…and how to talk about them without offending people
The history of Britain and Ireland is long, complicated and horribly messy, and as a result, lots of people get the words that describe the region mixed up.
As well as being inaccurate, misusing these words can cause a lot of offence, so it’s important to use them right. Here is a brief description of how these words are used, and how you can use them without upsetting anyone.
The UK
The UK, or “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, is the Sovereign state composed of the constituent countries of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The adjective for the UK is “British”.
Important note: It’s worth remembering that not everyone within the UK identifies as British. In Scotland, many people see themselves as only Scottish, while in Northern Ireland, many people identify entirely as Irish, not British. Both regions have major separatist movements, so this is a sensitive topic for a lot of people. This is also true, albeit to a lesser extent, in Wales, where many people identify as Welsh but not British. Even in the English county of Cornwall, there is a growing movement towards Cornish nationalism.
As always, it’s best to respect people’s identities, so be careful who you call “British”, in case they strongly identify as something else. And perhaps even more importantly, don’t call non-English people English!
Great Britain
Great Britain is the big island. As a geographic term, it includes all of mainland England, Scotland, and Wales. Politically, this is expanded out to include all the smaller islands of those countries too.
Britain
Britain is a more ambiguous term:
Politically it is often used as a short, informal name for the United Kingdom. Which, since the UK is “British”, makes sense. It has been used this way by politicians and scholars for a long time.
However, it is also sometimes used as short for “Great Britain”, which can get very confusing. This means either of the maps above could represent Britain. For this reason, this word is avoided in most official settings, in favour of “United Kingdom” (for the country) or “Great Britain” (for the island).
Ireland
The Republic of Ireland is not part of the UK, but worth including here because it is very entangled in this mess of names and identities.
Ireland, like “Britain”, has 2 different meanings depending on context.
Ireland geographically is an island, that includes the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Ireland politically a sovereign nation entirely independent of the UK. To differentiate it from the island of Ireland, it can bee called the Republic of Ireland, although this is not the official name of the country. Northern Ireland is not part of the Republic of Ireland.
“Irish” refers to anybody from the island who identifies as Irish, including those in Northern Ireland. Roughly half of the population of Northern Irish see themselves as Irish. Northern Irish people have the option to claim Irish citizenship, get Irish passports, and play for Irish national sports teams.
The British Isles
The British Isles is a term that has historically been used by the British to describe all of Britain, Ireland, and the neighbouring islands. This includes the Isle of Man, and often the Channel Islands, both of which are properties of the British crown (but not part of the UK). However, the Channel Islands are not part of the same archipelago, and their frequent inclusion in “The British Isles” is a hint that the term is not a purely geographical one.
This term has a political aspect that many people see as very problematic.
The use of “the British Isles” was popularised by (you guessed it) the British, when Britain was in the process of conquering and dominating Ireland, as a way to justify British rule of Ireland. For centuries, Ireland was a reluctant part of the UK, and the site of many atrocities and oppressions by the British government and army. In 1921, the Irish finally won a long and bloody war for independence from the British, and became their own nation, politically independent of Britain. People from the Republic of Ireland are not British in any way, and using terms that imply they are is understandably not well received by Irish folk. The term is also rejected by the Irish government.
In the vast majority of cases, you can replace “British Isles” with “Britain and Ireland”, without causing any confusion of meaning. If you want to be clear that you are counting the Isle of Man and Channel Islands, you could go with something like “The British Islands and Ireland” or “The British and Irish Isles”. Again, perfectly clear meanings. There are even some fun-sounding (if more obscure) alternatives like “The Anglo-Celtic Isles” or “the Pretanic Isles”. All of these options have the important bonus of not being an insult to Irish people, and the many thousands of people who lost their lives so Ireland could stop being “British”. I’d love to see the term “British Isles” die out in my lifetime, and I will be avoiding that term in all my posts about Britain and Ireland.
So, there we go, a brief explanation of what all these confusing terms mean, and how to use them without offending anyone!
Here’s an even briefer one if that was too much:
UK = England + Wales + Scotland + Northern Ireland
Great Britain = England + Wales + Scotland
British = of the UK
Britain = UK [or] GB
Ireland = Republic of Ireland [or] ROI + Northern Ireland
If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy A Brief History of British and Irish Languages: 17 maps and 2 charts showing how the languages of Britain and Ireland have evolved and spread throughout history.
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I really enjoy your maps thank you ! Perhaps a project that had the isle of Mann and perhaps the dutchy Cornwall and Wales and all these ambiguous wee things could be of interest in a future map
Definitely! After the interest these maps have got, I feel motivated to make a post about the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories in the future 🙂
Waiting for that
The British people, or Britons, were a Celtic race, ousted by the Anglo- Saxons (English) The Scots and Irish derive from the Gaels. The Welsh and Cornish are the only British, along with the Bretons in France and the Gallicians in northern Spain.
The Celtic Britons and the modern British people are quite different groups. It would be wrong to say English and Scottish people aren’t British just because they don’t speak a Brittonic language!
Also the Gallicians of Spain were Celtic speaking in Roman times, but they have never been Brittonic speaking. Their long dead language is only a distant relative of Welsh, Cornish, and Breton
Certainly Welsh people would rightly be angry if described as English, but I’m surprised to read that they wouldn’t identify as British. More likely, I would have thought, they might, with justification, see themselves as the original British.
What about the Channel Isles? Are they part of UK? Or Britain?
Neither!
I will likely be making a separate post about them in the future. They are Crown Dependencies, owned by the British Crown, but entirely self governing. The UK is responsible for their defence, but they do not have the same rights as normal British citizens, do not hold normal British passports, and were never part of the EU.
Definitely too complicated for this brief overview!
You now need a map for ‘Britain’ to complete the quintet.
And then, there are The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man…
Great Job!
I should object that that map of the UK is far from complete., and that UK =/= England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. UK should include also Gibraltar, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Montserrat, Anguilla, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Cayman islands, the British Virgin islands, Falkland islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich islands, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, the British Indian Ocean Territory and Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno islands.
Those are British Overseas Territories, not actually part of the UK. They may be the subject of a future post, along with the Crown Dependencies.
The British Isles is still the correct and accepted term. It is also accurate as Britons (Pretani) lived on both islands.
That’s not true. There is no evidence that the Brittonic people ever occupied Ireland. The Gaels are a related Celtic group, but are not Brittonic.
You may be interested in another of my posts, about the different languages spoken across these islands.
https://starkeycomics.com/2019/03/01/a-brief-history-of-british-and-irish-languages/
I am proud of our very varied historical past. I often wonder if there is another nation with such diverse beginnings or will there ever be such a nation’s start again. For such a small land mass, how did it influence such a large part of the globe?
I know we are viewed these days as a quaint little country, well past its empire days, but really proud to be a UK citizen but don’t get bothered by all the current tribal nonsense!
Having been born and raised in Cornwall the so-called Cornish identity and language has been spoken of for at least 55 years that I know of. In recent times this interest is driven by Emmetts (those born outside Cornwall). Indeed, it’s hard to find a proper Cornish accent these days.
You might try Eire or the “South” as terms for the Republic of Ireland.
Wales is the only part of the UK which has commited itself to its own Celtic language. Its interesting to note that there are different versions of celtish language for Wales, Cornwall and Brittany in France. Personally speaking I always found that although Welsh is spoken throughout Wales, the North of Wales seems to be more “Welsh”
Myanmar has 135 nations.
But are by no means United, despite falsely calling it “THE INION OF MYANMAR”.
The Republic of Ireland contains the most northerly point on the island, in County Donegal. The Irish border does not extend from coast to coast, leaving the entire west coast in the Republic. To call the Republic of Ireland “the South”, or “Southern ireland” is therefore incorrect and can only lead to confusion.
Also, the name “Eire” became outdated in 1949 when it achieved full independence, severing its ties to the British crown, and left the Commonwealth.
Looks at bottom map… So Britain (aka The UK) is greater, I mean bigger, than Great Britain. Right. Got it.
An interesting take on nationalities. I am proud to hold a British passport being part of Great Britain but I am more proud to be English, England being the country of my birth and infant nurture. I respect also all those who wish to be referred too as either Scottish, Welsh or Irish. There is room in all countries of the UK for people to be justly proud of their part in it and also to be recognised for the place they hold as their nation.
Well done.
The only thing I would add is to explain how Britain became ‘Great Britain’. I am sure that a lot of people, both home and abroad, assume that it is a statement of arrogance and superiority, whereas it is a term that signifies the union of two kingdoms.
It’s “Great Britain” in contrast with Brittany, or Little Britain, isn’t it?
As I understand, Great Britain was so-called to distinguish it from Brittany, or “Lesser Britain”, now jurisdictionally part of France, by virtue of the larger land area of the former.
So if the UK is formally “the united kingdom of Great Britain and northern Ireland” then by your definition it doesn’t include any of the British islands, such as Orkney etc, as Great Britain is only the main island?
In that case it uses the political definition of Great Britain, which includes all of England, Scotland, and Wales.
No, “Great Britain” is used to differentiate the island from “Little Britain”, another name for Brittany, which itself got its name through being populated by settlers/refugees from Britain
If the term “British Isles” was invented as “a way to justify British rule of Ireland” then what lies behind the name “Irish Sea”?
Thanks for a very informative article. Some might say that these distinctions are unimportant but to me this is all about respect for each others cultures.
BTW A while back someone suggest that the term “The British Isles” could be replaced with “The Wise Isles”. WISE standing for Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England. It also has a resonance in the culture of each country. Food for thought.
“country of Cornwall” unfortunate typo in this rather brilliant article!
A good piece, and shocking that it’s content is so poorly understood by many in Great Britain.
Just two points of clarification if I may. To unfortunately add to the confusion, the name of the sovereign nation commonly know as Ireland, is, in fact Ireland. The description of that same state is the Republic of Ireland. The latter term (RoI) can, interestingly, be used with political connotations in at least two directions. For those of an Irish identity seeking to exalt Ireland’s representative republican democracy to have a poke at the still-monarchist is Northern Ireland. Or alternatively, for those of an alternative persuasion who can use it to distinguish it from the (in their view) one true and proper Ireland (which is to say, the British Ireland). Irish Republic has similar, if slightly more overt baggage, and much to my annoyance, British broadcasters and newspapers still insist on using it, one suspects with at least some knowledge of its slightly pointed meaning.
Also, Ireland (whichever version is meant) was not a reluctant part of the UK for centuries. The UK was formed as late as 1801 by the Acts of Union (the uniting of the supposed kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland). That UK was formally ended in 1922 (or 1931 or 1948) depending on your preference. Prior to 1801, Ireland was a de-facto colony of Great Britain operated under the guise of an independent kingdom with a shared monarch.
The complexities and importance of this subject are even greater than your (good) article conveys.
All the best,
“Prior to 1801, Ireland was a de-facto colony of Great Britain operated under the guise of an independent kingdom with a shared monarch.”
The complexities are, of course, even greater than that.
1177-1603 Ireland was a de facto colony of England
1603-1707 Ireland was a de facto colony of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, themselves in personal union under one monarch.
Only from 1707 was Ireland a colony of “Great Britain”.
“A sovereign state composed of the constituent countries” … are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland countries? That’s news to me.
They are defined as constituent countries, yes! Not independent ones. But Scotland, Wales, and Norther Ireland each have their own governments, and England, Scotland and Wales have their own flags, patron saints, international sports teams, etc…
However, in the case of Northern Ireland the exact terminology is debated. You will also hear it called a “region”, because unlike the other 3 countries it was never an independent nation.
Thank you so much.
There’s a brilliant podcast that would complement this beautifully. It’s called We Need to Talk about the British Empire by Afua Hirsch. I found it on Audible.
Don’t know. If “British Commonwealth” is archaic. “Angloshpere” isn’t. It probably includes The United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, The United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Belize & several islands &c. Where would you like to live?
Great reading
Thank you for your much-needed explanation. You might also wish to explain that the adjective ‘Great’ Britain is to differentiate the larger British island land-mass from the ‘British’ colony (5-8th century) of Brittany or Lesser Britain.
I have never heard anyone describe themselves as ‘British’. English, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish are the identifiers that people use. ‘Britain’ is a political construct.
By the same token, one can always tell the origin of a piece as American when the term ‘Brits’ is used. Again, I have never heard anyone from these islands describe themselves as a ‘Brit’.
I hope that this helps.
Hi William, I describe myself as either British or English. My partner describes herself as either British or Northern Irish.
We do exist!
Apparently about 82% of English people identify as British.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44306737#:~:text=Our%20survey%20tested%20the%20relative,%25%2C%20strongly%20identify%20as%20British.
Here’s a great pair of maps map that show where in the UK people identify as British, and where identify as something else.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/erl3co/uk_national_identity_question_british_vs/
I am British and always call myself British, I have a British passport, I was born and live in Northern Ireland, I’m not Irish, I’m Northern Irish, I know it’s confusing to people who don’t live here.
I think you need to point out that many English people also reject the term, “British” and see themselves as English.
Great post. I’m an American married to a Scot so understand some of this. But can please you explain why Team GB in the Olympics includes Northern Ireland while he term Great Britain does not?
You didn’t explain ‘Eire (sorry, keyboard missing the accented E.)
This can be regarded as offensive to some, if used in a context assumed to be ignorant.
Well, that’s because this post is in English. “Éire” is the Irish word.
For the same reason, I didn’t talk about “Cymru” or “Alba”.
Is Northern Ireland a country?
Good question! It’s various been described as a country, a region, and a province.
Unlike England, Scotland, and Wales, it has no history as an independent country, but since it has a devolved parliament like Scotland and Wales, it is becoming common to call it a country.
The websites of the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the UK Statistics Authority both describe Northern Ireland as one of 4 countries that make up the UK .
But there is no legally defined word for it and it really depends on your preference. I chose to call it a “country” here for simplicity, but maybe in the future I will make a post specifically about the strangeness of Northern Ireland’s political identity.
Thanks for putting my scrambled old brain into order. Belfast born, Australian since 1958. Have always been Irish and take offence at any hint of British. Your maps are priceless. Proud that 1 Aus grandson and 1 grandaughter have been granted Irish citizenship. Please keep up the good work.
I’ve always said we offer invoice finance to companies across the whole of the UK, but I should be saying the whole of the British Isles! Thanks for the heads up.
Or you could say you offer invoice finance to “Britain and Ireland”, and avoid upsetting Irish clients.
When did the isle of man become part of the British Isles and as far as I know it never has been
Always has been!
Thank you! Very helpful
https://youtu.be/rNu8XDBSn10
I love CPG Grey, but he was the first to admit (in his podcast) that he made a lot of mistakes in that video. He made a whole video about his regrets about it. He also doesn’t talk about how “Britain” has multiple meanings, or how The British Isles is a contentious term… I actually couldn’t find any post on the topic that actually covers the contentious and personal aspects of all these definitions, which is what inspired me to make this!
https://youtu.be/SGa3ah03uBI?t=960
If I travel from England to Scotland, am I going to a different country? I’m still in the UK.
You are staying in the same sovereign country (the UK), but travelling to a different “constituent country”. There may be slightly different laws and regulations, and there is a separate government, but it is still part of the UK. It’s a little like crossing state lines in the USA I suppose.
The UK is NOT and never has been a “Country”. The clue is in the name United Kingdom which references the 1707 Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, which at that time included Wales and the island of Ireland.
The UK is legally a Joint Venture as is the European Union.
That’s not true. It is a sovereign country, as any official organisation or encyclopaedia will tell you.
From the Wikipedia page for example: “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK or U.K.) or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the northwestern coast of the European mainland.”
What currency is used in the Republic of Ireland? Thank you.
The Euro! In Northern Ireland it’s the pound. Although each Northern Irish bank makes their own notes, so their money is varied and looks very different to English pounds. Northern Irish money is legal tender across the UK, but in reality many people in Great Britain are a bit confused when they come across Northern Irish money, and some wont accept it.
Sorry no, Northern Irish issued notes are not legal tender across the UK. They fall into the same slot as Scottish bank issued notes. They are Pound Sterling notes , they are perfectly legal currency to use but they are NOT legal tender.
Legal Tender is as misused a phrase as some of the things you were clearing up in your definitions above, possibly more. It has a very specific legal meaning which most people misuse in day to day use.
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender
So you can use Scottish or Northern Ireland issued bank notes ,but a merchant can refuse them – just like they can refuse Bank of England notes if they want.
In practical terms, I find Scottish notes are much better understood and recognised than when I was a kid 40 years ago. I’ve been able to spend them in England as an adult on the occasions that I have had them largely without query – the worst being ‘I have to get Scottish notes cleared by the manager’ before acceptance. Northern Irish notes are less well recognised – especially the now confusing Danske Bank issued notes. However, my NI based friends say they, like Scottish notes, are programmed into most self service supermarket machines, so they tend to spend any they bring back from their family homes there rather than try and use them day to day as more people refuse NI notes than the Scots I know notice.
I didn’t know that, thank you for educating me!
I’ve been misusing that word for a while.
I’m from the far north of England, right near the Scottish border, so we got Scottish notes quite often and never had a problem with them.
There is a game I liked to play when I went to other parts of Britain though: “How far south can I spend a Scottish fiver”.
My record is Eastbourne, right on the south coast.
You Forgot to mention
People from
Scotland are Scottish
Wales are Welsh
England are English
But they are all British
The confusing one is Northern Island who are Irish but are also British depending on their Political and nationalistic leanings
Please don’t call any of the none English, English, they don’t like it
Many English people see themselves as English before British. Some of us English no longer consider ourselves British only English.
Minor nitpick, probably the first of many, but the Republic of Ireland is a soccer team. The name of the state is Ireland, which is a republic.
Obviously, the RoI is a useful distinction but it isn’t the name of the state. The constitution is unequivocal on that.
Thanks, I’ve edited the post accordingly!
Also, if you are English, from England you should be thought of as English, not British.
No, You should be thought of as however you identify yourself. English or British is fine.
English people can identify as British, English, or both. It’s down to personal preference.
So why do cars have to display G.B.badges in Europe?
Good question. The short answer: at the convention of Road Traffic, in Vienna 8 November 1968, the UK as contracting party agreed to use “GB” as distinguishing sign.
I can find no particular reason for this choice, and it seems like a weird one to me.
At first I thought maybe it was because the Ukraine already used “UK”, but no, they use “UA”.
I guess it’s possible that the UK and Ukraine both agreed not to use “UK” to avoid any confusion?
Not if the Convention was in 1968 – Ukraine was part of the USSR then and would have presumably used SU.
The same question gets asked about Team GB in the Olympics – or the 1978 GBP ISO code for Pound Sterling
I think GB was simply more identifiable at the time but they didn’t want to use and England as the identifier as the concept of saying ‘England’ to cover all the UK was becoming more noticed as justifiably irritating throughout the 20th Century especially after WWII.
My Dad was brought up very ‘English is best’ and always told me to write England on postcards home rather than UK (late 70s) because it meant the same and people would make mistakes with UK – think that always went down badly with Mum (Welsh family) – I used UK and never had problems.
For the record Scotland is not a region it is a country indeed it is a “kingdom” (because there has never been a “queendom”) hence United Kingdom when the Scottish king inherited the English crown in 1603.
Cornwall, County not Country…needs correcting to prevent further confusion, if that’s possible. ;o)
Well spotted, thanks!
I was always taught that Britain was England + Wales. Great Britain was formed following the union between Britain and Scotland.in 1707.
Since the Oxford English Dictionary finds “grete Brytayn” in use in 1504, you were clearly taught something incorrect.
You may be thinking of Roman Britain, which was roughly England and Wales today. Southern Scotland was intermittently ruled by Rome.
England+Wales was historically called “England”. Throughout most of English history, Wales was considered a part of England, not a separate entity.
You may be thinking of the Roman province of Britannia, which included all of Wales, most of England, and briefly part of Scotland.
Thank you for this breakdown. As citizen of the United States of America, I found the whole United Kingdom, Great Britain and Ireland thing quite confusing.
As I understand, Great Britain was so-called to distinguish it from Brittany, or “Lesser Britain”, now jurisdictionally part of France, by virtue of the larger land area of the former.
I sing folk songs from these islands, and I’m still confused about how I should describe, overall, where my songs come from. It needs to include Scotland, Scottish islands, England, Northern Ireland, Ireland (the bit I don’t know how to describe, I thought we were supposed to call it Eire but you don’t mention that) and the Isle of Man. Which is it for them, please? I don’t mind if Wales and the Channel Islands are included in the term or not.
Depends where the songs come from!
If they’re Scottish call them Scottish, and Irish call them Irish.
If you need to group them together, call them British and Irish songs.
Éire is the Irish language word for their country. This post is just about the English labels. Or else I would also have talked about “Alba” (:Scotland” in Gaelic), and “Cymru” (“Wales” in Welsh).
Terrific article