:en:Countries of the United Kingdom

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{{Anchor|Descriptions}} {{anchor|descriptions}}

{{Further|Terminology of the British Isles}}

Various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

{{UKFormation}}

• The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 annexed Wales to EnglandLaws in Wales Act 1535, Clause I to create the single legal entity, though legal differences remained. Further Acts meant this combined territory was referred to in law simply as 'England' from 1746 until 1967. Wales was described (in varying combinations) as the "country", "principality", and "dominion" of Wales.Laws in Wales Act 1542 The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed.{{Cite web|url=http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1517920&versionNumber=1|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102012041/http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1517920&versionNumber=1|url-status=dead|title=Laws in Wales Act 1535 (repealed 21.12.1993)|archivedate=January 2, 2008}}{{cite web|url=http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1518015&versionNumber=1|title=Laws in Wales Act 1542 (repealed)|website=www.statutelaw.gov.uk|access-date=4 July 2017}}
• The Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a "part" of a united kingdom of Great Britain.e. g. "... to be raised in that Part of the united Kingdom now called England", "...that Part of the united Kingdom now called Scotland, shall be charged by the same Act..." Article IX
• The Acts of Union 1800 use "part" in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. However, they use the word "country" to describe Great Britain and Ireland respectively, when describing trade between them.e. g. "That, from the first Day of January one thousand eight hundred and one, all Prohibitions and Bounties on the Export of Articles, the Growth, Produce, or Manufacture of either Country, to the other, shall cease and determine; and that the said Articles shall thenceforth be exported from one Country to the other, without Duty or Bounty on such Export"; Union with Ireland Act 1800, Article Sixth.
• The Government of Ireland Act 1920 described Great Britain, Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland as "countries" in provisions relating to taxation.
• The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, does not use any term to describe Northern Ireland.

The Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms "England", "Wales" and the "United Kingdom", but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines "Scotland" or "Northern Ireland". Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act. The definitions in the 1978 Act 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 the 8 Preserved counties of Wales as outlined 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 eight new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities.

In Welsh law, "Wales" and "Cymru" are defined in the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019 as "(a) the combined area of the counties and county boroughs in Wales (see Parts 1 and 2 of Schedule 4 to the Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70)), together with (b) the sea adjacent to Wales within the seaward limits of the territorial sea."

In the Scotland Act 1998 there is no delineation of Scotland, 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".Scotland Act 1998 [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46/section/126 Interpretation of Scottish Act 1998], Nov 1998

The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 refers to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as "parts" of the United Kingdom in the following clause: "Each constituency shall be wholly in one of the four parts of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)."

The Royal Fine Art Commission's 1847 report on decorating the Palace of Westminster referred to "the nationality of the component parts of the United Kingdom" being represented by their four respective patron saints.{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/art-in-parliament/online-exhibitions/the-palace-of-westminster-and-its-history/national-patron-saints/st-david-and-wales/|title=About Parliament > Art in Parliament > Online Exhibitions > The Palace of Westminster > National Patron Saints > St David and Wales|work=Official website |publisher=UK Parliament|access-date=3 January 2016}}

For the purposes of NUTS 1 collection of statistical data in a format that is compatible with similar data collected in the European Union (on behalf of Eurostat), the United Kingdom was divided into twelve regions of approximately equal size.{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:154:0001:0041:EN:PDF|title=Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)|publisher=The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union|access-date=2010-12-22}} Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were regions in their own right while England was divided into nine regions. Following Brexit, the Office for National Statistics uses International Territorial Level, which is currently a mirror of the NUTS 1 system until the 2024 review.{{Cite web |title=International, regional and city statistics - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/whatwedo/programmesandprojects/europeancitystatistics |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

The official term rest of the UK (RUK or rUK) is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/export-statistics/RUK|title=RUK exports|date=6 July 2005 |publisher=Scottish Government|access-date=13 August 2011}} and in legislating for student funding.{{cite web|url=http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/asset/News/6001/draft-response.pdf|title=Response to Scottish Government proposals for RUK fees|publisher=Edinburgh University Students' Association|access-date=13 August 2011|archive-date=13 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913033110/http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/asset/News/6001/draft-response.pdf|url-status=dead}}

The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts and may include all of the island of Ireland.

{{Further| Demography of the United Kingdom}}

According to the British Social Attitudes Survey, there are broadly two interpretations of British identity, with ethnic and civic dimensions:

{{blockquote|The first group, which we term the ethnic dimension, contained the items about birthplace, ancestry, living in Britain, and sharing British customs and traditions. The second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship.{{harvnb|Park|2005|p=153}}.}}

Of the two perspectives of British identity, the civic definition has become the dominant idea and in this capacity, Britishness is sometimes considered an institutional or overarching state identity.{{Cite journal|first=Rebecca|last=Langlands|year=1999|title=Britishness or Englishness? The Historical Problem of National Identity in Britain|journal=Nations and Nationalism|volume=5|pages=53–69|doi=10.1111/j.1354-5078.1999.00053.x}}{{Cite book|title=Believing in Britain: The Spiritual Identity of 'Britishness'|first=Ian C.|last=Bradley|publisher=I. B. Tauris|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84511-326-1}} This has been used to explain why first-, second- and third-generation immigrants are more likely to describe themselves as British, rather than English, Northern Irish, Scottish or Welsh, because it is an "institutional, inclusive" identity, that can be acquired through naturalisation and British nationality law; the vast majority of people in the United Kingdom who are from an ethnic minority feel British.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ethnic-minorities-feel-strong-sense-of-identity-with-britain-report-reveals-578503.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515193209/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ethnic-minorities-feel-strong-sense-of-identity-with-britain-report-reveals-578503.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 15, 2011|work=The Independent|title=Ethnic minorities feel strong sense of identity with Britain, report reveals|first=Maxine|last=Frith|access-date=2009-07-07|date=2004-01-08 | location=London}} However, this attitude is more common in England than in Scotland or Wales; "white English people perceived themselves as English first and as British second, and most people from ethnic minority backgrounds perceived themselves as British, but none identified as English, a label they associated exclusively with white people".{{cite web|url=https://britologywatch.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/white-and-english-but-not-white-english-how-to-deal-with-the-discriminatory-census-for-england-and-wales/|title=White and English, but not white-English: how to deal with the discriminatory Census for England and Wales|date=7 March 2011|website=Britology Watch: Deconstructing \'British Values\'|access-date=19 January 2020}} Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales "there was a much stronger

identification with each country than with Britain."{{harvnb|Commission for Racial Equality|2005|p=35}}

The Commission for Racial Equality found that with respect to notions of nationality in Britain, "the most basic, objective and uncontroversial conception of the British people is one that includes the English, the Scots and the Welsh". However, "English participants tended to think of themselves as indistinguishably English or British, while both Scottish and Welsh participants identified themselves much more readily as Scottish{{cite web |url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022-results/scotland-s-census-2022-ethnic-group-national-identity-language-and-religion/#section5 |title=Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion: National Identity |date=21 May 2024 |access-date=14 January 2025}} or Welsh than as British". Some people opted "to combine both identities" as "they felt Scottish or Welsh, but held a British passport and were therefore British", whereas others saw themselves as exclusively Scottish or exclusively Welsh and "felt quite divorced from the British, whom they saw as the English".{{harvnb|Commission for Racial Equality|2005|p=22}} Commentators have described this latter viewpoint as "nationalism", a rejection of British identity because some Scots and Welsh interpret it as "cultural imperialism imposed" upon the United Kingdom by "English ruling elites",{{Harvnb|Ward|2004|pp=2–3}}. or else a response to a historical misappropriation of equating the word "English" with "British",{{cite web|url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805217/71887/sample/9780521771887ws.pdf|title=The Making of English National Identity|publisher=assets. cambridge.org|first=Krishan|last=Kumar|year=2003|access-date=2009-06-05}} which has "brought about a desire among Scots, Welsh and Irish to learn more about their heritage and distinguish themselves from the broader British identity".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/255337.stm |work=BBC News|date=1999-01-14|access-date=2009-06-05|title=The English: Europe's lost tribe}} The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and fall over time.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.devolution.ac.uk/Final%20Conf/Devolution%20public%20attitudes.pdf

|title=Devolution, Public Attitudes and National Identity

|publisher=www. devolution.ac.uk

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201020047/http://www.devolution.ac.uk/Final%20Conf/Devolution%20public%20attitudes.pdf

|archive-date=2007-12-01

}}

{{cite news

|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2000/nov/28/socialcare

|title=The rise of the Little Englanders

|publisher=The Guardian, John Carvel, social affairs editor

|access-date=30 April 2010

|location=London

|date=28 November 2000

}}

The 2011 census which asked about national identity found that responders in Great Britain predominantly chose English, Welsh and Scottish rather than British.{{Cite web|title=2011 Census - Office for National Statistics|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/2011censuskeystatisticsforwales/2012-12-11#ethnic-group-and-identity|access-date=2022-02-07|website=www.ons.gov.uk}} Research has suggested that most people in England and Wales tend to see themselves as British, but that in Wales and Scotland in particular, Scottishness or Welshness tends to receive more emphasis. The 2022 National Scotland census which asked about national identity in Scotland found that from the populations responders at 89% had predominantly chose the Scottish only identity at 65.5% of the population, the percentage of those identifying as British only increased to 13.9%, those identifying as Scottish and British had reduced to 8.2%.{{cite web |url=https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022-results/scotland-s-census-2022-ethnic-group-national-identity-language-and-religion/ |title=Scotland's Census 2022 - Ethnic group, national identity, language and religion: National Identity |publisher=Scotland's Census |date=21 May 2024 |access-date=13 January 2025}}

A poll conducted in Wales during spring 2019 found that 21% saw themselves as Welsh not British, 27% as more Welsh than British, 44% as equally Welsh and British whilst 7% saw themselves as either more or exclusively British.{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Felicity |date=2019-03-07 |title=The Changing Face of Wales: How Welsh do you feel? |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-47475486 |access-date=2021-11-15}} A 2018 survey of 20,000 adults in England found that 80% identified strongly as English and 82% identified strongly as British, with the two identities appearing to be closely intertwined.{{Cite news|last=Easton|first=Mark|date=2018-06-03|title=The English question: What is the nation's identity?|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44306737|access-date=2022-02-07}}

The state-funded Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey,

{{cite web

| url = http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/

| title = Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey home page

| publisher = University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast

| access-date =2011-05-08

}} part of a joint project between the University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast, has addressed the issue of identity since it started polling in 1998. It reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish. 3% opted to identify themselves as Ulster, whereas 7% stated 'other'. Of the two main religious groups, 68% of Protestants identified as British as did 6% of Catholics; 60% of Catholics identified as Irish as did 3% of Protestants. 21% of Protestants and 26% of Catholics identified as Northern Irish.

{{cite web

| url = http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2014/Community_Relations/NINATID.html

| title = Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2014, national identity module

| publisher = University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast

| access-date =2015-08-08

}}

For Northern Ireland, however, the results of the Life & Times Survey are not the whole story. The poll asks for a single preference, whereas many people easily identify as any combination of British and Irish, or British, Northern Irish and Irish, or Irish and Northern Irish. The 2014 Life & Times Survey addressed this to an extent by choosing two of the options from the identity question: British and Irish. It found that, while 28% of respondents stated they felt "British not Irish" and 26% felt "Irish not British", 39% of respondents felt some combination of both identities. Six percent chose 'other description'.{{cite web

| url = http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2014/Political_Attitudes/NIRELND2.html

| title = Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2014, Political Attitudes module

| publisher = University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast

| access-date =2015-08-08

}}{{failed verification|date=October 2020}}

The identity question is confounded further by identity with politics and religion, and particularly by a stance on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Again in 2014, the Life & Times Survey asked what respondents felt should be the "long term future for Northern Ireland". 66% of respondents felt the future should be as a part of the UK, with or without devolved government. 17% felt that Northern Ireland should unify with the Republic of Ireland. 50% of specifically Roman Catholics considered that the long-term future should be as part of the UK, with 32% opting for separation. 87% of respondents identifying as any Protestant denomination opted for remaining part of the UK, with only 4% opting for separation. Of those respondents who declared no religion, 62% opted for remaining part of the UK, with 9% opting for separation.

Following devolution and 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,

{{cite web

|url = http://www.devolution.ac.uk/Britishness_conf.htm

|title = Devolution and Britishness

|work = Devolution and Constitutional Change

|publisher = UK's Economic and Social Research Council

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090310031409/http://www.devolution.ac.uk/Britishness_conf.htm

|archive-date = 2009-03-10

}}

an option that was rejected{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/scotland-independence-vote/scotland-rejects-independence-record-breaking-referendum-n206876|title=Scotland Rejects Independence in Record-Breaking Referendum – NBC News|website=NBC News|date=19 September 2014 |access-date=4 July 2017}} by the Scottish people in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Cornwall is administered as a county of England, but the Cornish people are a recognised national minority, included under the terms of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 2014.{{cite news|title=Cornish people formally declared a national minority along with Scots, Welsh and Irish|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cornish-people-formally-declared-a-national-minority-along-with-scots-welsh-and-irish-9278725.html|access-date=23 April 2014|newspaper=The Independent|date=23 April 2014}}{{cite news|title=Cornish granted minority status within the UK|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cornish-granted-minority-status-within-the-uk|access-date=12 September 2017|newspaper=Gov.uk|date=24 April 2014}} Within Cornwall, 13.8 per cent of the population associated themselves with a Cornish identity, either on its own or combined with other identities, according to the 2011 census. This data, however, was recorded without an available tick box for Cornish; so the percentage of the population within Cornwall associating with Cornish identity is likely higher.{{Cite web |title=Ethnicity and National Identity in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/ethnicityandnationalidentityinenglandandwales/2012-12-11#ethnicity-in-england-and-wales |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

{{See also|Home Nations}}

Each of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales has separate national governing bodies for sports and competes separately in many international sporting competitions.{{cite web|url=http://www.sportengland.org/ |title=Sport England |publisher=Sport England|year=2013|access-date=25 October 2013 |work=Sport England website}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sportwales.org.uk/ |title=Sport Northern Ireland |publisher=Sport Northern Ireland|year=2013|access-date=25 October 2013 |work=Sport Northern Ireland website}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/ |title=Sportscotland |publisher=Sportscotland|year=2013|access-date=25 October 2013 |work=Sportscotland website}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sportwales.org.uk/ |title=Sport Wales |publisher=Sport Wales|year=2013|access-date=25 October 2013 |work=Sport Wales website}} Each country of the United Kingdom has a national football team, and competes as a separate national team in the various disciplines in the Commonwealth Games.{{citation|title=World and Its Peoples|publisher=Marshall Cavendish Corporation|location=Terrytown (NY)|year=2010|quote=In most sports, except soccer, Northern Ireland participates with the Republic of Ireland in a combined All-Ireland team.|page=111}} At the Olympic Games, the United Kingdom is represented by the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team, although athletes from Northern Ireland can choose to join the Republic of Ireland's Olympic team.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/olympics_2012/3433557.stm |title=Irish and GB in Olympic Row |date=27 January 2004|publisher=BBC Sport |access-date=29 March 2010}} In addition to Northern Ireland having its own national governing bodies for some sports such as association football and netball, for others, such as rugby union and cricket, Northern Ireland participates with the Republic of Ireland in a joint All-Ireland team. England and Wales field a joint cricket team.

The United Kingdom participates in the Eurovision Song Contest as a single entity, though there have been calls for separate Scottish and Welsh entrants. In 2017, Wales participated alone in the spin-off Eurovision Choir, followed by a separate entry for Scotland in 2019.{{cite web |title=Scotland: BBC Alba to Decide on Eurovision Choir 2023 Participation By End of January |date=January 2023 |url=https://eurovoix.com/2023/01/01/scotland-eurovision-choir-2023-participation/ |publisher=Eurovoix News |access-date=10 December 2023}}

{{portal|Countries|United Kingdom|Geography}}

• British Overseas Territories
• Union Flag
• Crown Dependencies
• English independence
• Heptarchy
• History of the formation of the United Kingdom
• List of current heads of government in the United Kingdom and dependencies
• Ulster nationalism
• United Ireland
• Scottish independence
• Welsh independence
• Unionism in Ireland
• Unionism in Wales
• Unionism in Scotland

== Notes==

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{citation |last = Park |first = Alison |title = British Social Attitudes: The 21st Report |publisher = SAGE |year = 2005 |isbn = 978-0-7619-4278-8 }}
• {{citation |title = Citizenship and Belonging: What is Britishness? |author = Commission for Racial Equality |author-link = Commission for Racial Equality |date = November 2005 |url = http://ethnos.co.uk/what_is_britishness_CRE.pdf |publisher = Commission for Racial Equality |isbn = 1-85442-573-0 |access-date = 2012-04-30 |archive-date = 2013-05-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130520065212/http://ethnos.co.uk/what_is_britishness_CRE.pdf |url-status = dead }}
• {{citation |last = Ward |first = Paul |title = Britishness Since 1870 |publisher = Routledge |year = 2004 |isbn = 978-0-203-49472-1 }}

{{refend}}

• {{cite book |last = Gallagher |first = Michael|title = The United Kingdom Today |isbn = 978-0-7496-6488-6 |publisher = Franklin Watts |location = London, England |year = 2006 |ref = none }}

{{Clear}}

{{United Kingdom constituents and affiliations}}

{{Devolution in the United Kingdom}}

{{United Kingdom topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Countries Of The United Kingdom}}

Category:Geography of the United Kingdom

Category:Government of the United Kingdom

Category:Terminology of the British Isles