Is the UK part of Britain?

Answer 1

So glad you asked. Don't be ashamed of not knowing; most British people couldn't give you the answer. OK. Here we go. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle, before 1000 AD, describing the country, begins 'bretene iegland is, eaht hund mila lang'. Britain is an island, eight hundred miles long. This island today includes most of England, Wales and Scotland. There are lots of little islands attached to all three countries - the Isle of Wight, Anglesey and all the Scottish islands, for example - and together these islands and the mainland make up Great Britain. OK so far? Wales has been part of the Kingdom since the twelfth century or so; Scotland joined with England and Wales to form a United Kingdom under the same crown in 1603 but retained its own parliament. Finally, the parliaments - England and Scotland - were combined under the Act of Union in 1707. BUT, there is another large island just next door - Ireland. The English tried to rule Ireland for centuries, mostly by barbaric methods - in 1801 Ireland joined the Union and its government joined the others in London. In the North, in the province of Ulster, they went so far as to root out the original Irish (and Catholic) inhabitants and replace them with Protestant Scottish settlers. This was so successful that when, in the early 20th century, Ireland was granted independence, Ulster, or 6 of the original counties of Ulster, refused to join in, and remained part of - wait for it - the UK. The UK, then, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Basically, it is under a single government, with devolved local assemblies (like State governments) in Scotland and Wales and, intermittently, Northern Ireland. The Isle of Man and the Channel Isles have their own arrangements, coming under the Crown but not necessarily the UK government. So you can have good fun teasing any British people you meet by asking them of what country they are citizens. Ninety percent of them won't know! Some will say England, or Britain, or Great Britain or 'The UK", but the correct answer is as above. I am a Citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. So there. The UK is Britain! Correction: No, it isn't. See above. Britain is PART of the UK. Answer and since nobody has mentioned it the "Great" was to distinguish it from Lesser Britain or Britannia minor which is the area of France known today as Brittany. Addition to answer It has been known as Great Britain long before it was known as the UK. And, smart arse, most people do know where they are from. Go and ask a Scot where he is from and he will say Scotland. Ask somebody from Northern Ireland and they will say Ulster. And if you tried to tell them your smart-arsed answer you would probably get a smack in the mouth. You were probably not born here, were you? Errata In an effort to by flippant or amusing the original respondent has made some glaring errors that clearly show them not to be fully conversant with the history of these isles. Firstly, the native Catholics were not rooted out of the North of Ireland. Yes, the titled families fled the incoming English AND Scots....an event referred to as "The Flight of the Earls" ever since....but the underlying Catholic population remained although they were severely discriminated againt by the Protestants. Ulster was the name of the province of Ireland, one of the four (the others being Munster, Leinster, and Connaught), that included the present six counties (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Derry) plus three (Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan) which at the time of Irish Independence remained in the Republic of Ireland. The six form the Province of Northern Ireland which currently has a devolved assembly that includes both Catholic and Protestant politicians. Secondly, Northern Ireland and Wales might have Assemblies but Scotland is governed by the Scottish Parliament. The only country not to have its own separate devolved administration is England. The Westminster parliament has foreign, defence, and certain other specified policy matters reserved to it but the devolved governments decide on health, education, and, in Northern Ireland and Scotland, law and policing. As such they are NOT like States in the US sense. Thirdly, and most curiously, on official documents e.g. on armed forces enlistment papers etc, the citizens of each constituent country are classified as sub-genres of British e.g. the English are shown as Brit/Eng, the Scots as Brit/Scot, etc. It must be confusing to non-Brits. It's a minefield for we Brits ourselves! And rather than teasing, if you want to annoy us then try referring to the Queen of England or otherwise mixing-up our identities. I nearly said 'we may be subjects of the Queen' but, although that's what it says on our passports there are many who resent being classified as subjects of anybody! NO, we may, for now, have to suffer rule by a Westminster parliament, but, trust me, we are only too conscious and highly protective of our individual races, if born here, and of our citizenship of our respective countries in any case e.g. the Scottish National Party has many races and creeds amongst its supporters.

Answer 2

Yes it is. Britain and Northern Ireland make up the UK along with other scattered islands.

The island of Great Britain forms the majority of the territorial landmass of the United Kingdom.