Why do people, especially non-British citizens, refer to the United Kingdom as England?

Question

England is, although part thereof, not the United Kingdom. People also seem to use the terms Great Britain, British Isles and Britain incorrectly.
The British Isles is NOT a country. It is a geographical term that comprises the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and numerous smaller islands around the coasts of GB and Ireland.
The United Kingdom (officially 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is the sovereign nation that encompasses the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and several small islands (though the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are NOT part of the UK).
Great Britain is NOT the name of any country, but a geographical term. It is the name of the largest island of the British Isles and is occupied by three constituent countries of the United Kingdom - England, Scotland and Wales.
England is the largest constituent country of the United Kingdom and shares land borders with Scotland and Wales, neither of which are part of England, nor is NI.

Answer 1

English football has a massive international profile and is partly to blame.
Also 'Great Britain' in common speech in most countries is totally interchangable with 'Britain' and 'UK' when referring to the entire sovereign state officially known as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. However this is not such a simple mistake when 'GB' is the nations postal abbreviation worldwide, 'British' refers to any national product and simply everyone (even you) shortens the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to just 'UK'.

In all there is a whole a mess of official terminology, cultural references, national pride and plain misunderstanding that cause this problem.

Answer 2

For years I was not sure when to use United Kingdom and when to use Great Britain and I have often heard British people complain about incorrect use of those terms but none of them would clarify the difference when asked about it. Thumbs up for you for at least explaining the difference.

I think the problem is that use of those terms is very widely incorrect (even among British people themselves and respected international organizations that should know better) and few non-British people ever get taught the difference and the correct use of those terms.

By the way, other mysteries you could shed some light on for us non-British are why some English people will get annoyed over being called British and respond "I'm not British, I'm English!" and why the United Kingdom enters some international contests as one country and sometimes as four (that's probably one more reason why people are confused and think England and the UK are the same).

Cheers!

Answer 3

Heh, I know your pain. I hate it when people refer England as Britain too. Britain = Uk = England, Scotland, Wales, N.Ireland and the other little islands as you said. To many others though, especially in the USA, Britain is England and only England which is very annoying. -_-

The Welsh, Scotish and N.Irish tend ot get annoyed when they're refered to British, but it's just as annoying to me when I get refered to British, which means I could be anything. I'm purebred English (with a possible hint of ancestral Irish blood though).

Answer 4

Because they don't know any better, they are taught only about their own country, with occasional references to other places, they don't have a clue about where in the world these places are or in fact the proper names for them. Geography isn't a strong point of people from a certain country. And why should it be? The only impotrant place to them is their country. Nowhere else needs to exist to them.

And why do these people seem to think that if you are from England then you know the queen and live in London?

Answer 5

I don't know why anyone would say "England" instead of 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". thanks for the suggestion.

Are you from 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"? How long have you lived in 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"? I've never been to 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." I'd like to visit 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" but the name's too bleeding long to tell my travel agent!

Answer 6

You may find that in actual fact they are being more precise. This behaviour is generally associated with Americans who, in addition to being US Citizens are also members of a state and will generally answer the question "Where do you come from?" with "New Hampshire" (or whatever state they do in fact come from). Often Americans will say they are going to England and mean just that. Perhaps they are only intending to tour London (England) It is a mistake to think that an American who is intending to fly into Heathrow (England) and says he is going to England really means the UK.

Answer 7

I am one of those people.
I was born in France and we did call Great Britain "L'Angleterre".
L'Angleterre being England.

I think it comes from World War II
After all, the movie is called "The battle of Great Britain".
Not the Battle of the UK.

England also comes from the word English.
All in all, it is just easier to call it England.
We don't really want to know about the countries of the UK.

When you refer to Sydney Australia, people don't ask you to refer to them as Sydney New South Wales.

Why can't you be just one country?
Who else does that?
Not France, not America, not Australia
Russia does it, since it broke apart... but besides that...

Answer 8

I agree - also people mix up the UK and Great Britain England = England Great Britain = England, Wales and Scotland UK = Great Britain and Northern Ireland (so = England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) why is that so difficult?

Answer 9

Because we all really don't care what is the largest constituent country of the United Kingdom.
It may matter a lot to you, but to the rest of the world, you are in England.

Put a brave face on and accept it.

Answer 10

Well said. Its pure ignorance and lack of care that people call GB England.

What doesnt help is when Scotland, Wales and Ireland Win something GB wins, but when England Wins something England Wins not GB.