Question on countries. Is England a country or is it United Kingdom?

Question

I had asked the question to somebody, why does this country have 4 football teams? ie England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I was promptly been told that because they are all countries. As far as I know, the Country is United Kingdom.

I have since had many debates and I am astonished that so many believe that England, Scotland and Wales are counties.
No matter what I provide as prove people are still claiming that United Kingdom is not a country. For example of you look at a list of all the countries in the world, you do not get England, Scotland or Wales in that list. You get France, Germany, United Kingdom etc.

Can anybody prove to me either way? To be honest, I really don't care what the answer turns out to be as I am not emotionally affected by the answer. It's just that I have grown believing one thing and most people are telling me something else.

Answer 1

Britain

Answer 2

What the hell do you think Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland are if they're not countries? They aren't states! At one time they were all separate countries (with the exception of Northern Ireland which was once a part of the Republic of Ireland). People gets confused by the words United Kingdom, the think that because there is the United States that we're the same, well we're NOT!! The United Kingdom is made up of four countries, end of story. Great Britain is made up of three (Scotland, England and Wales). Scotland had it's own Kings and Queens. James 1 of Great Britain was actually James VI os Scotland.

Answer 3

OK, I can see where you get confused. The "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is a country created by a political union. The political union is made up of four what are known as 'constituent countries', being England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The "United Kingdom" also includes overseas territories such as Gibraltor and the Falkland Islands. Geographically, the land the UK is based on is called the 'British Isles'.

So, hope that makes sense! England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are all seperate countries, but form together to create the political union of the 'United Kingdom' - which is also deemed as a country! So everyone in this case is correct!

Answer 4

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is a country and sovereign state occupying most of the British Isles off the northwest coast of Europe. Its territory and population are primarily situated on the island of Great Britain, but it also shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland on the island of Ireland. The United Kingdom is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and its ancillary bodies of water: the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea.

The United Kingdom is a political union made up of four constituent countries or the home nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It also has several overseas territories, including Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands, and through the Crown has a relationship with the dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. A constitutional monarchy, the United Kingdom has close relationships with fifteen other Commonwealth Realms that share the same monarch – Queen Elizabeth II – as head of state.

Constituent countries is a phrase sometimes used, usually by official institutions, in contexts in which a number of countries make up a larger entity or grouping; thus the OECD has used the phrase in reference to the former Yugoslavia (example here) and European institutions such as the Council of Europe frequently use it in reference to the European Union (example here). It is not a term of art and has no defined legal meaning; 'constituent' is simply an adjective, and the phrase has no clear meaning outside a context from which the entity or grouping of which the countries in question are constituents or components can be understood.

Therefore, United Kingdom is a country made up of four main countries. If you noticed, each of these countries has its own flag, and they represent themselves in major events , e.g. World Cup. So both you and others are right in a certain way.

Answer 5

England is a country

Great Britain comprises of England Scotland and Wales

The United Kingdom is England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland

The British Isles are England Scotland Wales all of Ireland and the many small islands which surround them

Answer 6

England is a country, the United Kingdom is made up of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.

Answer 7

The United Kingdom is an amlagam of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom, but each country also has it's own political and cultural identity.

England is the major constituent of the United Kingdom (and was the founder member). In 1538 Wales merged with England under the Act of Union and the term "United Kingdom" was first coined. In 1707, Scotland merged to form Great Britain and following the independence of the Republic of Ireland in 1921, Northern Ireland joined, but each country still retains it's cultural identity hence the reason for there being four national football teams

Answer 8

States? Countries? Let's get this right.

England, Scotland and Wales are principalities that make up Great Britain. The United Kingdom is the principalities plus Northern Ireland. However, since they once existed as separate nations, we still like to think of ourselves as English, Scots etc. in the same way as we think of ourselves as Londoners, Scousers and so on. The fact that Wales and Scotland now have their own parliaments gives substance to the idea of the individual principalities as countries within a greater nation. Together we are indestructable!

Answer 9

There is no single system of local government in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is made up of constituent countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each has a different system of local government.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
These three parts of the United Kingdom each have devolved legislature and government - the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Assembly Government, and the Northern Ireland Assembly and Northern Ireland Executive (both suspended) respectively. These bodies are part of the national, rather than local, tier of government in the UK.

They each use a pattern of unitary authorities, meaning there is a single tier of local government. There are 32 council areas in Scotland, 22 counties and county boroughs in Wales, and 26 districts in Northern Ireland.

England
The pattern in England is more complex. Unlike the other three constituent countries England has no separate governing body for the whole of it other than that of the Government of the United Kingdom (for the issue of an English legislature, see devolved English parliament). It is subdivided into 9 regions. One of these, London, has an elected Assembly and Mayor, but the others have a relatively minor role, with unelected regional assemblies and Regional Development Agencies.

Excluding Greater London, England has two different patterns of local government in use. In some areas there is a county council responsible for some services within a county, with several district councils responsible for other services. These councils are elected in separate elections. Some areas have only one level of local government, and these are dubbed unitary authorities.

Councils of counties are called 'X County Council', whereas district councils can be 'District Council', 'Borough Council', or 'City Council' depending upon the status of the district. Unitary authorities may be called County Councils, Metropolitan Borough Councils, Borough Councils, City Councils, District Councils, or sometimes just Councils. These names do not change the role or authority of the council.

Overall responsibility for issues such as transport in Greater London is vested in the Greater London Authority. London is then divided into 32 London boroughs and the City of London, which have powers between a normal district and a unitary authority.

Answer 10

England is a country in its on right as is Wales Scotland and Ireland.

The United Kingdom is the collection of England Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland.

You are correct about the listings, I would imagine it's the Americans writing the lists.

It's like saying Argentina is part of America, in fact it's South America.

I once spoke to an american who thought UK was England, Scotland, France and Belguim.....???!?!?!?

Answer 11

Yes, it is confusing. The political entity is the United Kingdom. Within this there are four countries - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, all to some degree self-governing, but still subject to overall rule from the British government at Westminster. The country is also sometimes referred to as Britain or Great Britain, although strictly speaking Great Britain is simply the largest of the geographical group called the British Isles.

Then, just to confuse matters further, within that group you've got smaller entities like the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man, which are largely self-governing but still subject to some degree of control (eg foreign policy) from Westminster. And of course there's Southern Ireland or Eire, totally separate and self-governing, and like the UK a member of the European Union.