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Great Britain (commonly shortened to Britain) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of 209,331 km 2 (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, and the ninth-largest island in the world.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the parliamentary constitutional monarchy occupying the island of Great Britain, the small nearby islands (but not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands), and the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland. Usually, it is shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK, or Britain. [5]
The United Kingdom lies between latitudes 49° and 61° N, and longitudes 9° W and 2° E. Northern Ireland shares a 310-mile (499 km) land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. [136] The coastline of Great Britain is 11,073 miles (17,820 km) long, [139] though measurements can vary greatly due to the coastline paradox. [140]
The Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a "part" of a united kingdom of Great Britain. [23] The Acts of Union 1800 use "part" in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. However, they use the word "country" to describe Great Britain and Ireland respectively, when describing trade between them. [24]
[161] [162] In Britain it is commonly understood as being a politically neutral geographical term, although it is sometimes used to refer to the United Kingdom or Great Britain alone. [ 163 ] [ 164 ] [ 165 ] [ 161 ] In the 2016 Oxford Dictionary Plus Social Sciences , Howard Sargeant describes the British Isles as "A geographical rather than a ...
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 20 February 2025. Archipelago in north-western Europe This article is about the geographical archipelago. For those parts under British sovereignty, see British Islands. British Isles Other native names Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór (Irish) Ynysoedd Prydain (Welsh) Enesow Bretennek (Cornish) Eileanan ...
Six northern, predominantly Protestant counties became Northern Ireland and have remained part of the United Kingdom ever since, despite demands of the Catholic minority to unite with the Republic of Ireland. [128] Britain officially adopted the name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles ...
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the sovereign state created in 1801, combining the former Kingdom of Great Britain with Ireland, separated by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921; Great Britain and Ireland, the two largest islands in the British Isles; The present-day United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, two sovereign states