England, Great Britain, the United Kingdom

If you're English then you're British, but If you're British you're not necessarily English. Many people do not see the difference between one and another but the distinction is one of great importance.

First of all, England is a nation located in The British Isles  and that occupies the largest part but not all of that territory as it can be seen in the first map on the left. Thispart  is of course the heart of what once was the British Empire whose remnants can still be found all over the globe and is also here where London (and the famous Buckingham Palace) is placed.

Great Britain is something greater because it includes other countries and not only England. Surely you have heard of Scotland, the capital of which is Edinburgh. Scotland is part of Great Britain but has retained many rights and priviledges to the point Scotland sends its own team to play in international tournaments as though it were a completely independent state. Actuaslly it is not that Scotland was conquered by England but it entered a political union ever since the early 1700s that has survived to our days.

Wales, whose capital is Cardiff, enjoys a similar status as Scotland and though it has strong connections with England it has maintained an identity of its own to the point they even have their own language which is quite different from English. Still their relationship with the English is so tight that whoever is next in line to occupy the throne holds the title of "Prince of Wales".

Finally there is the United Kingdom that includes all of Great Britein and a portion of the Irish island called Northern Ireland. The capital of this part of the UK is Belfast and it was made part of the Kingdom since 1921 though recently is almost completely self-governing. Nevertheless it still remains as part of the UK.

The United Kingdom is then the country that once was England, as you can see a country that is really other countries connected to England in order to have a stronger presence and perhaps a better political system. The fact that the British have remained unscathed from the economic problems that the rest of the European Union has suffered reflects the strenght of its political structure, a quality that is usually reflected precisely in the economy of a country.