> Great Britain or United Kingdom, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a parliamentary
monarchy in northwestern Europe. The kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, comprising England, Scotland, and
Wales; and Northern Ireland, an integral component of the kingdom, occupying part of the island of Ireland. The Isle of
Man and the Channel Islands in the English Channel are not part of the United Kingdom; they are direct dependencies
of the British crown and have substantial internal self-governing powers.

Damn. I was beaten to this. To hell with these time zones.

Just to add. The difference between the UK and GB is Northern Ireland which seems pithy considering its relative size but, you must remember, the UK used to include the entire British Isles until Irish independence and partition in 1922.

Since the Isle of Mann and the Channel Islands are dependencies they are NOT members of the EU and are well-known tax havens within Europe. The Manx government is one of the oldest in the world and holds its meetings out of doors. The Channel Islanders were the only 'British' people to come under Nazi occupation during the WW II and their link to Britain comes from William the Conqueror who invaded the islands the same year as he defeated the Saxons at Hastings in 1066. Incidentally, the government in the Channel Islands officially calls the British monarch 'the Duke of Normandy' - regardless of gender.

Britain is an island of three nations - Scotland, England and Wales - all of whom are fiercely patriotic. It is quite common for visiting foreigners to refer to them collectively as 'English' but this is very irritating, particularly for the Scots. 'British' is the correct term but usually it can be more prudent to refer to each by their country of origin - 'Scottish (not Scotch!)', 'English', 'Welsh'.

As for Northern Ireland most will not mind being called 'Irish' but some hard-nosed Unionists will not want a common tag with the rest of us and willl insist on being called an 'Ulsterman' after the province.