What is the British Isles?
Q: What is the British Isles?
A: The British Isles is an archipelago (a group of islands) in north-western Europe.
Q: How long have people been living in Britain?
A: People have been living in Britain for around 800,000 years, as evidenced by the Happisburgh footprints.
Q: What are the biggest islands of the British Isles?
A: The two biggest islands of the British Isles are Great Britain and Ireland.
Q: How many countries make up Great Britain?
A: Three countries make up Great Britain - England, Wales and Scotland.
Q: Is Ireland part of the United Kingdom?
A: No, Ireland is divided into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom while the Republic of Ireland is not.
Q: Are Jersey, Guernsey and Sark considered part of the British Isles?
A: Some people include these Channel Islands when referring to "British Isles", but they are much closer to France than to Great Britain so it tends not to be used in this way in the Republic of Ireland due to political implications.
Q: Who was Ptolemy and what did he do with regards to naming parts of the British Isles?
A: Ptolemy was a Roman cartographer who used names for different parts of what we now call "British Isles" back in 2nd century AD - he named larger island "Great Britain" (Megale Britannia) and smaller island "Little Britain" (Mikra Britannia).
