The political map of the United Kingdom covers an area of ​​244,000 km², half the size of Spain, although this does not include many of the dependent territories that the United Kingdom has throughout the world, such as crown dependency (Man, Jersey and Guernsey), which, although several miles from the coast, is not part of that State.

The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and clearly refers to the location and composition of the country. The United Kingdom occupies the entire Island of Great Britain and the northeastern third of the Island of Ireland, apart from a number of associated smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly or Wight in England, the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, or the Orkney, Shetland and Hebrides Islands in Scotland.

In short, England is an island nation, but a nation of many nations. The four regions that make up the map of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are called countries, referring to how the countries were formed. The origin of Great Britain, precisely, was the union of several kingdoms under one crown and their progressive integration.

The formation of Great Britain began in 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the British Empire from Elizabeth I, who in turn controlled Wales. Although it was only in 1707 when Unity Action, signed by Scotland and England, marked the formation of the United Kingdom and the establishment of a joint Parliament and institutions. A century later, in 1801, maps of Great Britain officially included Ireland, giving rise to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. However, most of Ireland became independent in 1921, changing the country’s name back to its current name.

Nevertheless, in this union power always fell to England, which concentrated more than 80% of the UK’s GDP and population, in addition to having the capital, London. The unification of England occurred in this way under the British organization, which maintained its institutions while they integrated the other kingdoms.

What is the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and the British Isles?

In 1999, a process known as Devolution began, in which Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland regained some powers (different depending on the country) and became autonomous regions. Meanwhile, the UK does not have any regional powers or political bodies, and is managed directly by the British Parliament in Westminster. This has created an asymmetrical State, but its political weight continues to decline in one part of the map, namely in England, as seen in the past Brexitwhere England decides the fate of all of Great Britain.

The United Kingdom has one land border, which borders the Republic of Ireland. Although the name of Great Britain is Britain, in reality the Irish are also British because they share the map of the British Isles with Great Britain. Irish independence demonstrated one of the major problems in British administrative organisation, which was unable to manage diversity without adopting British norms.