[ST] RE: off topic: UK geography

["Keith Tynan" <keith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 10:48:36 -0700
> From: Jim Huber <jhuber@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> ...
> 	I've been confused about some things and was wondering if someone on
> the list might be able to clear them up for me. Let's see now, the entire
> country is called the United Kingdom (UK), which includes some territories
> around the globe from the Imperialist era. Looking at a map of
> "mainland" UK
> (my term), it is divided into England, Scotland, Wales, and
> Northern Ireland.
> Are they separate political entities, like states in the United States? Is
> Ireland a separate country, and only Northern Ireland part of the
> UK? And what
> exactly does "Britain" refer to? All of the UK? The "states" are
> subdivided
> into what we would call counties - like Cumbria, Lancashire, et
> cetera. What
> are they called there?
>
> Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 17:08:28 +0100
> From: Keith W Peters <keith_peters@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ...
> United Kingdom - Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland &
> England (not including territories)
> Great Britain - Wales, Scotland & England
>
> Eire (Southern Ireland) is separate from all the above.
>
> Within the individual countries we have counties (Cumbria, Lancashire etc)
>
> All of the UK is governed by the Parliament in London, England but Wales,
> Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own assemblies which make
> decisions on a local basis.

Jim,

It's a rainy day, with no riding going on...


You're not the only one that's confused....

I believe the power tree now looks like this:
- - European Parliament (Brussels/Stassburg)
- - UK Parliament (London)
- - Provincial Assemblies (N. Ireland, Scotland & Wales - England doesn't have
one)
- - Counties (e.g. Cheshire from "Chester's share", Yorkshire from "York's
share" and a few of the newer so-called metropolitan counties such as
Greater Manchester, Cardiff etc. - the mix has been re-jigged at least twice
in the last 30 years).
- - Town councils (e.g. Bristol)
- - Parish councils (the ecclesiastical zone administered by one church).

However, there are a few discrepancies in that mix, where levels get
bypassed.

My first passport proclaimed me to be 'British', to be from the 'United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' and that my national status
to be 'British subject: Citizen of the United Kingdom and its Colonies'.

As 'W' said: Great Britain refers to everything in England, Scotland and
Wales, i.e. the major land mass. Britain is just the shorter (more commonly
used) form of the same thing. The British Isles includes their immediate
islands too. Also, geographical term Ireland refers to the political
entities Ireland/Eire (country) and Northern Ireland (province). Citizens of
the latter can opt for dual UK/Eirann nationality.

Some oddities:
- - The Isle of Man (and possibly the Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney & Sark) is self-governing (i.e. outside the UK Parliament). There
is a liaison there somewhere, but I don't know what it is. Its most
noticeable feature is the ability to offer investments free of UK tax. Mann
has its own currency. It is NOT, however, part of the EEC, and its citizens
do not therefore enjoy the same rights to take up work in EEC countries as
their fellow Brits.

Whilst on the subject of currency; within the UK, N. Ireland and Scotland
both have their own set of bank notes issued by several banks in each
province. Strangely, NO bank notes are classed as legal tender in the UK
(but this is a very specific interpretation of the phrase legal tender). The
English tend not to accept non-English notes unless they're handling large
quantities of them, as banks charge a premium for processing them. The same
is not true the other way around. ALL UK notes are underwritten by the Bank
of England (there are special GBP 1M notes for the purpose).

Most Brits seem unable to identify with the word European; geographically
speaking, we are Europeans - though we are not 'continentals'. That's not to
be confused with Europeans (as in European Economic Community), of which
we're only a second tier member - not being part of the Single (Euro)
currency.

The 'Empire' as you so quaintly put it, has been at one time controlled by
the UK parliament, but has always been an annexe to Great Britain. Those
countries were always referred to (euphemistically) as the 'Commonwealth'
(i.e. the wealth was plundered by the British). A law was passed in the 60s
I think to explicitly exclude commonwealth citizens from having the right of
residence in the British Isles.

Still awake??

Regards,
- --
BRG
email: keith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
'00 Sprint ST BRG 'Wolfram'


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