Great Britain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the island. For the state of which it is part, see United Kingdom. For the historical state, see Kingdom of Great Britain. For other uses, see Great Britain (disambiguation) and Britain (disambiguation).
Great Britain
Native names
[show]
Satellite image of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in April 2002.jpg
Satellite image of Great Britain in April 2002
Great Britain (orthographic projection).svg
Geography
Location Northwestern Europe
Coordinates 53°50′N 2°25′W
Archipelago British Isles
Adjacent bodies of water Atlantic Ocean
Area 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi)[1]
Area rank 9th
Highest elevation 1,344 m (4,409 ft)
Highest point Ben Nevis
Administration
United Kingdom
Countries England, Scotland, and Wales
Largest city London (pop. 8,615,246)
Demographics
Population 60,800,000[2] (2011 census)
Population rank 3rd
Pop. density 302 /km2 (782 /sq mi)
Languages English, Scots, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish
Ethnic groups
86.8% White
7.1% Asian
3.1% Black
2.0% Mixed
0.3% Arab
0.6% Other[3][4]
Additional information
Time zone
GMT (UTC)
• Summer (DST)
BST (UTC+1)
Great Britain, also known as Britain, is a large island in the north Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, and the ninth-largest island in the world.[5][note 1] In 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people, making it the world's third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan.[7][8] The island of Ireland is situated to the west of it, and together these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands, form the British Isles archipelago.[9]
The island is dominated by a maritime climate with quite narrow temperature differences between seasons. Politically, the island is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and constitutes most of its territory.[10] Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island. The term "Great Britain" often extends to include surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales, and is also sometimes loosely applied to the UK as a whole.
A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England (which had already comprised the present-day countries of England and Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland by the 1707 Acts of Union. More than a hundred years before, in 1603, King James VI, King of Scots, had inherited the throne of England, but it was not until 1707 that the two countries' parliaments agreed to form a political union. In 1801, Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" after the Irish Free State seceded in 1922.
Contents
1 Terminology
1.1 Toponymy
1.2 Derivation of Great
1.3 Modern use of the term Great Britain
1.4 Political definition
2 History
2.1 Prehistoric period
2.2 Roman and medieval period
2.3 Early modern period
3 Geography
3.1 Geology
3.2 Fauna
3.3 Flora
3.4 Fungi
4 Demographics
4.1 Settlements
4.1.1 Capitals
4.2 Language
4.3 Religion
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
7.1 Bibliography
8 External links
8.1 Video links
Terminology
See also: Terminology of the British Isles
Toponymy
Main article: Britain (place name)
The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term 'British Isles' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a collective name for the British Isles.[11] However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, and later Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia.[12][13][14]
The earliest known name for Great Britain is Albion (Greek: Ἀλβιών) or insula Albionum, from either the Latin albus meaning "white" (referring to the white cliffs of Dover, the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the Albiones", first mentioned in the Massaliote Periplus in the 6th century BC, and by Pytheas.[15]
The oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by Aristotle (c. 384–322 BC), or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle, in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne".[16]
Pliny the Elder (c. AD 23–79) in his Natural History records of Great Britain: "Its former name was Albion; but at a later period, all the islands, of which we shall just now briefly make mention, were included under the name of 'Britanniæ.'"[17]
The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons. Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne) and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond). Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of the Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north as Thule (probably Norway).
Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, described the island group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι (the Prettanic Isles).[18]
The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρεττανοί, Priteni or Pretani.[15] Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic-speaking inhabitants of Ireland.[19] The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the island. For the state of which it is part, see United Kingdom. For the historical state, see Kingdom of Great Britain. For other uses, see Great Britain (disambiguation) and Britain (disambiguation).
Great Britain
Native names
[show]
Satellite image of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in April 2002.jpg
Satellite image of Great Britain in April 2002
Great Britain (orthographic projection).svg
Geography
Location Northwestern Europe
Coordinates 53°50′N 2°25′W
Archipelago British Isles
Adjacent bodies of water Atlantic Ocean
Area 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi)[1]
Area rank 9th
Highest elevation 1,344 m (4,409 ft)
Highest point Ben Nevis
Administration
United Kingdom
Countries England, Scotland, and Wales
Largest city London (pop. 8,615,246)
Demographics
Population 60,800,000[2] (2011 census)
Population rank 3rd
Pop. density 302 /km2 (782 /sq mi)
Languages English, Scots, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish
Ethnic groups
86.8% White
7.1% Asian
3.1% Black
2.0% Mixed
0.3% Arab
0.6% Other[3][4]
Additional information
Time zone
GMT (UTC)
• Summer (DST)
BST (UTC+1)
Great Britain, also known as Britain, is a large island in the north Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, and the ninth-largest island in the world.[5][note 1] In 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people, making it the world's third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan.[7][8] The island of Ireland is situated to the west of it, and together these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands, form the British Isles archipelago.[9]
The island is dominated by a maritime climate with quite narrow temperature differences between seasons. Politically, the island is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and constitutes most of its territory.[10] Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island. The term "Great Britain" often extends to include surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales, and is also sometimes loosely applied to the UK as a whole.
A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England (which had already comprised the present-day countries of England and Wales) and the Kingdom of Scotland by the 1707 Acts of Union. More than a hundred years before, in 1603, King James VI, King of Scots, had inherited the throne of England, but it was not until 1707 that the two countries' parliaments agreed to form a political union. In 1801, Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which was renamed the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" after the Irish Free State seceded in 1922.
Contents
1 Terminology
1.1 Toponymy
1.2 Derivation of Great
1.3 Modern use of the term Great Britain
1.4 Political definition
2 History
2.1 Prehistoric period
2.2 Roman and medieval period
2.3 Early modern period
3 Geography
3.1 Geology
3.2 Fauna
3.3 Flora
3.4 Fungi
4 Demographics
4.1 Settlements
4.1.1 Capitals
4.2 Language
4.3 Religion
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
7.1 Bibliography
8 External links
8.1 Video links
Terminology
See also: Terminology of the British Isles
Toponymy
Main article: Britain (place name)
The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term 'British Isles' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a collective name for the British Isles.[11] However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, and later Roman-occupied Britain south of Caledonia.[12][13][14]
The earliest known name for Great Britain is Albion (Greek: Ἀλβιών) or insula Albionum, from either the Latin albus meaning "white" (referring to the white cliffs of Dover, the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the Albiones", first mentioned in the Massaliote Periplus in the 6th century BC, and by Pytheas.[15]
The oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by Aristotle (c. 384–322 BC), or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle, in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne".[16]
Pliny the Elder (c. AD 23–79) in his Natural History records of Great Britain: "Its former name was Albion; but at a later period, all the islands, of which we shall just now briefly make mention, were included under the name of 'Britanniæ.'"[17]
The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons. Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne) and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond). Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of the Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north as Thule (probably Norway).
Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, described the island group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι (the Prettanic Isles).[18]
The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρεττανοί, Priteni or Pretani.[15] Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic-speaking inhabitants of Ireland.[19] The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans
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