A. Understanding names 1.

Great Britain
Great Britain is the official names given to the two kingdoms of England and Scotland, and the principality of Wales. It also includes the small adjacent islands except the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Sometimes people use the shortened name Britain instead of Great Britain. The term England should never be used to describe Britain, because England is only one part of it. It is always correct to call people from England, Scotland or Wales British, although people from England may also properly be called English, people from Scotland Scottish, and people from Wales Welsh.

2. United Kingdom
Together with the province of Northern Ireland, Great Britain is part of the United Kingdom (UK). The official name of the UK is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK is a member of the European Union (EU). Britain is sometimes used to mean the United Kingdom whereas Great Britain, properly used, refers only to the island of Great Britain, which does not include Northern Ireland.

3.

The British Isles

Great Britain and other islands off the northwest coast of Europe are part of the group of islands called the British Isles. The British Isles consists of: Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), the whole of Ireland, the Orkney and Sheland Island, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Isle of Wight, Scilly Islands, Lundy Island, the Channel Islands and many other offshore islands. In the British Isles, Great Britain is the largest island. The next largest island is Ireland, which is made up by the province of Northern Ireland (or Ulster), a part of the United Kingdom, and the Irish Republic (also known as Eire), an independent country.

4.

The British Commonwealth of Nations

The British Commonwealth of Nations is the former name of Commonwealth of Nations, an association of nations consisting of the United Kingdom and its dependencies and many former British colonies that are now sovereign states but own allegiance to the British Crown. The Commonwealth nations do not act as a bloc in world affairs but share common commitment to promoting human rights, democracy, and economic development. To understand the formation of the Commonwealth, it is necessary to know that at one time, the United Kingdom controlled the vast empire from the last 1500s to the middle of the 20 th century. At its height in the early 1900s, the British Empire included over 20 percent of the worlds land and area and more than 400 million people. Almost all the members of the Commonwealth were once ruled by Britain as part of the British Empire. Some of them, such as Australia and Canada, were large settled by British people. Others, such as India and Nigeria, were areas where British administrators governed a large non-British population. Today there are 54 Commonwealth Nations. The British monarch is considered the head of state in only 16 Commonwealth countries, which are now formally called realms. Realms include Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The other members recognize the Crown only as head of the Commonwealth.