From: Frank da Cruz (fdc@columbia.edu)
Date: Sat Jul 26 2003 - 14:10:54 EDT
> "United Kingdom of Great Britain" as opposed to the present "United Kingdom
> of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". The whishful misnomer "United
> Kingdom" of course refers to the union of the erstwhile independant kingdoms
> of England (including the principality of Wales and various other
> territories) and Scotland. "Ireland" and later the reduced "Northern
> Ireland" was tagged onto the official name of the country as somewhat of an
> afterthought (no doubt reflecting its status within the political union).
>
> BTW the Duchy of Cornwall is part of England, even if the Cornish are not
> necessarily English.
>
This sort of thing is endlessly fascinating to (some of) us Americans,
whose concepts of "nation" and "state" are so simplistic :-) Here's
my attempt to sort it out:
http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/postal.html#uk
It is in constant need of revision and refinement.
- Frank
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