And for our non-British readers ...

[stu]

I remember a USA immigration official telling me my country of origin was not England. I didn't think it wise to educate him.

[Wintereis]

Ah, I knew most of it. The only thing thing I learned was that The Commonwealth Realm is not part of the U.K. I thought that Canada, Australia, etc. with Great Britain and Northern Ireland were collectively called the U.K. It so happens that it is far more convoluted than I originally thought. Indeed, it makes ours look positively organized with the minimal distinctions of various territories. Thanks for the boost. LOL

[fredv3b]

Oh no, we are neither united nor one Kingdom. Disorganisation tends to come with a thousand-ish years of history.

[OrphanPip]

The relation to the crown in the Commonwealth countries is a little more complicated as well. As they don't recognize the queen of England as head of state, but as the queen of Canada, queen of Australia, or the queen of New Zealand etc. Her role as head of state in each country is independent from her role in the UK. This is because the queen in her role as head of state of the UK has to answer to the British parliament, while in her role as head of state of Canada she has to answer to the Parliament of Canada. So, in official documents in Canada she is never referred to as the queen of England.

[dubed]

Wow that cleared up so much for me! Thanks for that interesting tidbit. Here I was, your typical ignorant American, thinking that they are all one in the same. Geographical stereotypes among those foreign to an area are to be expected I guess. Kind of like how most people think that people in Texas ride around the ranch on horses with thick accents going "Yeehaw!" all the time--couldn't be farther from the truth.

[The Virgin]

when i was like 10-12 years old, I mistake US to UN. And when someone cleared that up to me saying that they're both different, one is a country and one is not (just a union of different countries), i always refer to my foreigner chatmates, "are you a US American or a UN America?".... pretty dumb huh?

[East]

One of my hobbies in High School was participating in the MUN (Model United Nations) when we went as a delegation to UC Berkeley and UCLA for 3-4 days to create a working United Nations. After you get your country you start studying everything you can about the country (you have about 3 months before each MUN to prepare) as you represent that country and their interests.

The only European Country I ever represented was Finland and it was the only time I got to speak in the General Assembly at the end. Most of the stuff is done in committees beforehand.

I love Geography and Politics.

PS...It is getting kinda hard for me to follow any topics now...gotta search for them.

[Rychard the Lionheart]

The Kingdom of England (927 - 1707).

England as a nation state began on 12 July 927 AD after a gathering of British kings at Eamont Bridge, Cumbria, but broadly traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon settlements of Britain [1] and the Heptarchy of petty states [2] that followed and ultimately united. The Norman invasion of Wales from 1067–1283 (formalised with the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284) put Wales in England's control, and Wales came under English law with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542. On May 1st, 1707, England was united with the neighbouring Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707. Though no longer a direct sovereign state, modern England continues as one of the countries of the United Kingdom.

[1] - The Anglo-Saxons knew themselves as the Angelcynn, Englisc or Engle. These names were originally names from the Engla, or Angles, but came to be used by Saxons, Jutes and Frisians alike. They called their lands Engla land, meaing "Land of the Angles" (and when unified also Engla rice; "the Kingdom of the English"). In time Englaland became England.

[2] - The minor kingdoms in time coalesced into the seven famous kingdoms known as the Heptarchy: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex and Wessex.

Just some more facts about Engaland (Old English).

[marshlander]

... But then this year a British teacher came. He's from Manchester and he teaches Psychology. I really like him, but half the things he says, I just dont get. And then I ask him to repeat. It's just the way he pronounces words and...it's just weird and different and it's hard getting used to it. :d
I am not saying this is bad. I was just wondering. And, yes, of course it wouldn't sound weird to someone who actually is from Britain...

I am from Britain and there are some accents I find difficult sometimes. I guess I would have to count Geordie, Glaswegian and sometimes Yorkshire among them. When I first moved to Norfolk I understood little of what my next-door neighbour said to me. The Norfolk accent is not the same as a Fenland one. Although I was born in London (my mother was a Cockney) I have to think quite hard if anyone slips into deeper cockney, specially if they also use a lot of rhyming slang. We have a man who uses our local gay pub who speaks like that all the time. It's very rare to hear it up here.

[The Virgin]

why are there so many countries? can't we just trim them down into like, 50 all throughout the world? like presently, we can merge 5-7 countries as one. i hope that would happen someday.