Lesson 1: Modern Geography of The United Kingdom and Ireland
So I was talking to an American friend on Facebook the other day and I realised just how little anyone outside the UK actually knows about the UK. So I taught her, and now I'm posting this for anyone else who wants to know. So if you can't tell the difference between Ireland and the UK on a map, not sure what the difference between the UK and Great Britain is or are just really bored this is the lesson for you. I'm thinking that if people enjoy this I might post some more on other things like Historical Events and general culture. Comment below if there's anything you want to learn about the UK.
Part 1: The Islands.
Sorry, this isn't the clearest of maps but it does the job.
These two Islands are located just of the West Coast of what we British call "Europe" (which we're only part of when it suits us). That little bit of land sticking out on the bottom right is the edge of France. When the Romans discovered these Islands they named them Britannia Major and Britannia Minor but now they're Great Britain and Ireland. It's probably wise not to refer to Ireland as "Lesser Britain", I don't think they'd like that very much, however I have given the Roman names just to prove that "Great Britain" has nothing to do with British ego. There's hundreds of tiny islands around the coast lines which usually belong to the nearest country. Simply put anyone living on the Eastern Island is "British" and anyone living on the Western Island is "Irish."
Part 2: The United Kingdom
These two islands are split up into five countries as below. Whilst Ireland isn't split on the map the top third is "Northern Ireland" and the bottom two thirds are "The Republic or Ireland" or "Eire".
Technically they're countries, but they're also not, it gets complicated.The Republic of Ireland is an entirely independent country whilst England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all part of the United Kingdom. It may be easier just to think of them like American states. They have separate parliaments but share the British monarchy.
Along with 14 British territories England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland form the United Kingdom. I'm not going to go into all the British territories but if you're interested check out wikipedia. We also have The Commonwealth which are 53 countries that still identify the British monarch (Elizabeth II) as their queen though she has no ruling power and is just a figure head. Again, wikipedia for the list, but Canada and Australia are probably the two easiest to name.
Part 4: England
The English flag is a red cross on a white rectangle as above. (It may be blending in with the white background of your page). It's probably most recognisable to anyone outside the UK as the flag carried during the Crusades. Most English people probably recognise it more from football (soccer) as hanging this flag means "I'm supporting England in whatever sport they happen to be playing today" and that's almost always football, occasionally rugby (which may use a simular ball to American football but is an entirely different sport).
Saint George is the patron saint of England which is why we have a lot of pubs called "Saint George's" and perhaps why we've had six King George's on the throne over the years. Saint George is famous for slaying a dragon, and unsurprising "The George and the Dragon" is also a common pub name.
Symbols of England include the red rose which come from the symbol of the Tudor line of the monarchy, (Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I). We also have the red lion (another pub name) as seen on the Royal coat of arms and football related items.
Part 5: Scotland
The Scottish flag is a diagonal white cross on a blue background. This is going to be a little briefer than England, mainly because I don't know a ton of facts about Scotland.
Flower: The Thistle
Saint: Andrew
Symbol: The Unicorn (also displayed on the Royal coat of arms)
Something to note about Scotland is that they have a different education system to Wales and England. I knew a girl online once who was a bit crazy, we were on a forum and she pretended to be at least 6 different people in the end. Most of these people were created to convince my sister and I that being gay was wrong. As I said, crazy. One of these fake people was Scottish and taking GCSE's. They don't take GCSE's in Scotland which was when we knew that this person was entirely fake. (They also all had the same ISP address, something I could see as a forum moderator). Anyway, the Scottish are actually the reason why British universities are careful with alcohol. The legal drinking age is 18 but the Scottish finish high school at 17 and start university a year younger than most other students.
Part 6: Wales
The Welsh flag was the bane of my primary school existence. Have you ever tried to draw that dragon? It's not easy. The background is green and white, again you might not be able to see this depending on our you're viewing this page. Needless to say the dragon is the symbol of Wales along with the Daffodil and their patron saint is David. One theory on the story of George and the Dragon is that the dragon he slayed was actually the Welsh, though this isn't the usual explanation it's one I think is most likely. (Another theory is that a now extinct lizard bigger than the Komodo dragon which also spat poison was the dragon in a lot of old tales).
The Welsh are the only truly bilingual country in the UK, as Welsh is a living language which most Welsh people speak along side English. Cymru is the welsh word for "Wales" and if you're brave you might want to try and learn more. Seriously though, good luck? The Welsh word for beer has no vowels: Cwrw.
Part Seven: A few last bits
I don't know much about Northern Ireland which is why I'm skipping it. I do know that their is a religious divide in Ireland, Southern Ireland being mainly Catholic whilst Northern Ireland is mainly protestant but that's about the end of my knowledge. Oh wait, Northern Ireland use the British Pound and The Republic of Ireland use the Euro. Around the border both currencies are often accepted.
To finish of, the flag of the United Kingdom looks like the image below and is a combination of the English and Scottish flags. A lot of former British colonies, such as Australia, still display this flag as part of their own so it shouldn't be an unfamiliar image to anyone. You can see the British flag on British products but we don't wave it anywhere near as proudly as American's wave theirs. Anywhere other than hotels and local town halls don't usually hang it, and when they do it's often not alone. To fly the British flag outside your home, like American's do with their's, is kind of like saying "I'm British and don't want anyone who isn't British in my neighbourhood". It's more a sign of racism than national pride. It's not to say we British are ashamed of being British, just we don't like to shout it out across the rooftops.
Part 1: The Islands.
Sorry, this isn't the clearest of maps but it does the job.
These two Islands are located just of the West Coast of what we British call "Europe" (which we're only part of when it suits us). That little bit of land sticking out on the bottom right is the edge of France. When the Romans discovered these Islands they named them Britannia Major and Britannia Minor but now they're Great Britain and Ireland. It's probably wise not to refer to Ireland as "Lesser Britain", I don't think they'd like that very much, however I have given the Roman names just to prove that "Great Britain" has nothing to do with British ego. There's hundreds of tiny islands around the coast lines which usually belong to the nearest country. Simply put anyone living on the Eastern Island is "British" and anyone living on the Western Island is "Irish."
Part 2: The United Kingdom
These two islands are split up into five countries as below. Whilst Ireland isn't split on the map the top third is "Northern Ireland" and the bottom two thirds are "The Republic or Ireland" or "Eire".
Technically they're countries, but they're also not, it gets complicated.The Republic of Ireland is an entirely independent country whilst England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all part of the United Kingdom. It may be easier just to think of them like American states. They have separate parliaments but share the British monarchy.
Along with 14 British territories England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland form the United Kingdom. I'm not going to go into all the British territories but if you're interested check out wikipedia. We also have The Commonwealth which are 53 countries that still identify the British monarch (Elizabeth II) as their queen though she has no ruling power and is just a figure head. Again, wikipedia for the list, but Canada and Australia are probably the two easiest to name.
Part 4: England
The English flag is a red cross on a white rectangle as above. (It may be blending in with the white background of your page). It's probably most recognisable to anyone outside the UK as the flag carried during the Crusades. Most English people probably recognise it more from football (soccer) as hanging this flag means "I'm supporting England in whatever sport they happen to be playing today" and that's almost always football, occasionally rugby (which may use a simular ball to American football but is an entirely different sport).
Saint George is the patron saint of England which is why we have a lot of pubs called "Saint George's" and perhaps why we've had six King George's on the throne over the years. Saint George is famous for slaying a dragon, and unsurprising "The George and the Dragon" is also a common pub name.
Symbols of England include the red rose which come from the symbol of the Tudor line of the monarchy, (Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I). We also have the red lion (another pub name) as seen on the Royal coat of arms and football related items.
Part 5: Scotland
The Scottish flag is a diagonal white cross on a blue background. This is going to be a little briefer than England, mainly because I don't know a ton of facts about Scotland.
Flower: The Thistle
Saint: Andrew
Symbol: The Unicorn (also displayed on the Royal coat of arms)
Something to note about Scotland is that they have a different education system to Wales and England. I knew a girl online once who was a bit crazy, we were on a forum and she pretended to be at least 6 different people in the end. Most of these people were created to convince my sister and I that being gay was wrong. As I said, crazy. One of these fake people was Scottish and taking GCSE's. They don't take GCSE's in Scotland which was when we knew that this person was entirely fake. (They also all had the same ISP address, something I could see as a forum moderator). Anyway, the Scottish are actually the reason why British universities are careful with alcohol. The legal drinking age is 18 but the Scottish finish high school at 17 and start university a year younger than most other students.
Part 6: Wales
The Welsh flag was the bane of my primary school existence. Have you ever tried to draw that dragon? It's not easy. The background is green and white, again you might not be able to see this depending on our you're viewing this page. Needless to say the dragon is the symbol of Wales along with the Daffodil and their patron saint is David. One theory on the story of George and the Dragon is that the dragon he slayed was actually the Welsh, though this isn't the usual explanation it's one I think is most likely. (Another theory is that a now extinct lizard bigger than the Komodo dragon which also spat poison was the dragon in a lot of old tales).
The Welsh are the only truly bilingual country in the UK, as Welsh is a living language which most Welsh people speak along side English. Cymru is the welsh word for "Wales" and if you're brave you might want to try and learn more. Seriously though, good luck? The Welsh word for beer has no vowels: Cwrw.
Part Seven: A few last bits
I don't know much about Northern Ireland which is why I'm skipping it. I do know that their is a religious divide in Ireland, Southern Ireland being mainly Catholic whilst Northern Ireland is mainly protestant but that's about the end of my knowledge. Oh wait, Northern Ireland use the British Pound and The Republic of Ireland use the Euro. Around the border both currencies are often accepted.
To finish of, the flag of the United Kingdom looks like the image below and is a combination of the English and Scottish flags. A lot of former British colonies, such as Australia, still display this flag as part of their own so it shouldn't be an unfamiliar image to anyone. You can see the British flag on British products but we don't wave it anywhere near as proudly as American's wave theirs. Anywhere other than hotels and local town halls don't usually hang it, and when they do it's often not alone. To fly the British flag outside your home, like American's do with their's, is kind of like saying "I'm British and don't want anyone who isn't British in my neighbourhood". It's more a sign of racism than national pride. It's not to say we British are ashamed of being British, just we don't like to shout it out across the rooftops.