Is Britain the Same as England?

So many different terms are used today for the place most of us call England that it can get downright confusing!

The British Isles are a group of islands off the coast of Europe. The two biggest islands are called Great Britain and Ireland.

The United Kingdom is the name of the country that includes all of the island of Great Britain, plus a part of Ireland called Northern Ireland. The rest of Ireland is an independent nation.

The island of Great Britain is divided into three parts: England, Scotland, and Wales. Strictly speaking, England is only the section that occupies most of the southern half of the island.

But Britain means the whole island. So the words England and Britain don’t really mean the same thing at all!