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Countries of the United Kingdom
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Countries of the United Kingdom is a term used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales: these four together form the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. While "countries" is the term commonly used to describe them, because of a lack of a formal British constitution, and owing to a convoluted history of the formation of the United Kingdom, a variety of other terms are also used. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales however are not formal subdivisions of the United Kingdom.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom and Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom deal with all reserved matters for Northern Ireland and Scotland and all non-transferred matters for Wales, but not in general on matters that have been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.
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Countries of the United Kingdom is a term used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales: these four together form the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. While "countries" is the term commonly used to describe them, because of a lack of a formal British constitution, and owing to a convoluted history of the formation of the United Kingdom, a variety of other terms are also used. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales however are not formal subdivisions of the United Kingdom.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom and Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom deal with all reserved matters for Northern Ireland and Scotland and all non-transferred matters for Wales, but not in general on matters that have been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. England remains the full responsibility of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is centralised in London. As the sovereign state, the United Kingdom as a whole is the entity which is used in intergovernmental organisations, and as the representative member state within the European Union and United Nations, as well as under international law; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) list of countries.
The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are British Islands, but are not under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. Ireland is a separate republic; although part of the geographical British Isles, it is not a part of the British Islands or the UK. English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh nationals are all British citizens without distinction. (The nationality laws of the Republic of Ireland entitle those born in Northern Ireland also to citizenship of the Republic.)
Historically, all of Ireland (between 1801 and 1921) and Southern Ireland (between 1921 and 1922) were what could be regarded today as Countries of the United Kingdom.
Table of the countries of the United Kingdom
Identity within the UK
Many citizens of the United Kingdom cite "Britain" or "United Kingdom" as their country and "British" as their nationality, while others identify primarily with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. A large minority in Northern Ireland cite their sole nationality as "Irish" while others identify primarily with Northern Ireland, but hold a sense of 'Britishness' in equal or high esteem. People from a mixed background sometimes ally with more than one of the constituent countries. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and fall over time. Generally the UK countries are considered to be a close union, with shared values, language, currency and culture, and with people moving and working freely throughout. Following devolution, the significant broadening of autonomous governance, throughout the UK in the late 1990s, debate has taken place across the United Kingdom on the relative value of full independence.
UK terminology
Various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This fact is illustrated by the following two tables.
Legal terminology
There is no term in UK law for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as a group of individual parts. Terminology has evolved out of usage and preference. The distinct continuance of the former states was not contemplated in these statutes; each one was a complete incorporating union. Nevertheless for various purposes they do refer to the areas of the former states. These are listed below:
Terminology in the Acts of Union
- The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 annexed the legal system of Wales to England to create the single entity commonly known today as England and Wales. Wales was described as the "Country, Principality and Dominion", "Dominion of Wales" or the "Dominion, Principality and Country" or "Dominion and Principality" of Wales. Outside of Wales, England was not given a specific name or term.
- The Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a "Part of the united Kingdom"
- The Acts of Union 1800 use "Part" in the same way. They also use "Country" to describe Great Britain and Ireland respectively, when describing trade between them
- The Government of Ireland Act 1920 does not use any term or description to classify Northern Ireland nor indeed Great Britain.
Current legal terminology
The Interpretation Act 1978 provides some definitions for terms relating the countries of the United Kingdom. Use of these terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act. The definitions are listed below
- "England" means, subject to any alteration of boundaries under Part IV of the Local Government Act 1972, the area consisting of the counties established by section 1 of that Act, Greater London and the Isles of Scilly." This definition applies from 1 April 1974.
- "United Kingdom" means "Great Britain and Northern Ireland." This definition applies from 12 April 1927.
- "Wales" means the combined area of 13 historic counties, including Monmouthshire, re-formulated into 8 new counties under section 20 of the Local Government Act 1972, as originally enacted, but subject to any alteration made under section 73 of that Act (consequential alteration of boundary following alteration of watercourse). In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities.
Note that there is no definition of Scotland or Northern Ireland. Even in the Scotland Act 1998 there is no delineation of the country, with the definition in section 126 simply providing that Scotland includes "so much of the internal waters and territorial sea of the United Kingdom as are adjacent to Scotland". See also Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 and Anglo-Scottish border.
"Countries of the United Kingdom"
The following table presents references that use the term "Countries of the United Kingdom". For examples of "country", "consituent country" and other terms in use, please refer to the further tables below.
Other terms in use
The following table presents references for the terms most commonly-used to describe the countries of the United Kingdom. The references are listed per country, and in some instances are used more than once, when more than one country is referred to in the source. To avoid duplication, individual examples have been found wherever possible. Some of the table is still under completion.
See also
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