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This article is about the archipelago in north-western Europe. For the group of territories with constitutional links to the United Kingdom, see British Islands.
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain, Ireland and over six-thousand smaller islands.[7] There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Ireland.[8] The British Isles also include the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man and, by tradition, the Channel Islands, although the latter are not physically a part of the island group.[9][10] The term British Isles is controversial in relation to Ireland,[7][11][12] where there are objections to its usage due to the association of the word "British" with Ireland. The Government of Ireland discourages its use,[13][14] and in relations with the United Kingdom the words "these islands" are used.[15][16] Although still used as a geographic term, the controversy means that alternative terms such as "Britain and Ireland" are increasingly preferred.[17][18]
[edit] EtymologyMain articles: Terminology of the British Isles and Britain (name) The first references to the islands as a group appeared in the writings of travellers from the ancient Greek colony of Massalia.[19][20] These writings have been lost, but later writers quoted from the Massaliote Periplus (sixth century BC) and from Pytheas' On the Ocean (circa 325–320 BC),[21] providing several variations referring to the geographical area of the British Isles, including Britain and Ireland, which have survived. In the 1st century BC Diodorus introduced the Latin form Πρεττανια (Prettania) from Πρεττανικη (Prettanike)[20], Strabo (1.4.2) has Βρεττανία (Brettania) and Marcian of Heraclea in his Periplus maris exteri describes αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι (the Prettanic Isles). The historian Norman Davies states that "though the details are debatable, the main derivations looks pretty solid".[22] They believe that the peoples of these islands of Pretanike were called the Πρεττανοι (Priteni or Pretani), [20][23] names derived from a Celtic term which probably reached travellers like Pytheas from the Gauls, who may have used it as their name for the inhabitants of the islands.[19] The replacement of the "P" of "Pretannia" to the "B" of Britannia by the Romans occurred during the time of Julius Caesar.[24] In classical Latin the plural term Britannicae insulae was sometimes used.[25] The earliest citation of the phrase "Brytish Iles" in the Oxford English Dictionary[26] is dated 1577 in a work by John Dee. In modern Welsh, the term Prydain ac Iwerddon ("Britain and Ireland") is common.[citation needed] Ynysoedd Prydain ("British Isles") usually refers to the territories of England, Scotland and Wales: it does not include Ireland, north or south.[27] [edit] Alternative names and descriptionsMain articles: Terminology of the British Isles and British Isles naming dispute Several different names are currently used to describe the islands. Dictionaries, encyclopaedias and atlases that use the term British Isles define it as Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands – typically including the Isle of Man, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.[28] Some definitions include the Channel Islands.[29] Commonly used alternative names[dubious ] are British-Irish Isles,[30] Britain and Ireland, Great Britain and Ireland, British Isles and Ireland,[31] or UK and Ireland. However, these may be ambiguous regarding the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.[citation needed] UK media organisations such as the The Times and the BBC have style-guide entries to try to maintain consistent usage.[32][33] Encyclopædia Britannica, the Oxford University Press (publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary) and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (publisher of Admiralty charts) have all occasionally used the term British Isles and Ireland.[34][35][36] The Economic History Society style guide suggests that use of the term British Isles should be avoided.[37] Some international publications no longer use the term British Isles. In early 2008, it was reported that National Geographic said it would use the wording British and Irish Isles instead of British Isles.[38] In 2006, Folens, an Irish publisher of school text books, decided to stop using the term in Ireland while continuing to use it in the United Kingdom.[39][40] Since 2001 the rugby union team the British Isles or British Lions are now named the British and Irish Lions.[original research?][dubious ] [edit] GeographySee also: Geography of Ireland, Geography of the Isle of Man, Geography of the United Kingdom, and Channel Islands#Geography See also: List of islands in the British Isles There are about 136 permanently inhabited islands in the group, the largest two being Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is to the east and covers 216,777 km2 (83,698 square miles), over half of the total landmass of the group. Ireland is to the west and covers 84,406 km2 (32,589 square miles). The largest of the other islands are to be found in the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland to the north, Anglesey and the Isle of Man between Great Britain and Ireland, and the Channel Islands near the coast of France. The islands are at relatively low altitudes, with central Ireland and southern Great Britain particularly low lying: the lowest point in the islands is the Fens at −4 m (−13 ft). The Scottish Highlands in the northern part of Great Britain are mountainous, with Ben Nevis being the highest point in the British Isles at 1,344 m (4,409 ft) (4,409 ft). Other mountainous areas include Wales and parts of the island of Ireland, but only seven peaks in these areas reach above 1,000 m (3,281 ft) (3,281 ft). Lakes on the islands are generally not large, although Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is an exception, covering 381 km2 (147 square miles); the largest freshwater body in Great Britain is Loch Lomond at 71.1 kilometres (44 mi). There are a number of major rivers within the British Isles. The river Severn at 354 km (220 mi) is the longest in Great Britain and the Shannon at 386 km (240 mi) is the longest in Ireland. The British Isles have a temperate marine climate, the North Atlantic Drift ("Gulf Stream") which flows from the Gulf of Mexico brings with it significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for the islands' latitudes.[41] Winters are thus warm and wet, with summers mild and also wet. Most Atlantic depressions pass to the north of the islands, combined with the general westerly circulation and interactions with the landmass, this imposes an east-west variation in climate.[42] [edit] GeologySee also: Geology of Great Britain and Geography of Ireland  The British Isles lie at the juncture of several regions with past episodes of tectonic mountain building. These orogenic belts form a complex geology which records a huge and varied span of earth history.[43] Of particular note was the Caledonian Orogeny during the Ordovician Period, ca. 488–444 Ma and early Silurian period, when the craton Baltica collided with the terrane Avalonia to form the mountains and hills in northern Britain and Ireland. Baltica formed roughly the north western half of Ireland and Scotland. Further collisions caused the Variscan orogeny in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, forming the hills of Munster, south-west England, and south Wales. Over the last 500 million years the land which forms the islands has drifted northwest from around 30°S, crossing the equator around 370 million years ago to reach its present northern latitude.[44] The islands have been shaped by numerous glaciations during the Quaternary Period, the most recent being the Devensian. As this ended, the central Irish Sea was de-glaciated (whether or not there was a land bridge between Great Britain and Ireland at this time is somewhat disputed, though there was certainly a single ice sheet covering the entire sea) and the English Channel flooded, with sea levels rising to current levels some 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, leaving the British Isles in their current form. The islands' geology is highly complex, though there are large numbers of limestone and chalk rocks that formed in the Permian and Triassic periods. The west coasts of Ireland and northern Great Britain that directly face the Atlantic Ocean are generally characterized by long peninsulas, and headlands and bays; the internal and eastern coasts are "smoother". [edit] TransportSee also: Transport in Ireland and Transport in the United Kingdom Heathrow is the busiest airport of Europe in terms of passenger traffic and the Dublin-London route is the busiest air route in Europe.[45] The English Channel and the southern North Sea are the busiest seaways in the world.[46] The Channel Tunnel, opened in 1994, links Great Britain to France and is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world. The idea of building a tunnel under the Irish Sea has been raised since 1895,[47] when it was first investigated. Several potential Irish Sea tunnel projects have been proposed, most recently the Tusker Tunnel between the ports of Rosslare and Fishguard proposed by The Institute of Engineers of Ireland in 2004.[48][49] A rail tunnel was proposed in 1997 on a different route, between Dublin and Holyhead, by British engineering firm Symonds. Either tunnel, at 80 km (50 mi), would be by far the longest in the world, and would cost an estimated €20 billion. A proposal in 2007,[50] estimated the cost of building a bridge from County Antrim in Northern Ireland to Galloway in Scotland at £3.5bn (€5bn). [edit] Demographics The demographics of the British Isles shows a generally high density of population in England, which accounts for almost 80% of the total population of the islands. In Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales high density of population is limited to areas around, or close to, their respective capitals. Major population centres (greater than one million people) exist in the following areas:
The population of England has risen steadily throughout its history, while the populations of Scotland and Wales have shown little increase during the twentieth century - the population of Scotland remaining unchanged since 1951. Ireland, which for most of its history comprised a population proportionate to its land area (one third of the total population) has, since the Great Famine, fallen to less than one tenth of the population of the British Isles. The famine, which caused a century-long population decline, drastically reduced the Irish population and permanently altered the demographic make-up of the British Isles. On a global scale this disaster led to the creation of an Irish diaspora that numbers fifteen times the current population of the island
[edit] Political co-operation within the islands See also: British-Irish relations Between 1801 and 1922, Great Britain and Ireland together formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.[51] In 1922, twenty-six counties of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom following the Irish War of Independence and the Anglo-Irish Treaty; the remaining six counties, mainly in the northeast of the island, became known as Northern Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920. Both states, but not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, are members of the European Union. However, political cooperation between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland exists on some levels:
[edit] History Main article: History of the British Isles [edit] Languages A combined Venn diagram showing language branches, major languages and typically where they are spoken for modern languages in the British Isles. The ethno-linguistic heritage of the British Isles is very rich in comparison to other areas of similar size, with twelve languages from six groups across four branches of the Indo-European family. The Insular Celtic languages of the Goidelic sub-group (Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic) and the Brythonic sub-group (Cornish, Welsh and Breton, spoken in north-western France) are the only remaining Celtic languages - their continental relations becoming extinct during the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries. The Norman languages of Guernésiais, Jèrriais and Sarkese are spoken in the Channel Islands, as is French. A cant, called Shelta, is a language spoken by Irish Travellers, often as a means to conceal meaning from those outside the group. However, English, sometimes in the form of Scots, is the dominant language, with few monoglots remaining in the other languages of the region. The Norn language appears to have become extinct in the 18th/19th century. Until perhaps 1950 the use of languages other than English roughly coincided with the major ethno-cultural regions in the British Isles. As such, many of them, especially the Celtic languages, became intertwined with national movements in these areas, seeking either greater independence from the parliament of the United Kingdom, seated in England, or complete secession. The common history of these languages was one of sharp decline in the mid-19th century, prompted by centuries of economic deprivation and official policy to discourage their use in favour of English. However, since the mid-twentieth century there has been somewhat of a revival of interest in maintaining and using them. Celtic-language medium schools are available throughout Ireland, Scotland and Wales to such an extent that it is now possible to receive all formal education, up to and including third-level education, through a Celtic language. Instruction in Irish and Welsh is compulsory in all schools in the Republic of Ireland and Wales respectively. In the Isle of Man, Manx in taught in all schools, although it is not compulsory, and there is one Manx-medium school. The respective languages are official languages of state in Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales, with equal status with respect to English. In the Channel Islands French is a legislative and administrative language (see Jersey Legal French). Since 2007, Irish is a working language of the European Union. During the last 60 years there has been a great deal of immigration into Great Britain (less into Ireland). As a result a number of languages not formerly found in the British Isles are in regular use. Polish, Punjabi, and Hindustani (inc Urdu & Hindi), are each probably the first language of over 1 million residents, and a number of other languages are regularly spoken by substantial numbers of persons. Even in provincial areas it has become common for local government to publish information to residents in ten or so languages,[56] and in the largest city, London, the first language of about 20% of the population is neither English nor an indigenous Celtic language.[57] Cornish and the Norman languages of Guernésiais, Jèrriais and Sarkese are far less supported. In Jersey, a language office (L'Office du Jèrriais) is funded to provide education services for Jèrriais in schools and other language services, while in Guernsey there is a language officer and Guernésiais is taught in some schools on a volunteer basis. Of the four, only Cornish is recognised officially under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and it is taught in some schools as an optional modern language. Guernésiais and Jèrriais are recognised as regional languages by the British and Irish governments within the framework of the British-Irish Council. Scots, as either a dialect of or a closely related language to English, is similarly recognised by the European Charter, the British-Irish Council, and as "part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland" under the Good Friday Agreement. However, it is without official status as a language of state in Scotland, where English is used in its place. Shelta, spoken by the ethnic minority Irish Travellers, is thought to be spoken by 6,000–25,000 people, according to varying sources. Although evidence suggests that it existed as far back as the 13th century, as a secret language, it was only discovered at the end of the 19th century. It is without any official status, despite being thought to have 86,000 speakers worldwide, mostly in the USA. [edit] CultureSee also: Culture of Ireland and Culture of the United Kingdom [edit] SportSee also: Sport in Ireland and Sport in the United Kingdom A number of sports are popular throughout the British Isles, the most prominent of which is association football. While this is organised separately in different national associations, leagues and national teams, even within the UK, it is a common passion in all parts of the islands. Rugby union is also widely enjoyed across the islands. The British and Irish Lions is a team made up of players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales that undertakes tours of the southern hemisphere rugby playing nations every four years. This team was formerly known as the British Isles and the British Lions, but has been called the British and Irish Lions since 2001. Ireland play as a united team, represented by players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic. The four national rugby teams from Great Britain and Ireland play each other each year for the Triple Crown as part of the Six Nations Championship. Also since 2001 the professional club teams of Ireland, Scotland and Wales have competed together in the Magners League. The Ryder Cup in golf was played between a United States team and a team representing Great Britain and Ireland. From 1979 onwards this was expanded to include the whole of Europe. [edit] Popular cultureThe United Kingdom and Ireland have separate media, although British television, newspapers and magazines are widely available in Ireland,[58] giving people in Ireland a high level of familiarity with cultural matters in Great Britain. A few cultural events are organised for the island group as a whole. For example, the Costa Book Awards are awarded to authors resident in the UK or Ireland. The Man Booker Prize is awarded to authors from the Commonwealth of Nations or Ireland. The Mercury Music Prize is handed out every year to the best album from a British or Irish musician or group. Many other bodies are organised throughout the islands as a whole; for example the Samaritans which is deliberately organised without regard to national boundaries on the basis that a service which is not political or religious should not recognise sectarian or political divisions.[59] The RNLI is also organised throughout the islands as a whole, covering both the United Kingdom and Ireland.[60] [edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading[edit] External links
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