Groundwork

As most of you know, I'm leaving for England in October to attend the University of Bristol. I'll be there for nearly a year while I get my Masters in English, with an emphasis on Medieval Literature. And since I'm REALLY excited about heading across the pond again, I'm not going to wait until October to post stuff.
Today's topic: Land Terminology
Everything below comprises the British Isles, though it is becoming more politically correct to refer to them as the British and Irish Isles.

Photo courtesy of YappyDo.com

The Republic of Ireland is the region in green. All the other regions comprise the United Kingdom.

Light Blue--Northern Ireland. Not to be confused with the Republic of Ireland.
Dark Blue--Scotland.
Orange--England.Red--Wales.
Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England are each individual countries united, hence "United Kingdom." Wales, on the other hand, is a principality of England.

The Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey are also in the mix. They are dependencies upon the British Crown.

This is a really cool diagram I found online called the "Euler Diagram of States and Government in the British Isles." The red represents geographic entities and the blue represents political entities.




Here is a map of major cities in the UK.

Photo courtesy of starconsulting.co.uk

I've circled Norwich (where I was last time) and Bristol (where I will be). Anyone interested in checking out my old blog about my study abroad in Norwich can click here.