In Hungary, many people use the name "Anglia", meaning "England", for the whole of Great Britain, which I find grossly inappropriate. On the other hand, I have also realised that many British people use "UK" to name the whole country, but seldom ever say "I'm from (Great) Britain", preferring England, Wales or Scotland instead. So if I were to visit one of these places, I would not say "I'm going to Great Britain", either, prefering any of the above instead.
By the way, why is "GB" used instead of "UK" on the country stickers on cars? And what are England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland officially called? Constitutional parts? Historical provinces? Other?
In Israel, the common name is "Anglia" and the more formal name is
"Britania". You can seldom hear "Britania Hagdola" (Great Britain) or "Hamamlakha Hameukhedet" (United Kingdom).
In Canada, we almost always refer to it as Britain or Great Britain. It is very rare to hear UK, unless the person speaking is actually FROM the UK.
This might be a case of the country's self-selected term being rejected by the rest of the world.
And what is so great about britain anyway... Poor NHS no political back-bone to back up it citizens wishes of toeing american lines etc etc... (and not to speak of having thievied lots of treasures from countries like India, srilanka and Bhutan)
Harvey,
That depends what "it" is that you are referring to. If a person is actually from Great Britain then they are from the UK.
Actually I did not mean to initiate a flame on political issues.
I learn English at school and would like to work out the correct name of a country.
So, as I get it now, some people may talk about the whole UK even if they say just "England"?
That is often the case. Over here, in the US, I have always heard people say "England" or "Britain" or less freqeuently "UK" to refer to the same thing. I had to figure out the difference on my own.
To Easterner:
Good question, I have been wondering myself.
I think England, Wales, Scotland and N Ireland are nations. Very strictly speaking England is a kingdom, Wales is a principiality and Scotland is a kingdom. I am unsure about N Ireland. Scotland has its own legal system and parliament, so it's definitely a nation / kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II actually had a kind of separate coronation ceremony in Edinburgh where she touched the crown of Scotland and Charles had his own prince-making ceremony in Caernarvon. As England lacks these ceremonies and because there is no difference between English state institutions and those of the UK it might be argued that England is not a kingdom in its own right!!!
And of course they have separate national football teams!!! Maybe that, and the Church of England, is what makes England a nation?
To Kazakh:
People from England will probably refer to the country as Britain or the UK. The name "Great Britain" has a more official nature, I think. Englishmen think of themselves more as British than English.
People from Wales and Scotland will of course tell you they come from Wales or Scotland, but will refer to the whole country as Britain or the UK, I think.
The same with people from Northern Ireland, but I think Protestants will emphazise that they are British while Catholics will more emphazise that they are Irish Catholics from Northern Ireland.
Only people from outside the British Isles (and only a few crazy Englishmen) will call the whole UK "England"!
In general the phrases "Britain", "British" and "Britons" are used far more in the UK than we foreigners tend to think. Of course, "British" is the appropriate adjective for the noun "UK"! And only the Catholics of N Ireland would really protest against that, I think.
British Isles = Republic of Ireland + the UK + Isle of Man
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) = England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Great Britain = England, Wales and Scotland
England sometimes includes Wales
Britain is used for GB as well as the UK
The Isle of Man and the Channel Isles are Crown Dependencies outside the UK
Ok, ok, ok.....right now I don't really care what you guys want to call us! LOL Let's have a wee bit of a chuckle.
A policeman in the West of England, not far fom the border with Wales, recently stopped a woman for exceeding the speed limit. He asked her to give him her name and address.
She said: "I'm Mrs Gladiolas Abdulkhashim Zebkcicraznovskayaya from the Republic of Uzbekistan and I'm on my way to visit my daughter in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllantisiliogogoch".
The cop put away his summons book and pen and said: "Well..OK...but don't let me catch you speeding again!"
<<a few crazy Englishmen>>>
I know most of them I think, Fredrik! ;-) ;-) ;-) Great at parties....
The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are tax havens. You cannot just go and live there unless you are a zillionaire.