About Britain

Britain (in full Great Britain) is the biggest of the group of islands, which lie between the North Sea and the Atlantic. It is approximately two and a half size of Ireland, the second largest. Together they are called the British Isles (Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man). The British Isles today is shared by two separate and independent states. The smaller of these is the Republic of Ireland (also known as Eire), with its capital Dublin. The larger, with London as its capital, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This long title is usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK.

According to law, the Head of State is the Queen, at present the Queen Elizabeth II. Queen is also the head of judiciary (all the judges) and of the Church of England, as well as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

There are four different countries in the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (or Ulster). The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man though recognizing the Crown have their own parliaments and are mainly self-governing. They are not part of the United Kingdom. Britain" and "British" have two meanings. They sometimes refer to Great Britain alone containing England, Wales, and Scotland, and sometimes to the UK including Northern Ireland. “England" and "English" are very often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of the United Kingdom. Everyone from Britain (or the UK) is British, but only people from England are English.

One should note that England is only one part of Britain. Scotland and Wales are not in England. People from Scotland are Scottish, people from Wales are Welsh, and people from Northern Ireland are Irish. A Scottish or Welsh person does not like to be called "English". In fact 9% are Scottish, 5% are Welsh and 3% are Northern Irish. Great Britain is just under 1,000 kilometers long and just under 500 kilometers across in its widest part. The total area of the UK is over 244,000 square kilometers.