British Isles: Geography, Nations, and Culture
What’s in a Name?
Geographical Speaking
British Isles. Grammatical position: 0º longitude (Greenwich), 50º North latitude (Southwest England), 60º North latitude (Shetlands).
There are two states: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland (Eire). We can use different names when we talk about the British Isles: United Kingdom, Great Britain, GB, Britain, British, or Briton. There are also some historical names: Albion, Britannia, Caledonia, Cambria, Hibernia, Erin, and The Emerald Isle.
We have to mention the smaller islands in the UK: Isle of Wight, Scillies, Anglesey, Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands. Also, we have the Crown Dependencies: Isle of Man and The Channel Islands.
The Four Nations of the British Isles
We find a process of political unification of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. From 1800 to 1921, the British Isles formed a single state called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It has a political system formed by a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.
The unitary system transferred some political power from the UK Parliament, and we find the creation of the Scottish Parliament (1999), Welsh Assembly (1999), and Northern Irish Assembly (1999).
National Identity and Celtic Heritage
The Celtic languages have survived in Great Britain, Ireland, and France. Scottish and Irish Celts call themselves Gaels. The Latin term “Gallic” is reserved to refer to people from Gaul. Celts come from Central Europe, and Spanish and ancient English come from Latin.
Old Celtic
- Q-Celtic (Gaelic): Irish/Erse, (Scottish) Gaelic, and Manx. Manx became extinct in 1974 but is recently being revived. A few children and parents are able to speak it.
- P-Celtic (Brittanic): Welsh, Cornish, Breton.
The sound shift is present in Irish and Welsh: MAC-MAP (son), CAEN-PEN (head), CLAN-PLENTIN (children).
Names, Nicknames, Surnames: Sean (Irish surname), John (English), Ian (Scottish), O’Hara (Irish).
Identifying Symbols: Flags, patron saints, colors, plants.
There is also dominance of the English language and culture.
Basic Geography of the UK
The UK population grew by over 7% between 2001 and 2011. Net migration (55%) was more important than the “natural factor” (45%) in this increase.
Physical Relief
- Highland Britain: Mainly in the north and west.
- Lowland Britain: In the south and east, plus the Scottish lowlands and central areas of Northern Ireland.
Major rivers of Great Britain:
- Scotland: Clyde
- England: Thames, Trent, and Tyne
- England and Wales: Severn
- Northern Ireland: Bann and Lagan
Land and Settlement
The disappearance of forest areas has led to a high proportion of grassland. Fertile soils and good arable farming conditions are found in the south and east. Enclosure of fields is done by stone walls or hedgerows.
Climate
The climate is particular: The heaviest annual rainfall is in the west and north, due largely to low-pressure areas that travel eastwards across the Atlantic Ocean. Temperatures rarely reach 32ºC in the summer or fall below -10ºC in the winter. Average daily sunshine in summer/winter ranges from 5h/1h in northern Scotland to 8h/2h on the Isle of Wight.