The key difference between UK and GB is that UK (the United Kingdom) is a sovereign country that includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, whereas GB (Great Britain) is a term that refers to the island that contains England, Scotland, and Wales.
Great Britain is a part of the United Kingdom, but not all of the United Kingdom is Great Britain. This is because Northern Ireland is part of the UK but not part of Great Britain.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is UK
3. What is GB
4. UK vs GB in Tabular Form
5. Summary – UK vs GB
What is the UK?
The United Kingdom (UK) is a sovereign country located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. The UK is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each with its own distinct history, culture, and legal system.
England, Scotland, and Wales are governed as part of the UK central government system. The UK government is responsible for certain areas of policy, such as foreign affairs, defense, and immigration, while the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are responsible for their own domestic affairs, such as education, health care, and transportation.
Scotland has its own Parliament in Edinburgh, which has the power to make laws on a range of issues such as education, health, and justice. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament are responsible for the management of public services, such as education, health care, and transport within Scotland. Wales has its own National Assembly for Wales, which has the power to make laws on a range of issues such as education, health, and the environment. The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales are responsible for the management of public services within Wales. Northern Ireland has its own assembly in Belfast, which has the power to make laws on a range of issues such as education, health, and justice, but it has been suspended due to political instability. The Northern Ireland Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly are responsible for the management of public services within Northern Ireland. All four countries have representation in the UK parliament in London.
The UK has a population of around 66 million people, and its capital and largest city is London. The UK is a member of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN), and it has a parliamentary constitutional monarchy form of government. The UK has a developed economy and is one of the world’s largest trading powers. The official currency of the UK is the British pound (GBP), and the official language is English.
What is GB?
GB is the abbreviation for Great Britain. Great Britain is an island located to the northwest of continental Europe. It is made up of three countries: England, Scotland, and Wales. GB is not a sovereign country but rather a geographical term referring to the largest island that makes up the United Kingdom (UK) which also includes Northern Ireland.
What is the Difference Between UK and GB?
Most people call Great Britain as the United Kingdom, but there is a difference between UK and GB. GB only constitutes the three major parts of the UK: Scotland, Wales, and England, while the United Kingdom holds the territories of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and even the name of the UK meant “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” in the past.
Summary – UK vs GB
The United Kingdom (UK) is a sovereign country that includes four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Great Britain (GB) is a geographical term that refers only to the island that consists of England, Scotland, and Wales, but not Northern Ireland. This is the key difference between UK and GB.
Reference:
1. “United Kingdom.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.
Image Courtesy:
1. “United Kingdom labeled map9” By UKPhoenix79 – Image:British Isles United Kingdom.svg (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
Sadly, almost everything in this article is incorrect.
To give it its full name, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is an independent sovereign state. Therefore: Great Britain + Northern Ireland = United Kingdom.
England, Scotland and Wales – in other words most, but not all, of the UK – constitute the island, and associated islets, that we call ‘Great Britain’. This does not include Northern Ireland which, although part of the UK, is found on the separate island of Ireland.
These four territories are referred to as ‘countries’ but in fact have more in common with America’s states and Canada’s provinces. To differing extents, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are self-governing. By contrast, England (considerably larger than the other three combined) has no government or legislature of its own. Instead, it is run directly by the UK government and Parliament.
Like in the US, certain matters – the military, all foreign relations, taxation, etc – are always administered at a national level. To add to the confusion, the term ‘British’ is used officially to describe anything which relates to the whole of the UK – even when whatever it is applies to Northern Ireland as well. This includes our government (‘the British government’), our citizenship (‘British citizen’), the BBC (‘British Broadcasting Corporation’) and our Olympic team (‘Team GB’).
There are also a number of small, largely self-governing territories (e.g. the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Falklands, etc) which, although not part of the UK, rely on the UK for foreign relations and defence. Their citizens are also entitled to British citizenship. The British government can also legislate for them in certain circumstances. In these respects, their status is similar to the ‘unincorporated’ US territory of Puerto Rico.
Thank you Will. I’m from Northern Ireland. The internet often corrects my address to GB. The Olympic squad is often called GB and not UK. I can claim to be Irish or British but never English. Andrew is ….. wrong.
In addition to what Will said, this article seems to be comically biased. I don’t know a lot about Britaiin/UK, that’s why I came here. But I’m pretty sure I know even less after reading this. Phrases like “very fair” and “complete developed” are ambiguous and subjective.
“Biggest territory of the world” and “said to be the largest in the world”? What about China? They’re like, dozens of times bigger.
“EVERY sort of current trend”? What about sushi? Hip-hop? Salsa music?
“The land of technological advancement”?? Try telling that to Japan. The US could put up a good argument about that one too. Have you guys even left Earth’s atmosphere yet?
“The data shows…the biggest defense system”? You guys are tough, but come on, now…
You say the financial “aspect” of the UK is the best (whatever that means), and in the same breath, you tell us it’s ranked 6th? How? GDP? National surplus?
I wanted something factual here – I hear enough pompous nationalistic jibberish here in America. I gotta say, as the first article I read on this site, it’s not looking good.
When I read, “It is a huge nation . . . ,” I had visions of the British Empire on which the sun never set.
I know you wrote this 4 years ago but most of what u said is incorrect David. I live in Britain and thus have a greater understanding.
We do still technically have the largest land mass because of the Commonwealth which is what remains of the empire, it consists of places like Canada and Australia which are some of the biggest countries in the world.
We do have the majority of modern trends, to answer to yours, Sushi is sold in the UK and is very popular here, Hip-Hop is less popular I agree but is still here. And finally Salsa is also here, again not as big but their are salsa clubs and competitions in the UK.
We are also very technologically advanced, and yes, the UK has left the atmosphere on multiple occasions with the most resent being Tim Peake who went to the ISS (I know this was before u wrote that, but I’m just stating it). Anyway, the UK has nearly every conceivable bit of technology, high powered nuclear fission reactors, satellites, mobile phones, computers, radars, robots, drones etc.
Also with defence, we are EXTREMELY well armed. With stuff such as the T-45 Destroyer Ships, these have the most accurate radars which can shoot down a golf ball travelling at the speed of sound accurately, and one can defend the Falkland Islands from every Jet in South America and survive. Nuclear Trident Submarines, one of which always is in the water to defend the coast and the other 3 are elsewhere. We also have the SAS, which is now the highest rated Military Elite Force in the world even beating out the Navy SEALS. Finally, we also are very well armed air-force wise with several Fighter Jets like Typhoons and Eurofighters, we also have several airstrike drones.
Also what he meant by the 6th is GDP wise, even though now we are 5th and nearly 4th.
One last thing, just to clarify the weather is actually descent over here, cold in the inter and autumn (Fall), and warm in the spring and summer!
Sorry but this is so wrong. Canada was never a part of the UK but a Dominion of the UK and became independent and a souvereign state in 1931. Look it up in Wikipedia. The UK consists if England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster. A completely different thing is that some countries which belonged to the former British Empire (like Australia) assumed the form of a constitutional monarchy when becoming independent and see the King or Queen of England as their head of state. Which is also the case for the members of the UK. If not mistaken, as head of state the Queen can still call in troops from those countries if required. But that‘s the Queen and not say the prime minister of the UK.
Sounds like this article was written by an English college boy. Everything is great even the wheather. C’mon!
I found out on some encyclopedia and geography websites that UK=Great Britain(GB) + Northern Ireland. I also found out that GB = England + Scotland + Wales. Therefore, UK includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Canada (CA) and Australia (AU) still seem to worship UK on media but they are independent from UK. If we measure size by worship coverage, Vatican (VA) will be the largest.
ha! ha!! some people here remain mentally fused in 19th century with that sweet old granny Victoria..