Geography lesson, inspired by BBB meltdown thread

[Mr Grumpy]

I need a quick geography lesson. Great Britain, United Kingdom, they confuse me.

 

England + Scotland + Wales = Great Britain.

 

England + Scotland + Wales + Northern Ireland = The United Kingdom.

 

What are GB and UK, they are not countries are they? What's the point of them?

 

The Queen, is she the queen for UK or GB or both?

 

David Cameron, he is the PM for UK or GB or England?

 

England, Scotland, Wales & N Ireland are countries. Last time I checked they are all represented in the UN but I also saw GB. Did I dream that?

 

Why in the Olympics it's team GB but in the world cup and other sports we see England, Scotland, Wales & N Ireland separately?

 

That's all I could think of for now, will probably add more questions later.

Please be nice to me.

[Guest ShoePiss]

I need a quick geography lesson. Great Britain, United Kingdom, they confuse me.

 

 

 

What are GB and UK, they are not countries are they? What's the point of them?

 

The Queen, is she the queen for UK or GB or both?

 

David Cameron, he is the PM for UK or GB or England?

 

England, Scotland, Wales & N Ireland are countries. Last time I checked they are all represented in the UN but I also saw GB. Did I dream that?

 

Why in the Olympics it's team GB but in the world cup and other sports we see England, Scotland, Wales & N Ireland separately?

 

That's all I could think of for now, will probably add more questions later.

Please be nice to me.

 

They are countries within a Sovereign state I think, the UK being the state (no, not that kind of state). The full name for the UK is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The point? To confuse foreigners and British alike.

 

The Queen is the Queen of the UK and lots of other commonwealth countries.

 

David Cameron is the PM for the UK

 

You must have dreamt it, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is what is listed as the member state for the UN.

 

Not sure about the Olympics, probably some historical reason going back to when GB first entered the event. The world cup? They're countries so why not?

[Jose Jones]

It's the Irish that are confusing as well. In Rugby the Northern Irish all compete for Ireland, but in football they compete for Northern Ireland.

In the Olympics the Northern Irish all compete for Ireland in boxing but for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in all the other sports. Northern Irish nationals won medals for two different countries in the Olympics. They want to have it all those fat terrorist pikeys.

[VladimirIlyich]

It's the Irish that are confusing as well. In Rugby the Northern Irish all compete for Ireland' date=' but in football they compete for Northern Ireland.

In the Olympics the Northern Irish all compete for Ireland in boxing but for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in all the other sports. Northern Irish nationals won medals for two different countries in the Olympics. They want to have it all those fat terrorist pikeys.[/quote']

 

Steady on you will upset Simon and have a Gypsy curse put on you.

[Jose Jones]

Steady on you will upset Simon and have a Gypsy curse put on you.

 

It's his mate's dad who is loaded with guns and bombs that I really need to worry about.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

The United Kingdom is a sovereign state - at the UN, in the Olympics, on your passport, at Eurovision, the lot. It's full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

 

Great Britain is not a political entity. It is an island - the ninth largest in the world and the largest of a European archipelago called the British Isles.

 

The United Kingdom has four administrative divisions, commonly referred to as countries: three of these are on the island of Great Britain and one is in the north-east of the island of Ireland.

[mattyq]

Think of it like the United States is a country made up of 50 states tied up together; hence the united states.

The United Kingdom is a country/state comprised of 4 kingdoms; England, Scotland, Wales and N Ireland

[Mr Grumpy]

They are countries within a Sovereign state I think, the UK being the state (no, not that kind of state).

So UK is an 'empire'?

 

Think of it like the United States is a country made up of 50 states tied up together; hence the united states.

The United Kingdom is a country/state comprised of 4 kingdoms; England, Scotland, Wales and N Ireland

But their states do not compete in sports independently.

 

Great Britain is not a political entity. It is an island - the ninth largest in the world and the largest of a European archipelago called the British Isles.

 

Thanks, very clear.

 

So, Great Britain is actually a country like the US but for some reason it has 4 'states' which are given more freedom/autonomy/identity?

 

So London is the capital of both England and UK?

[Sugar Ape]

So UK is an 'empire'?

 

 

But their states do not compete in sports independently.

 

 

Thanks, very clear.

 

So, Great Britain is actually a country like the US but for some reason it has 4 'states' which are given more freedom/autonomy/identity?

 

So London is the capital of both England and UK?

 

No, Great Britain is the name of the Island that houses three seperate countries. England, Scotland and Wales. London is the capital of England alone, Scotland and Wales have theire own capitals. A bit like the island of Hispaniola contains two sovereign states; the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

 

The United Kingdom contains England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are joined in a union. See : United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,[nb 5] commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland.[nb 6] Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.

 

All four countries are ultimately run by parliament in London but each has a degree of autonomy over subjects like education, health etc...

[Mr Grumpy]

Oops sorry, meant to say UK.

[Saintslfc13]

So UK is an 'empire'?

 

 

But their states do not compete in sports independently.

 

 

Thanks, very clear.

 

So, Great Britain is actually a country like the US but for some reason it has 4 'states' which are given more freedom/autonomy/identity?

 

So London is the capital of both England and UK?

 

First response, yes to be technical one could call the UK an empire. When you consider that the monarchy still has powers in Canada and I believe Australia and New Zealand as well, it's even more of an empire.

 

The US is all one nation with an ever expanding federal government (not how it was designed mind but that's for another thread), whereas the UK is several nations comprising one "Kingdom" (the monarchy probably preferred differently in times gone by but that is how it is now). Those nations being England, Wales, Scotland, and Nothern Ireland (why they compete differently in certain sports is unbeknownst to me).

 

As others have said, the Island of Great Britain contains England, Scotland and Wales.

 

Given the above, London is the capital of England, which is where the monarchy resides so I suppose if it makes you feel better and you're pro-monarchy then sure it's the capital of the whole UK. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own capitals though. Scotland's being Edinburgh, Wales' being Cardiff (apparently, might be wrong, I just "learned" that) and Northern Ireland's being Belfast.

[mattyq]

London is the capital of England and it is also the capital of the UK.

The reason that there are the 4 home nations in f**tball, England, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland is historical/political.

Football was invented here and when Fifa was thought up the governing body was made up representatives from the 4 home nations and reps from the rest of the world.

As far as i know that still persists to this day.

It's a bit like Spain. Madrid is the capital of Spain but also the capital of Aragon or is it Castille, can't remember. Other nations in Spain include the Basque and Catalonia of which Barcelona is capital

I don't think you can call the UK an empire these days. The Monarchy is constitutional and theoretically has lots of powers but in practice they are negligible.

The Queen is also head of state for Canade, Oz, NZ, Jamaica etc but has negligible power in these countries.

In Canada they get quite sniffy about calling her Queen of England...her proper title is Queen of Canada which is fair enough, i suppose

[Lucky Pierre]

Just give Derry back.

[No2]

Do the people of Canada, Oz and NZ pay for the privilege of your queen being their queen?

[Bjornebye]

BBB is a cunt for this

[Guest ShoePiss]

Just to confuse Mr.Grumpy further, British is the nationality for people born in the UK.

[RobbieOR]

It's the Irish that are confusing as well. In Rugby the Northern Irish all compete for Ireland, but in football they compete for Northern Ireland.

In the Olympics the Northern Irish all compete for Ireland in boxing but for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in all the other sports. Northern Irish nationals won medals for two different countries in the Olympics. They want to have it all those fat terrorist pikeys.

 

Im pretty sure for the Olympics the Northern Irish have a choice who they want to compete for. Same goes for football, I think.

[mattyq]

Do the people of Canada, Oz and NZ pay for the privilege of your queen being their queen?

 

No idea, you'll have to ask them

[Remmie]

Im pretty sure for the Olympics the Northern Irish have a choice who they want to compete for. Same goes for football, I think.

Rory Golf features is trying to decide who he will compete for in Rio Olympics isn't he?

 

This is how I found out Golf will be in the next Olympics. Lame.

[Nunavut Patrick]

Do the people of Canada, Oz and NZ pay for the privilege of your queen being their queen?

 

In Canada we have an elected House of Commons (318 seats I think), an apppointed Senate (similair to House of Lords I imagine) and a Governor General who is the Queen's representative in Canada. All three political entitites have to sign legislation passed by the HoC. Therefore, the Governor General could, in theory, refuse to sign legislation thus giving the Queen a veto. Never will happen, though.

 

When Parliament is dissolved the PM goes to the Gov. General. Or, in a minorioty parliament (or hung) either a coalition goes to the GG or the Party with the most seats to form a government.

 

The Canadian taxpayer pays for the priviledge of being a contsitutional monarchy in that the GG has a ritzy place in Ottawa with staff and servants as well as paying for camping trips for Kate and Harry, or when some third in line wants to do some sightseeing in the North or paddle a river.

 

Generally speaking, the Queen is popular (not in Quebec but they're French and want their own country so not exactly monarchists) in Canada.

[Nunavut Patrick]

Rory Golf features is trying to decide who he will compete for in Rio Olympics isn't he?

 

This is how I found out Golf will be in the next Olympics. Lame.

 

I am almost quite certain that Rory McIlroy's Oakley belt buckle is hiding C-4 plastic explosives and he's just waiting for that loon with the bird dance and union jack hat to come at him.

[Trumo]

Fucking hell, BBB got banned? Can anyone point me to the relevant thread or tell me why? I mean, I know why he was likely to get himself banned, but damnit I want details!

[RobbieOR]

Rory Golf features is trying to decide who he will compete for in Rio Olympics isn't he?

 

This is how I found out Golf will be in the next Olympics. Lame.

 

Yeah. It'll be GB I reckon.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Fucking hell, BBB got banned? Can anyone point me to the relevant thread or tell me why? I mean, I know why he was likely to get himself banned, but damnit I want details!

 

He called Brendan Rodgers a fat terrorist, there was probably a lot more too.

[General Dryness]

It's his mate's dad who is loaded with guns and bombs that I really need to worry about.

 

Just don't worry about anyone small enough to fit in a suitcase. I reckon I could batter him.