How many European countries lie entirely within the western hemisphere?

Baloo55th

In terms of independent countries, I'd say six. Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, and Portugal, and the Isle of Man, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The Western Hemisphere starts at zero degrees - the longitude of Greenwich in London. The UK is both in the Western and Eastern, as are France and Spain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere I suppose you could make that seven - the Faroe Isles - although they are technically an autonomous province. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faeroe_Islands This is one of those doubtful areas politically. Jul 26 08, 1:29 PM

wildginge

first time i've ever posted on here so please don't bite my head off but are jersey, guernsey and the isle of man countries? what about the other channel islands if jersey and guernsey are? wales and northern ireland both play in the world cup so they must be countries, right? Jul 26 08, 2:05 PM

star_gazer

Wales is a principality. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales Jul 26 08, 2:10 PM

Baloo55th

The two bailiwicks take in the whole of the Channel Islands apart from the French bit. Northern Ireland and Wales have assemblies, but are not self-governing. The Isle of Man and the two bailiwicks are all under the British Crown, but are not subject to the British parliament. The Isle of Man was a separate kingdom and has one of the oldest parliaments. The bailiwicks are the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy. Wales and Northern Ireland (and Scotland) are part of the United Kingdom and have MPs at Westminster. The ones I've listed don't. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland etc (The football situation is down to separate leagues not statehood.) *******Welcome here. ginge. The problem people outside these islands (and inside too...) have with the administrative system here is a long standing one. It comes up fairly often..... Guernsey includes all the inhabited bits except for Jersey. Jersey includes some uninhabited bits. See Wikipedia entries. Jul 26 08, 2:28 PM

author

The British Crown has sovereignty over * Guernsey (with the dependencies of Alderney, Herm and Sark) * Isle of Man * Jersey It is therefore not correct to call these territories sovereign states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states But then again, all of these territories (including the Faroe Islands) could be called COUNTRIES. They are just not INDEPENDENT countries or sovereigns STATES. The question asks for COUNTRIES, so technically all of these seven could count. Jul 26 08, 5:07 PM

Baloo55th

The British soveriegn is also sovereign of Canada, Australia, etc, etc. Those states are not part of the UK, nor of the EU - same as the Faroes. Jersey has signed tax information agreements with the Netherlands and the USA, so they obviously consider them to be capable of independent action. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey Jul 27 08, 4:31 AM

author

I see your point, Baloo, but Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are Crown dependencies, which Canada, Australia etc. are not (any more) because they are sovereign states. See the difference? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_dependencies Jul 27 08, 7:36 PM

Baloo55th

The point is that they are CROWN dependencies - they are ruled by the British monarch but not governed by the British Parliament. It's one of those strange British things that more logical nations don't go in for. Think of before the Acts of Union. Thr King of England was also King of Scotland and King of Ireland - both of which had independent parliaments and administrations. After the Acts, the parliament was one body in London. No Act of Union was applied to the Isle of Man or the bailiwicks, and their administrative systems continued. Westminster does have responsibility for defence. In the case of the Isle of Man, it is unlikely that the neighbouring foreign country (RoI) would invade. In the case of the bailiwicks, when they were invaded Westminster was unable to do anything. They are not part of the UK - they are a feudal anomaly in many ways. Jul 28 08, 6:36 AM