Question re Scotland, Ireland, and England

[gryffinjack]

I've asked my most trusted sources of information and nobody seems to know the answers to these questions that may seem peculiar here in the States

Comments

[godrics_h]

As I understand it, England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland are countries under the header of 'United Kingdom' I think Great Britain refers to the main land mass?
The territories are Shires I think, like my sister lives in Cambridgeshire, but over a wider area is also called 'The Fens'. I dont know, Im just Australian.

Im sure a real Brit will be along shortly to sort it out!~lol

[alkari]

You should also check the CIA site - its World Factbook is really fabulous!! Here is the link to the entry all about the UK:-

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uk.html

And this is a link to an article which gives you more than you ever thought you wanted to know about the term "county" as it applies in the UK:-
http://www.abcounties.co.uk/counties/confusion.htm

[alkari]

OK, here is the Wikipedia description for you

[pelirroja_ljc]

Merilyn really explained it well. The only thing I can add is to stress that it is Northern Ireland that is considered part of the UK. The Irish Republic in the South (or just plain old Ireland) is a completely different nation. Many Irish would become irate if you referred to them as part of the UK.

[eir_de_scania]

You mean there are some Irish who *doesn't* become irate if you call them British? ;-)

[xtineebee]

Acutally, I'd also strongly recommend against using the term "British" to certain scots & welshmen. It isn't *quite* so bad as calling them English (which will get you a boot up the arse in certain situations) but there is a strong resurgence of nationality in both these countries. The Scots winning their own Parliament was a major turn - even if said building is rather, well, misunderstood as a work of modern art.

Rhyddid!

[eir_de_scania]

On this site:http://english2american.com/ you can find some info about British geography and currency along with the English-to-American dictionary. Including a VERY crude map, missing all the smaller islands... :-P

[gryffinjack]

Thank you so much for clearing that up! That's quite an interesting lesson. It's been bothering me for quite some time! I also really enjoyed the site with the differences between British and American English.

[eir_de_scania]

I forgot to say that among the isles not featured in the map, is the Isle of Man, which has its own peculiar status...

http://www.gov.im/

http://www.gov.im/