A Geographical Issue explained

 

A Geographical issue

Cristina Sáez Asensio

The United Kingdom, the British Isles, the British Islands, Great Britain… For sure you’ve heard these terms before but, do you know exactly where they are and what they mean? In case you don’t, you will in a sec!

First, we are going to start with the British Isles, which is the name of the landform, the archipielago created by the island of Ireland and the island of Great Britain mainly, although it also includes other little islands such as the Isle of Man, Jersey and many more.

Then we have the island of Ireland, which is represented in green in the picture, that is divided in two nations: The Republic of Ireland (in blue) and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland plus Scotland plus Wales plus England form the United Kingdom (UK).

Lastly, we have the British Islands, term that refers to the UK plus some territories that depend on The British Crown but not fully on the UK Parliament. They are the Isle of Man, The Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey. These territories have a special government system: they are not completely independent from the UK, like the Republic of Ireland is, nor another proper part of it like Wales e.g.

*Note about the picture: basically, what appears in green refers to landforms while what appears in blue refers to the political organization of the land.