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Old 16-09-2014
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sosidge sosidge is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Donutt View Post
The Kingdom of Great Britain is a conceptual country, formed by the Act of Union in 1707, which included Scotland, England and Wales. In 1801, the then Irish government joined this Kingdom, and it became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The name changed again in 1922 when the Republic was formed and "UK" changed its name to put "Northern Ireland" in instead of "Ireland".

So, the UK, and Great Britain, are one and the same, and they are defined by a union, an alliance between constituent countries. If/When Scotland, or any of the other member country, decides to leave that union, then the union is redefined.

The land mass doesn't define Great Britain. A contract does.

So if Scotland leaves the UK, the landmass defined as Scotland, is no longer part of "Great Britain".
Great Britain is the island that includes England, Scotland and Wales.

Ireland is the island that includes The Republic of ireland and Northern Ireland.

So geographically, Great Britain is always going to be Great Britain.

The United Kingdom is the political creation. And this is why you will find references to "Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in certain contexts as Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain. Although the names associated with the UK are so complicated that we do tend to be casual about them which is why Great Britain is often assumed to be the same entity.

PS Alex Salmond has been conspicuously avoiding the debate on the affiliation of RC racers, I suspect he realises that the passions roused by pride in the BRCA that could throw the "Yes" campaign into disarray.
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