Can someone explain how when England, Scotland, Wales and NI are all considered countries, the UK is also considered a country...? :confused1:

It's terrible on my part, but I learned from Braveheart that the Scots don't like to be associated with England or maybe even Britain, so how is it all working out these days? Is there some dissent? I hear there's some breakaway rumors...

So everyone in the UK is considered British first, then they're either English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish, right? But I guess the Scots done like to be called British, right? How do the passports work? Does everyone get a UK passport?

I love history and I'm definitely going to be reading up a lot about how the UK came to be and I figured I should know more about the British Empire, since it directly influenced life in India and the rest of the world for better or for worse.

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J A Y | Riding a 98 Suzuki DR650
Current ride thru Latin Am and Africa > Jammin thru the Global South

It's a lovely idea asking people where to live and work, but it's like asking a crowd of people which bike to ride or which watch to wear. Each country/city has its own charm. Find a town, find a job, if you don't like it after six months, move on somewhere else. Yes, most people see themselves as Brits on the world stage; some people are more fussy about exactly where they come from ie.Londoners/Bristolians. Don't worry about it. Just enjoy!

You're correct - all of us are British, but English people have the habit of referring to the UK as England. Since the time of Thatcher, much resentment was caused in Scotland by her government's anti Scottish policies, leaving us all now with a drift away from the the UK. "Britain", as you say, means also the "UK." And with any smaller country adjacent to a larger one, you tend to get people being assertive about their culture etc. Scotland has 5 million to England's 60.

All have the same passport, a British or UK passport.

Braveheart, I'm sorry to say, is Tartan Hollywood, portraying the "evil" English, and the "brave" Highlanders. It follows the cliches of a Western movie. None of this is accurate.

Incidentally, Scotland holds two main cultures - the Highland area - initially Gaelic speaking, and Lowland Scotland, which always spoke what we now call English (Northern English) since varieties of that language formed in these islands. The Scots were historically hostile to the Highlanders, and were part of the army which routed them at Culloden. Scots kings passed a number of laws against Highlanders.

After the Highlanders were defeated, many emigrated to, for example, the US, or Australia, where they inflicted the same horrors on Native Americans or Aborigines, that were inflicted on them.

Excellent, thanx for that bit of history. Helps me understand the culture and how present sentiments were formed.

Regarding financial matters, there's no difference in income tax and health care between any of the UK's countries, right?

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J A Y | Riding a 98 Suzuki DR650
Current ride thru Latin Am and Africa > Jammin thru the Global South

I think to understand the difference you would need to live here. To understand the reasons for the difference you would need to learn the history. The above brief of Scottish history is not really correct.

The Clearances were not really an emigration, in the sense of choosing a place in the sun.

The Enlightenment was only possible because of the union with England, 1707. The Enlightenment meant Scotland led the world in many fields, for a brief time. This happened after the last rebellion, and resulted in Scots doing some pretty amazing things in this world. The argument now is whether the union is holding Scotland back, whereas before it clearly benefited Scotland.

It's wrong to say that the Highlanders only went off and raped and pillaged the lands they ended up in.

The Scots (who are they?) were not historically hostile to the Highlands. That's misleading when you don't clarify the period or the region. Scots (old) have ruled all the way down to Northumbria, with the whole country united during periods.

Highlanders fought Highlanders at times. Clan rivalry coming before anything else. It wasn't simply a lowland v highland thing. All sides were at Culloden, and the other fights.

However, Scotland has a much longer history as a country in its own right than it does as part of the UK. The Thatcher years were just one time of many where Scottish interests have been ignored in favour of the English voters/interests. Long before Thatcher there have been problems with conflicts of interest.

But, this isn't a history web site. So....

Regarding finance, tax is the same (for now). Regarding health, although Scotland was the leading force in health (a way back now) we are lumbered with the same inept administration as most developed countries and the health system is not as good as it could be. You will always be treated in an emergency though, and it's free.

Um, not sure about that.
The UK is "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Therefore, NI is not part of Britain, but is part of the UK.

There is no such thing as a "British Passport". Passports for UK citizens are issued by the United Kingdom Passport Authority (or Agency or whatever - but it begins with A.)

So there are 3 levels of nationality/citizenship to be confused by...

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Simon

London-Cape Town 2004-06
Buenos Aires-Vancouver 2008-10:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fitzpatrick

Y'wha'?
Just trying to help with the original question about UK/Britain/England/Scotland/Wales/NI.
England is not Britain and Britain is not the UK. Neither England nor Britain issue passports; the UK does.

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Simon

London-Cape Town 2004-06
Buenos Aires-Vancouver 2008-10:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fitzpatrick

...maybe I meant Great Britain, not Britain. Apparently Britain = The UK, and Great Britain = England, Scotland and Wales.

How should I know? I've only lived in it since 1966.

From Wikipedia:

" "Great Britain" refers to three quarters of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (UK). It refers only to the largest island within the union.
In 1975 the government affirmed that the term Britain, not Great Britain, could be used as a shortened form of the United Kingdom.[citation needed] British refers, however, to all citizens of the United Kingdom, Welsh, Scottish, English and Northern Irish."

So Britain, but not Great Britain, is the UK and therefore does issue passports.
Or summink.

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Simon

London-Cape Town 2004-06
Buenos Aires-Vancouver 2008-10:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fitzpatrick