This is neat, an easy way to visualize the difference between the United Kingdom and the British Isles. Because you know, sometimes we forget...*ahem*

http://qntm.org/?uk

You sure that's right??

Hi Starlagurl,

That's brilliant! I spend so much time trying to explain how my country is set up. This will make it a breeze.

Why don't you set up a forum dealing with the differences between British English and North American English? It might be hard to keep it clean, but it should be fun.

Cheers
Martin

That might be good. I'm sure there are probably a lot more differences than you'd reckon!

Great idea 'travellers'..

It is incorrect as Northern Ireland (and the Irish Republic) and NOT part of the British Isles.

The UK bit is right (UK is Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

What about the Channel Islands, and the Orkney Islands, and the Shetlands and ohhhhhh the countless other islands, they all confuse me greatly.

Sorry mate but Wikipedia begs to differ. It also includes all those other scilly islands speckled about the place.

Orkney, Shetland Inner and Outer Hebrides and every other little island round Scotland (not counting the Isle of Man) are all part of Scotland.

[font=Comic Sans Ms][size=4] Best not to see wikipedia as the final word!

Hmmm, interesting.

I didn't know that difference between Great Britain and United Kingdom. (although I will probably forget it soon anyway.)

I am no expert on this subject and should probably stay out of it - but my thinking would have been the term British Isles is a more geographical one than political and so would include Ireland.

But thinking and looking at that diagram again - it seems that Britain is made up of England, Wales and Scotland - so perhaps it does make sense that the British Isles are the islands and main island that make up those 3 countries and that the island/s that make up Ireland are separate.

Anyway, the sooner you all start speaking Thai, eating rice and using the Baht - the better off we'll all be.

You missed out the British Islands! I think these were just invented to confuse matters, but check this link for the complete diagram:

Full diagram

You are correct. The British Isles is the geographical term for the whole archipelago, (although many Irish do object to use of the term, often preferring "Britain and Ireland" or "These Islands" due to political history) and including the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, Orkney, Shetland, the Hebrides (both Inner and Outer), Man, Anglesey, the Scilly Isles, and many other much smaller islands (of which there many be several thousand). Strictly speaking, the Channel Islands are geographically not part of the archipelago of the British Isles, but are usually counted as such.

The British Isles contain two sovereign states; the Republic of Ireland (often shortened to Ireland) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (often shortened to UK). There are also the crown dependencies of Man (in the Irish sea), Jersey and Guernsey (in the Channel Islands) which are not in the UK*, but are taken to be part of the British Isles.

The island of Great Britain is the largest in the group, and divided between the countries of England, Wales and Scotland. This is often the confusing bit for many people, as the UK is described as a country comprised of four countries (the three listed above, plus NI).

Orkney and Shetland (never referred to as the Orkneys and the Shetlands, despite being archipelagos themselves) are jointly known as the Northern Isles and are part of Scotland. Similarly, the Outer Hebrides (Na h-Eileanan Siar, also known as the Western Isles) and the Inner Hebrides (Na h-Eileanan a-staigh) are also part of Scotland.

*If you want to get in even more of a muddle, the UK also includes overseas territories like Gibraltar, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, the Falkland Islands and a number of others.