The United Kingdom

(The weekly series - Pocket Money - where I explain financial basics in fewer than 200 words. Feel free to make suggestions!)

This is the country - officially the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’. It’s a sovereign nation made up of four constituent countries - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Great Britain (GB) is the name for the island which contains England, Scotland and Wales. 

The British Isles is more controversial, although as a geographical term it includes GB, the island of Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, Anglesey, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly (off Cornwall) and thousands of other smaller islands. But politically, the Republic of Ireland has been independent since 1922 so you wouldn’t include Ireland in the British Isles - you’d say Britain and Ireland. 

The island of Ireland is split into two with Northern Ireland being the fourth country of the UK and the Republic of Ireland being a totally separate, independent country which takes up most of the island.

Love Eleanor. xxx