by Alwin Templar

Created on: July 24, 2009   Last Updated: September 25, 2009

Are you someone who thinks the UK, Britain and England are just different names for the same country? Perhaps as a visitor to this curious land you have been puzzled by how some of its inhabitants are not very pleased if you describe them as English. The domestic national complexities of Great Britain can appear confusing to those from abroad, but in fact the divisions are not complicated and can easily be explained... in a roundabout way.

The political state that some call the UK and others Great Britain is officially called The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is made up of four constituent national parts - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is currently Queen Elizabeth II, though all political power lies with the elected government of the day, headed by the Prime Minister. London is the nation's capital and also the seat of national government.

The reason why there can be some confusion over the correct usage of names for the British state is down to the gradual way in which it came together and the piecemeal nature of that coming-together. Probably the best way to understand the make-up of Great Britain is to examine how the whole jigsaw was completed.

England is by far the most populous part of the UK and has always been dominant, politically and culturally. In fact the name of England is so familiar worldwide that many abroad routinely (but mistakenly) use it when referring to the British state as a whole. The first stage of the uniting of the disparate parts of these islands was when King Edward I of England conquered the fiercely independent land of Wales in the 13th century. Edward made his oldest son Prince of Wales and this tradition remains to the present day. Wales was legally incorporated into England in the 16th century but has always retained a distinct national identity through its language and strong cultural traditions.

The next stage came in 1603 when the king of Scotland, James VI, succeeded Queen Elizabeth I of England. A new kingdom was created, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and it was the first step of a journey that would end a century later with full political union between England and Scotland. Despite this union, the relationship between these two nations has often been uneasy, and however strong the modern influence of diverse multiculturalism, the distinct and sometimes partisan feelings of Englishness and Scottishness among the people are

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