\t\t\t\tOkay, so you have Britain.
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Great Britain.
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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All of these terms refer to the same place, right? Not exactly.
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The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwestern coast of Europe.
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The largest of these islands are Britain
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and Ireland.
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In the Middle Ages, the name \u201cBritain\u201d was also used for a small part of France now known as Brittany.
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So people started to call the island Great Britain. That name became official when the island\u2019s rival kingdoms of England and Scotland united as the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
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Make sense so far? Good, because it\u2019s about to get complicated.
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Ireland formally joined with Great Britain in 1801. Together they were known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland\u2014or the United Kingdom for short.<\/p>\n
But in 1922, all but six counties in the north of Ireland seceded.
The remaining unified country renamed itself the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which it remains today.
<\/p>\n
So, for those of you keeping score at home\u2014the British Isles include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is the location of Scotland, England, and Wales. So what\u2019s the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom? Your answer\u2019s right here.<\/p>\n
Last Modification: <\/p>\n
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