Britain: Difference between revisions

{{Useful Notes}}

 

 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a state which sits on a collection of islands in ([[With Europe but Not of It|or "near"]]) the North-West of [[Europe (band)|Europe]], most particularly Great Britain and a northern part of the island of Ireland, as well as smaller islands like Orkney and Shetland. "Great Britain" is not the name of the country, at least not since 1801.

 

 

The King of England was also Lord of Ireland from 1171, and King of Ireland from 1541; Ireland joined the UK in 1801. Most of Ireland left again in 1921 to form the Irish Free State, which later became the Republic Of Ireland. Since 1999, Scotland and Wales have been partially self-governing through a new Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly respectively, though these bodies only have powers to deal with certain areas of government - education policy, for example. Scotland & Wales still elect MPs to the main London Parliament too, which retains control over national issues like defense. Northern Ireland is a portion of Ireland that remained part of the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland decided to become independent (and, later, a republic) in the 20th century.

Variously described by names such as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom, the British Isles, Great Britain, Britain; many in fact refer to subtly different entities and these themselves may contain areas with different rules (the Channel Islands, Man, etc). It is perfectly easy to run across a construction like, ''"The Isle of Man is part of the British Isles but not governed by the British Prime Minister; though it is not part of the United Kingdom it is subject to the Queen of England"'' - all of which is essentially correct, but the hideous confusion all these overlapping and vaguely similar-sounding terms create is so great it is nearly impossible to explain the situation to someone unfamiliar with it. Especially not verbally, when this necessitates using phrases like "a man from Man has a British passport but is not technically British and certainly not from Great Britain" or "the Republic of Ireland in the island of Ireland is properly called Ireland"... Fortunately, the [[Tv Tropes Will Enhance Your Life|helpful magic of TV Tropes]] now lets you straighten out all this mess by looking at [[Britain Versus the UK]] to clear it all up.

 

 

 

Modern 'Britain' didn't exist as a political entity until the early 17th century when James VI of Scotland became dual monarch of Scotland and England and, although both countries were independent of one another, the idea of 'Britain' came from this dual monarchy. The British political system (largely inherited from that of England following the two countries' most recent union in 1707) is the oldest in the world but has undergone some major upheavals in its time, including the Magna Carta of the middle ages (which established the rights of the aristocracy in relation to the King), a Civil War in the mid-17th century which overthrew the monarchy and established a republic (although this only lasted eleven years) and a coup d'etat in 1688 known as the 'Glorious Revolution' which overthrew another King and reined in monarchical power meaning that the monarch was forced to rule in partnership with Parliament. Although 1688 is seen as the "basis" for the modern British constitutional setup the years since then have seen the monarchy lose its remaining practical powers and become entirely symbolic whilst Parliament has become the de facto ruler of the country.

The British have a tendency to be [[Wicked Cultured]] when it comes to their own language, frequently throwing Latin, French, Spanish, German and Italian phrases into everyday conversation. Tellingly London has a population where over 250 languages are spoken. This is likely due to the fact that throughout history, there has been a steady influx of external cultural influences to the island nation, from Romans to Scandinavian to French, thus the need to evolve their language into a highly complicated pidgin to facilitate communication and trade.

 

 

The UK produces a large number of English-language films and TV programmes of international fame, from places like Pinewood Studios and [[The BBC]].

Since Britain is the cradle of the English language, British English has been known as... [[Monty Python's Flying Circus|oh sod it. I never wanted to do this. Ranting in a page about the traits of a country in Europe. Discussing linguistics I have little base to know. I always wanted to be... A LUMBERJACK!]].

 

 

''Areas of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''

 

== The "Union Flag" Flag of The United Kingdom ==

Commonly referred to as the 'Union Jack', however this is only correct if it is flown at sea.

 

[[Category:Index Index]]

[[Category:British Media Tropes]]

[[Category:Britain]]