Maybe I can ask the Cartographers for Social Equality

[purple_elefants]

Excuse my ignorance, but can someone who is more knowledgeable than I please explain to me whether Great Britain is a country or whether Scotland, England, and Wales are countries or whether by some weird combination of geography and politics they are somehow countries within a countryThis is not a new confusion on my part, but it is topical with

Comments

[sweetly_savage]

That is a very good question, to which I do not have an answer. But isn't Great Britain like a kindom or empire or something that is made up of countries? It's not a commonwealth, but it is in charge of one, right?

L and I were having a hell of a time with a lot of the countries, we'd never heard of a good percentage of them. I know when the Soviet Union broke up we got more countries, but it seems to me we must be getting a new county every couple of months. I never had to learn all the countries, so you are way ahead of me.

[purple_elefants]

I know, the stupid countries do keep changing! When I learned 'em it was after the Soviet Union broke up, but very shortly after, and I was extremely annoyed when less than a year later things were already different. Czechoslovakia splitting to Czech Republic and Slovakia is the example that comes to mind, which probably sticks out because Rockapella had to change the lyrics in the Carmen Sandiego theme. ;) But I'm really glad I had to learn them because even I though I don't remember them all--and DEFINITELY don't remember how to spell them all--I have a pretty a good idea where everything is.

Unless the Cartographers for Social Equality are right, and nothing's where we think it is. :D

[kiss_me_cassie]

Oh, I will have to look, but there is a youtube video somewhere that explains it amazingly well. But where, I cannot tell you. :(

[kiss_me_cassie]

I found it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10
I'm not entirely sure it still explains it accurately, but its the most sense I've ever seen of the whole thing. :)

[purple_elefants]

Thanks! This made the distinction of geographic vs. political, and I didn't know that could be two different things in terms of countries, but apparently it can! But then in the middle when it started listing all the commonwealths, all I could think of was Yakko from Animanics naming all the countries. :D

[damelola]

It's... complicated. ;)

Scotland, Wales and England are countries in the geographic sense, yes. Great Britain is the political union of the three countries (if you add in N. Ireland it becomes the United Kingdom). The Head of State is the Queen, for all three countries, and Scotland and Wales now have their own parliaments with devolved powers. However we share the armed forces, currency, parliament at Westminster etc.

But our passports are British. Scotland is voting in 2014 on becoming an independent nation state. But if you asked most British people they would tell you that each of the three is a country, yes.

[purple_elefants]

Interesting! Thanks for the info! Plus now I feel like less of a yokel for not understanding in the first place. :)