Commonwealth of Nations

[Carlo]

how does the term United Kingdom (UK) fit in? I am guessing it includes all the Commonwealth nations.

It seems that the term United Kingdom came into life in 1801 when Britain and Ireland passed an Act of Union.
It does not apply to the Commonwealth as mentioned in the post below.
for the false facts.

[BCAC]

Chas, how does the term United Kingdom (UK) fit in? I am guessing it includes all the Commonwealth nations.

Not at all, Chuck.

Chas already mentioned it. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That's all. Not the other commonwealth countries.

See this link. I like this part of the explaination "Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that has a land border with another state".

Unfortunately, Carlo has it wrong, also.

[Chas]

This might help. You will probably need to view it a couple of times to work out what he is talking about. Mainly because he talks FAST.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Chas...c393f.mp4.html

A bit humorous and irreverent and not too far of the mark.

Regards

Chas

[Father Bill]

You Tube has a lovely and comical explanation of all this - comical because it's so very complicated. Actually, I think I got this link from an earlier discussion here on X Marks.

Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10

Chas beat me to it while I was posting! Well done, Chas. Now folks can enjoy it twice!

[tundramanq]

I gleaned this from Wikipedia:
The British Overseas Territories are under UK jurisdiction but not part of the UK.

Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are Crown dependencies and are not part of the UK. Being independently administered jurisdictions, none forms part of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth of Nations, nor of the European Union.

I seem doomed to stay uncertain. Especially after watching the video.
I should'nt be so confused as I am administrator of a forum based in Ayrshire, Scotland, Great Britain, UK, Commonwealth, EU, planet earth - If I got that right.
One of my favorite malts is Highland Park (12, 15 & 18 yr.) from Kirkwall, Orkney Islands - A part of Scotland but not part of Great Britain. Got to be a story there.

[macwilkin]

A little misunderstanding has crept into this thread and should really be corrected.

Her Majesty is not now, nor ever has been, Queen of England. Nor is she Queen of Scotland.

Her full title and style is:

Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

In the Scottish Parliament, Her Majesty is referred to as Queen of Scots. That is to say queen of the people, rather than the ground they stand on.

There is also a misconception about the word 'Brit'. Members often say "the Scots and the Brits", when what they mean is "the Scots and the English". England, Wales and Scotland are all part of Britain and their people are all British or Brits. It is like me going to New York and saying that I had met many Americans and Yanks.

Regards

Chas

You are quite correct, Chas, save one caveat: in the United States, "Yankee" or "Yank" is also a regional designation. Let's hear from noted author E.B. White on this subject:

To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.

My grandfather, a native of the great state of Iowa, bristled when anyone called him a "Yankee".

T.

[Chas]

The PAUSE button is your friend.

In truth Chuck, most Brits don't know all the ins and outs. It is just something that we have all grown up with, as did our grandfather's grandfather. History being what it is, there are dozens of anomalies thrown up.

For instance, Berwick upon Tweed is still technically at war with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Because the USSR no longer exists there can never be a treaty and never be a peace. There was a pact signed between the Russian Ambassador (as the representative of the successor state) and the Mayor of Berwick upon Tweed, to agree to never invade each other's territory. There was much feasting and drinking (mainly drinking) and pledges of eternal friendship. But a peace treaty - no. I am told that is the reason that Muscovites lock their doors at night. For fear of Berwick upon Tweed.

Regards

Chas

[Nathan]

A little misunderstanding has crept into this thread and should really be corrected.

Her Majesty is not now, nor ever has been, Queen of England. Nor is she Queen of Scotland.

Her full title and style is:

Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of Her other Realms and Territories, Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

In the Scottish Parliament, Her Majesty is referred to as Queen of Scots. That is to say queen of the people, rather than the ground they stand on.

Her full title changes, depending on where she is. For example, her fully styled title in Canada is:
"Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith"

That said, she is referred to in many legal documents by Her short form titles of "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada" or simply "The Queen of Canada" see:

http://canadiancrown.gc.ca/eng/1331810132814

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_realm
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_ii

I know two of the links are from wikipedia, but the sources cited are good and correspond to what I was taught during my Political Science degree.

There is also a misconception about the word 'Brit'. Members often say "the Scots and the Brits", when what they mean is "the Scots and the English". England, Wales and Scotland are all part of Britain and their people are all British or Brits. It is like me going to New York and saying that I had met many Americans and Yanks.

Regards

Chas

*** on this. Since the Union, Scots are Brits. Many use the term British and English synonymously and it's a pet peeve of mine as well. I think some of the confusion stems from the fact that the Jacobite rebels faught against the "British", but in any case, you're quite right on this point and I wish more people realized "British" also included the Scots and the Welsh.

[Chas]

You are quite correct, Chas, save one caveat: in the United States, "Yankee" or "Yank" is also a regional designation. Let's hear from noted author E.B. White on this subject:

To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast.

My grandfather, a native of the great state of Iowa, bristled when anyone called him a "Yankee".

T.

Thanks, Todd. I have filed that quote away. I know it will come in handy.

As a foreigner, I was going with line one!

Regards

Chas

[tripleblessed]

In 2000, I was asked to come to Australia to speak at a conference on healing. After the conference, some of us flew to Uluru (also known widely as Ayers Rock) and traveled a bit. At King's Canyon, a woman who, IIRC lives in the west of England, missed her step and fell from one flat rock about 3 or 4 feet to the next, landing face down, prone. It being a group of healers, we surrounded her and began work while someone went for a ranger. On his arrival 45 minutes later, his appraisal echoed ours; pretty bad. He radioed the Royal Flying Doctors while he and four of us carried her to his Land Rover a mile or so away, as they happened to be in town for a clinic. The doctor met us at the Land Rover, said he'd have to fly her to Alice Springs for surgery. Then inquired how she was in the condition she was in and about pain management, as in the hour-hour and a half since it happened she had already gone through all the colo(u)rs bruises typically take a week to go through. She was unaware of the rapid passage of the bruising, and the swelling and shrinking in response to the injuries and the work we were doing on her, but was aware the pain would normally be unmanageable. The next day we visited the Alice Springs offices and were asked our knowledge of their service. I said "I read about you in Weekly Reader in school in the '50s, and the lady you flew in yesterday is traveling with us". I asked her condition, and whether we could contribute to her/their expenses, and was told her UK passport and Commonwealth status covered all costs. Broken facial bones, broken ribs, broken leg, shattered wrist (eight surgeries), all covered by UK/Commonwealth reciprocal healthcare agreement. I would still be trying to pay, had it been me. Pretty nifty.