Ian McConnell    751824 Sat, 22 Nov 03 09:51 AM I live on a large island lying between France and Ireland. Could some kind soul tell me what the thing is called? From time to time, politicians and journalists like to bring up the idea of national identity, but I don't know the name of country I live in! As best I understand it: England: The largest area, region, zone (?) of the island. Kingdom? Was there a time when there was just one king of England, one king of Wales and one king of Scotland? The best I can come up with is parliamentry district, but this can only be retrospective since the Welsh and Scottish parliaments were only set up recently. Britain: The name of the biggest island? Great Britain: I'm guessing this is the biggest island plus the nearby islands. So it includes Isle of Wight, Skye and Anglesey, but what about Northern Island, Isle of Man, Scilly Isles and Rockall? United Kingdom: Probably a bit bigger than Great Britain, but I don't know which bits it includes. How about the Falklands? My passport has "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island", so is that the name? Am I a "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island"er? Yet cars going abroad are labelled with "GB". The Defence Research Agency, who were involved in the early development of the internet, used the name dra.hmg.gb (dra.Her Majesty's Government.Great Britain) for many years before switching to the gov.uk name. People from France are French and use "fr" as a symbol. I, on the other hand, am just confused. "Thinks: I can't think of a thinks. End of thinks routine": Blue Bottle Remove the trailing x from the To: field to reply ** Ian McConnell Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Colours, France, Online, Ireland, Languages

	david56    751851 Sat, 22 Nov 03 10:44 AM "I live on a large island lying between France and Ireland. Could some kind soul tell me what the thing is called?" Could you perhaps explain what "Ireland" is, so that we can place your island more accurately? "From time to time, politicians and journalists like to bring up the idea of national identity, but I don't know the name of country I live in!" This is covered in the AUE FAQ as it frequently crops up here: http://alt-usage-english.org/english british uk et al.shtml David == david56 Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, France, Usages, Ireland, Languages

	Markus Kuhn    751915 Sat, 22 Nov 03 12:36 PM "I live on a large island lying between France and Ireland. Could some kind soul tell me what the thing ... Britain and Northern Island", so is that the name? Am I a "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island"er?" I guess, only the collapse of the British monarchy in 2018 and the Irish reunificastion in 2022 will iron out things here. We could then finally switch to our proper ISO 3166-1 country code (GB) as our Internet top-level domain (leading to a dramatic temporary reduction in spam!) and the options will be reduced to "Britain" and "Great Britain". Markus ++ + Call for Votes: misc.metric-system Interested in a new group + + on the introduction of the metric system? Please look at + + news.announce.newgroups, http://www.uvv.org/cgi-bin/getmsg/2471 or + + send email to (Email Removed) for information on how + + cast your newsgroup creation vote. Ballot ends 25 November 2003. + ++ Markus Kuhn Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, France, Online, Ireland

	david56    751955 Sat, 22 Nov 03 01:52 PM "I live on a large island lying between France and ... I a "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island"er?" "I guess, only the collapse of the British monarchy in 2018 and the Irish reunificastion in 2022 will iron out ... domain (leading to a dramatic temporary reduction in spam!) and the options will be reduced to "Britain" and "Great Britain"." Whoever set up the TLD got it wrong, but I'm pleased he/they/she/it did, as UK is more inclusive than GB. There is now an ISO 3166-1 "exceptionally reserved code element" of "UK" for the United Kingdom, in addition to the "officially assigned" code of "GB". In practice, this means that both are acceptable for most purposes. David == david56 Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, France, Ireland

	Dean Tiegs    752077 Sat, 22 Nov 03 04:20 PM "My passport has "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island"," Turn your passport in to the proper authorities: it's a fake. Dean Tiegs, NE¼-20-52-25-W4 “Confortare et esto robustus” http://telusplanet.net/public/dctiegs/ Dean Tiegs Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain

	mUs1Ka    752084 Sat, 22 Nov 03 04:33 PM "My passport has "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island"," "Turn your passport in to the proper authorities: it's a fake." Perhaps he has a dual British and Fijian passport. m. mUs1Ka Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain

	R H Draney    752263 Sat, 22 Nov 03 06:20 PM Dean Tiegs filted: "My passport has "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island"," "Turn your passport in to the proper authorities: it's a fake." How'd I miss that?... Hang onto it anyway...you never know when someone will make Seyðisfjörður part of the UK....r R H Draney Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain

	Ian McConnell    752427 Sat, 22 Nov 03 08:32 PM "From time to time, politicians and journalists like to bring ... I don't know the name of country I live in!" "This is covered in the AUE FAQ as it frequently crops up here: http://alt-usage-english.org/english british uk et al.shtml" Oops, I missed that one. Thank you. I'll now go off and practise my spelling. "Thinks: I can't think of a thinks. End of thinks routine": Blue Bottle Remove the trailing x from the To: field to reply ** Ian McConnell Spelling, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Colours, Usages, Writing, Languages

	Dr Robin Bignall    752581 Sat, 22 Nov 03 11:57 PM "I live on a large island lying between France and ... I a "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island"er?" "I guess, only the collapse of the British monarchy in 2018 and the Irish reunificastion in 2022 will iron out ... domain (leading to a dramatic temporary reduction in spam!) and the options will be reduced to "Britain" and "Great Britain"." I think you made a cast iron case for reunificastiron. wrmst rgrds Robin Bignall Quiet part of Hertfordshire England Dr Robin Bignall Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, France, Ireland