Is the UK a country or is England, or what?

When people use the word country, they usually mean "sovereign state". That is what the UK is, and Germany, Spain, the USA etc.

England, Scotland and Wales are all historical countries but they are not sovereign states and thus not countries in the way Germany, Spain etc are.

This is nothing unusual though. Spain contains several historical countries such as Catalonia, the Basque country etc. Germany contains Lander such as Bavaria, Italy contains many former city states and old nations.

England and Scotland have been bound together in a single country - the UK - for longer than most other European states have existed and since well before the USA, Australia etc became countries. We have a single government, a single currency, a single military, a single membership of the UN and of the EU, a single royal family, a single central bank etc, just like any other country.

Contrary to blondegirley, I do have a very good idea of what makes up a country, having lived in it for over 50 years, and I'm from Wales too. The U.K. IS a country, being an internationally-recognised nation-state which is reponsible for its international representation (embassies, has a seat at the UN, etc), maintains armed forces, its own currency, etc, etc. It is made of of four "constituent countries", England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which are considered to be the "home nations", some of which were fully independent countries at some time in history but are not now (England, Scotland; Wales was never a unified independent country within its present borders, and Northern Ireland was created in 1921 when the rest of Ireland left the UK).

The confusion is caused because both "country" and "nation" can mean both a fully sovereign area and somewhere that forms part of another country e.g. the Basque Country/Pais Vasco/Euskadi within Spain.

The UK IS a country, made up of FOUR component parts (often themselves called countries although Northern Ireland is a Province of the UK.) The parts are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland . We are all British citizens but only the English are English. England is the largest and most populous part of the UK.

As regards IRELAND...... please look at a map and locate The Irish Republic, which is NOT part of the UK, unlike Northern Ireland.......WE have been in this UNION for a LONG time........

The United Kingdom is a sovereign country composed of four constituent countries: England, Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland (The Republic of Ireland is a separate sovereign country).

These four are considered constituent countries because at one time or another they were sovereign countries which united to form one sovereign country.

"The full title of this COUNTRY is 'the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland':

Great Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales

the United Kingdom (UK) is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

'Britain' is used informally, usually meaning the United Kingdom.

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK. The geographical term 'British Isles' covers the UK, all of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man."

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandr...

"The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved national administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

This element is very not elementary for many. a great number of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh persons are actually not happy to be linked as one u . s . and it is basically lazyness from businesses which place each and every thing under the united kingdom umbrella. England as you already recognize IS a rustic as is Scotland and Wales. Northern eire is a province . the united kingdom is actual an archipelago (cluster of islands), which many do not recognize contain different international locations as properly. as an occasion the united kingdom could be seen a mini 'continent' because it consists of the above pronounced international locations as properly as places like Sark and the the Isle of guy, that's a rustic completely via itself basically '''''''''asking'''''''''' for militia counsel if want be. RE: Scotland's ruling: that's lower back something which angers thousands and thousands of English human beings. particular Scotland IS ruled via Westminster in spite of their very own parliament, which annoys such a great number of using fact in Scotland their scholars are allowed to evaluation at college's in ENGLAND for unfastened!!!!! yet English scholars could pay anyplace they study!! DISGUSTING. Scotland additionally get greater effective reward structures as properly as unfastened prescriptions. Grrrrr i'm offended now hahahahaha! desire this facilitates =D

the UK isnt a country its made up of several countries

england wales scotland and northern ireland

the uk isn't a country - it is a union of 4 countries - England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (Ireland is a completely separate country)

people who consider the uk a country have no clue about the uk

They are everyone elses country