It's Official # It's all English to me

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The_Sweetest_Thing

MacPhisto's serving wench
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Please don't think this post is ignorant in any way. I actually really don't know....

What the heck is meant by Wales? There's Ireland, Scotland, England, Great Britain, Wales, the Welsh...sometimes it seems like it's all considered one area, other times, not. Does the Queen ceremonially rule just England?
( All I know is, I'd love to visit ANY of those places...:sigh: )

--The things they never teach us in school (world history, world geograpy). I feel uninformed.

Please educate me.
 
i think this is right....

The_Sweetest_Thing said:
What the heck is meant by Wales? There's Ireland, Scotland, England, Great Britain, Wales, the Welsh...sometimes it seems like it's all considered one area, other times, not. Does the Queen ceremonially rule just England?


1. Ireland is NOT England. Ireland is its own Republic - The Republic of Ireland. They are a separate country. Northern Ireland, however, is still part of Great Britain...which brings me to...

2. Great Britain is the accumulation of all other countries England rules. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England = Great Britain.

3. I think Wales is a country like Northern Ireland or Scotland, it has its own parliament to take care of home affairs, but ultimately answers to England. Sort of like what Puerto Rico is to the States.

4. The Queen hasn't had "power" in Britain in a long time. The Royal family is for show, it's parliament and the Prime Minister that runs the show.


:wave: Hopefully that helps a bit
 
Actually, I believe that Great Britian is the Island that contains England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is Great Britain + Northern Ireland. Sometime this is kinda confusing. :)

This is from ask Jeeves because they can explain it better than I can:

Now, about the governments. Basically, the Act of Union of 1707 gave England and Scotland a common government, although they were united under a single monarch in 1603 under James VI of Scotland (who became James I of England). In 1801, Ireland (the entire island) became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (and the Colonies beyond the Seas). After World War I, southern Ireland broke off to become the Republic of Ireland, a separate country.

So on the question of "different" governments, it's tricky. There are regional governments for Scotland and Wales, although they are fairly weak and deal with local matters only. The real power is with the government (Parliament) of the United Kingdom. It's kind of like the distinction between state governments and the federal government in the U.S., although if you missed 6th grade geography, you probably missed that part, too.

Scotland now has its own parliament that has recently been given more power, including the power to levy taxes. The Welsh forum is not so powerful. England does not have a separate elective body, but there are regional councils.

Northern Ireland is supposed to be putting some form of local government in place, but this depends on the peace process, currently delayed by the more war-like factions.
 
The Queen is the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (N. Ireland is part of the UK, but not of Great Britain which is just the island comprised of England, Wales, and Scotland). There are also the territories of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Queen is also the Head of the Commonwealth and queen of some of the Commonwealth countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

In recent years, the government has pursued a policy of devolution, where the countries each retain some powers, but the UK government is still sovereign. Unlike U.S. territories (and DC!) each country has Members of Parliament in Westminster and the members have full voting rights.

Um, that's all I can think of. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
I think when referring to the general area of the UK & N. Ireland and the Republic Of Ireland people use the term 'British Isles'. I don't know how PC that is, though.
 
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