Subject: "Britain" quiz
Posted by: reeshy
Date: Nov 22 10
Just to quickly point out that Britain itself is not a country, so perhaps the title on the Bus Ride page that says "Today's destination is Britain" should be changed to the UK? :)
Posted by: reeshy
Date: Nov 22 10
Just to quickly point out that Britain itself is not a country, so perhaps the title on the Bus Ride page that says "Today's destination is Britain" should be changed to the UK? :)
7 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
wyambezi 
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My first thought when I got to the quiz today was wondering whether it was about the UK or England. Reply #1. Nov 22 10, 10:01 PM |
witchdog
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I agree. Reply #2. Dec 17 10, 10:00 AM |
lesley153
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I don't think the UK is a country either - it's a union of three countries - but perhaps it is now. It may have changed when I wasn't looking, just like when we stopped being a Country and suddenly found ourselves a Member State. Won't be long before England is a geographical region. Reply #3. Dec 17 10, 10:58 AM |
alaspooryoric
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What is the truth here? I've been taught that The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the technical name of a nation that consists of four "parts": England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. What are these four parts, however? Are they "states"? Are they "countries"? Are they something else all together different? I've also heard that "Great Britain" is no longer an acceptable name and that it refers to the earlier union of England, Wales, and Scotland prior to Northern Ireland being a part--more or less a Victorian era term and thus out of date. Reply #4. Dec 21 10, 4:02 AM |
dsimpy
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I think what's most interesting is (a) that no-one really knows the answer, and (b) that, if we did, we'd disagree about it anyway. In the North of Ireland (aka Northern Ireland) about half the population don't regard it as a country at all, and see it only as a partitioned segment of the country that is Ireland. Leaving that issue on one side, my own perspective is that England, Scotland and Wales are countries and, therefore, 'Britain' can only be regarded as a political 'state', not a country. (If you observe the concept of 'the UK' - which personally I don't - then I think you'd say that's a 'state' too for certain purposes.) In Bus Ride terms though, if Nauru can have a quiz, you'd really think England could have one as well! :) Reply #5. Dec 21 10, 7:01 AM |
looney_tunes
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The Bus Ride uses the 192 member states of the United Nations (hence United Kingdom, and not separate entries for each of the constituent parts)as its starting point. The other three countries are disputed entities with some international recognition as independent countries - Kosovo, Moldova and Vatican City (which is not a UN member, but is widely known in trivia circles as the only country with ZPG, etc.). http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/org1469.doc.htm As there are so many regions within officially recognised countries that consider themselves to have separate identities, it would be very difficult to start including some and not others. This quiz, however, along with some others (the Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo are both called Congo), does have a misleading country title as its listing. Perhaps sometime when Terry has nothing more important to do, he could rename them all with their official UN title. Reply #6. Jan 07 11, 1:17 PM |
romeomikegolf
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An attempt to clear this up. 'Britain', or more correctly 'Great Britain', consists of a union between England, Scotland and Wales. Each is a separate country in itself but is governed, as a whole, from Westminster. The UK includes Northern Ireland and the full name is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. (The Great bit is a historical reference to distinguish us from that part of France, Brittany, that we used to rule) We then have the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The British Isles includes all of the above, plus Ireland and some 6000 smaller islands scattered around the coast. So, a quiz on Britain could include questions on England, Scotland, Wales an even the Scilly Isles. It shouldn't include any part of Ireland. Confused? So are a lot of people. There is a quiz to help distinguish between the various parts, but as I wrote it I can't link to it here. Reply #7. Jan 07 11, 2:17 PM |
7 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
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