Countries of the United Kingdom

Map showing the four countries of the United Kingdom

Countries of the United Kingdom is a term used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. These four countries together form the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is also described as a country.^[1] The alternative terms, constituent countries and home nations, are also used, the latter mainly in sporting contexts.^[2][3] Additionally, Northern Ireland is referred to as a province or region.

The United Kingdom, a sovereign state under international law, is a member of intergovernmental organisations, the European Union and the United Nations. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) list of countries. The Parliament of the United Kingdom and Government of 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. Additionally, devolution in Northern Ireland is conditional on co-operation between the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland (see North/South Ministerial Council). The Government of the United Kingdom also consults with the Government of Ireland to reach agreement on non-devolved matters for Northern Ireland (see British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference). England remains the full responsibility of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is centralised in London.

England, Scotland and Wales have separate national governing bodies for many sports, meaning that they can compete individually in international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland has a separate governing body for association football but forms single all-Ireland sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports.

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the United Kingdom but not part of the UK or of the European Union. Collectively, the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are known in UK law as the British Islands. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire scattered around the globe, are not constitutionally considered to be part of the UK itself. Formerly, all of Ireland was a country of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland is the sovereign state formed from the portion of Ireland that seceded from the United Kingdom in 1922. Although part of the geographical British Isles,^[4] the Republic of Ireland is no longer a part of the UK.

Specifications

Name	Flag	Area (km²)	Population (2010 estimate)	Capital	Devolved legislature	Legal system
England		130,395	51.6 million	London	No	English law
Scotland		78,772	5.2 million	Edinburgh	Yes	Scots law
Wales		20,779	3.0 million	Cardiff	Yes	Contemporary Welsh Law
Northern Ireland	None	13,843	1.8 million	Belfast	Yes	Northern Ireland law
United Kingdom		243,789	62.1 million	London

Terminology

Further information: Terminology of the British Isles

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

Acts of Parliament

Documents relevant to personal and legislative unions of the Countries of the United Kingdom
Treaty of Perth (1266) Statute of Rhuddlan 1284 Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 Crown of Ireland Act 1542 Union of the Crowns Treaty of Union 1706 Acts of Union 1707 Irish Constitution of 1782 Acts of Union 1800 Government of Ireland Act 1920 Anglo-Irish Treaty, 1921 Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 Government of Wales Act 1998 Northern Ireland Act 1998 Scotland Act 1998 Government of Wales Act 2006
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• The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 annexed the legal system of Wales to England^[5] to create the single entity commonly known for centuries simply as England but recently officially renamed England and Wales. Wales was described as the "Country, Principality and Dominion", "Dominion of Wales"^[5] or the "Dominion, Principality and Country" or "Dominion and Principality" of Wales.^[6] Outside of Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed.^[7],^[8]
• The Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a "Part of the united Kingdom"^[9]
• 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^[10]
• 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 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 13 historic counties,^{[citation needed]} 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.

• 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".^{[citation needed]}

• "Regions": For purposes of NUTS 1 collection of statistical data in a format that is compatible with similar data that is collected elsewhere in the European Union, the United Kingdom has been divided into twelve regions of approximately equal size.^[11] Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions.

The official term rest of the UK (RUK or rUK) is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics^[12] and in legislating for student funding.^[13]

Identity and nationality

Further information: Demography of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is generally considered to be a close union by its inhabitants, with shared values, language, currency and culture, and with people moving and working freely throughout.^[14]

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

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.^[15]

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.^[16][17] This has been used to explain why first-, second- and third-generation immigrants are more likely to describe themselves as British, rather than English, 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.^[18] 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". Contrawise, in Scotland and Wales, all people identified more strongly with Scotland and Wales than with Britain.^[19] Many people in Cornwall regard themselves as Cornish and British but not English.^[20]

Studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. 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".^[21] 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 or Welsh than as British".^[21] Some persons 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".^[21] Commentators have described this latter phenomenon 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",^[22] or else a response to a historical misappropriation of equating the word "English" with "British",^[23] 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".^[24] The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and fall over time.^[25]

The state-funded Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey,^[26] running since 1998 as part of a joint project between the University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast, addressed the issue of identity in 2009. It reported that 35% of people identified as British, whilst 32% identified as Irish and 27% identified as Northern Irish. 2% opted to identify themselves as Ulster, whereas 4% stated other. Of the two main religious groups, 63% of Protestants identified as British as did 6% of Catholics; 66% of Catholics identified as Irish as did 3% of Protestants. 29% of Protestants and 23% of Catholics identified as Northern Irish.^[27]

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.^[28]

Sport

See also: Home Nations

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have a national football team, and compete as separate national teams at the various disciplines in the Commonwealth Games.^[29] At the Olympic Games, all the countries of the UK are 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.^[30][31] In most sports, except association football, Northern Ireland participates with the Republic of Ireland in a combined All-Ireland team, for example rugby union, cricket and the tennis Davis cup team.

See also

United Kingdom portal

• History of the formation of the United Kingdom
• Constituent country

References

Notes

1. ^ UK Cabinet Office: Devolution Glossary (Accessed 7 September 2010): "United Kingdom: Term used most frequently for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the modern sovereign state comprising England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland."
2. ^ "Countries within a country". 10 Downing Street. http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823. Retrieved 2009-01-04. 
3. ^ "List of all Sovereign Nations and their Capital Cities". www.nationsonline.org. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/states.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
4. ^ Gallagher 2006, p. 7.
5. ^ ^{a b} Laws in Wales Act 1535, Clause I
6. ^ Laws in Wales Act 1542
7. ^ Laws in Wales Act 1535 (repealed 21.12.1993)
8. ^ Laws in Wales Act 1542 (repealed)
9. ^ 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
10. ^ 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.
11. ^ "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)". The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2003:154:0001:0041:EN:PDF. Retrieved 2010-12-22. 
12. ^ "RUK exports". Scottish Government. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/export-statistics/RUK. Retrieved 13 August 2011. 
13. ^ "Response to Scottish Government proposals for RUK fees". Edinburgh University Students' Association. http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/asset/News/6001/draft-response.pdf. Retrieved 13 August 2011. 
14. ^ "The English question". by Michael Kenny and Richard Hayton, The Institute for Public Policy Research. http://www.ippr.org/articles/?id=3049. 
15. ^ Park 2005, p. 153.
16. ^ Langlands, Rebecca (1999). "Britishness or Englishness? The Historical Problem of National Identity in Britain". Nations and Nationalism 5: 53–69. doi:10.1111/j.1354-5078.1999.00053.x 
17. ^ Bradley, Ian C. (2007). Believing in Britain: The Spiritual Identity of 'Britishness'. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781845113261 
18. ^ Frith, Maxine (2004-01-08). "Ethnic minorities feel strong sense of identity with Britain, report reveals". The Independent (London: independent.co.uk). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ethnic-minorities-feel-strong-sense-of-identity-with-britain-report-reveals-578503.html. Retrieved 2009-07-07 
19. ^ Commission for Racial Equality 2005, p. 35
20. ^ Census 'must let Cornish record their identity' thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk, 26 August 2009
21. ^ ^{a b c} Commission for Racial Equality 2005, p. 22
22. ^ Ward 2004, pp. 2–3.
23. ^ Kumar, Krishan (2003). "The Making of English National Identity" (PDF). assets.cambridge.org. http://assets.cambridge.org/97805217/71887/sample/9780521771887ws.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-05 
24. ^ "The English: Europe's lost tribe". BBC News (news.bbc.co.uk). 1999-01-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/255337.stm. Retrieved 2009-06-05 
25. ^ "Devolution, Public Attitudes and National Identity". www.devolution.ac.uk. http://www.devolution.ac.uk/Final%20Conf/Devolution%20public%20attitudes.pdf.  "The rise of the Little Englanders". London: The Guardian, John Carvel, social affairs editor. 28 November 2000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/nov/28/education.britishidentity. Retrieved 30 April 2010. 
26. ^ "Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey home page". University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast. http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
27. ^ "Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey 2009, national identity module". University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast. http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2009/Community_Relations/NINATID.html. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
28. ^ "Devolution and Britishness". Devolution and Constitutional Change. UK's Economic and Social Research Council. http://www.devolution.ac.uk/Britishness_conf.htm. 
29. ^ World and Its Peoples, Terrytown (NY): Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2010, p. 111, "In most sports, except soccer, Northern Ireland participates with the Republic of Ireland in a combined All-Ireland team." 
30. ^ World and Its Peoples, Terrytown (NY): Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2010, p. 111, "In most sports, except soccer, Northern Ireland participates with he Republic of Ireland in a combined All-Ireland team." 
31. ^ "Irish and GB in Olympic Row". BBC Sport. 27 January 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/olympics_2012/3433557.stm. Retrieved 29 March 2010. 

Bibliography

• Gallagher, Michael (2006). The United Kingdom Today. London: Franklin Watts. ISBN 9780749664886