Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Most British people have the same confusion, believe me. The problem is that some of these names refer to political entities, while others are geographic. "Great Britain", for example, is the name for the island that is the British mainland, and comprises most of England, Scotland, and Wales, while "UK" (or, more formally, "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland") includes Northern Ireland and all the other small islands, too. Many people who live in England use "England" interchangeably with "Britain" (which annoys people who live in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
So Americans aren't alone in finding it confusing.
|
Technically Great Britain & The United Kingdom are both sovereign states, and as sovereign state and country are often used synonymously confussion occurs.
I did go through a stage of ticking the Other box and writing England on official forms instead of ticking United Kingdom for country, so our own government is unsure as well.
For more confusion in sport
In the olympics Great Britain is a team (Although as it includes Northern Ireland it's quite poorly named)
Football is seperate teams for England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland.
In Rugby, Northern and Southern Ireland are counted as a single country (Union at least, League was split into 2 teams in 2007).
And of course America have the World Series for baseball (No countries other than North America are actually allowed)