Eigentlich sollte es zur Allgemeinbildung gehören, die Begriffe auseinander halten zu können. Nicht von ungefähr benutzen wir die Abkürzung „UK“ im Gegensatz zu „USA“, wenn es um unterschiedliche Schreibweisen geht.
United Kingdom
Denn „UK“, also „United Kingdom“ ist auf der einen Seite der umfassendste Begriff. Es ist der politisch korrekte Name für einen Länderzusammenschluss von Großbritannien und Nordirland.
Der Norden Irlands gehört bekanntermaßen ja nicht zur unabhängigen Republik Irland, sondern zu England, was oft genug auch heute noch zu teils blutigen Auseinandersetzungen führt.
Dies ist ein heikles Thema, das im Smalltalk mit Iren und Engländern keinen Platz hat.
Great Britain
On the other hand you should know that Great Britain consists of three countries: England, Scotland and Wales.
Northern Ireland therefore – not the Republic of Ireland – belongs to Great Britain!
England
England is just a country, nothing more, nothing less. It stretches from the English Channel in the South to the Welsh border in the West and the Scottish border in the North.
In the distant past (122 AD) Roman soldiers started to build “Hadrian’s Wall” (named after the Roman Emperor Hadrian) along the border between England and Scotland to protect England from Northern invaders. It was 84 miles long and parts of it can still be seen today.
The British Isles
But there is even more to the United Kingdom. Now we are talking about islands. The largest is Great Britain itself. The second largest is the Irish Island which consists of two countries.
Only Northern Ireland, however, belongs to the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, which is the southern part of the island, has been independent since the Anglo-Irish Treaty established the Irish Free State in 1921.
Some smaller groups of islands are part of the British Isles, too. To name only a few, these include the Isles of Scilly near Cornwall, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight in the South.
The Inner and Outer Hebrides, which you might recognise from listening to the weather forecast, are British Islands, too, but they belong to Scotland. The Channel Islands Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark and some smaller ones are British Crown dependencies, but neither is part of the United Kingdom.
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