UNITED KINGDOM?

hi harli
yes there is a difference, it goes like this...great britain is england scotland & wales. the united kingdom includes northern ireland.
hope this makes sense . steve

Also Harli we use British as our nationality on official paperwork but if you speak to anyone from each of the countries within the Kingdom and ask what their nationality is they will tell you Scots,English,Irish or Welsh.
Each country has it's own history and heritage which is unique.

Thank you for the information. Is the Queen over all of The United Kingdom?

The Queen's role is purely ceremonial, but yes, she covers the whole of the UK.

Wikipedia has lots of detail about all this.

PS it gets complicated when filling in forms, because the words' meanings are a bit fuzzy. Generally if a form asks for my nationality, I'd say 'British' or 'UK'; if it asked for 'country of birth' I'd say 'England', and if someone asked me in the pub what country I was from, I'd say 'Wales' (where I was brought up) and maybe go into more detail if asked.

One helpful way to remember the UK/GB thing is to note that 'United Kingdom' is short for 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'.

As for me, country of birth is Scotland, but nationality is British. I never realised how confusing this must seem to folks from elsewhere.

Ditto to all the above. The only thing I would add is that Great Britain is the name of the largest island in the arcapelego (sp?) of the British Isles - hence the word 'great' to mean biggest (so we're not being big-headed calling ourselves Great!) Think this is a confusing point to foreigners as well as some natives!!! I'm English by the way and call myself British as my ancesters were Welsh. And also the Welsh have their own language. SO do the Scotish, but I think it's fairly uncommon to hear it nowadays.

Hi Harli, not at all a blond question - sometimes confusses us here too. i am born and bread in South - East England and would always consider myself English rather than British - i am not a racist or anything but if i go for a job interview, i have to put British on any forms this is the same with a lot of things here - for some reason it is considered racist to call myself English rather than British - technacally i am both but being British does'nt mean much nowdays anyway! not that i have anything against anyone who is Scotish, Welsh or Irish - but as a few of you have pointed out i think most British people are proud of there differences with there nieghbours, and rightly so, i am sure that someone from Scotland, or Wales would not feel offended that i call myself English any more than i would offended if they prefer to be Scotish or Welsh than British. it has been that way for a long time, but now that we are a multi race society it is considered racist for some reason. and thats just one of the many things that takes the 'Great' out of Great Britain lol - don't get me started! lol and i don't know if any of you know this, or if it is the same near where you live, but in and around London it is considered offensive to fly the England flag on any other day apart form St Georges Day! apparently the union jack is ok - but the red cross is supposed to be offensive to ethnic minorities!!! can you believe it! during the world cup a few years ago there was talk about banning them in Greater London. my personal opion is that the people that make these ridulous comments are the ones that incite racist views and actions, why would anyone living in England be offended by our national flag, or the fact that i call myself English rather than British. is it the same for you in scotland, or wales? and Harli am i right in thinking that American often refer to themselves as Anglo-American, or Affro-American Native-American ect.. is this considered racist?

Thank you for your explanations, I hadn't realized all that.
America has gone way over the line in being politically correct.
I know no one who calls themselves Anglo-American, but whites.
So far the only group that gets very upset about hypen names are African-American. It is my wish that all hypens be eliminated and we just be Americans. Because I believe the adage that A house divided against itself will fall. This is totally my personal opinion.

Oh dear, am I suppose to just stick to gardening issues?
I apologize, I thought we could visit as well. I enjoy so much meeting new people and hearing about their lives as well as their gardens. After all, we are all flowers attached to the same earth. (Does that sound like a garden subject, LOL)

Hi Majeekahead, Yes it's the same here in Scotland ,Im Scottish then British, When we hear the skirl of the pipes it stirs the blood. We have the ST Andrews Cross it's our national flag.Why should it offend anyone Im not offended by anyone's else's, but we are to tolerent here we wouldn't get away with it in any other country When People come here they should abide by our laws. now i'm on my soap box.

Yes Harli! Let's debate national/state floral emblems instead - LOL! That would be interesting, actually! I'd really like to hear the stories behind them. Beginning here in GB/UK, we have the English rose, Welsh daffodil/leek, Irish shamrock, and Scottish thistle (O Flow'r of Scotland, When will we see your likes again?.......) Teehee! Just a wee friendly reference to the rugby last Sat at Murrayfield. I was at work just a stone's throw from the stadium. Great noise, but lousy delays getting out from work when the game was over!

Go on Patrick! i think most of the British population is affraid to say these things incase we are accused of being a racist! i would not be in the least bit offended by your flag infact i would expect to see it everywhere in Scotland - why the hell not! lets face it us Brits don't have a problem with moaning about most things! lol ques, govenment, taxes ect! but this is such a taboo!- completely ridiculous is'nt it! - and yes David getting back to gardening - i do so love red roses! lol!