken there up until the 5th century.

There ''was'' once a nation-state of just Great Britain, but not for over 200 years now; there has been no nation-state called England for over 300. The United Kingdom as it exists in modern times is a compound of four member countries. Yet it is a matter of much frustration to many of their residents – in particular those from the nation's smaller constituent countries, but to English people too – that the terms "Britain", "Great Britain" and "United Kingdom" remain not only often synonymous with each other but, most annoyingly, with "England" in the minds of foreigners [[TheyJustDidntCare (and many ignorant natives...)]]. The distinctions between all these frequently overlapping and vaguely similar-sounding names can be lost on many people, meaning the different terms are frequently used interchangeably, but the political and cultural structure of the kingdom is rather more complicated than that.

Just watch out for the Scots. They long have a reputation as being '[[BadAss the hard lot from up north.]]' Some of them are nationalists and will not tolerate one step out of line, saying it arises from the Union, which is the root of all evil. Some are unionists... who will not tolerate a step out of line, because it undermines the Union and drives people into the arms of the Nats. Some of them, we shan't name any names, have a reaction resembling an enraged [[Series/DoctorWho Dalek]]: [[Series/DoctorWho DO-NOT-BLAS-PHEME!]]

Yes, although this is where it maybe gets even ''more'' confusing. "English" was for a long time an accepted generalisation for the whole country, including Scotland and the British parts of Ireland; this is reflected in several foreign names for the nation to this day. The word 'England' (and its foreign equivalents such as ''Angleterre'') derives from ''Angle-land'', after one of the successive waves of Germanic and Norse peoples – the [[UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons Angles and Saxons]], Jutes, Frisians, [[HornyVikings Danes and Norwegians]] – who invaded from northern Europe[[note]] the Jutes from Jutland in Denmark, the Angles from Schleswig, the Saxons from Holstein and Lower Saxony, the Frisians from the coast of Lower Saxony in Germany and what is now the province of Frisia in the Netherlands[[/note]] in the centuries of the '[[UsefulNotes/DarkAgeEurope Dark Ages]]' after the withdrawal and fall of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. Still earlier though, the tribes who controlled most of the south of the country were the Britons, whom scholars later called the Brythonic Celts: specifically, the Celts of UsefulNotes/{{Cornwall}} and Wales (and the aforementioned Brittany in France), to distinguish them from the Gaelic Celts of Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man as well as the various Celtic peoples of the continent (e. g. Cisalpine Gauls in Northern Italy, Transalpine Gauls in what is now France, Celtiberians on the Iberian Peninsula). It is from them that the Romans named the whole island ''Britannia''[[note]] However, they also used the name "Britannia" for their part of the island, referring to the unoccupied part as "Caledonia"[[/note]]. Thus, "British" is much the older idea, and for about the first millennium AD means 'Celtic', and is ''contrasted'' with "English" – for instance, the (probably) legendary KingArthur was far from being the proto-King of ''England'' many would describe, since the Anglo-Saxons were those very invaders that he and his Brythonic brethren sought to repel. A curious upshot of the above is that the various Celtic nationalists today, who object to being called "British", are British in that sense, whereas England is not!\\

Seriously, though, if you get all this wrong, you will usually be forgiven. It's an easy mistake to make. There is a reason for it. England ''does'' cover over half of the UK's total land area, and ''does'' contain the vast majority (around 53 million out of 63m, currently) of its population. Even Brits get mixed up often enough – after all, even the title of this article is wrong: "Britain" and "the UK" technically refer to the same thing; it should read ''Great'' Britain Versus The UK – and until [[NewerThanTheyThink More Recently Than They Think]] it was accepted practice ([[DoubleStandard at least by the English]]) for [[{{QI}} "England" and "Britain" to be interchangeable terms]].

Oh yes, the national sporting situation is predictably complicated. Demonstrating the density of this whole naming confusion, the UK's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain and Northern Ireland", but its International Olympic Committee country code is just GBR, and it is routinely referred to as merely "Team GB" – just the sort of reductive continuum that helps perpetuate the whole confusion that necessitates this page. In {{cricket}} the 'England' team technically represent England and Wales, while there is for instance a separate Ireland team that nonetheless sees not infrequent shifts of player loyalties to England (which is objectively a much better side, owing to the greater enthusiasm and thus funding and resources for cricket in England). In UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball meanwhile, the 'Home Nations' of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – and the Republic of Ireland – play as separate teams. In the sports of rugby union and rugby league, the various Irish issues are cut admirably straight through: a single unified Ireland team represents the whole island, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic; in addition, a super-unified British and Irish Lions rugby union team assembles every four years, [[Film/AvengersAssemble Avengers-style]], to tour the countries of the sport's Southern Hemisphere superpowers[[note]], rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa[[/note]]. In the likes of tennis (for Davis Cup etc.) and – as noted – the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames there is a combined British (i.e. UK) team.

The actual legal status of these three micro-states, where the British Government has no authority, yet the Queen does, is insanely complicated. Some idea of the complexity: the island of Sark, a semi-autonomous part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, was the last remaining feudal state in Europe until 2008. The island has a population of roughly 600.[[note]]Although it is now introducing democracy, a process instigated by resident billionaire twin brothers who own a sub-island, the same men have been accused by some locals of wanting to run it as their own personal fiefdom.[[/note]] The Isle of Man has the world's oldest continuous parliament, and is not a member of the European Union, and it has its own version of the pound not interchangeable with the British one... having said that, Manx coins will occasionally find their way into the UK proper and be accepted without comment as they look almost identical and are identical in value.[[note]]"Not interchangeable" simply means that the the Manx pound is not legal tender in the UK (though the pound sterling ''is'' legal tender on Man)--that is to say, if you are in, say, London and owe your friend a pound, she is within her rights to refuse if you try to pay it off with a Manx pound coin, but if you try to pay her with a British pound coin, she has to take it in satisfaction of the debt, and you can sue her if she still refuses. The exchange rate has been permanently set at 1 to 1. Theoretically, anyone traveling from the Isle of Man to the mainland is expected to go to an Isle of Man Bank office and exchange their Manx pounds for pounds sterling, but when it comes to coins they often don't bother.[[/note]] And, perhaps most famously, it is popularly thought to have no road speed limits, although it does.[[note]]The Isle of Man actually has speed limits, lots of them. The difference is that the roadsign which in Great Britain means 'national speed limit' (i.e. 60mph, or 70mph if there are multiple lanes), on Man means 'unlimited'. That is the only time there is no speed limit. However, the police can and will pull you over for driving like an idiot regardless of the (lack of) limit. It's like [[UsefulNotes/GermanPeculiarties the Autobahn]], basically. [[/note]]

The actual legal status of these three micro-states, where the British Government has no authority, yet the Queen does, is insanely complicated. Some idea of the complexity: the island of Sark, a semi-autonomous part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, was the last remaining feudal state in Europe until 2008. The island has a population of roughly 600.[[note]]Although it is now introducing democracy, a process instigated by resident billionaire twin brothers who own a sub-island, the same men have been accused by some locals of wanting to run it as their own personal fiefdom.[[/note]] The Isle of Man has the world's oldest continuous parliament, and is not a member of the European Union, and it has its own version of the pound not interchangeable with the British one... having said that, Manx coins will occasionally find their way into the UK proper and be accepted without comment as they look almost identical and are identical in value.[[note]]"Not interchangeable" simply means that the the Manx pound is not legal tender in the UK (though the pound sterling ''is'' legal tender on Man)--that is to say, if you are in, say, London and owe your friend a pound, she is within her rights to refuse if you try to pay it off with a Manx pound coin, but if you try to pay her with a British pound coin, she has to take it in satisfaction of the debt, and you can sue her if she still refuses. The exchange rate has been permanently set at 1 to 1. Theoretically, anyone traveling from the Isle of Man to the mainland is expected to go to an Isle of Man Bank office and exchange their Manx pounds for pounds sterling, but when it comes to coins they often don't bother.[[/note]] And, perhaps most famously, it is popularly thought to have no road speed limits, although it does.[[note]]The Isle of Man actually has speed limits, lots of them. The difference is that the roadsign which in Great Britain means 'national speed limit' (i.e. 60mph, or 70mph if there are multiple lanes), on Man means 'unlimited'. That is the only time there is no speed limit. However, the police can and will pull you over for driving like an idiot regardless of the (lack of) limit.[[/note]]

* '''Northern Ireland''' (a ''political'' term) takes up, as the name implies, (part of) the northeast of Ireland. It is often referred to as Ulster, though this can be politically sensitive as not all of the old Irish province of that name is actually inside Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland are divided about 60/40 between Unionists, mainly Protestant, who feel they are Brits; and Nationalists, mainly Catholic, who feel they are Irish, and currently the ruling coalition mandatorily incorporates parts of both sides. Anyone born in NI can choose to have British, Irish, or dual citizenship since the Good Friday Agreement to stop everyone [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles killing each other]]. [[note]]Northern Irish athletes with dual citizenship can elect to represent either the UK or the Republic of Ireland at the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames, for example.[[/note]]

English people usually don't really care whether they're called English or British. However, "British" is arguably used much less than it used to be, and people often tend to call themselves "English", or, if being pedantic, "UK citizens". Some left-leaning/liberal people in particular dislike "British" because of the imperial connotations ([[UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire British Empire]], British Army, etc.), in comparison with the nicer connotations of "English" (country lane, green field, [[BritishPubs pub]], etc.). English nationalists, on the other hand, who tend to be (but are not always) right-wing, may also object to it, as may nationalists from any other part of the UK. "Brit" can seem slightly derogatory, but "British" is usually OK.

Grrrr. Under no circumstances should the UK as a whole be referred to as "England", which hasn't been an independent country since 1707. It is wrong. ''Don't'' do it. Don't. This is a message many would like to get across to other nations, some of whose name for the UK in their own languages is exactly the word for England. Whether you're an overseas tourist, or a politician, or a movie star, please don't talk about the "English" response or the reception you receive in "England" when you mean the UK. You've just wiped three countries from the face of the map. If you're a pop star, don't come on stage in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast and scream "Hello, England!" (and for the love of all that is holy don't shout [[BritainIsOnlyLondon "Hello, London!"]]) – there is no quicker or more brutal way to lose an audience. If you're a comedian, you might ''just'' get away with it. (Yell "[[SymbolSwearing #*@%]] the English!", on the other hand, and they'll probably carry you off shoulder high...)

Of course, the existence of a "Great" Britain suggests the existence of a "Mediocre" Britain somewhere else that it needs a superlative to be distinguished from. A misconception that the term implies 'really rather jolly good' is perpetuated by slogans and titles that happily play on it, e.g. "the Great British Sausage" or ''Series/TheGreatBritishBakeOff''. In fact, the "Great" in this instance just means 'large' or 'main', to distinguish the island from that smaller nearby geographic area once known as Lesser, Less or Little Britain[[note]]not to be confused with ''LittleBritain''[[/note]] – the region of Brittany, now the northwest corner of France (''Bretagne'', as opposed to ''Grande Bretagne''), formerly semi-independent, often fought over throughout history. Breton, the ancient language of Brittany (now largely replaced by French), is Celtic; closely related to Cornish (see below), and more distantly to Welsh, it is therefore "British" in a linguistic sense.

Yes, although this is where it maybe gets even ''more'' confusing. "English" was for a long time an accepted generalisation for the whole country, including Scotland and the British parts of Ireland; this is reflected in several foreign names for the nation to this day. The word 'England' (and its foreign equivalents such as ''Angleterre'') derives from ''Angle-land'', after one of the successive waves of Germanic and Norse peoples – the [[UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons Angles and Saxons]], Jutes, Frisians, [[HornyVikings Danes and Norwegians]] – who invaded from northern Europe in the centuries of the '[[UsefulNotes/DarkAgeEurope Dark Ages]]' after the withdrawal and fall of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. Still earlier though, the tribes who controlled most of the south of the country were those known as the Brythonic Celts: specifically, the Celts of UsefulNotes/{{Cornwall}} and Wales (and the aforementioned Brittany in France), to distinguish them from the Gaelic Celts of Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is from them that the Romans named the whole island ''Britannia''. Thus, "British" is much the older idea, and for about the first millennium AD means 'Celtic', and is ''contrasted'' with "English" – for instance, the (probably) legendary KingArthur was far from being the proto-King of ''England'' many would describe, since the Anglo-Saxons were those very invaders that he and his Brythonic brethren sought to repel. A curious upshot of the above is that the various Celtic nationalists today, who object to being called "British", are British in that sense, whereas England is not!\\

Oh yes, the national sporting situation is predictably complicated. Demonstrating the density of this whole naming confusion, the UK's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain and Northern Ireland", but its International Olympic Committee country code is just GBR, and it is routinely referred to as merely "Team GB" – just the sort of reductive continuum that helps perpetuate the whole confusion that necessitates this page. In {{cricket}} the 'England' team technically represent England and Wales, while there is for instance a separate Ireland team that nonetheless sees not infrequent shifts of player loyalties to England (which is objectively a much better side, owing to the greater enthusiasm and thus funding and resources for cricket in England). In [[TheBeautifulGame association football]] meanwhile, the 'Home Nations' of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – and the Republic of Ireland – play as separate teams. In the sports of rugby union and rugby league, the various Irish issues are cut admirably straight through: a single unified Ireland team represents the whole island, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic; in addition, a super-unified British and Irish Lions rugby union team assembles every four years, [[Film/AvengersAssemble Avengers-style]], to tour the countries of the sport's Southern Hemisphere superpowers[[note]], rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa[[/note]]. In the likes of tennis (for Davis Cup etc.) and – as noted – the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames there is a combined British (i.e. UK) team.

* '''"Britain"''' (a ''geographical or political'' term, depending) has two meanings; (i) colloquially, as an abbreviation for Great Britain, and (ii) more formally, though confusingly, as a catch-all abbreviation for the United Kingdom. '''"British"''' does officially denote someone from any part of the UK, although some may object to being so-called: thus, a Northern Irish person is legally British (politics aside), even though not from Great Britain. This is because there is no precise single word to describe "a citizen of the United Kingdom", so "British" is the most convenient shorthand; a more accurate term would be "UK-er" or "Kingdomite", say, but there is no such term in practice. [[note]] This unsatisfactory linguistic situation mirrors the way the Americas cover much more than just one country, yet "American" is generally used for people/things from the USA in the absence of a more literal term like "USA-er". Though there is Yank.[[/note]]

* '''Northern Ireland''' (a ''political'' term) takes up, as the name implies, (part of) the northeast of Ireland. It is often referred to as Ulster, though this can be politically sensitive as not all of the old Irish province of that name is actually inside Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland are divided about 60/40 between Unionists, mainly Protestant, who feel they are Brits; and Nationalists, mainly Catholic, who feel they are Irish, and currently the ruling coalition mandatorily incorporates parts of both sides. Anyone born in NI can choose to have British, Irish, or dual citizenship since the Good Friday Agreement to stop everyone [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles killing each other]]. [[note]]Northern Irish athletes with dual citizenship can elect to represent either the UK or the Republic of Ireland at the OlympicGames, for example.[[/note]]

Oh yes, the national sporting situation is predictably complicated. Demonstrating the density of this whole naming confusion, the UK's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain and Northern Ireland", but its International Olympic Committee country code is just GBR, and it is routinely referred to as merely "Team GB" – just the sort of reductive continuum that helps perpetuate the whole confusion that necessitates this page. In {{cricket}} the 'England' team technically represent England and Wales, while there is for instance a separate Ireland team that nonetheless sees not infrequent shifts of player loyalties to England (which is objectively a much better side, owing to the greater enthusiasm and thus funding and resources for cricket in England). In [[TheBeautifulGame association football]] meanwhile, the 'Home Nations' of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – and the Republic of Ireland – play as separate teams. In the sports of rugby union and rugby league, the various Irish issues are cut admirably straight through: a single unified Ireland team represents the whole island, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic; in addition, a super-unified British and Irish Lions rugby union team assembles every four years, [[Film/AvengersAssemble Avengers-style]], to tour the countries of the sport's Southern Hemisphere superpowers[[note]], rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa[[/note]]. In the likes of tennis (for Davis Cup etc.) and – as noted – the OlympicGames there is a combined British (i.e. UK) team.

[[AC:England...Britain...Great Britain...The UK...The United Kingdom...[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]]...The British Isles...]]

There is no nation in the world called "Great Britain." There's none called "Britain" either – though there ''kind of'' is. It's complicated.

This may sound strange and contrary, but it's all true. There was once a nation-state of just Great Britain, but not for over 200 years now; there has been no nation-state called England for over 300. The United Kingdom as it exists in modern times is a compound of four member countries. Yet it is a matter of much frustration to many of their residents – in particular those from the nation's smaller constituent countries, but to English people too – that the terms "Britain", "Great Britain" and "United Kingdom" remain not only often synonymous with each other but, most annoyingly, with "England" in the minds of foreigners [[TheyJustDidntCare (and many ignorant natives...)]]. The distinctions between all these frequently overlapping and vaguely similar-sounding names can be lost on many people, meaning the different terms are frequently used interchangeably, but the political and cultural structure of the kingdom is rather more complicated than that. At present, it is thus (see the image below right for a visual representation):

* '''Great Britain''' (a ''geographical'' term) is the largest of those islands, upon which sit the countries of: England (taking up the centre down to the bottom); UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} (the pointy protrusion on the lower middle-left, sticking out to the west); and UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} (taking up the top of the island). The numerous small islands scattered around its coastline – the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, the Isles of the Clyde, the Northern Isles, etc. – are all (bar the Isle of Man) part of these three and are usually lumped in with GB for convenience.\\
To call someone "Great British" is practically unknown. The only context in which a collective term for the three GB countries is really necessary is Northern Ireland, where Great Britons are often called "Mainlanders".\\
Of course, the existence of a "Great" Britain suggests the existence of a "Mediocre" Britain somewhere else that it needs a superlative to be distinguished from. A misconception that the term implies 'really good' is perpetuated by slogans and titles that happily play on it, e.g. "the Great British Sausage" or ''Series/TheGreatBritishBakeOff''. In fact, the "Great" in this instance just means 'large' or 'main', to distinguish the island from that nearby geographic area once known as Lesser, Less or Little Britain[[note]]not to be confused with ''LittleBritain''[[/note]] – the region of Brittany, now the northwest corner of France (''Bretagne'', as opposed to ''Grande Bretagne''), formerly semi-independent, often fought over throughout history. Breton, the ancient language of Brittany (now largely replaced by French), is Celtic; closely related to Cornish (see below), and more distantly to Welsh, it is therefore "British" in a linguistic sense.

* '''Northern Ireland''' (a ''political'' term) takes up, as the name implies, (part of) the northeast of Ireland. It is often referred to as Ulster, though this can be politically sensitive as not all of the old Irish province of that name is actually inside Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland are divided about 60/40 between Unionists, mainly Protestant, who feel they are Brits; and Nationalists, mainly Catholic, who feel they are Irish, and currently the ruling coalition mandatorily incorporates parts of both sides. Note that in the Republic and in Northern Ireland the terms Unionist, Loyalist, Nationalist, and Republican are all distinct and loaded. Unionists want to remain a part of the United Kingdom; Loyalists are militantly committed to that belief. Nationalists want to be unified with the rest of the Republic of Ireland; Republicans are militantly committed to that belief. Loyalists are Unionists and Republicans are Nationalists, but not all Unionists are Loyalists and not all Nationalists are Republicans. There are also subtle political differences between all four of these categories which just confounds the matter further.[[note]]Note also that a very, ''very'' small minority of Unionists supports the abolition of the British monarchy and is therefore "republican." You can safely ignore the existence of these people, but they do exist. Monarchist Nationalists used to exist before the establishment of the Republic of Ireland made that beyond-extremely unlikely.[[/note]]\\
Anyone born in NI can choose to have British, Irish, or dual citizenship since the Good Friday Agreement to stop everyone [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles killing each other]]. [[note]]Northern Irish athletes with dual citizenship can elect to represent either the UK or the Republic of Ireland at the OlympicGames, for example.[[/note]]

In short, to summarise the most common error:\\

[[AC:Some historical context, where it gets even ''more'' confusing.]]\\
"English" was for a long time an accepted generalisation for the whole country, including Scotland and the British parts of Ireland; this is reflected in several foreign names for the nation to this day. The word 'England' (and its foreign equivalents such as ''Angleterre'') derives from ''Angle-land'', after one of the successive waves of Germanic and Norse peoples – the [[UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons Angles and Saxons]], Jutes, Frisians, [[HornyVikings Danes and Norwegians]] – who invaded from northern Europe in the centuries of 'UsefulNotes/DarkAgeEurope' after the withdrawal and fall of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. Still earlier though, the tribes who controlled most of the south of the country were those known as the Brythonic Celts: specifically, the Celts of UsefulNotes/{{Cornwall}} and Wales (and the aforementioned Brittany in France), to distinguish them from the Gaelic Celts of Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is from them that the Romans named the whole island ''Britannia''. Thus, "British" for about the first millennium AD means 'Celtic', and is ''contrasted'' with "English" – for instance, the legendary KingArthur was far from being the proto-King of ''England'' many would describe, since the Anglo-Saxons were those very invaders that he and his Brythonic brethren sought to repel. A curious upshot of the above is that the various Celtic nationalists today, who object to being called "British", are British in that sense, whereas England is not!\\
'British' in the modern sense was basically invented when King James VI of Scotland became also [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfStuart James I of England]] when he succeeded [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor Elizabeth I]] in 1603 and united the two thrones. Nowadays, the technical usage states that 'Britain' is simply a collective term for everything that can be British; it is now used explicitly as an extension covering everywhere presided over by they who preside over Great Britain and so, technically, places like UsefulNotes/TheFalklandIslands and UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}} are ''in'' Britain. This isn't really held up, though, for [[UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar obvious reasons]].

[[AC:So who can we really call 'British' now?]]\\
English people usually don't really care whether they're called English or British. However, "British" is arguably used much less than it used to be, and people often tend to call themselves "English", or, if being pedantic, "UK citizens". Some left-leaning/liberal people in particular dislike "British" because of the imperial connotations (British Empire, British Army, etc.), in comparison with the nicer connotations of "English" (country lane, green field, [[BritishPubs pub]], etc.). English nationalists, on the other hand, who tend to be (but are not always) right-wing, may also object to it, as may nationalists from any other part of the UK. "Brit" can seem slightly derogatory, but "British" is usually OK.

While English and some Welsh people will generally refer to themselves as British, the Scots and Northern Irish frequently won't, possibly because they weren't part of the Roman 'Britannia' and tradition has stuck. (While those from the North of England like to insist they weren't actually ''conquered'' by the Romans, so can sometimes be bracketed with the Scottish and Irish in this respect, they may equally well choose to say they are British even more because of this fact.) If you refer to a Scot or a Welshman as "British", the vast majority will just accept this, although the more nationalist may insist on a local term--and although on a kind of cultural level this may be correct depending on your point of view, from a strict legal perspective, this is wrong, as Scottish and Welsh people are all British citizens, as are the vast majority of Northern Irish.[[note]]Northern Irish people are automatically citizens of the UK upon birth, but are entitled to citizenship in the Republic of Ireland, and some Nationalists might renounce British citizenship and take up exclusive ROI citizenship, hence "mostly." Because of the special relationship between the ROI and UK and their common membership in the EU, this switch is almost entirely symbolic, as going from one to the other does not deprive you of any rights or grant any particularly significant new ones, other than no longer being subject to the (highly unlikely) conscription and some subtle differences in random foreign countries' visa policies.[[/note]] Whatever happens, "British" is right, and "English" is ''not''. Apart from being separated by borders, this is (as touched upon above) because the Scottish Highlanders and the Welsh, plus the Irish, Manx (of the Isle of Man) and Cornish can trace their heritage back to the Celts who inhabited these isles since before the Romans, let alone the 'English', came[[note]](this can be a controversial view: Oppenheimer argues that Germanic people have also been here since pre-Roman times)[[/note]] – whereas the 'native' English descend mainly from the consecutive Germanic and Norman ([[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys read: stinkin' French]]) conquests, and can be, and sometimes are, still viewed as "outsiders" and "invaders" by more radical nationalists in Wales or Scotland. Hence ''Sassenach'', Gaelic for "Saxon" and a derogatory Scottish word for English person.[[note]]It cuts both ways – the ancient Brythonic word from which ''Cymru'', the Welsh for "Wales", derived, meant 'friend'; the English term ''Wales'', though, derived from a word meaning 'stranger' or 'enemy'![[/note]] Lowland Scottish culture is also mainly of Germanic origin (south-east Scotland has been Germanic as long as England has), and the dialect, [[UsefulNotes/ScottishEnglish Scots]], is of English – unlike Gaelic, which used to be the Highland language, and is still spoken in a few areas. Also, the far north of Scotland (Orkney, Shetland and part of Caithness) has a more Scandinavian heritage – it was, after all, closer for the Vikings to reach – and though its language, Norn, died out in the 19th century, some Orcadians and Shetlanders still insist they are not Scottish.\\

Northern Ireland, famously, is where terminology is especially contentious. If you refer to a Nationalist-minded Northern Irish person as "British", you may get chewed out. If you ''fail'' to refer to a Unionist-minded Northern Irish person as "British", you may get chewed out. "Ulster" is a loaded term, being mainly used by Unionists and giving the appearance of historical legitimacy to the province, which is rejected by Nationalists, especially as it makes up only 2/3 of historical Ulster: Counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan are part of the traditional province, but are now part of the Republic of Ireland.[[note]]Ironically, the most northerly part of the island is not in Northern Ireland but in fact in County Donegal.[[/note]]. "Ulsterman" may thus be taken as offensive by NI Nationalists and Republicans, or by citizens of the ROI – although, in truth, a lot of people in the Republic are less bothered by this sort of thing. "Northern Irish" is usually a good neutral choice, although some extreme Republicans will vehemently not use it, and insist on "the occupied six counties" or some similar formulation. Exercise maximal caution, generally.

If you refer to someone from The Republic of Ireland as British... well, don't. Just don't. Aside from being generally incorrect, as the ROI does not have anywhere near the concentration of British-descended persons in its population as Northern Ireland does, it's mainly because... well... it's a completely different country, it's considered impolite. At best.[[note]]Think of it like calling a Canadian "American", or vice versa, although considering the history it is more similar to calling a Polish person "German".[[/note]] Using "English" is basically the same. Some Irish people object to the geographic term "The British Isles" as well, seeing it as implies Ireland is politically "British" (i.e. part of the UK), and prefer "The British and Irish Isles".

[[AC:So I think we've got that whole "British" thing straight. Remind me, then, where does "England" come in?]]\\
Under no circumstances should the UK as a whole be referred to as "England", which hasn't been an independent country since 1707. It is wrong. Don't do it. Don't. This is a message many would like to get across to other nations, some of whose name for the UK in their own languages is exactly the word for England. Whether you're an overseas tourist or a politician or a movie star, please don't talk about the "English" response or the reception you receive in "England" when you mean the UK. If you're a pop star, don't come on stage in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast and scream "Hello, England!" (and for the love of all that is holy don't shout [[BritainIsOnlyLondon "Hello, London!"]]) – there is no quicker or more brutal way to lose an audience. If you're a comedian, you might ''just'' get away with it. (Yell "[[SymbolSwearing #*@%]] the English!", on the other hand, and they'll probably carry you off shoulder high...)

Seriously, though. If you get all this wrong, you will be forgiven. It's an easy mistake to make. There is a reason for it. England ''does'' cover over half of the UK's total land area, and ''does'' contain the vast majority (around 53 million out of 63m, currently) of its population. Even Brits get mixed up often enough – after all, even the title of this article is wrong: "Britain" and "the UK" technically refer to the same thing; it should read ''Great'' Britain Versus The UK – and until [[NewerThanTheyThink More Recently Than They Think]] it was accepted practice ([[DoubleStandard at least by the English]]) for [[{{QI}} "England" and "Britain" to be interchangeable terms]].

Just watch out for the Scots. They long have a reputation as being '[[BadAss the hard lot from up north.]]' Some of them are nationalists and will not tolerate one step out of line, saying it arises from the Union, which is the root of all evil. Some are unionists... who will not tolerate a step out of line, because it undermines the Union and drives people into the arms of the Nats. Some of them, we shan't name any names, have a reaction resembling an enraged [[Series/DoctorWho Dalek]].
[[Series/DoctorWho DO-NOT-BLAS-PHEME!]]

[[AC:Oh good. It's all quite simple really, isn't it?]]\\

More generally the national sporting team situation is predictably complicated. Demonstrating the density of this naming confusion, the UK's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain and Northern Ireland", but its International Olympic Committee country code is just GBR, and it is routinely referred to as merely "Team GB" – a sort of reductive continuum that helps perpetuate the whole confusion that necessitates this page. In {{cricket}} the 'England' team technically represent England and Wales, while there is for instance a separate Ireland team that nonetheless sees not infrequent shifts of player loyalties to England (which is objectively a much better side, owing to the greater enthusiasm and thus funding and resources for cricket in England). In [[TheBeautifulGame association football]] meanwhile, the 'Home Nations' of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – and the Republic of Ireland – play as separate teams. In the sports of rugby union and rugby league, the various Irish issues are cut admirably straight through: a single unified Ireland team represents the whole island, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic; in addition, a super-unified British and Irish Lions rugby union team assembles every four years, [[Film/AvengersAssemble Avengers-style]], to tour the countries of the sport's Southern Hemisphere superpowers[[note]], rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa[[/note]]. In the likes of tennis (for Davis Cup etc.) and – as noted – the OlympicGames there is a combined British (i.e. UK) team.\\
Two of these conflicting methodologies clash, and cause a particular problem, for football (soccer) at the Olympics. The UK has traditionally not entered the football tournament, for fear that fielding a unified British team would be regarded as 'setting a precedent' that could lead to the four individual nations losing their right to have separate teams the rest of the time. The fear is so bad that, when it was decided to enter a "Team GB" football side (for the first time in decades) for their 'home' Olympics at the London 2012 Games, the Scottish, Welsh and [Northern] Irish Football Associations were united in support of entering an all-English team.[[note]](In the end five Welshmen were in the squad alongside 13 Englishmen, while the women's squad featured 17 Englishwomen and two Scots.)[[/note]] On the other hand, the fielding of a unified British team for rugby union, which will return to the Olympics in 2016 in the cut-down 'sevens' format[[note]](seven players a side, playing on a standard-sized field, with 7-minute halves)[[/note]], was no problem for the International Rugby Board – the IRB endorsed the concept of a combined British Olympic sevens team back in 2011.

With devolution (the transferring of certain legislative powers to local governing bodies, the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly) and increasing Scottish and Welsh nationalism, even the English are getting more and more picky about these matters of designation. Many English people get annoyed when people from the UK are either "Scottish" (and occasionally, if they're lucky, "Welsh" or "Northern Irish") or "British", but rarely "English"... at least, not in any positive context. The frustration is that the English are often only separated out when it comes to criticism: for example, Americans may talk about getting independence from "the English" as if the Scots and Welsh had nothing to do with it. There are also more and more English who dislike the use of the UK's Union Flag or national anthem ''God Save [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen The Queen]]'' in relation to purely English matters, for example English sports teams.\\
Let's not even get started on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lothian_question "West Lothian question"]]: the idea that a Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish member (MP) of the UK Parliament in London can still vote on policies that, since devolution, purely concern England and not their home region if responsibility for the policy area (e.g. health, education) is devolved there to a regional legislative body. That is, when such policy is separately governed locally by the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly or Northern Irish Assembly, these [=MPs=]' decisions ''can not affect their own'' constituents — yet they ''can'' still affect the electorate in English [=MPs=]' constituencies, even though the reverse is not possible. This tramples on the Great British Sense of Fair Play™.

[[AC:Hold on, there's more...]]\\
The auspices of the United Kingdom extend beyond just Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK also has fourteen '''British Overseas Territories''' scattered across the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic (e.g. UsefulNotes/TheFalklandIslands) and good old UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}}, which are under its sovereignty, but not as part of the United Kingdom itself. Americans can consider them much like Guam or Puerto Rico are to the USA, although, naturally, there are differences.

Closer to home, there are the three '''Crown Dependencies''' too: the ''Bailiwick of Jersey'' and the ''Bailiwick of Guernsey'' (which between them cover UsefulNotes/TheChannelIslands) and the ''Isle of Man''. These are all ''possessions'' of the Crown, i.e. subject to the British monarchy, which must give final assent to their laws, but are not within the United Kingdom politically; each has its own Chief Minister and body for internal legislation, although all are treated as part of the UK for British nationality law purposes and are dependent upon it for international representation, defence etc.\\
Despite having this quirk, the Isle of Man is part of the geographic British Isles, lying in the middle of the northern Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland[[note]](its more 'southerly' apparent position in the diagram at the top of this page is thanks to it being represented schematically as part of the Crown Dependencies)[[/note]]. A generic application of "Britain" will usually take in the Channel Islands as well, although the latter lie some way off on the far side of the English Channel, just off the northern French coast. The actual legal status of these three micro-states is insanely complicated.
* Some idea of the complexity: the island of Sark, a semi-autonomous part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, was the last remaining feudal state in Europe until 2008. The island has a population of roughly 600. Although it is now introducing democracy, a process instigated by resident billionaire twin brothers who own a sub-island, the same men have been accused by some locals of wanting to run it as their own personal fiefdom.
* And the Isle of Man has the world's oldest continuous parliament, and is not a member of the European Union, and is popularly thought to have no road speed limits. As suggested, the British Government has no authority there, yet the Queen does, and it has its own version of the pound not interchangeable with the British one... having said that, Manx coins will occasionally find their way into the UK proper and be accepted without comment as they look almost identical and are identical in value.[[note]]"Not interchangeable" simply means that the the Manx pound is not legal tender in the UK (though the pound sterling ''is'' legal tender on the Isle of Man)--that is to say, if you are in, say, London and owe your friend a pound, she is within her rights to refuse if you try to pay it off with a Manx pound coin, but if you try to pay her with a British pound coin, she has to take it in satisfaction of the debt, and you can sue her if she still refuses. The exchange rate has been permanently set at 1 to 1. Theoretically, anyone traveling from the Isle of Man to the mainland is expected to go to an Isle of Man Bank office and exchange their Manx pounds for pounds sterling, but when it comes to coins they often don't bother.[[/note]]
** The Isle of Man does actually have speed limits. It has lots of them. The difference is that the roadsign which in Great Britain means 'national speed limit' (i.e. 60mph limit or 70mph if there are multiple lanes), on Man means 'unlimited'. That is the only time there is no speed limit. However, the police can and will pull you over for driving like an idiot regardless of the (lack of) limit.

* And the Isle of Man has the world's oldest continuous parliament, and is not a member of the European Union, and is popularly thought to have no road speed limits. As suggested, the British Government has no authority there, yet the Queen does, and it has its own version of the pound not interchangeable with the British one... having said that, Manx coins will occasionally find their way into the UK proper and be accepted without comment as they look almost identical and are identical in value.[[note]]"Not interchangeable" simply means that the the Manx pound is not legal tender in the UK (though the pound sterling ''is'' legal tender on the Isle of Man)--that is to say, if you are in, say, London and try to pay for something with a Manx pound coin, the shopkeeper is within his rights to refuse to accept it, but if you try to pay for the same thing with a British pound coin in London or on the Isle of Man, the shopkeeper ''does'' have to accept it, and you can sue him if he refuses. The exchange rate has been permanently set at 1 to 1. Theoretically, anyone traveling from the Isle of Man to the mainland is expected to go to an Isle of Man Bank office and exchange their Manx pounds for pounds sterling, but when it comes to coins they often don't bother.[[/note]]

* And the Isle of Man has the world's oldest continuous parliament, and is not a member of the European Union, and is popularly thought to have no road speed limits. As suggested, the British Government has no authority there, yet the Queen does, and it has its own version of the pound not interchangeable with the British one... having said that, Manx coins will occasionally find their way into the UK proper and be accepted without comment as they look almost identical and are identical in value.[[note]]"Not interchangeable" simply means that the the Manx pound is not legal tender in the UK (though the pound sterling ''is'' legal tender on the Isle of Man). The exchange rate has been permanently set at 1 to 1. Theoretically, anyone traveling from the Isle of Man to the mainland is expected to go to an Isle of Man Bank office and exchange their Manx pounds for pounds sterling, but when it comes to coins they often don't bother.[[/note]]

More generally the national sporting team situation is predictably complicated. Demonstrating the density of this naming confusion, the UK's Olympic team competes under the name "Great Britain and Northern Ireland", but its International Olympic Committee country code is just GBR, and it is routinely referred to as merely "Team GB" – a sort of reductive continuum that helps perpetuate the whole confusion that necessitates this page. In {{cricket}} the 'England' team technically represent England and Wales, while there is for instance a separate Ireland team that nonetheless sees not infrequent shifts of player loyalties to England. In [[TheBeautifulGame association football]] meanwhile, the 'Home Nations' of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – and the Republic of Ireland – play as separate teams. In the sports of rugby union and rugby league, the various Irish issues are cut admirably straight through: a single unified Ireland team represents the whole island, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic; in addition, a super-unified British and Irish Lions rugby union team assembles every four years, [[Film/AvengersAssemble Avengers-style]], to tour the countries of the sport's Southern Hemisphere superpowers[[note]], rotating between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa[[/note]]. In the likes of tennis (for Davis Cup etc.) and – as noted – the OlympicGames there is a combined British (i.e. UK) team.\\

* '''The British Isles''' (a ''geographical'' term) are a collection of islands [[WithEuropeButNotOfIt off the north-west coast of continental Europe]], upon which sit two sovereign states – the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – and also the Isle of Man (see below), which has a peculiar status all its own.[[note]]Stretching the remit somewhat, out into the north Atlantic, arguably incorporates the Faroe Isles (part of Denmark) too – but let's not make things any more complicated than they're about to get already.[[/note]]\\

If you refer to someone from The Republic of Ireland as British... well, don't. Just don't. Aside from being generally incorrect, as the ROI does not have anywhere near the concentration of British-descended persons in its population as Northern Ireland does, it's mainly because... well... it's a completely different country, it's considered impolite. At best.[[note]]Think of it like calling a Canadian "American", or vice versa.[[/note]] Using "English" is basically the same. Some Irish people object to the geographic term "The British Isles" as well, seeing it as implies Ireland is politically "British" (i.e. part of the UK), and prefer "The British and Irish Isles".

* '''Northern Ireland''' (a ''political'' term) takes up, as the name implies, (part of) the northeast of Ireland. It is often referred to as Ulster, though this can be politically sensitive as not all of the old Irish province of that name is actually inside Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland are divided about 60/40 between Unionists, mainly Protestant, who feel they are Brits; and Nationalists, mainly Catholic, who feel they are Irish, and currently the ruling coalition incorporates parts of both sides. Note that in the Republic and in Northern Ireland the terms Unionist, Loyalist, Nationalist, and Republican are all distinct and loaded. Unionists want to remain a part of the United Kingdom; Loyalists are militantly committed to that belief. Nationalists want to be unified with the rest of the island as a free republic; Republicans are militantly committed to that belief. Loyalists are Unionists and Republicans are Nationalists, but not all Unionists are Loyalists and not all Nationalists are Republicans. There are also subtle political differences between all four of these categories which just confounds the matter further.[[note]]Note also that a very, ''very'' small minority of Unionists supports the abolition of the British monarchy and is therefore "republican." You can safely ignore the existence of these people, but they do exist. Monarchist Nationalists used to exist before the establishment of the Republic of Ireland made that beyond extremely unlikely.[[/note]]\\
Anyone born in NI can choose to have British, Irish, or dual citizenship since the Good Friday Agreement to stop [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles killing each other]]. [[note]]Northern Irish athletes with dual citizenship can elect to represent either the UK or the Republic of Ireland at the OlympicGames, for example.[[/note]]
* '''The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''' (a ''political'' term, one of the [[OverlyLongName longest nation titles in the world]] but known as the '''United Kingdom''' for short or '''UK''' for shortest) comprises the island of Great Britain and its associated islands, and Northern Ireland. It has over 60 million people within its four constituent countries (though only England and UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} are invariably referred to as 'countries'; UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} is still sometimes described as a 'principality' and UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland usually as a 'province'), and is a nation state and a fairly major player in world affairs.\\

English people usually don't really care whether they're called English or British. However, "British" is arguably used much less than it used to be, and people often tend to call themselves "English", or, if being pedantic, "UK citizens". Some left-leaning/liberal people in particular dislike "British" because of the imperial connotations (British Empire, British Army, etc.), in comparison with the nicer connotations of "English" (country lane, green field, [[BritishPubs pub]], etc.). English nationalists, on the other hand, who tend to be (but are not always) right-wing, may also object to it, especially now that Scotland seems to be sort of heading for independence[[note]](although many a Canadian will say "Yes, and Québec has been a sovereign state since 1995")[[/note]]. "Brit" can seem slightly derogatory, but "British" is usually OK.

While English and some Welsh people will generally refer to themselves as British, the Scots and Northern Irish frequently won't, possibly because they weren't part of the Roman 'Britannia' and tradition has stuck. (While those from the North of England like to insist they weren't actually ''conquered'' by the Romans, so can sometimes be bracketed with the Scottish and Irish in this respect, they may equally well choose to say they are British even more because of this fact.) If you refer to a Scot or a Welshman as "British", the vast majority will just accept this, although the more nationalist may insist on a local term--and although on a kind of cultural level this may be correct depending on your point of view, from a strict legal perspective, this is wrong, as Scottish and Welsh people are all British citizens, as are the vast majority of Northern Irish.[[note]]Northern Irish people are automatically citizens of the UK upon birth, but are entitled to citizenship in the Republic of Ireland, and some Nationalists might renounce British citizenship and take up exclusive ROI citizenship, hence "mostly."[[/note]] Whatever happens, "British" is right, and "English" is ''not''. Apart from being separated by borders, this is (as touched upon above) because the Scottish Highlanders and the Welsh, plus the Irish, Manx (of the Isle of Man) and Cornish can trace their heritage back to the Celts who inhabited these isles since before the Romans, let alone the 'English', came[[note]](this can be a controversial view: Oppenheimer argues that Germanic people have also been here since pre-Roman times)[[/note]] – whereas the 'native' English descend mainly from the consecutive Germanic and Norman ([[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys read: stinkin' French]]) conquests, and can be, and sometimes are, still viewed as "outsiders" and "invaders" by more radical nationalists in Wales or Scotland. Hence ''Sassenach'', Gaelic for "Saxon" and a derogatory Scottish word for English person.[[note]]It cuts both ways – the ancient Brythonic word from which ''Cymru'', the Welsh for "Wales", derived, meant 'friend'; the English term ''Wales'', though, derived from a word meaning 'stranger' or 'enemy'![[/note]] Lowland Scottish culture is also mainly of Germanic origin (south-east Scotland has been Germanic as long as England has), and the dialect, [[UsefulNotes/ScottishEnglish Scots]], is of English – unlike Gaelic, which used to be the Highland language, and is still spoken in a few areas. Also, the far north of Scotland (Orkney, Shetland and part of Caithness) has a more Scandinavian heritage – it was, after all, closer for the Vikings to reach – and though its language, Norn, died out in the 19th century, some Orcadians and Shetlanders still insist they are not Scottish.\\

While English and some Welsh people will generally refer to themselves as British, the Scots and Northern Irish frequently won't, possibly because they weren't part of the Roman 'Britannia' and tradition has stuck. (While those from the North of England like to insist they weren't actually ''conquered'' by the Romans, so can sometimes be bracketed with the Scottish and Irish in this respect, they may equally well choose to say they are British even more because of this fact.) If you refer to a Scot or a Welshman as "British", the vast majority will just accept this, although the more nationalist may insist on a local term. Whatever happens, "British" is right, and "English" is ''not''. Apart from being separated by borders, this is (as touched upon above) because the Scottish Highlanders and the Welsh, plus the Irish, Manx (of the Isle of Man) and Cornish can trace their heritage back to the Celts who inhabited these isles since before the Romans, let alone the 'English', came[[note]](this can be a controversial view: Oppenheimer argues that Germanic people have also been here since pre-Roman times)[[/note]] – whereas the 'native' English descend mainly from the consecutive Germanic and Norman ([[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys read: stinkin' French]]) conquests, and can be, and sometimes are, still viewed as "outsiders" and "invaders" by more radical nationalists in Wales or Scotland. Hence ''Sassenach'', Gaelic for "Saxon" and a derogatory Scottish word for English person.[[note]]It cuts both ways – the ancient Brythonic word from which ''Cymru'', the Welsh for "Wales", derived, meant 'friend'; the English term ''Wales'', though, derived from a word meaning 'stranger' or 'enemy'![[/note]] Lowland Scottish culture is also mainly of Germanic origin (south-east Scotland has been Germanic as long as England has), and the dialect, [[UsefulNotes/ScottishEnglish Scots]], is of English – unlike Gaelic, which used to be the Highland language, and is still spoken in a few areas. Also, the far north of Scotland (Orkney, Shetland and part of Caithness) has a more Scandinavian heritage – it was, after all, closer for the Vikings to reach – and though its language, Norn, died out in the 19th century, some Orcadians and Shetlanders still insist they are not Scottish.\\

Before we delve into details, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10 C. G. P. Grey]] has a good (if slightly wrong) summary of the issue, as well as an introduction to the relationship between all of these, the Crown, the [[UsefulNotes/TheChannelIslands Crown]] [[UsefulNotes/IsleOfMan Dependencies]], the [[TheBritishEmpire Overseas Territories]], the Commonwealth Realms, and {{God}}. Yes, God.

* And the Isle of Man has the world's oldest continuous parliament, and is not a member of the European Union, and is popularly thought to have no road speed limits. As suggested, the British Government has no authority there, yet the Queen does, and it has its own version of the pound not interchangeable with the British one... having said that, Manx coins will occasionally find their way into the UK proper and be accepted without comment as they look almost identical.

"English" was for a long time an accepted generalisation for the whole country, including Scotland and the British parts of Ireland; this is reflected in several foreign names for the nation to this day. The word 'England' (and its foreign equivalents such as ''Angleterre'') derives from ''Angle-land'', after one of the successive waves of Germanic and Norse peoples – the [[UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons Angles and Saxons]], Jutes, Frisians, [[HornyVikings Danes and Norwegians]] – who invaded from northern Europe in the centuries of 'DarkAgeEurope' after the withdrawal and fall of TheRomanEmpire. Still earlier though, the tribes who controlled most of the south of the country were those known as the Brythonic Celts: specifically, the Celts of UsefulNotes/{{Cornwall}} and Wales (and the aforementioned Brittany in France), to distinguish them from the Gaelic Celts of Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is from them that the Romans named the whole island ''Britannia''. Thus, "British" for about the first millennium AD means 'Celtic', and is ''contrasted'' with "English" – for instance, the legendary KingArthur was far from being the proto-King of ''England'' many would describe, since the Anglo-Saxons were those very invaders that he and his Brythonic brethren sought to repel. A curious upshot of the above is that the various Celtic nationalists today, who object to being called "British", are British in that sense, whereas England is not!\\
'British' in the modern sense was basically invented when King James VI of Scotland became also [[TheHouseOfStuart James I of England]] when he succeeded [[TheHouseOfTudor Elizabeth I]] in 1603 and united the two thrones. Nowadays, the technical usage states that 'Britain' is simply a collective term for everything that can be British; it is now used explicitly as an extension covering everywhere presided over by they who preside over Great Britain and so, technically, places like UsefulNotes/TheFalklandIslands and UsefulNotes/{{Gibraltar}} are ''in'' Britain. This isn't really held up, though, for [[UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar obvious reasons]].