What+is+the+United+Kingdom?

= =  England! Great Britain! United Kingdom! What does it all mean? = = Even for those who live in what they call the United Kingdom, there is a very limited understanding of what the name means and what makes up the country that they live in.

**The United Kingdom** The full name of the 'UK' is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. So simple isn't it? The UK is made up of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so what's the problem? Well the problem, really, is what makes up Great Britain.

The ** Island **** of Great Britain ** is located in the north Atlantic Ocean to the northwest of continental Europe. Politically ** Great Britain ** consists of the nations of England, Scotland and Wales, including a number of smaller islands such as Anglesey, the Isle of Wight, the Hevrides, the Okrkney Islands and the Shetland Islands. With an area of 229.850 km2 (88,745 sq miles) the island of Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles -- an archipielago that also includes Ireland, the Faroe Islands and the Isle of Man.

what does the 'Great Britain' in the full name of the UK refer to? The term 'Great Britain' was first widely used during the reign of King [|James VI of Scotland, I of England] to describe the island, on which co-existed two separate kingdoms ruled over by the same monarch (England and Scotland each were legally two // separate // states but they were sometimes referred to as Great Britain).
 * Origins and Nomenclature **

In 1707, an Act of union joined both states and the union was called the Kingdom of Great Britain. A kindgom with a single Parliament (Westmister) for both England and Scotland. However, Scotland has always retained its own legal system. The United Kingdom of Great Britain lasted until 1801, when Ireland was formally incorporated and the new union was called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This meant the whole of the island of Ireland. This name was again changed when the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were formed. This took place In 1922, when most of Ireland's counties left to form a separate Irish Free State. The remaining truncated kingdom is now known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Wales is a Principality. In the medieval period, there were many European states that had a Prince as head of state (some still exist, such as Monaco). Wales was one of these. Wales wasn't really invaded by the Normans in 1066 in the way that England was; instead a gradual campaign was fought which culminated in 1282 when King Edward I of England defeated Llywelyn the Last, who was killed. To demonstrate English dominance over the Welsh, the English King gave the title of Prince of Wales to his eldest son; the eldest son of the Monarch retains this title to this day. Wales, was annexed by England and, unlike Scotland, does not have a separate legal system. So, by the time that the term Great Britain was first used in the reign of James I, Wales was no longer a separate country in any way.
 * What about Wales? **

The history of Ireland is long and controversial, but for our story here we need only consider 'recent' events. 'Northern Ireland' is a comparatively modern concept. The uprisings of the early 20th Century ended in Irish self-government and then independence. However, part of the North of Ireland had a Protestant majority and wanted to remain as part of the UK. As a result, a 'compromise' was reached whereby most of the regions of Ireland would form an independent Irish state (the modern **Republic of Ireland**) and the remaining regions would comprise a new 'province' of the United Kingdom (modern-day **Northern Ireland**).
 * Northern Ireland **



CLICK [|HERE] TO WATCH AN AWESOME VIDEO ABOUT EVERYTHING ABOUT THE UK, GREAT BRITAIN, ENGLAND, ...

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 Geography of the United Kingdom

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