For many people, Great Britain and England are consonant concepts, synonyms that are used to name the same state. But in fact, everything is not so simple, and there are serious differences between them, which we will discuss later in the article.
What is the UK
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the full name of the independent island state located in the north-west of Europe and occupying the largest territory in it.
Great Britain was founded in 1801. It includes such territorial units (the so-called "historical provinces") as northern Scotland, the Principality of Wales and Northern Ireland, which have sufficient autonomy and their own parliaments.
England is also one of the "provinces" of Great Britain (by the way, the largest in the country). Around it, in fact, from the very beginning, the formation of the modern state took place. But, unlike other parts of the kingdom, it does not have its own legislative and executive powers, and their role is played byUK national parliament.
In addition to these territories, the United Kingdom owns three more Crown Lands - the islands of Jersey, Man and Guernsey, as well as fourteen overseas territories, which include, for example, Gibr altar, Bermuda, the Falkland and Cayman Islands, etc.
England: country information
Despite the large number of dependent lands, England, again, is the historical core of the United Kingdom, and its population is 84% of all inhabitants of the UK.
Here "born" the English language, and from here began the formation of a powerful state. The beginning of this was laid by the Germanic tribes of the Angles and Saxons, who at the beginning of the ninth century conquered this territory, displacing the Britons who inhabited it. In 825, King Egbert of Wessex united most of the petty kingdoms into one, giving it the name England (which translates as "Land of the Angles").
But when in 1707 Scotland became part of the state, and the United Kingdom was formed, it was decided to call it Great Britain, so as not to infringe on anyone's pride. After all, the name, for example, Great England (Great England) would be absolutely unacceptable for the Scots.
Some features of the British government
Despite the fact that the meaning of the word "England" in our minds is closely intertwined with the meaning of the word "Great Britain", and even some explanatory dictionaries cite these names assynonymous, a cultured person should still understand what their internal difference is.
Of course, the role of England for the whole state is difficult to overestimate. After all, it was her legal, legal and constitutional innovations that were adopted by many states of the world. And it was this part of the United Kingdom that became the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, making Britain the world's first industrialized country.
In fact, the United Kingdom has a rather complex state system, which, nevertheless, does not prevent it from being an example in maintaining democratic relations within the country.
Interestingly, the UK does not have a single constitution. It is to some extent replaced by a set of acts of a different nature, common law rules, which include many judicial precedents, and some constitutional customs. The most important of these include the Magna Carta (signed back in 1215), as well as the Bill of Rights and the Act of Succession.
Why doesn't England have its own parliament
Due to the fact that England is the only part of the UK that does not have its own parliament and government, a movement has formed in the country in support of its creation. After all, if decisions relating to Scotland alone can be made by the Scottish legislature, then decisions regarding England are made by Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish deputies who are members of the national parliament.
But in response to this, representativesThe Labor parties argue that if the largest part of the UK gets independent authorities, this will lead to the fact that the remaining small territories will sharply lose their significance, and this, in turn, may lead to the collapse of the Kingdom.
Once again about the differences between England and Great Britain
We hope the article helped to finally understand how England differs from the UK. And in order to finally systematize the information, let us once again recall their main differences:
- Great Britain is an independent state, which includes England as an administrative unit;
- England has no foreign policy relations, and Great Britain is an indispensable member of international organizations (UN, NATO, European Union, OSCE, etc.) and "arbiter of fate" for countries dependent on it;
- England does not have its own currency, armed forces and parliament;
- England is only a small part of the entire UK.
