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The UK is not an island.
by nfg 6y ago
The UK is not an island.
- TurkishPoptart 6y agoHow so? It's a body of land surrounded by a body of water!
- socksy 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland%E2%80%93United_Kingdom_border https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland%E2%80%93Un...
- locusofself 6y agoGreat Britain is an island, as are a few other islands that are part of the UK.
- nathankunicki 6y agoThe United Kingdom is made up of the island of Great Britain and a part of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland). It also includes many other smaller islands You're probably thinking of Great Britain by itself, which is the island containing the main parts of the countries of Scotland, England, and Wales.
- teeray 6y agoSo the UK is an archipelago?
- nfg 6y agoNo, I don’t think you can fairly say a country is an archipelago unless it’s solely composed of islands all of which are entirely the territory of that state.
- alexchamberlain 6y agoTo continue the pedantry, the archipelago is called The British Isles.
- dane-pgp 6y agoWhile you're right that it is called that (by many), some people object to it: > In Ireland, the term "British Isles" is controversial, and there are objections to its usage. The Government of Ireland does not officially recognise the term, and its embassy in London discourages its use. Britain and Ireland is used as an alternative description, and Atlantic Archipelago has also seen limited use in academia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles
- capekwasright 6y agoA similar controversy exists in the Arab world about what to call the Persian Gulf, where the names "Arabian Gulf" or simply "The Gulf" are preferred. [1] Amusingly (but perhaps not surprisingly), British imperialism briefly waded into this dispute as well: > Following British attempts to control the seaway in the late 1830s, the Times Journal, published in London in 1840, referred to the Persian Gulf as the "Britain Sea", but this name was never used in any other context. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf_naming_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf_naming_dispute
- nmlnn 6y agoAlso, some people call "aubergines" "eggplants", they can't both be right!
- alexchamberlain 6y agoI guess that's reasonable, though it appears the name goes back to the 1st century, so the UK is named after the Isles, rather than the other way around? Has anyone proposed a viable alternative?
- dane-pgp 6y ago> the UK is named after the Isles Great Britain may have been named after one of the isles, but the controversy arises because the UK spans (part of, but not all of) the two main isles. > Has anyone proposed a viable alternative? I don't know what would count as "viable" if you reject "Britain and Ireland" and "Atlantic Archipelago".
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- SilasX 6y agoDo you work for Amazon, by any chance? https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2020/11/15/amazon-apologizes-for-kicking-northern-ireland-out-of-the-uk/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2020/11/15/amazon-...
- twnaing 6y agoThis explains it well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10