Great Britain
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I live in England but on official forms I have to declare myself to be British, never English. I am a Briton, never an Englander. That is a word used by German, Danish and Saterland Frisian languages.
Saterland Frisian is one of the smallest language groups in Europe. Saterland Frisian is spoken in the municipality of Saterland in Lower Saxony, North Frisian is spoken in Germany and West Frisian in the Dutch province of Friesland.
People in Wales are Welsh and Irish people live in Ireland, north (Ulster) or south (Eire). In Scotland the people are Scots, occasionally Scottish and definitely never Scotch, though they drink Scotch and indulge sometimes in Scottish dancing. All these citizens have their own languages, though not all can speak them, but they also all speak English.
The residents
of these countries are also Britons.
Do I live in Great Britain, the British Isles or the United Kingdom?
Great Britain is an island, the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth largest island in the world, which I find quite astonishing, considering the size of some of the other islands – Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar. Politically, it encompasses the entirety of England, Scotland, Wales and their offshore islands. It does not include Northern Ireland.
The British Isles consists of two main islands, Great Britain and the island of Ireland and a great number of smaller islands, like the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands to the north of mainland Scotland and the Hebrides to the west of Scotland. It also includes the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
The United Kingdom refers to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and its capital is London, which is also its largest city. It is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have their own devolved governments. The Northern Ireland government has not functioned for three years.
So, I am a Briton, and I live in England, the United Kingdom, the British Isles and Great Britain.
Thank you for clearing that up. I always thought Great Britain and The United Kingdom were the same thing.
ReplyDeleteYou're not alone in that, River. I think probably 90% of Brits think the same.
DeleteA very informative post. I am aware the UK is not the same as England. But I used to wonder if there is a difference between "I am a Briton" and "I am British".
ReplyDeleteI found this: “Briton” is a noun for a British person. In historical terms, the difference between Briton and British is that Briton is a Celtic inhabitant of southern Britain at the time of the Roman conquest, while British is of the ancient inhabitants of the southern part of Britain; Brythonic."
DeleteThank you for raising the query.
Hi Janice - I know ... like you I wonder who I am sometimes ... I usually say I'm British, yet refer to little old England most of the time. We're lucky we speak English! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteWe're lucky the rest of the world speaks English!!
DeleteIf that all sounds complicated, imagine what it is to be English born and bred but living in Scotland for the past 24 years and with a Scottish surname! It irritates me when people learn my surname and want to claim me as "Scottish really". As far as I'm aware the Scottish ancestor whose family name I bear moved to London around 1810, i.e. about 8 generations back, and the rest of my family history is English, so according to my calculations I am at best 1/128th Scottish by ancestry and any apparent Scottishness is a product of the fact that, through history, women have 'lost' their family names on marriage.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Gail.
I can imagine that might exasperate you. I was christened in the Royal Naval chapel in Rosyth and for a while in my extreme youth wanted to be Scottish, goodness knows why.
DeleteI was born in England and have always considered myself to be English. It sounds strange to me when people refer to a British accent when, as you point out, that encompasses Welsh, Scottish and regional English variations in a multitude of forms.
ReplyDeleteI think it may be because some Americans think England is the entirety of GB and that everyone speaks RP. How sad that would be!
ReplyDeleteI always learn so much from your posts. Thanks for enlightening me.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda :-)
DeleteI appreciate being reminded of geography I must have been taught in my youth. The difference then would only be that 60 years ago, the constant fight for independence of some of the countries within Great Briton, I would guess.
ReplyDeleteThe state of the union . . . is not good!
Delete"UK" is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have their own devolved governments. "British Isles" is even less useful.
ReplyDeleteI don't find them very useful definitions in essays and student notes, so I always use Britain instead. Or London, when I am writing about our old home :)
At least you don't use 'England' to cover the whole shebang!
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