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#25: What's The Difference Between Great Britain and The United Kingdom?

English Learning for Curious Minds

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Crown Dependencies - What Are They?

Great is used to distinguish Britain from its similarly sounding, but much smaller French neighbour, Brittany. The idea was that they wanted to make Britain seem different from Brittany. A second theory is that it was due to the ego of a certain King James the First, who was actually the first King of England and Scotland. And why does Great Britain compete in the Olympics, not England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland? Well, for the Olympics, it is because the Olympic Committee only recognises teams from passport issuing countries. But yes, it is called Team GB, not Team UK, which is confusing even for people in the UK. So let's leave it there with the Crown Dependencies.

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