The Structure of the United Kingdom

The structure of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (hence the abbreviated 'UK' or ‘Great Britain') can be confusing.

The UK consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Politically, 'Great Britain' describes the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales. It includes outlying islands such as the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland, but does not include the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. Great Britain lies to the northwest of Continental Europe with Ireland to the west and makes up the larger part of the territory of the United Kingdom. It is the largest island in Europe, and eighth largest in the world.

The UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the 1920s (1922) following the independence of five-sixths of Ireland as first the Irish Free State, a Dominion of the then British Commonwealth, and then later as an independent republic outside the British Commonwealth as the Republic of Ireland.

All time regions in the world are calculated relative to zero degrees longitude which passes through Greenwich in London.