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September 23, 2004
British Islands
At last I know where I live. That may sound a bit strange to most people but I have only just found out exactly that. Let me put you in the picture. I live in Jersey, Channel Islands. Now, to a lot of people, Jersey is thought to have been part of the United Kingdom. This is not the case. As the United Kingdom consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also includes the small adjacent islands but it does not include the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. So then you would think that Jersey is part of Great Britain. This isn't the case either. Great Britain consists of England, Scotland and Wales. It also includes the small adjacent islands but it does not include the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. So where the hell is Jersey then? Well the expression "British Islands" has been defined in the Interpretation Act 1978 as meaning the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The Republic of Ireland is not included in this definition. So in future I should end my postal address as: Jersey, Channels Islands, British Islands. It probably wont get here though because hardly anyone else in the world has ever heard of the British Islands! Oh and one more thing. There is also the "British Isles". The expression "British Isles" is geographical and not political. They are a group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe consisting of Great Britain, the whole of Ireland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Isle of Wight, the Scilly Islands, Lundy Island, the Channel Islands and many other smaller islands. I hope you are all a bit more enlightened now.Lecture over :-)
Source:
Great Britain, the British Isles, the United Kingdom, British Islands
Update:
It still doesn't bloody help me when filling in forms on the Internet with my address. Why do these sites have this drop down menu with all the places in the world except The Channel Islands? I always have to put in the UK. Which of course is a lie. Why don't they get rid of those drop down menus and just let us write our address?
Sorry for the rant but it's always got on my tits :-)
Posted by Markiss at September 23, 2004 1:07 PM
