Theterminology of the British Isles comprises the words and phrases that are used to describe the (sometimes overlapping) geographical and political areas of the islands ofGreat Britain andIreland, and the smaller islands which surround them. The terms are often a source of confusion, partly owing to the similarity between some of the actual words used but also because they are often used loosely. Many of the words carry geographical and political connotations which are affected by the history of the islands. The inclusion of Ireland in the geographical definition of British Isles is debated.Ordnance Survey Ireland does not use the term.[1]
The use of terms depends on context; words and phrases can be grouped into geographical, political, linguistic and sporting terms. In brief, the main terms and their simple explanations are as follows:
Below is a visual reference guide to some of the main concepts and territories described in this article:
TheBritish Isles is a group of islands in theAtlantic Ocean off the coast ofContinental Europe. It includesIreland,Great Britain, theIsle of Man,Shetland,Orkney, andthousands of smaller islands. Traditionally theChannel Islands, are included, but these specific islands are geographically part of mainland continental Europe, as they are positioned off the French coast of Normandy. The term is disputed (seeNames of the British Isles).
Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles. On Great Britain are located the bulk of three constituent countries of the United Kingdom:Scotland in the north,England in the south and east andWales in the west. There are alsonumerous smaller islands off its coast (not coloured red on the attached map) that are administered as part of England, Scotland and Wales. The inclusion of these smaller islands means political 'Great Britain' covers a slightly larger area than the island of Great Britain.
The second largest island in the group isIreland. Most of the island is in theRepublic of Ireland. The northeast of the island (Northern Ireland) is part of theUnited Kingdom. There are alsonumerous smaller islands off the coast of Ireland.
TheIsle of Man lies between Great Britain and Ireland. It is governed as a BritishCrown dependency, having its own parliament, but with the United Kingdom responsible for its defence and external relations.
Although theChannel Islands are associated with the United Kingdom politically asCrown Dependencies, they are geographically an outcrop of the nearby French mainland (specifically, theArmorican massif), and historically they are the last remaining parts of theDuchy of Normandy, a title belonging to the British monarch.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the official full title of the state. This name appears on official documentation such asBritish passports. For convenience, the name is usually shortened toUnited Kingdom,UK orBritain.[5][14]
TheUnited Kingdom is asovereign state. Its fourconstituent countries are sometimes considered to be of different status. This view may be supported by the existence ofdevolved governments with different levels of power in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales (seeAsymmetrical federalism).
Wales is also often erroneously[19] described as aprincipality of the United Kingdom. The title ofPrince of Wales is usually given to theheir apparent to theBritish throne but it has no official political or other role in respect of Wales (though since the early 20th century Princes of Wales have preferentially taken on ceremonial royal duties in Wales on an informal basis). TheInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) has defined Wales as a "country" rather than a "principality" since 2011, following a recommendation by theBritish Standards Institute and theWelsh Government.[20]
Northern Ireland is sometimes described byUnited Kingdom citizens as aprovince of the United Kingdom, which derives from the Irishprovince ofUlster, of whichNorthern Ireland is a part. Northern Ireland also had, until 1972, a far greater degree ofself-government than the other constituent parts of the UK.
Great Britain is both a geographical and a political entity. Geographically, it is one island, butas a political entity it also includes the smaller offshore islands that are administered as part of its constituent nations – England, Wales and Scotland – such as England'sIsle of Wight, Wales'Anglesey and Scotland'sInner Hebrides,Outer Hebrides,Orkney Islands andShetland Islands.
The abbreviationGB is sometimes officially used for the United Kingdom, for example in theOlympics, or as thevehicle registration platecountry identification code for UK-registered cars(see alsoBritish car number plates).SCO for Scotland,CYM for Wales (Cymru),NI for Northern Ireland, orENG for England can also be used.[21] From 28 September 2021, UK will be the official country code on car registration plates.[22]
Theinternet code.gb, although allocated to the UK, is virtually unused and UK web domains use.uk.
ThoughGB is the United Kingdom's ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code,UK isexceptionally reserved for the United Kingdom on the request of the country.
The four constituent parts of the UK are also known, particularly in sporting contexts, asHome Nations or the "Four Nations". The BBC refers to its UK-wide broadcasting operation asNations and Regions[23] ("regions" referring to geographic regions of England. Thus the naming conventions tend towards describing distinctregions ornations which exist within a single sovereignstate.
In sport, the home nations mostly have their own separate national teams – England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, for example inassociation football. Sporting contests between the Four Nations are known as "Home internationals" (an example is theBritish Home Championship in football).
The governing body for football in Northern Ireland is called theIrish Football Association (the IFA), having been in existence since some forty years beforePartition. Its counterpart in the Republic (plusDerry City FC) is theFootball Association of Ireland (the FAI). TheNorthern Ireland national team retained the name "Ireland" for some fifty years after partition. Since around 1970 the two teams have been consistently referred to as "Northern Ireland" and "Republic of Ireland" respectively. The UK competes as Great Britain at the Olympic Games. According to the Olympic Charter the Olympic Council of Ireland represents the entire island of Ireland.[24] Olympic athletes from Northern Ireland may choose whether to represent the UK or theRepublic of Ireland.
Since theGood Friday Agreement and the subsequent implementation legislation, sporting organisation (and several other organisations, e.g.tourism,Irish Gaelic andUlster Scots language boards) on the island of Ireland has increasingly been cross-border.
Citizens of the UK are calledBritish,Britons,Brits, (colloquial) orBritisher (archaic). The termUnionists may also be used when referring to supporters of theUnion. Some older slang names for Britons areTommy (for British soldiers) andAnglo.Anglo properly refers only to England, but it is sometimes used as a broader reference as an element in compound adjectives: for example, "Anglo-French relations" may be used in newspaper articles when referring to relations between the political entitiesFrance and the United Kingdom.Anglo-Saxon may be used (particularly in Continental European languages) when referring to the wholeEnglish-speaking world.
Since the adoption of theConstitution of Ireland in 1937,Ireland has been theEnglish name of the state which covers approximately five-sixths of the island ofIreland. The nameÉire is used when writing inIrish.
Since theRepublic of Ireland Act 1948, the term "Republic of Ireland" is the term used as the additionaldescription of the state. This term is useful in avoiding ambiguity between the name of the island and the name of the state. However, the term "Ireland" is always used in formal diplomatic contexts such as theEuropean Union or theUnited Nations. The passport of the Republic of Ireland bears the nameÉire – Ireland.
Before the introduction of the 1937 constitution and the new name, theIrish Free State occupied the same territory as the modern state of Ireland. The Irish Free State became an autonomousdominion of theBritish Empire in 1922 when it seceded from the United Kingdom through theAnglo-Irish Treaty. The King ceased to be its Head of Statein 1936 and the state ceased to be a Dominion and left the Commonwealthin 1948.
Traditionally, the island of Ireland is divided into fourprovinces –Leinster,Connacht,Munster andUlster, with each of the provinces further divided into counties. The Republic of Ireland takes up 83% of the island, twenty-six of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Northern Ireland takes up the remaining area, six of the traditional nine counties of Ulster.
In Northern Ireland, Irishness is a highly contested identity, with fundamentally different perceptions of national identity betweenloyalists (who generally perceive themselves as being British) andrepublicans (who generally consider both communities to be part of the Irish nation).[25]
The Republic of Ireland is often referred to by thenationalist andRepublican communities by the term "the Twenty-six Counties", with the connotation that the state constituted as such forms only a portion of the ideal political unit of theIrish Republic, which would consist of all of thethirty-two counties into which the island is divided. The term "the Six Counties" (of Northern Ireland) is also used. Other nationalist terms in use include "the North of Ireland" and "the North". These latter are terms also used by the Irish national broadcasterRTÉ.[citation needed] More extreme terms for Northern Ireland include "the occupied six counties" or "occupied Ireland", which are often used by people who reject the idea of Northern Ireland as a separate entity from the Republic of Ireland.
TheIrish passport is available to Irish citizens and can also be applied for abroad through Irish Consular services and the local Irish Embassy. As per theIrish nationality law, any person born on the island of Ireland before 2005, or otherwise a first generation descendant of such a person, is allowed to apply for an Irish passport. As such, people born in Northern Ireland and their children may be Irish citizens and hold an Irish passport if they choose.
Under theInterpretation Act 1978 of the United Kingdom, the legal termBritish Islands (as opposed to the geographical termBritish Isles) refers to theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, together with theCrown Dependencies: theBailiwicks ofJersey and ofGuernsey (which in turn includes the smaller islands ofAlderney,Herm andSark) in theChannel Islands; and theIsle of Man.
On the2011 Jersey census, "British Isles" as a country of origin is used to refer to the other British islands than Jersey (effectively the British Islands), but does not include the Republic of Ireland.[18]
SpecialBritish passports are issued to citizens of the Crown dependencies. On the front of passports issued to residents of the Crown dependencies, the words"United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" are replaced with the name of the issuing state or island. Pre-Brexit, Crown dependency also bore the title"European Union" for border control purposes. Crown dependency citizens who have no family ties to the United Kingdom were granted a special limited 'Islander Status' under EU law (article 6 of Protocol 3 in theTreaty of Accession of the UK to the European Community).[26]
Some suggest an early known for the term might be fromancient Greek writings. Though some of the original texts have been lost, excerpts were quoted or paraphrased by later authors. Parts of theMassaliote Periplus, a merchants' handbook describing searoutes of the sixth century BC, were used in translation in the writings ofAvienius around AD 400. Ireland was referred to asIerne (Insula sacra, thesacred island, as the Greeks interpreted it) "inhabited by the race ofHiberni" (gens hiernorum), and Britain asinsula Albionum, "island of theAlbions".[27] Several sources from around 150 BC to AD 70 include fragments of the travel writings of the ancient GreekPytheas around 320 BC, use the termsAlbion andIerne[28][29] and have been described as referring to the British Isles, including Ireland, as thePrettanic orBrettanic Islands (Βρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι) or asαἱ Βρεττανιαι, literally "the Britains".[27][29][30]Greek writers called the peoples of these islands theΠρεττανοί, laterBρεττανοί (alternative spellings of this and of all relative words have a singletau or a doublenu), a name that possibly corresponds to thePriteni.[27] These names may have derived from a "Celtic language" term which may have reached Pytheas from theGauls[30] who may have used it as their term for the inhabitants of the islands.
The Romans called the inhabitants of Gaul (modernFrance)Galli orCeltae, the latter term deriving from the Greek nameΚελτοί for a central European people. Antiquarians of the seventeenth century who found language connections developed the idea of a race ofCelts inhabiting the islands, but this term was not used by the Greeks or Romans for the inhabitants of Britain or Ireland,[31] nor is there any record of the inhabitants of the British Isles referring to themselves as such. Nevertheless, Roman administration later incorporated the province of Britannia into thepraetorian prefecture of Gaul, in common with Hispania, which had Celtiberians.Armorica, where the Bretons would settle[when?], was part ofGallia Celtica, so there were tertiary relations between the Britons and Gallic Celts at least. In addition, theParisii of Gallia Celtica are thought to have founded Aldborough in Britain.Belgae andSilures also came from Gallic areas, although not strictly "Celtic", but fromGallia Belgica andAquitainia.
Priteni is the source of theWelsh language termPrydain,Britain,[30] and has the same source as theGoidelic termCruithne. The latter referred to the earlyBrythonic speaking inhabitants of theScottish Highlands and the north of Scotland,[30] who are known as the Cruithne inScottish Gaelic, and who theRomans calledPicts orCaledonians.
Caesar's invasions of Britain brought descriptions of the peoples of what he calledBritannia pars interior, "inland Britain", in 55 BC. Throughout Book 4 of hisGeography,Strabo is consistent in spelling the island Britain (transliterated) asPrettanikē; he uses the termsPrettans orBrettans loosely to refer to the islands as a group – a common generalisation used by classical geographers. For example, in Geography 2.1.18,…οι νοτιώτατοι των Βρεττανών βορειότεροι τούτων εισίν ("…the most southern of the Brettans are further north than this").[32] He was writing around AD 10, although the earliest surviving copy of his work dates from the 6th century.Pliny the Elder writing around AD 70 uses a Latin version of the same terminology in section 4.102 of hisNaturalis Historia. He writes of Great Britain:Albion ipsi nomen fuit, cum Britanniae vocarentur omnes de quibus mox paulo dicemus. ("Albion was its own name, when all [the islands] were called the Britannias; I will speak of them in a moment"). In the following section, 4.103, Pliny enumerates the islands he considers to make up the Britannias, listing Great Britain, Ireland, and many smaller islands.In hisGeography written in the mid 2nd century and probably describing the position around AD 100,[30]Ptolemy includes both Great Britain (Albion) and Ireland (Iwernia) in the so calledBretanic island group. He entitles Book II, Chapter 1 of asIwernia, Bretanic Island, and Chapter 2 asAlwion [sic], Bretanic Island.[33]
The nameAlbion forGreat Britain fell from favour, and the island was described in Greek as Πρεττανία or Βρεττανία, inLatinBritannia, an inhabitant as Βρεττανός,Britannus, with the adjective Βρεττανικός,Britannicus, equating to "British".[27] With theRoman conquest of Britain the nameBritannia was used for the province ofRoman Britain. The EmperorClaudius was honoured with theagnomenBritannicus as if he were the conqueror, and coins were struck from AD 46 inscribedDE BRITAN, DE BRITANN, DE BRITANNI, orDE BRITANNIS. With the visit ofHadrian in AD 121 coins introduced a female figure with the labelBRITANNIA as a personification or goddess of the place. These and later Roman coins introduced the seated figure of Britannia which would be reintroduced in the 17th century.[34]
In the later years of Roman rule Britons who left Latin inscriptions, both at home and elsewhere in the Empire, often described themselves asBrittanus orBritto, and where describing their citizenship gave it ascives of a British tribe or of apatria (homeland) ofBritannia, notRoma.[27] From the 4th century, many Britons migrated from Roman Britain across theEnglish Channel and foundedBrittany.
While Latin remained the language of learning, from the earlymediaeval period records begin to appear in native languages. The earliestindigenous source to use a collective term for the archipelago is theLife of Saint Columba, ahagiography recording the missionary activities of the sixth century Irish monkSaint Columba among the peoples of what is now Scotland. It was written in the late seventh century byAdomnán of Iona, an Irish monk living on theInner Hebridean island. The collective term for the archipelago used within this work is Oceani Insulae meaning "Islands of the Ocean" (Book 2, 46 in the Sharpe edition = Book 2, 47 in Reeves edition), it is used sparingly and noPriteni-derived collective reference is made.
Another early native source to use a collective term is theHistoria ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ofBede written in the early eighth century. The collective term for the archipelago used within this work isinsularum meaning "islands" (Book 1, 8) and it too is used sparingly. He stated that Britain "studies and confesses one and the same knowledge of the highest truth in the tongues of five nations, namely the Angles, the Britons, the Scots, the Picts, and the Latins", distinguishing between theBrythonic languages of the "ancient Britons" orOld Welsh speakers and other language groups.[35]
Brythonic,Saxon andViking kingdoms such asStrathclyde,Wessex, andJórvík amalgamated, leading to the formation ofScotland, andEngland.Wales was sometimes united under princes or kings such asGruffydd ap Llywelyn. Between 854 and 1171, a kingship of Ireland was established by kings of the regional kingdoms such asMáel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid,Toirdelbach Ua Briain,Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, andRuaidrí Ua Conchobair, something not achieved in Britain until 1707. In subsequentNorman Ireland, local lords gained considerable autonomy from theLordship of Ireland until it became theKingdom of Ireland under direct English rule.
Abraham Ortelius makes clear his understanding that England, Scotland and Ireland were politically separate in 1570 by the full title of his map:Angliae, Scotiae et Hiberniae, sive Britannicar. insularum descriptio ('A representation of England, Scotland and Ireland, or the Britannic islands').George Lily's 1546 map divides Britain into the two kingdoms of England and Scotland, with Ireland alongside. Some maps from this period also appear to mark Wales, and sometimes Cornwall, as separate areas within Britain, while the history of England created byPolydore Vergil[36] forHenry VIII states, "The whole country of Britain is divided into four parts, whereof the one is inhabited by Englishmen, the other of Scots, the third Welshmen and the fourth of Cornish people."[37]
Maps of the Mediaeval, Renaissance and later periods often referred toAlbion. This archaic term was originally used byPtolemy andPliny to mean the island of Great Britain. In later centuries its meaning changed to refer only to the area we now call Scotland (Albany, orAlba inGaelic).Albion has survived as a poetic name for Britain but it is not in everyday use.
Following theActs of Union 1707, a fashion arose, particularly in Scotland, for referring to Scotland asNorth Britain, while England was sometimes dubbedSouth Britain. These terms gained in popularity during the 19th century. The most lasting example of this usage was in the name of theNorth British Railway, which became part of theLondon and North Eastern Railway in 1923, and in the name of theNorth British Hotel inEdinburgh, opened by the North British Railway in 1902, which retained the name until it reopened in 1991 as The Balmoral.
The diagram on the right gives an indication of the further evolution of kingdoms and states. In 1603,James VI of Scotland inherited theEnglish throne as "James I of England". He styled himself asKing of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, although both kingdoms on Great Britain retained their sovereignty and independent parliaments, theParliament of Scotland and theParliament of England.[38] (The term "Great Britain" in English itself dates fromMiddle English as early asc. 1338, a translation of 12th-centuryMedieval Latin:Britannia maior andAnglo-Norman:Bretannie maiur orgrant Bretaigne and derived fromPtolemy'sGeography.)[38]
TheAct of Union (1707) united England and Scotland to form theKingdom of Great Britain under theParliament of Great Britain, then in 1800 Ireland was brought under British government control by theAct of Union (1800) creating theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Irish unrest culminated in theIrish War of Independence and the 1922 separation of theIrish Free State, which later became a republic with the name Ireland. The majority Protestantnortheast continued to be part of what became theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
British overseas territories such asBermuda,Gibraltar and theFalkland Islands have various relationships with the UK. TheCommonwealth of Nations, initially formalised in 1931 (the British Commonwealth until 1949), is an association of independent states roughly corresponding to the formerBritish Empire. (This has no connection with theCommonwealth of England, a short-livedrepublic replacing the previous kingdoms during theEnglish Interregnum (1649–1660).)
Blighty is a slang word for Britain derived from theBengali wordbiletī.[39] Depending on the user, it is meant either affectionately or archly. It was often used by British soldiers abroad in theFirst World War to refer to home.
Theadjectives used to describe the contents and attributes of the various constituent parts of the British Isles also cause confusion.
In the absence of a single adjective to refer to theUnited Kingdom,British is generally used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole. However, in a specifically physical geographical sense,British is used to refer to the island ofGreat Britain.[40] The adjectival phraseGreat British is very rarely used to refer to the island, other than to contrive apun on the wordgreat, as in "Great British Food".
Irish refers to people or a characteristic "of Ireland".[41] As such, its meaning is contextual on the meaning of "Ireland" being used: it can relate both to theIrish state, and to theisland of Ireland.Northern Ireland, as a constituent part of theUnited Kingdom, can thus be bothBritish orIrish, reflected in the ability for residents of Northern Ireland to take either British or Irish citizenship.[42] To be more specific,Northern Irish is therefore in common usage. Members of theNationalist communities would not describe themselves asBritish and would only use the termsIrish, or specificallyNorthern Irish where needed.
The termUlster can also be used as an adjective (e.g. "Royal Ulster Constabulary"), but this is more likely to be used byUnionists and has political connotations in the same fashion as its use as a proper noun. The termUlsterman (orUlsterwoman) is common and holds no such political connotation. Likewise,Nationalists might describe, say, a lake in Northern Ireland asIrish.
Note that the geographical termIrish Sea thus far appears to have escaped political connotations, even though territorial control of the waters of the Irish Sea is divided between both the Republic of Ireland and the UK, and also includes a BritishCrown dependency, theIsle of Man—as yet there appears to be no controversy with the term’s usage to mirror that of "British Isles".
Some dictionary definitions[43][44] state that theBritish Isles is that it is a geographical term that refers to the whole ofIreland andGreat Britain as well as the surrounding islands. It is sometimes incorrectly used as if identical to theUnited Kingdom, or to refer to Great Britain and the surrounding islands, excluding the island ofIreland entirely.[45] TheBBC[46] andThe Times[citation needed] have style guides that mandate the dictionary definition but occasional misuse can be found on their websites.[47]
The termBritish Isles can also be considered irritating or offensive by some[48] on the grounds that the modern association of the termBritish with the United Kingdom makes its application to Ireland inappropriate. The term can also be considered to imply a proprietary title on the entire archipelago.[49]
The policy of thegovernment of Ireland is that no branch of government should use the term,[50] and although it is on occasion used in a geographical sense in Irish parliamentary debates, this is often done in a way that excludes the Republic of Ireland. In October 2006,The Times quoted a spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London as saying that they would discourage its use.[51]
During a stop-over visit to the Republic of Ireland in 1989, the leader of theSoviet Union,Mikhail Gorbachev, indicated that he assumed Ireland'shead of state was QueenElizabeth II, given that she was theBritish Queen and his officials said that Ireland was a part of the British Isles.[52]
There have been several suggestions for replacements for the termBritish Isles. Although there is no single accepted replacement, the termsGreat Britain and Ireland,The British Isles and Ireland andBritain and Ireland are all used. InNorthern Ireland, somenationalists usethese islands orthese isles as an alternative.[53]
The wordBritain is ambiguous, being used variously to mean Great Britain,[54][55] the United Kingdom,[56][55] and for some, England.[57] The usage ofBritain can be contentious, with many people in Northern Ireland objecting to its application to their region.[58] While some organisations, including the BBC, prefer to useBritain as shorthand for Great Britain,[59] others prefer, where precision is not required, to useBritain to mean the United Kingdom.[60] The UK Government itself states a preference for usingthe UK overBritain in its style guide, but does not describe the latter as incorrect, and says elsewhere that "it is only the one specific nominal term "Great Britain", which invariably excludes Northern Ireland."[61]
The wordEngland is sometimes usedsynecdochically to refer toGreat Britain, or theUnited Kingdom as a whole, or sometimes theBritish Isles.[62] References to England as an island,[63] to an "English passport",[64] or to Scottish or Welsh places as being in England[64][65] are examples of this usage of the term "England".
Such usage often causes offence, particularly to those from the non-English parts of the United Kingdom. Because of this, most politicians and official figures have avoided this usage since the early 20th century. However, there are frequent examples of this usage from earlier times.[66] For a long time it was common for fans of theEngland football team to wave the BritishUnion Jack; the use of the specifically EnglishSt George's Cross flag only gained popularity at theUEFA Euro 1996 tournament.[64]
The colloquial usage ofEngland as a synonym for the United Kingdom is still widespread outside the country. InGermany, the termEngland is often used to mean Great Britain or even the entire United Kingdom (as in theanti-British sloganGott strafe England). In many other languages, such asChinese orHindi the word for "English" is synonymous with "British"–see the article onAlternative words for British for more detail.
The termEurope may be used in one of several different meanings by British and Irish people: either to include the islands as part of Europe, or to refer only toMainland Europe, sometimes called "continental Europe" or simply "the Continent" by some people.Europe may also be used in reference to theEuropean Union (or, historically, to theEuropean Economic Community).
The word "Great" means "larger", in comparison withBrittany in modern-dayFrance. One historical term for thepeninsula in France that largely corresponds to the modern French province isLesser orLittle Britain. That region was settled by many British immigrants during the period ofAnglo-Saxon migration into Britain, and named "Little Britain" by them. TheFrench term "Bretagne" now refers to the French "Little Britain", not to the British "Great Britain", which in French is calledGrande-Bretagne. In classical times, theGraeco-Roman geographerPtolemy in hisAlmagest also called the larger islandmegale Brettania (great Britain). At that time, it was in contrast to the smaller island ofIreland, which he calledmikra Brettania (little Britain).[67] In his later workGeography, Ptolemy refers to Great Britain asAlbion and to Ireland asIwernia. These "new" names were likely to have been the native names for the islands at the time. The earlier names,in contrast, were likely to have been coined before direct contact with local peoples was made.[68]
The wordIreland is also ambiguous, with thedouble meaning of the island ofIreland and theRepublic of Ireland. The usage of "Ireland" as theofficial name of the Republic causes offence to someUnionists inNorthern Ireland, who believe it implies that the statestill has a territorial claim to the whole island – the terminology of "Republic of Ireland" or "Éire" is much preferred by Northern Irish unionists when referring to that political state. Similarly, someNationalists in Northern Ireland also prefer to reserve the usage of "Ireland" to refer to the whole island.
The terminology and usage of the nameUlster in Irish and British culture varies. Many within theunionist community[69] and much of the press refer toNorthern Ireland asUlster – whereas thenationalist community refer to the traditionalIrish province ofUlster, which is a nine-county entity that incorporates the three counties ofDonegal,Cavan andMonaghan (which are in the Republic) along with the counties ofArmagh,Antrim,Down,Fermanagh,Londonderry andTyrone in Northern Ireland.
Thus, the wordUlster has two usages:
The Isle of Man and the twobailiwicks of the Channel Islands areCrown Dependencies; that is, non-sovereignnations, self-governing but whose sovereignty is held by the BritishCrown. They control their own internal affairs, but not their defence or foreign relations. They are not part of the United Kingdom, and were not part of theEuropean Union when the UK was a member state.
There are fiveCeltic languages in current use in the region. Each has names for the islands and countries of the British Isles. They are divided into two branches:
Some of the above are:
| Celtic language | Names of geographical or political entities in that language | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall | Wales | Ireland | Northern Ireland | Republic of Ireland | Scotland | Mann | England | |
| Cornish (Kernewek) | Kernow | Kembra | Iwerdhon | Iwerdhon Gledh | Repoblek Iwerdhon | Alban | Manow | Pow an Sawson |
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | Cernyw | Cymru | Iwerddon | Gogledd Iwerddon | Gweriniaeth Iwerddon | Yr Alban | Manaw | Lloegr |
| Irish (Gaeilge) | an Chorn | an Bhreatain Bheag | Éire | Tuaisceart Éireann | Poblacht na hÉireann | Albain | Manainn | Sasana |
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | a' Chòrn | a' Chuimrigh | Èirinn | Èirinn a Tuath | Poblachd na h-Èireann | Alba | Manainn | Sasann |
| Manx (Gaelg) | y Chorn | Bretyn | Nerin | Nerin Hwoaie | Pobblaght Nerin | Nalbin | Mannin | Sostyn |
The English wordWelsh is from a commonGermanic root meaning "Romanised foreigner" (cognate withWallonia andWallachia, and also cognate with the word used in Mediaeval German to refer to the French andItalians).[70]
The English namesAlbion andAlbany are related toAlba and used poetically for either England or Scotland, or the whole island of Great Britain.
EnglishErin is a poetic name for Ireland derived fromÉire (or rather, from its dative formÉirinn).
In Irish, the termOileáin Bhriotanacha is a translation of the English termBritish Isles. Another translation isOileáin Bhreataineacha, which was used in the 1937 translation from English to Irish of a 1931 geography book.[71]
Earlier dictionaries[72] giveOileáin Iarthair Eorpa as the translation, literally meaningWest European Isles. Today the most common termÉire agus an Bhreatain Mhór is used, meaning, literally,Ireland and Great Britain, as provided by terminological dictionaries.[73]
The British Isles comprise more than 6,000 islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe, including the countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. The group also includes the United Kingdom crown dependencies of the Isle of Man, and by tradition, the Channel Islands (the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey), even though these islands are strictly speaking an archipelago immediately off the coast of Normandy (France) rather than part of the British Isles.; "Written Answers – Official Terms"Archived 2012-10-06 at theWayback Machine,Dáil Éireann, Volume 606, 28 September 2005. In his response, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that "The British Isles is not an officially recognised term in any legal or inter-governmental sense. It is without any official status. The Government, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, does not use this term. Our officials in the Embassy of Ireland, London, continue to monitor the media in Britain for any abuse of the official terms as set out in the Constitution of Ireland and legislation. These include the name of the State, the President,Taoiseach and others."
In most sports, except soccer, Northern Ireland participates with the Republic of Ireland in a combined All-Ireland team.
'Britain' is used informally, usually meaning the United Kingdom.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)After the introduction of conscription in 1916, the distinction between soldiers and civilians became less clear, and vocabulary passed readily from one group to the other. This is the case with ...Blighty. TheUrdu words vilayat ("inhabited country", specifically Europe or Britain) and vilayati ("foreign", or "British, English, European") were borrowed by the British in the 19th Century.... But it was the regional variant bilayati - rendered as Blighty in English and meaning "Britain, England, home" - which really took off in Britain. Although it was first used during the Boer war, it was not until WW1 that Blighty spread widely and developed new meanings.
many people in Northern Ireland object strongly ... to the idea that they live in Britain.
The United Kingdom or the abbreviation UK is to be avoided ... unless the story has a specific relevance to Northern Ireland that would make the use of "Britain" or "British" wrong.;"Style Guide"(PDF). The Economist. 2005. p. 38.
favour simplicity over precision and use Britain rather than Great Britain or the United Kingdom[permanent dead link]
island of england.
Tá Éire ar cheann de na h-oileáin a dtugar nah-Oileáin Bhreataineacha ortha agus atá ar an taobh Thiar-Thuaidh de'n Eóraip. Tá siad tuairim a's ar chúig mhíle oileán ar fad ann. (Oileánradh an t-ainm a bheirtear ar áit ar bith i n-a bhfuil a lán oileán agus iad i n-aice a chéile mar seo.) Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór (Sasain, an Bhreatain Bheag, agus Alba) an dá oileán is mó de na h-Oileáin Bhreataineacha.
Ireland is one of the islands which are called the British Isles and which are on the North-Western side of Europe. It is thought that there are five thousand islands in total there. (Archipelago is the name which is borne by a place in which there are many islands next to each other like these.) Ireland and Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) are the two largest islands of the British Isles.