The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the United Kingdom or the UK) is a constitutional monarchy comprising most of the British Isles, and is one of the world’s wealthiest nations. The Union comprises four constituent nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
It occupies all of the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern portion of the island of Ireland and most of the remaining British Isles. It is important to remember that the Republic of Ireland is a completely separate country to the United Kingdom, seceding from the Union and gaining its independence in 1922. The Isle of Man and the various Channel Islands are “crown dependencies”, possessing their own legislative bodies with the assent of the Crown.
They are not part of the United Kingdom, nor of the EU, but are not sovereign nations in their own right either. The UK has Ireland, France, Belgium and Netherlands as its nearest neighbours.
