I saw this on the Smithsonian website and have kept it because I'm always confused about the different names of that area.
I wonder if the Brits always know what's what.
I wonder if the Brits always know what's what.
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
19 comments:
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It's a good reminder. I pretty well knew this except for the British Islands part, but I hadn't thought about it for a long time.
ReplyDeletelooks like a dna chart...
ReplyDeleteTrust me, they know! ☺
ReplyDeleteI always think of it as the UK, but I know that's not the whole story. :-)
ReplyDeleteNow I'm really confused! Who belongs to which country? Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI think it is more confusing to see it like that. LOL Maybbe I need more coffee.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a wonderful depiction, though that final encompassing circle may stretch the tolerance of a real Irishman.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the Isle of Wight is not listed there. But a nice depiction.
ReplyDeleteFASCINATIBG!
ReplyDeleteThat's a handy map!
ReplyDeleteThey make it too complicated! :-)
ReplyDeleteActually that map kind of helps me. May need to make a copy.
ReplyDeleteI can see why the Irish call themselves Irish and not English. Sheesh!
ReplyDeletePolitical boundaries?
ReplyDeleteI had never thought of these terms before. I should ask my English wife if she knows this.
ReplyDeleteGreat diagram. It's confusing, to be sure.
ReplyDeleteThe whole region was very very confused for a long time. England had the most wealth and power, they in time took over Wales and Ireland (but only parts of Ireland in practice for awhile until eventually the whole isle was under practical control). They fought with Scotland for centuries until Henry VII's daughter's Scottish great-grandson became King after the Tudor dynasty died out. So Scotland and England merged without bloodshed, that time.
ReplyDeleteKing Jame's Stuart house still had this sort of quasi independence thing with Scotland having different laws and governments. By the of the last Stuart Queen Anne, almost all things were one in the same.
Until Ireland and Scotland wanted to be "free" again
These things always seem impenetrable when they're unfamiliar. The US has some anomalous status situations as well. Puerto Rico and DC are part of the US, but they're not states. Alaska and Hawaii are states, but they're not included in "the continental US", even though Alaska is within the continent of North America. DC isn't a state, but is part of the continental US. What we call "the South" as a cultural area is really in the southeast. Hawaii is the southernmost state but definitely not part of "the South". Mexico and Canada are in North America but not part of the US -- they're completely independent countries. US citizens are called "Americans" even though that includes Hawaiians and Puerto Ricans (who don't live in North America), and excludes Canadians and Mexicans (who do). Indian reservations have some autonomy from the laws of the states they are part of.
ReplyDeleteMost of this stuff doesn't confuse us because we're used to it.
In the case of Britain, there are further oddities like the Falkland Islands which are part of the UK but thousands of miles from the British Isles. And back when the British Empire covered 40% of the Earth's land surface things were even more complicated -- different parts of India had different political statuses with respect to the British government, for example.
The terminology used for the British Isles makes more sense when you know the geography and political relationships, as most people who live there do. There are a few cases of simple ignorance, of course, similar to Americans who simply don't know that Puerto Rico is part of the US.
This is a very cool aid in visualizing and remembering. Thank you!
ReplyDelete