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Britain comprises Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland, and is one of the 15 member states of the European Union (EU). Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Britain constitutes the greater part of the British Isles. The largest of the islands is Great Britain. The next largest comprises Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Western Scotland is fringed by the large island chain known as the Hebrides, and to the north east of the Scottish mainland are the Orkney and Shetland Islands. All these, along with the Isle of Wight, Anglesey and the Isles of Scilly have administrative ties with the mainland, but the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea and the Channel Islands, between Great Britain and France, are largely self-governing and are not part of the United Kingdom.
Although the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom they have a special relationship with it. The Channel Islands were part of the Duchy of Normandy in the 10th and 11th centuries and remained subject to the English Crown after the final loss of Normandy to the French in the 15th century. The Isle of Man was under the nominal sovereignty of Norway until 1266 and eventually came under the direct administration of the British Crown in 1765. Today the territories have their own legislative assemblies and systems of law, the Isle of Man also has its own system of taxation. The British Government is responsible for their international relations and external defence.
With an area of about 242,000 sq km (93,000 sq miles), Britain is just under 1,000 km (about 600 miles) from the south coast to the extreme north of Scotland and just under 500 km (around 300 miles) across at the widest point. The coastline of Great Britain is 14,549 kms (9,040 miles) with England and Wales, including islands taking up 5,214 kms (8,389 miles) of this figure and Scotland, including islands 9,335 kms (5,800 miles). The most northerly point on the British mainland is Dunnet Head, north-east Scotland and the most southerly, Lizard Point, Cornwall. |
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