why a lot of British people don't recognise they are northern European?

Question

while:
- Their country lies in the northern half of Europe
- Their (main) language is derived from Germanis as are most of northern European languages
- their dominant religion is protestant christianity
- their country borders the north sea on all the east coast
- the beer and whiskey are dominant alcoholic drinks
- the country lies at the same latitudes than Norther Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, southern Sweden and Norway.
- they have been settled by Angles, Saxons and vikings
etc...

willeke:

"western Europe" as you use it is not at all a recognise grouping from a french point of view, it is very strange to be lumped with Netherlands and UK, who are, for our point of view the quintessential northern European countries... I still don't understnad why so many northern Europeans such as Dutch and British groups themselves with France, a country with which they have few in common...

... And I still don't understand why in this English/Dutch conception Germany is exluded from western Europe?

And why Portugal and Spain, which are the westermost countries of Europe are not included in "western Europe" ??
You'll may say "they are at south": I'll say; the UK is geographically at north and still is included without doubt in Western Europe... Strange thing...

Answer 1

There are many ways to categorize european countries into North, South, West, and East, maybe also Central. I think the classification of the United Nations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe#Territories_and_regions
does make sense. By that categorization Germany isn't excluded from being a Western European country, though sometimes regarded as "Central European".

Portugal and Spain aren't only the westernmost countries in Europe but also belong to the southernmost. From their climate and lifestyle they should rather be classified as "South".

Why would you like to count the Netherlands as North? Not far away from France, and several french cities are located further east than any dutch city. And the country is far more south than Scandinavia or even the northern part of Germany. From a french point of view probably also Germany is regarded as belonging to Eastern Europe which is also ridiculous. If you don't consider Germany as North European the Netherlands can't be as well.

After the UN Great Britain belongs to Northern Europe. Often the British have their very own point of view (which isn't necessarily bad); some (English) still think GB is the center of the world. Probably the English also want to distinguish clearly from the Scottish when denying belonging to Northern Europe because they are afraid they have lost (or could lose) more of their cultural identity with all those immigrants from former colonies than the Scots do.

France and England have a lot in common (although either side doesn't want to admit it). Just have a look at their history (going back as far as to the Celts), and don't forget about the huge "Latin" influence the French had on the originally germanic language English. And please don't mix up germanic with german language - there's a significant difference.

Answer 2

Because the UK, with the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Ireland are Western Europe.
Scandinavia is northern Europe.

If Europe was only allowed to be divided in North and South, maybe England would be classed as North, but as the compass has four main directions, so Europe had. And we recognize a center too.

Added:
If you divide Europe in north and south only France would go with the south, the dividing line for me would be the language divide in Belgium.

Where you would put the central point is largely decided by where you live.
I would class Germany, Switzerland and Austria as central and all countries around it seen from that point. But my sister in law from Slovakia would class Slovakia as the center of Europe, so only Russia would be east.

France and England have more in common with each other than either one has with the former Communist countries, the Scandinavian countries or the deep south of Europe.
More so in Northern France than in the south.

Answer 3

Danka.