Difference between revisions of "Great Britain" - New World Encyclopedia

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{{Infobox Islands
 
{{Infobox Islands
 
|name = Great Britain
 
|name = Great Britain
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|image name = LocationIslandGreatBritain.png
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|native name =
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|image caption = Great Britain lies between Ireland and mainland Europe
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<center> {{lang|en|'''Great Britain'''}} (English) </center>
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|location = [[Western Europe]]
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<center> {{lang|cy|'''Prydain Fawr'''}} (Welsh) </center>
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|coordinates =  
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<center> {{lang|gd|'''Breatainn Mhòr'''}} (Scottish Gaelic) </center>
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<center> {{lang|sco|'''Great Breetain'''}} (Scots)</center>
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<center> {{lang|kw|'''Breten Veur'''}} (Cornish)</center>
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</center>
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|image name = Satellite image of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in April 2002.jpg
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|image caption = True color image of Great Britain, captured by a [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]] [[satellite]] on 6 April 2002.
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|image size = 200px
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|locator map = Kingdom of Great Britain.png
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|location = [[Northern Europe|North]] [[Western Europe|West]] [[Europe]]
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|coordinates = {{Coord|53.826|N|2.422|W|display=inline}}
 
|archipelago = [[British Isles]]
 
|archipelago = [[British Isles]]
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|area = 80,823 sq mi (209,331 km²)
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|area_km2 = 229848
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|rank = 9th
 
|highest mount = [[Ben Nevis]]
 
|highest mount = [[Ben Nevis]]
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|elevation = 1344 m
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|highest mount = [[Ben Nevis]]
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|elevation_m = 1344
 
|country = United Kingdom
 
|country = United Kingdom
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|country admin divisions title = Home Nations
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|country admin divisions = {{flag|England}} <br />{{flag|Scotland}} <br />{{flag|Wales}}
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|country admin divisions = [[England]] <br>[[Scotland]] <br>[[Wales]]
 
 
|country largest city = [[London]]
 
|country largest city = [[London]]
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|country largest city area = 609 sq mi (1,577.3 km²)
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|country largest city area = {{convert|609|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}
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|population = 57,100,000
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|population = 60,003,000<br/>(mid-2009 est.)<ref>Figure refers to the population of the United Kingdom excluding Northern Ireland, and includes about 500,000 persons on smaller islands.</ref>
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|population as of = 2001
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|density km2 =277
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|density =
 
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|ethnic groups = [[English people|English]], [[Scottish people|Scottish]], [[Welsh people|Welsh]], others
 
 
}}
 
}}
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[[Image:Satellite image of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in April 2002.jpg|thumb|250px|Satellite Image of Great Britain]]
 
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'''Great Britain''' is the largest island of the [[British Isles]]. It lies to the northwest of [[Continental Europe]], with [[Ireland]] to the west, and makes up the larger part of the territory of the [[United Kingdom]]. It is the largest island in [[Europe]], and [[List of islands by area|eighth largest]] in the world. It is surrounded by over 1000 smaller [[islands]] and [[islets]].
 
  
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==Geographical definition==
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'''Great Britain''' is the largest island of the [[British Isles]]. It lies to the northwest of Continental Europe, with [[Ireland]] to the west, and makes up the larger part of the territory of the [[United Kingdom]]. It is the largest island in [[Europe]] and eighth largest in the world. It is surrounded by over one thousand smaller [[island]]s and islets within the [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[North Sea]], [[Irish Sea]], [[Celtic Sea]], and the [[English Channel]].  
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With an area of 209,331&nbsp;[[square kilometre|km²]] (80,823 square miles) the island of Great Britain is the largest of the [[British Isles]].<ref name="unep">United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) IS[[LAND]] DIRECTORY TABLES "ISLANDS BY LAND AREA".  Retrieved from    http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm on August 25, 2006.</ref>
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{{toc}}
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It is the largest island in Europe, and [[List of islands by area|eighth largest]] in the world.<ref name="unep" />
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As a part of the once powerful [[British Empire]], Great Britain played a central role in history; one of the world's most influential centers of cultural development. Though the imperial system had its ills, it left a cultural, literary, legal and political legacy that has been adopted throughout much of the world.  
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It is the [[List of islands by population|third most populous island]] after [[Java (island)|Java]] and [[Honshū]].<ref>See [http://www.geohive.com/cd/index.php Geohive.com Country data]; [http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/kokusei/2000/final/hyodai.htm Japan Census of 2000]; [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ United Kingdom Census of 2001]. The editors of [[List of islands by population]] appear to have used similar data from the relevant statistics bureaux, and totalled up the various administrative districts that comprise each island, and then done the same for less populous islands.  An editor of this article has not repeated that work. Therefore this plausible and eminently reasonable ranking is posted as unsourced [[Wikipedia:Common knowledge|common knowledge]].</ref>
 
  
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Great Britain stretches over approximately ten degrees of [[latitude]] on its longer, north-south axis. Geographically, the island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in the western and northern regions. Before the end of the last [[ice age]], Great Britain was a [[peninsula]] of Europe; the rising sea levels caused by glacial melting at the end of the ice age caused the formation of the [[English Channel]], the body of water which now separates Great Britain from continental Europe at a minimum distance of 21 miles (34 km).
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== Terminology and usage ==
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Great Britain is an island off the north-west coast of continental [[Europe]]. It is the largest island in Europe, and consists of [[England]], [[Scotland]], and [[Wales]]. The terms "Great Britain" and "United Kingdom" are often used interchangeably, however the [[United Kingdom|U.K.]] includes [[Northern Ireland]], a number of offshore islands and several overseas territories in addition to Great Britain.
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Difficulty in understanding which words to use in describing various geographical and political entities within the area of the [[British Isles]] is common. Innocent misuse in this often politically sensitive area can cause unwitting offense to natives of the area.  
  
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==Political definition==
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=== Etymology ===
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Great Britain is no longer a country, but simply an island in the United Kingdom. Politically, "Great Britain" describes the combination of [[England]], [[Scotland]], and [[Wales]], and therefore includes a number of outlying islands such as the [[Isle of Wight]], [[Anglesey]], the [[Isles of Scilly]], the [[Hebrides]], and the island groups of [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]], but does not include the [[Isle of Man]] or the [[Channel Islands]].
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The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] leader [[Julius Caesar]] conquered [[Gaul]] and was responsible for the first Roman invasion of Britannia in 55 B.C.E. At the time of his invasion, the native population of the island later known as Great Britain were called ''Pretani'' by the Celts of Gaul. Greek writers soon termed the island, along with present-day Ireland, the "Pretanic Islands." Caesar substituted ''Brittani'' or ''Britanni'' for Pretani. The island had formerly been known as ''insula Albionum'', the "island of the Albions" (or Albio or Albion). From Brittani the by-form Brittones also came into use.<ref>Christopher A. Snyder, ''The Britons'' (Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003, ISBN 0631222626).</ref>
  
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Great Britain has evolved politically from the gradual union of [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] which started in [[1603]] with the [[Union of Crowns]] under [[James VI of Scotland]] and eventually resulted in the [[Acts of Union]] in [[1707]] which merged the parliaments of each nation and thus resulted in the formation of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], which covered the entire island, to the situation following 1801 in which Great Britain together with the island of [[Ireland]] constituted the larger [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] (UK). The UK became the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]] in 1922 following the independence of five-sixths of Ireland as first the [[Irish Free State]], a [[Dominion]] of the then [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]], and then later as an independent republic outside the British Commonwealth as the [[Republic of Ireland]].
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The term "Bretayne the grete" was used by chroniclers as early as 1338, but it was not used officially until [[James I of England]] succeeded [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]] in 1603. He proposed that the union of the crowns should be followed by a governmental union and suggested the name Great Britain. Though the English parliament did not agree, King James adopted the name by proclamation and used it on his coinage. It was given statutory authority by the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707. In 1801 Ireland joined the union, which then became known as the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]].<ref>"Great Britain," ''A Dictionary of British History'' (Oxford University Press, 2001, 2004). </ref>
  
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== History==
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Technically, Great Britain is the island unit of consisting England, Scotland and Wales. Though the sovereign state of the United Kingdom includes Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland, the simple term "Britain" is often used synonymously to that nation.<ref>''Guardian Unlimited'', [https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-b Style Guide.] Retrieved February 9, 2017.</ref>
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Great Britain was formed around 9000 years ago at the end of the [[Pleistocene]] [[ice age]] when sea levels rose due to [[isostatic depression]] of the crust  and the melting of [[glacier]]s. When this happened, the island was cut off from the [[Europe]]an mainland.
 
  
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Great Britain was first inhabited by people who crossed over the land bridge from the European mainland. Its [[Iron Age]] inhabitants are known as the [[Brython]]s, a group speaking a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]], and most of it (not the northernmost part) was conquered to become the [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] province of [[Britannia]].  After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Brythons of the south and east of the island became assimilated by colonising [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes ([[Anglo-Saxons|Angles, Saxons and Jutes]]) who became known as the [[English people]].  Beyond [[Hadrian's wall]], the major ethnic groups were the [[Ancient Scots|Scots]], who may have emigrated from [[Ireland]], and the [[Picts]] as well as other [[Brythonic]] peoples in the [[Kingdom of Strathclyde|south-west]]. The south-east of Scotland was colonised by the [[Angles]] and formed, until [[1018]], a part of the [[Kingdom of Northumbria]]. To speakers of Germanic languages, the Brythons were called ''Welsh'', a term that came eventually to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of what is now [[Wales]], but which survives also in names like [[Wallace (surname)|Wallace]].  In subsequent centuries [[Vikings]] settled in several parts of the island, and The [[Norman Conquest]] introduced a French ruling élite who also became assimilated.
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==Geography ==
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Great Britain is located off the northwest coast of continental [[Europe]]. Comprised of [[England]], [[Scotland]], and [[Wales]], it has a total area of 88,386 square miles (228,919 square kilometers), making it the largest of the [[British Isles]]. Broken down further, England is 50,301 square miles, Scotland is 30,080 square miles, and Wales at 8,005 square miles.
  
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Since the [[Acts of Union 1707|union of 1707]], the entire island has been one political unit, firstly as the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], later as part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]], and then as part of the present [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]]. Since the formation of this unified state, the adjective ''British'' has come to refer to things associated with the [[United Kingdom]] generally, such as citizenship, and not the island of Great Britain.
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The island stretches over approximately ten degrees of [[latitude]] on its longer north-south axis. Geographically, the island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while [[hill]]s and [[mountain]]s predominate in the western and northern regions. Before the end of the last [[ice age]], Great Britain was a [[peninsula]] of Europe; the rising sea levels caused by glacial melting at the end of the ice age caused the formation of the [[English Channel]], the body of water which now separates Great Britain from continental Europe at a minimum distance of 21 miles (34 kilometers).
  
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As recently as 9,000 years ago, Great Britain was not an island at all. The end of the last [[ice age]] saw the southeastern part of Great Britain still connected by a strip of low [[marsh]]es to the European mainland in what is now northeastern France. In [[Cheddar Gorge and Caves|Cheddar Gorge]] near [[Bristol]], the remains of animals native to mainland Europe such as [[antelope]]s, [[brown bear]]s, and [[wild horse]]s have been found alongside a human skeleton, [[Cheddar Man]], dated to about 7150 B.C.E. Thus, animals and humans must have moved between mainland Europe and Great Britain via a crossing.<ref>Lacey, Robert. ''Great Tales from English History''. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004. ISBN 0-316-10910-X.</ref>
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Great Britain is the largest island in Europe and the eighth-largest in the world. It is the third most populous island in the world, with an estimated 2005 population of 58,485,100 (England: 50,431,700; Scotland: 5,094,800; Wales: 2,958,600.)
  
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[[Albion]] (Alouion in [[Ptolemy]]) is the most ancient name of Great Britain.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} It is sometimes used now to refer to England specifically.  Occasionally, it refers to Scotland, which is called Alba in Gaelic, Albain in Irish, and Yr Alban in Welsh. [[Pliny the Elder]] in his Natural History (iv.xvi.102) applies it unequivocally to Great Britain. The name Britain may be derived from the Brythonic 'Prydyn' (Goidelic: Cruithne), a name used to describe some northern inhabitants of the island by Britons or pre-Roman Celts in the south. "It was itself named Albion, while all the islands about which we shall soon briefly speak were called the Britanniae." The name Albion was taken by medieval writers from Pliny and Ptolemy. For etymology, see [[#Nomenclature|below]].
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The major cities in England are [[London]], [[Liverpool]], [[Manchester]], and [[Birmingham]]. The chief cities of Scotland are [[Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow]], Aberdeen, and Dundee. The chief urban centers of Wales are [[Cardiff]], Swansea, and Newport in the south, and Wrexham in the north.<ref>[http://www.antor.org/great-britain.html Great Britain Travel Information,] Antor.org. Retrieved February 9, 2017.</ref>
  
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The term was used officially for the first time during the reign of [[James I of England|King James VI of Scotland, I of England]]. Though England and Scotland each remained legally in existence as separate countries with their own parliaments, on [[20 October]] [[1604]] King James proclaimed himself as 'King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland', a title that continued to be used by many of his successors.<ref>[http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/britstyles.htm#1604 Proclamation styling James I King of Great Britain on October 20, 1604]</ref> In 1707, an [[Act of Union 1707|Act of Union]] joined both parliaments. That Act used two different terms to describe the new all island nation, a 'United Kingdom' and the 'Kingdom of Great Britain'. However, the former term is regarded by many as having been a ''description'' of the union rather than its name at that stage. Most reference books therefore describe the all-island kingdom that existed between 1707 and 1800 as the ''Kingdom of Great Britain".
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The capital cities of each are:
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*England: London
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*Scotland: Edinburgh
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*Wales: Cardiff
  
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In 1801, under a new [[Act of Union 1800|Act of Union]], this kingdom merged with the [[Kingdom of Ireland]], over which the monarch of Great Britain had ruled. The new kingdom was from then onwards unambiguously called the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. In 1922, 26 of Ireland's [[Counties of Ireland|32 counties]] attained independence to form a separate [[Irish Free State]]. The remaining truncated kingdom has therefore since then been known as the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]].
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==Political definition==
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Great Britain is no longer a country, but simply an island in the [[United Kingdom]]. Politically, "Great Britain" describes the combination of [[England]], [[Scotland]] and [[Wales]], and therefore includes a number of outlying islands such as the [[Isle of Wight]], [[Anglesey]], the [[Isles of Scilly]], the [[Hebrides]], and the island groups of [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]], but does not include the [[Isle of Man]] or the [[Channel Islands]].
  
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==Use and nomenclature==
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Great Britain has evolved politically from the gradual union of the kingdoms of [[England]] and [[Scotland]] which began in 1603 with the [[Union of Crowns]] under James VI of Scotland ([[James I of England]]) and eventually resulted in the [[Acts of Union]] in 1707 which merged the parliaments of each nation and thus resulted in the formation of the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], which covered the entire island, to the situation following 1801 in which Great Britain together with the island of [[Ireland]] constituted the larger [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] (UK). The UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1922 following the independence of five-sixths of Ireland as first the [[Irish Free State]], a [[Dominion]] of the then [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]], and then later as an independent republic outside the British Commonwealth as the Republic of Ireland.
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===Use of the term ''Great Britain''===
 
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"Great Britain" is often used to mean the "[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]]" (UK). However, Great Britain is only the largest island within the United Kingdom, which includes numerous surrounding smaller islands, as well as [[Northern Ireland]] in the island of [[Ireland]]. In the introduction to his history book ''The Isles'', [[Norman Davies]] explains how confusion persists about what "Great Britain" and the "United Kingdom" actually denote in even some eminent educational institutions.<ref>Davies, Norman (1990) ''The Isles. A History''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513442-7</ref>
 
  
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Terms associated with Great Britain &ndash; such as ''Britain'' or ''British'' &ndash; are generally used as short forms for the United Kingdom or its citizens respectively.
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== History==
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[[Image:britannia2.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Britannia]] became a symbol of Britain's imperial might]]
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The island of Great Britain was formed around nine thousand years ago at the end of the [[Pleistocene]] [[ice age]]. Prior to that time the island was connected to the European mainland in what is now northeastern [[France]]. When sea levels rose due to [[isostatic depression]] of the crust and the melting of [[glacier]]s, the area was cut off from the continent, forming an [[island]].
  
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Great Britain and its abbreviations '''GB''' and '''GBR''' are used in some international codes as a synonym for the United Kingdom, largely due to potential confusion with "UA" or "UKR" for [[Ukraine]]<ref>Ukraine has ISO 3166 codes [[ISO 3166-2:UA|UA]] and [[ISO 3166-1 alpha-3|UKR]]</ref>{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. Examples include: [http://www.upu.int/post_code/en/list_of_sites_by_country.html#U Universal Postal Union], the [[International Olympic Committee]], international sports teams, [[NATO]], the [[ISO 3166-1|International Organization for Standardization]], and other organisations. (See also [[Country codes: U-Z#United Kingdom|country codes]], [[List of international license plate codes|international licence plate codes]], and technical standards such as the ISO 3166 [[geocode]]s [[ISO 3166-2:GB|GB]] and [[ISO 3166-1 alpha-3|GBR]].)
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In [[Cheddar Gorge and Caves|Cheddar Gorge]] near [[Bristol]], the remains of [[animal]]s native to mainland [[Europe]] such as [[antelope]]s, [[brown bear]]s, and wild [[horse]]s have been found alongside a [[human being|human]] skeleton, "[[Cheddar Man]]," dated to about 7150 B.C.E..<ref>Robert Lacey, ''Great Tales from English History'' (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004, ISBN 031610910X).</ref>
  
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On the [[Internet]], '''[[.uk]]''' is used as a [[country code top-level domain]] for the United Kingdom. A '''[[.gb]]''' top-level domain was also used to a limited extent in the past, but this is now effectively in [[wikt:abeyance|abeyance]] because the domain name registrar will not take new registrations.  The [[Republic of Ireland]] has its own separate [[Internet]] code - [[.ie]] .
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Great Britain was first inhabited by people who crossed over the land bridge from the European mainland. Its [[Iron age]] inhabitants are known as the [[Brython]]s, a group speaking a [[Celtic language]]. Most of the island, except the northernmost part, was conquered to become the [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]] province of [[Britannia]]. After the fall of the [[Roman Empire]], the Brythons of the south and east of the island became assimilated by colonizing [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes ([[Anglo-Saxons|Angles, Saxons and Jutes]]) and became known as the [[English people]].  
  
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===Nomenclature===
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Beyond [[Hadrian's wall]], the major ethnic groups were the [[Scots]], who may have emigrated from [[Ireland]], and the [[Picts]] as well as other [[Brythonic]] peoples in the southwest. The southeast of Scotland was colonized by the [[Angles]] and formed, until 1018, a part of the [[Kingdom of Northumbria]]. To speakers of Germanic languages, the Brythons were called ''Welsh'', a term that came eventually to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of what is now [[Wales]], but which survives also in surnames such as Wallace. In subsequent centuries [[Viking]]s settled in several parts of the island, and The [[Norman Conquest]] introduced a French ruling elite who also became assimilated.
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The name ''Britain'' is derived from the name ''Britannia'', used by the Romans from ''circa'' [[55 B.C.E.]] and increasingly used to describe the island which had formerly been known as ''insula Albionum'', the "island of the Albions".<ref name=snyder>{{cite book
 
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  | last = Snyder
 
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  | first = Christopher A.
 
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  | title = The Britons
 
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  | publisher = [[Blackwell Publishing]]
 
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  | date = 2003
 
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  | id = ISBN 0-631-22260-X }}</ref> The name ''Britannia''  derived from the travel writings of the [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] [[Pytheas]] around [[320 B.C.E.]], which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far North as Thule (probably Iceland) <ref> "See summary of Pytheas' Voyage" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pytheas#Voyage </ref>.  Although Pytheas' own writings do not survive, later Greek writers described the islands as the αι Βρεττανιαι or the ''Brittanic Isles''.<ref name=snyder/><ref name=ohi>{{cite book
 
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  | last = Foster (editor)
 
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  | first = R F
 
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  | authorlink =
 
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  | coauthors = Donnchadh O Corrain, Professor of Irish History at University College Cork: (Chapter 1: ''Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland'')
 
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  | title = The Oxford History of Ireland
 
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  | publisher = Oxford University Press
 
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  | date = [[1 November]] [[2001]]
 
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  | location =
 
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  | url =
 
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  | doi =
 
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  | id = ISBN 0-19-280202-X }}</ref> The peoples of these islands of ''Prettanike'' were called the Ρρεττανοι, ''Priteni'' or ''Pretani''.<ref name=snyder/>  These names  derived from a [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] name which is likely to have reached Pytheas from the [[Gaul]]s, who may have used it as their term for the inhabitants of the islands.<ref name=ohi/><ref>[http://www.celticgrounds.com/chapters/encyclopedia/p.html Encyclopedia of the Celts]: Pretani</ref> ''Priteni'' is the source of the [[Welsh language]] term [[Prydain]], ''Britain'', which has the same source as the [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] term [[Cruithne (people)|Cruithne]] used to refer to the early [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] speaking inhabitants of Ireland and the north of [[Scotland]].<ref name=ohi/> The latter were later called [[Picts]] or [[Caledonians]] by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]].  
 
  
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During Roman times, the term ''Britannia'' was applied to the Roman province of Britain, which occupied most of the island of Great Britain, and to the island as a whole.
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Since the union of 1707, the entire island has been a related political unit, first as the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], later as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and then as part of the present [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]]. Since the formation of this unified state, the adjective ''British'' has come to refer to things associated with the United Kingdom generally, such as citizenship, and not the island of Great Britain.
  
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(See [[British Isles (terminology)]] for further discussion of etymology).
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The term "Great Britain" was used officially for the first time during the reign of [[James I of England]]. Though England and Scotland each remained legally in existence as separate countries with their own parliaments, on October 20, 1604, King James proclaimed himself as "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland," a title that continued to be used by many of his successors.<ref>François R. Velde, [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/britstyles.htm#1604 "Royal Arms, Styles, and Titles of Great Britain: Documents,"] ''British Heraldry''. Retrieved February 9, 2017.</ref> In 1707 an Act of Union joined both parliaments. That Act used two different terms to describe the new all island nation, a "United Kingdom" and the "Kingdom of Great Britain." However, the former term is regarded by many as having been a ''description'' of the union rather than its name at that stage. Most reference books therefore describe the all-island kingdom that existed between 1707 and 1800 as the ''Kingdom of Great Britain."
  
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''Great Britain'' may well be a translation of the [[French language|French]] term ''Grande Bretagne'', which is used in [[France]] to distinguish Britain from [[Brittany]] (in French: ''Bretagne''), which had been settled in late Roman times by Romano-Celtic troops from [[Maximus]]' army and later by refugees from [[Roman Britain]], who were then under attack by the [[Anglo-Saxons]]. Since the English court and aristocracy was largely French-speaking for about two centuries after the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066, the French term may have naturally passed into English usage. The term "Bretayne the grete" was used by chroniclers as early as 1338{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, but it was not used officially until [[James I of England|James I]] proclaimed himself "King of Great Britain" on [[20 October]] [[1604]] to avoid the more cumbersome title "King of England and Scotland". Sources such as the [[New Oxford American Dictionary]] (NOAD) define ''Great Britain'' as "England, Wales, and Scotland considered as a unit" and ''Britain'' as "an island that consists of England, Wales, and Scotland." Thus, ''Britain'' is the name of the island, while ''Great Britain'' is the name of the geopolitical unit. NOAD advises that while ''Britain'' "is broadly synonymous with Great Britain ... the longer form is usual for the political unit." However, in the United Kingdom itself, "Britain" is usually taken to be synonymous with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland <ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/page/0,,184840,00.html</ref>.
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In 1801, under a new Act of Union, this kingdom merged with the [[Kingdom of Ireland]], over which the monarch of Great Britain had ruled. The new kingdom was from then onwards unambiguously called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, twenty-six of Ireland's 32 counties attained independence to form a separate [[Irish Free State]]. The remaining truncated kingdom has therefore since then been known as the [[United Kingdom|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]].
  
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==='Minor' Britain===
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== See also==
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In [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s [[Pseudohistory|pseudohistorical]] ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' (''circa'' [[1136]]), the island of Great Britain was referred to as ''Britannia major'' ("Greater Britain"), to distinguish it from ''Britannia minor'' ("Lesser Britain"), the continental region which approximates to modern [[Brittany]].
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* [[United Kingdom]]
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* [[England]]
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In [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Wales]] is referred to as ''An Bhreatain Bheag'' which means, literally, ''Little Britain'', although a truer translation would be ''Britain Minor''.  On the other hand, the closely-related language, [[Scottish Gaelic language|Scottish Gaelic]], uses the term, ''A'Bhreatainn Bheag'', to refer to Brittany.
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* [[Scotland]]
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* [[Wales]]
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''[[Little Britain]]'' is also the name of a [[BBC]] radio and television sketch show, and the name of streets in the [[City of London]] and in [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]]. The street in London was named in honour of the former embassy of the [[Duchy of Brittany]], which was located there.
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* [[Ireland]]
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* [[Northern Ireland]]
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==Capital cities==
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* [[British Empire]]
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* [[British Isles]]
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*[[England]]: [[London]]
 
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*[[Scotland]]: [[Edinburgh]]
 
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*[[Wales]]: [[Cardiff]]
 
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==Other major settlements==
 
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*England: [[Bath, Somerset|B<nowiki>Insert non-formatted text here</nowiki>ath]], [[Birmingham]],[[Bradford]], [[Brighton]], [[Bristol]], [[Cambridge]], [[Coventry]], [[Derby]], [[Exeter]], [[Kingston upon Hull|H—[[User:81.145.242.70|81.145.242.70]] 18:00, 11 September 2007 (UTC)<math>[[Media:Insert formula here]]</math>ull]], [[Leeds]], [[Leicester]], [[Liverpool]], [[Manchester]], [[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]], [[Norwich]], [[Nottingham]], [[Oxford]], [[Plymouth]], [[Portsmouth]], [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], [[Sheffield]], [[[[Sunderland]],]] [[]][[Truro]], [[York]].
 
−
*Scotland: [[Aberdeen]], [[Dundee]], [[Glasgow]], [[Inverness]], [[Stirling]].
 
−
*Wales: [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]], [[Newport]], [[Swansea]], [[Wrexham]].
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
==Other islands of the archipelago==
 
−
* [[Anglesey]]
 
 
* [[Hebrides]]
 
* [[Hebrides]]
−
* [[Ireland]]
 
 
* [[Isle of Man]]
 
* [[Isle of Man]]
−
* [[Isle of Wight]]
+
* [[Jersey]]
−
* [[Lundy]]
 
−
* [[Isle of Mull|Mull]]
 
−
* [[Orkney|Orkneys]]
 
−
* [[Shetland|The Shetland Islands]]
 
−
* [[Isle of Skye|Skye]]
 
  
−
==References==
+
== Notes ==
 
{{reflist}}
 
{{reflist}}
 +
 +
== References ==
 +
* Bryan, J., and Charles John V. ''The Windsor story''. New York: Morrow, 1979. ISBN 978-0688035532
 +
* Churchill, Winston. ''A history of the English-speaking peoples''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1956.
 +
* Lacey, Robert. ''Great Tales from English History''. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004. ISBN ‎ 978-0274997992
 +
* Leapman, Michael. ''Great Britain''. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2006. ISBN 978-0756615420
 +
* Snyder, Christopher A. ''The Britons''. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003. ISBN 0631222626
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
−
* [http://learningobjects.wesleyan.edu/makingofbritain/ Interactive map of Great Britain]
+
All links retrieved July 11, 2017.
−
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/coast Coast] &ndash; the BBC explores the coast of Great Britain
+
 
−
* [http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/freegb/index.htm#maps Administrative map of Great Britain] &ndash; from the [[Ordnance Survey]]; various formats
+
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/coast Explore the coastline of the British Isles with Neil Oliver and the Coast team] &ndash; BBC
−
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations]
+
* [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles and all that] by Nick Taylor, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
−
* [http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles/ The British Isles]
 
−
* [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html CIA Factbook United Kingdom]
 
  
 
{{British Isles}}
 
{{British Isles}}
  
  
−
[[Category:Countries and places]]
 
 
[[Category:Europe]]
 
[[Category:Europe]]
−
[[Category:Northern Europe]]
 
 
[[Category:Islands]]
 
[[Category:Islands]]
  
  
 
{{credit|157197069}}
 
{{credit|157197069}}

Latest revision as of 12:20, 24 January 2023

Great Britain
Native name:
Great Britain (English)
Prydain Fawr (Welsh)
Breatainn Mhòr (Scottish Gaelic)
Great Breetain (Scots)
Breten Veur (Cornish)
Satellite image of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in April 2002.jpg

True color image of Great Britain, captured by a NASA satellite on 6 April 2002.

Geography
Kingdom of Great Britain.png
LocationNorth West Europe
Coordinates53°49′34″N 2°25′19″W / 53.826, -2.422
ArchipelagoBritish Isles
Area229,848 km² (88,745 sq mi) (9th)
Highest pointBen Nevis (1,344 m (4,410 ft))
Country
Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom
Flag of England England
Flag of Scotland Scotland
Flag of Wales Wales
Largest cityLondon
Demographics
Population60,003,000
(mid-2009 est.)[1]

Great Britain is the largest island of the British Isles. It lies to the northwest of Continental Europe, with Ireland to the west, and makes up the larger part of the territory of the United Kingdom. It is the largest island in Europe and eighth largest in the world. It is surrounded by over one thousand smaller islands and islets within the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, and the English Channel.

As a part of the once powerful British Empire, Great Britain played a central role in history; one of the world's most influential centers of cultural development. Though the imperial system had its ills, it left a cultural, literary, legal and political legacy that has been adopted throughout much of the world.

Terminology and usage

Great Britain is an island off the north-west coast of continental Europe. It is the largest island in Europe, and consists of England, Scotland, and Wales. The terms "Great Britain" and "United Kingdom" are often used interchangeably, however the U.K. includes Northern Ireland, a number of offshore islands and several overseas territories in addition to Great Britain.

Difficulty in understanding which words to use in describing various geographical and political entities within the area of the British Isles is common. Innocent misuse in this often politically sensitive area can cause unwitting offense to natives of the area.

Etymology

The Roman leader Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and was responsible for the first Roman invasion of Britannia in 55 B.C.E. At the time of his invasion, the native population of the island later known as Great Britain were called Pretani by the Celts of Gaul. Greek writers soon termed the island, along with present-day Ireland, the "Pretanic Islands." Caesar substituted Brittani or Britanni for Pretani. The island had formerly been known as insula Albionum, the "island of the Albions" (or Albio or Albion). From Brittani the by-form Brittones also came into use.[2]

The term "Bretayne the grete" was used by chroniclers as early as 1338, but it was not used officially until James I of England succeeded Elizabeth in 1603. He proposed that the union of the crowns should be followed by a governmental union and suggested the name Great Britain. Though the English parliament did not agree, King James adopted the name by proclamation and used it on his coinage. It was given statutory authority by the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707. In 1801 Ireland joined the union, which then became known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[3]

Technically, Great Britain is the island unit of consisting England, Scotland and Wales. Though the sovereign state of the United Kingdom includes Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland, the simple term "Britain" is often used synonymously to that nation.[4]

Geography

Great Britain is located off the northwest coast of continental Europe. Comprised of England, Scotland, and Wales, it has a total area of 88,386 square miles (228,919 square kilometers), making it the largest of the British Isles. Broken down further, England is 50,301 square miles, Scotland is 30,080 square miles, and Wales at 8,005 square miles.

The island stretches over approximately ten degrees of latitude on its longer north-south axis. Geographically, the island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in the western and northern regions. Before the end of the last ice age, Great Britain was a peninsula of Europe; the rising sea levels caused by glacial melting at the end of the ice age caused the formation of the English Channel, the body of water which now separates Great Britain from continental Europe at a minimum distance of 21 miles (34 kilometers).

Great Britain is the largest island in Europe and the eighth-largest in the world. It is the third most populous island in the world, with an estimated 2005 population of 58,485,100 (England: 50,431,700; Scotland: 5,094,800; Wales: 2,958,600.)

The major cities in England are London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. The chief cities of Scotland are Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee. The chief urban centers of Wales are Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport in the south, and Wrexham in the north.[5]

The capital cities of each are:

  • England: London
  • Scotland: Edinburgh
  • Wales: Cardiff

Political definition

Great Britain is no longer a country, but simply an island in the United Kingdom. Politically, "Great Britain" describes the combination of England, Scotland and Wales, and therefore includes a number of outlying islands such as the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland, but does not include the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

Great Britain has evolved politically from the gradual union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland which began in 1603 with the Union of Crowns under James VI of Scotland (James I of England) and eventually resulted in the Acts of Union in 1707 which merged the parliaments of each nation and thus resulted in the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain, which covered the entire island, to the situation following 1801 in which Great Britain together with the island of Ireland constituted the larger United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK). The UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1922 following the independence of five-sixths of Ireland as first the Irish Free State, a Dominion of the then British Commonwealth, and then later as an independent republic outside the British Commonwealth as the Republic of Ireland.

History

Britannia became a symbol of Britain's imperial might

The island of Great Britain was formed around nine thousand years ago at the end of the Pleistocene ice age. Prior to that time the island was connected to the European mainland in what is now northeastern France. When sea levels rose due to isostatic depression of the crust and the melting of glaciers, the area was cut off from the continent, forming an island.

In Cheddar Gorge near Bristol, the remains of animals native to mainland Europe such as antelopes, brown bears, and wild horses have been found alongside a human skeleton, "Cheddar Man," dated to about 7150 B.C.E.[6]

Great Britain was first inhabited by people who crossed over the land bridge from the European mainland. Its Iron age inhabitants are known as the Brythons, a group speaking a Celtic language. Most of the island, except the northernmost part, was conquered to become the Ancient Roman province of Britannia. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Brythons of the south and east of the island became assimilated by colonizing Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons and Jutes) and became known as the English people.

Beyond Hadrian's wall, the major ethnic groups were the Scots, who may have emigrated from Ireland, and the Picts as well as other Brythonic peoples in the southwest. The southeast of Scotland was colonized by the Angles and formed, until 1018, a part of the Kingdom of Northumbria. To speakers of Germanic languages, the Brythons were called Welsh, a term that came eventually to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of what is now Wales, but which survives also in surnames such as Wallace. In subsequent centuries Vikings settled in several parts of the island, and The Norman Conquest introduced a French ruling elite who also became assimilated.

Since the union of 1707, the entire island has been a related political unit, first as the Kingdom of Great Britain, later as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and then as part of the present United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Since the formation of this unified state, the adjective British has come to refer to things associated with the United Kingdom generally, such as citizenship, and not the island of Great Britain.

The term "Great Britain" was used officially for the first time during the reign of James I of England. Though England and Scotland each remained legally in existence as separate countries with their own parliaments, on October 20, 1604, King James proclaimed himself as "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland," a title that continued to be used by many of his successors.[7] In 1707 an Act of Union joined both parliaments. That Act used two different terms to describe the new all island nation, a "United Kingdom" and the "Kingdom of Great Britain." However, the former term is regarded by many as having been a description of the union rather than its name at that stage. Most reference books therefore describe the all-island kingdom that existed between 1707 and 1800 as the Kingdom of Great Britain."

In 1801, under a new Act of Union, this kingdom merged with the Kingdom of Ireland, over which the monarch of Great Britain had ruled. The new kingdom was from then onwards unambiguously called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, twenty-six of Ireland's 32 counties attained independence to form a separate Irish Free State. The remaining truncated kingdom has therefore since then been known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Figure refers to the population of the United Kingdom excluding Northern Ireland, and includes about 500,000 persons on smaller islands.
  2. ↑ Christopher A. Snyder, The Britons (Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003, ISBN 0631222626).
  3. ↑ "Great Britain," A Dictionary of British History (Oxford University Press, 2001, 2004).
  4. ↑ Guardian Unlimited, Style Guide. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  5. ↑ Great Britain Travel Information, Antor.org. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  6. ↑ Robert Lacey, Great Tales from English History (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004, ISBN 031610910X).
  7. ↑ François R. Velde, "Royal Arms, Styles, and Titles of Great Britain: Documents," British Heraldry. Retrieved February 9, 2017.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bryan, J., and Charles John V. The Windsor story. New York: Morrow, 1979. ISBN 978-0688035532
  • Churchill, Winston. A history of the English-speaking peoples. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1956.
  • Lacey, Robert. Great Tales from English History. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004. ISBN ‎ 978-0274997992
  • Leapman, Michael. Great Britain. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 2006. ISBN 978-0756615420
  • Snyder, Christopher A. The Britons. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003. ISBN 0631222626

External links

All links retrieved July 11, 2017.



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