Britain explained

What exactly makes the British culture British? Before you can find out, you need to know exactly what the different parts of Britain are. The flag pictured below is called the Union Jack.

The Union Jack is made up out of three different flags. The flags of Scotland, Ireland and England. 

These three countries (Scotland, Northern Ireland and England) are the United Kingdom. United Kingdom (UK) and Great Britain (GB) are not synonyms, and yet people keep using them incorrectly. The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwestern coast of Europe. The largest of these islands are Britain and Ireland. (Smaller ones include the Isle of Wight.) Great Britain is the largest island, which only contains England (including Wales) and Scotland. If you 'add' Northern Ireland to Great Britain, you get the United Kingdom.

• The British Isles = all of the isles
• United Kingdom = England (incl. Wales) + Scotland + Northern Ireland
• Great Britain = the largest island (England (incl. Wales) + Scotland)

There is also the Commonwealth. Which is made up of former British colonies and other countries that have no British colonial past. Watch the video for more information on the Commonwealth.