Great Britain

Great Britain (Welsh: Prydain Fawr, Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn Mhòr, Cornish: Breten Veur, Scots: Great Breetain), also known as Britain, is an island situated to the north-west of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, the largest European island and the largest of the British Isles. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populous island in the world, after Java and Honshū. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west. Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.[7] [3] [8] [9] [10] [11]

All of the island is territory of the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and most of the United Kingdom's territory is in Great Britain. Most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island of Great Britain, as are their respective capital cities: London, Edinburgh, and Cardiff.

The Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland with the Acts of Union 1707 on 1 May 1707 under Queen Anne. In 1801, under a new Act of Union, this kingdom merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) most of Ireland seceded from the Union, which then became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The relatively limited variety of fauna and flora on the island is due to its size and the fact that wildlife has had little time to develop since the last glacial period. The high level of urbanisation on the island has contributed to a species extinction rate that is about 100 times greater than the background species extinction rate. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide] *1 Political definition
 * 2 Geographical definition
 * 3 History
 * 4 Terminology
 * 4.1 Toponymy
 * 4.2 Derivation of "Great"
 * 4.3 Use of the term Great Britain
 * 5 Biodiversity
 * 5.1 Fauna
 * 5.2 Flora
 * 6 Religion
 * 7 Settlements
 * 7.1 Capital cities
 * 7.2 Other major cities
 * 8 See also
 * 9 References
 * 9.1 Footnotes
 * 9.2 Bibliography
 * 10 External links
 * 10.1 Video links
 * }

[edit] Political definition
Main articles: Kingdom of Great Britain and United KingdomGreat Britain is the largest island of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Politically, Great Britain refers to England, Scotland and Wales in combination,[12] but not Northern Ireland; it includes a number of islands off England, Scotland and Wales such as the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland. It does not include the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands which are not part of the United Kingdom, instead being self-governing dependent territories with their own legislative and taxation systems.[12] [13]

The political union that joined the kingdoms of England and Scotland happened in 1707 when the Acts of Union ratified the 1706 Treaty of Union and merged the parliaments of the two nations, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain, which covered the entire island. Prior to this, a personal union had existed between these two countries since the 1603 Union of the Crowns under James VI of Scotland and I of England.

[edit] Geographical definition
Further information: Geography of England, Geography of Scotland, and Geography of WalesGreat Britain lies on the European continental shelf and to the northwest of Continental Europe and east of Ireland. It is separated from the continent by the North Sea and by the English Channel, which narrows to 34 kilometres (21 mi) at the Straits of Dover.[14] It stretches over about ten degrees of latitude on its longer, north-south axis, and occupies an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), excluding all the smaller surrounding islands of the archipelago.[15] The North Channel, Irish Sea, St George's Channel and Celtic Sea separate the island from the island of Ireland to its west.[16] The island is physically connected with continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel, the longest undersea rail tunnel in the world which was completed in 1993. Geographically, the island is marked by low, rolling countryside in the east and south, while hills and mountains predominate in the western and northern regions. It is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The greatest distance between two points is 968 km (601.5 miles) (between Land's End, Cornwall and John O'Groats, Caithness), or 1,349 km (838 miles) using the national road network.

The English Channel is thought to have been created between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago by two catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods caused by the breaching of the Weald-Artois Anticline, a ridge which held back a large proglacial lake, now submerged under the North Sea.[17] Around 10,000 years ago, during the Devensian glaciation with its lower sea level, Great Britain was not an island, but an upland region of continental northwestern Europe, lying partially underneath the Eurasian ice sheet. The sea level was about 120 metres (390 ft) lower than today, and the bed of the North Sea was dry and acted as a land bridge, now known as Doggerland, to the Continent. It is generally thought that as sea levels gradually rose after the end of the last glacial period of the current ice age, Doggerland became submerged beneath the North Sea, cutting off what was previously the British peninsula from the European mainland by around 6500 BC.[18]

[edit] History
Main articles: History of England, History of Scotland, History of Wales, and History of the United KingdomSee also: Prehistoric Britain, Roman Britain, Medieval Britain (disambiguation), and Early modern BritainThe island was first inhabited by people who crossed over the land bridge from the European mainland. Traces of early humans have been found (at Boxgrove Quarry, Sussex) from some 500,000 years ago[19] and modern humans from about 30,000 years ago. Until about 10,000 years ago, Great Britain was joined to Ireland, and as recently as 8,000 years ago it was joined to the continent by a strip of low marsh to what is now Denmark and the Netherlands. In Cheddar Gorge, near Bristol, the remains of animal species native to mainland Europe such as antelopes, brown bears, and wild horses have been found alongside a human skeleton, 'Cheddar Man', dated to about 7150 BC. Thus, animals and humans must have moved between mainland Europe and Great Britain via a crossing.[20] Great Britain became an island at the end of the Pleistocene ice age when sea levels rose due to isostatic depression of the crust and the melting of glaciers.

According to John T. Koch and others, Britain in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that also included Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal where Celtic languages developed,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[21] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Koch_21-0">[22] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Koch2009_22-0">[23] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23">[24] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24">[25] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[26] <sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space: nowrap;">[''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Cleanup are 6 citations necessary? ]''] but this stands in contrast to the more generally accepted view that Celtic origins lie with the Hallstatt culture.

Its Iron Age inhabitants are known as the Britons, a group speaking a Celtic language. The Romans conquered most of the island (up to Hadrian's Wall, in northern England) and this became the Ancient Roman province of Britannia. For 500 years after the Roman Empire fell, the Britons of the south and east of the island were assimilated or displaced by invading Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, often referred to collectively as Anglo-Saxons). At about the same time, Gaelic tribes from Ireland invaded the north-west, absorbing both the Picts and Britons of northern Britain, eventually forming the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century. The south-east of Scotland was colonised by the Angles and formed, until 1018, a part of the Kingdom of Northumbria. Ultimately, the population of south-east Britain came to be referred to, after the Angles, as the English people.

Germanic speakers referred to Britons as Welsh. This term eventually came to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of what is now Wales, but it also survives in names such as Wallace, and in the second syllable of Cornwall. Cymry, a name the Britons used to describe themselves, is similarly restricted in modern Welsh to people from Wales, but also survives in English in the place name of Cumbria. The Britons living in the areas now known as Wales, Cumbria and Cornwall were not assimilated by the Germanic tribes, a fact reflected in the survival of Celtic languages in these areas into more recent times.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Ellis1974_26-0">[27] At the time of the Germanic invasion of Southern Britain, many Britons emigrated to the area now known as Brittany, where Breton, a Celtic language closely related to Welsh and Cornish and descended from the language of the emigrants, is still spoken. In the 9th century, a series of Danish assaults on northern English kingdoms led to them coming under Danish control (an area known as the Danelaw). In the 10th century, however, all the English kingdoms were unified under one ruler as the kingdom of England when the last constituent kingdom, Northumbria, submitted to Edgar in 959. In 1066, England was conquered by the Normans, who introduced a French ruling élite that was eventually assimilated. Wales came under Anglo-Norman control in 1282, and was officially annexed to England in the 16th century. On 20 October 1604 King James, who had succeeded separately to the two thrones of England and Scotland, proclaimed himself as "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland".<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;">[citation needed] When James died in 1625 and the Privy Council were drafting a proclamation, Thomas Erskine, 1st Earl of Kellie insisted that it use the phrase King of Great Britain which James had preferred rather than King of Scotland and England or vice-versa.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[28] While that title was also used by many of his successors, England and Scotland each remained legally in existence as separate countries with their own parliaments until 1707, when each parliament passed an Act of Union to ratify the Treaty of Union that had been agreed the previous year. This had the effect of creating a united kingdom, with a single, united parliament, from 1 May 1707. Though the Treaty of Union referred to the new all-island state as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain", many regard the term 'United Kingdom' as being descriptive of the union rather than part of its formal name (which the Treaty stated was to be 'Great Britain' without further qualification.) Most reference books, therefore, describe the all-island kingdom that existed between 1707 and 1800 as the "Kingdom of Great Britain".

[edit] Terminology
Main article: Terminology of the British Isles===[edit] Toponymy=== Main article: BritainThe oldest mention of terms related to the formal name of Britain was made by Aristotle (c. 384–322 BC), in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and lerne".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28">[29] The archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2,000 years: the term British Isles derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. Pliny the Elder (c. 23–79 AD) in his Natural History (iv.xvi.102) records of Great Britain: "It was itself named Albion, while all the islands about which we shall soon briefly speak were called the Britanniae."<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space: nowrap;">[dubious – discuss]

The earliest known name of Great Britain is Albion (Ἀλβίων) or insula Albionum, from either the Latin albus meaning white (referring to the white cliffs of Dover, the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the Albiones", first mentioned in the Massaliote Periplus and by Pytheas.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-snyder_29-0">[30]

The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons. Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne) and Middle English Bretayne, авBreteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond). Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of the ancient Greek Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north as Thule (probably Norway).

The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρέττανοι, Priteni or Pretani.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-snyder_29-1">[30] Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic speaking inhabitants of Ireland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30">[31] The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans.

[edit] Derivation of "Great"
After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a historical term only. Geoffrey of Monmouth in his pseudohistorical Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136) refers to the island of Great Britain as Britannia major ("Greater Britain"), to distinguish it from Britannia minor ("Lesser Britain"), the continental region which approximates to modern Brittany. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Cecily the daughter of Edward IV of England, and James the son of James III of Scotland, which described it as "this Nobill Isle, callit Gret Britanee." As noted above it was used again in 1604, when King James VI and I styled himself "King of Great Brittaine, France and Ireland."

[edit] Use of the term Great Britain
The term Great Britain refers to the largest island within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is also used to refer to England, Scotland and Wales as a unit (including many smaller islands which "have administrative ties with the mainland"). It does not include Northern Ireland.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31">[32]

The term Britain, as opposed to Great Britain, has been used to mean the United Kingdom, for example in official government yearbooks between 1975 and 2001.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[33] Since 2002, however, the yearbooks have only used the term "United Kingdom".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-33">[34]

The initials GB or GBR are used in some international codes instead of the initials UK to refer to the United Kingdom. Examples include: Universal Postal Union<sup class="noprint Inline-Template"> [dead link], international sports teams, NATO, the International Organization for Standardization country codes ISO 3166-2 and ISO 3166-1 alpha-3, and international licence plate codes.

On the Internet, .uk is used as a country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. A .gb top-level domain was also used to a limited extent in the past, but this is now effectively obsolete because the domain name registrar will not take new registrations.

[edit] Fauna
Main article: Fauna of Great BritainThe Robin is popularly known as "Britain's favourite bird".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34">[35] Animal diversity is modest, as a result of factors including the island's small land area, the relatively recent age of the habitats developed since the last Ice Age and the island's physical separation from continental Europe, and the effects of seasonal variability.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35">[36] Great Britain also experienced early industrialisation and is subject to continuing urbanisation, which have contributed towards the overall loss of species.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animals_36-0">[37] A DEFRA study from 2006 suggested that 100 species have become extinct in the UK during the 20th century, about 100 times the background extinction rate.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37">[38] However, some species, such as the brown rat, red fox, and introduced grey squirrel, are well adapted to urban areas.

Rodents make up 40% of the total number of mammal species in Great Britain. These include squirrels, mice, voles, rats and the recently reintroduced European beaver.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animals_36-1">[37] There is also an abundance of rabbits, hares, hedgehogs, shrews, moles and several species of bat.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animals_36-2">[37] Carnivorous mammals include the fox, badger, otter, weasel, stoat and elusive wildcat.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-else_38-0">[39] Various species of seal, whale and dolphin are found on or around British shores and coastlines. The largest land-based wild animals today are deer. The red deer is the largest species, with roe deer and fallow deer also prominent; the latter was introduced by the Normans.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-else_38-1">[39] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-39">[40] Sika deer and two more species of smaller deer, muntjac and Chinese water deer, have been introduced, muntjac becoming widespread in England and parts of Wales while Chinese water deer are restricted mainly to East Anglia. Habitat loss has affected many species. Extinct large mammals include the brown bear, grey wolf and wild boar; the latter has had a limited reintroduction in recent times.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animals_36-3">[37]

There is a wealth of birdlife in Britain, 583 species in total,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-40">[41] of which 258 breed on the island or remain during winter.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-41">[42] Because of its mild winters for its latitude, Great Britain hosts important numbers of many wintering species, particularly ducks, geese and swans.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-42">[43] Other well known bird species include the golden eagle, grey heron, kingfisher, pigeon, sparrow, pheasant, partridge, and various species of crow, finch, gull, auk, grouse, owl and falcon.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-birds_43-0">[44] There are six species of reptile on the island; three snakes and three lizards including the legless slow worm. One snake, the adder, is venomous but rarely deadly.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-44">[45] Amphibians present are frogs, toads and newts.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animals_36-4">[37]

[edit] Flora
Main article: List of the vascular plants of Britain and IrelandHeather growing wild in the Highlands at Dornoch.In a similar sense to fauna, and for similar reasons, the flora of Great Britain is impoverished compared to that of continental Europe.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-floraa_45-0">[46] Great Britain's flora comprises 3,354 vascular plant species, of which 2,297 are native and 1,057 have been introduced into the island.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-frodin_46-0">[47] The island has a wide variety of trees, including native species of birch, beech, ash, hawthorn, elm, oak, yew, pine, cherry and apple.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-tree_47-0">[48] Other trees have been naturalised, introduced especially from other parts of Europe (particularly Norway) and North America. Introduced trees include several varieties of pine, chestnut, maple, spruce, sycamore and fir, as well as cherry plum and pear trees.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-tree_47-1">[48] The tallest species are the Douglas firs; two specimens have been recorded measuring 65 metres or 212 feet.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48">[49] The Fortingall Yew in Perthshire is the oldest tree in Europe.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49">[50]

There are at least 1,500 different species of wildflower in Britain,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-flowepow_50-0">[51] Some 107 species are particularly rare or vulnerable and are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. It is illegal to uproot any wildflowers without the landowner's permission.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-flowepow_50-1">[51] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-51">[52] A vote in 2002 nominated various wildflowers to represent specific counties.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-52">[53] These include red poppies, bluebells, daisies, daffodils, rosemary, gorse, iris, ivy, mint, orchids, brambles, thistles, buttercups, primrose, thyme, tulips, violets, cowslip, heather and many more.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-flora_53-0">[54] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-54">[55] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-55">[56] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-56">[57] There are also many species of algae, lichens, fungi and mosses across the island.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-57">[58]

[edit] Religion
Main articles: Religion in England, Religion in Scotland, and Religion in WalesCanterbury Cathedral, seat of the Anglican Church – the island's largest denominationChristianity is the largest religion on the island and has been since the Early Middle Ages, though its existence on the island dates back to the Roman introduction in antiquity and continued through Early Insular Christianity. The largest form practised in present day Britain is Anglicanism (also known as Episcopalism in Scotland); dating from the 16th century Reformation, the religion regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed. Head of the Church is the monarch of the United Kingdom as the Supreme Governor. It has the status of established church in England. There are just over 26 million adherents to Anglicanism in Britain today,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-58">[59] although the number of active adherents (those who regularly attend services) is only around one million. The second largest Christian practice in Britain is the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church which traces its formal, corporate history in Great Britain to the 6th century with Augustine's mission and was the main religion on the island for around a thousand years. There are over 5 million adherents in Britain today; 4.5 million in England and Wales<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-59">[60] and 750,000 in Scotland,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-60">[61] although less than a million Catholics regularly attend mass.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-61">[62] Baitul Futuh – the largest mosque in Western Europe<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-62">[63] The Church of Scotland, a form of Protestantism with a Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical polity is the third most numerous on the island with around 2.1 million members.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-63">[64] Introduced in Scotland by clergyman John Knox, it has the status of national church in Scotland. The monarch of the United Kingdom is represented prominently by a Lord High Commissioner. Methodism is the fourth largest and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-64">[65] It gained popularity in the old mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, also amongst tin miners in Cornwall.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-65">[66] The Presbyterian Church of Wales, which follow Calvinistic Methodism, is the largest denomination in Wales. There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists, Quakers, the United Reformed Church (a union of Congregationalists and English Presbyterians), Unitarians and more.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-66">[67] The first patron saint of Great Britain was Saint Alban.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-67">[68] He was the first Christian martyr dating from the Romano-British period, condemned to death for his faith and was sacrificed to the pagan gods.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-68">[69] In more recent times, some have suggested the adoption of Saint Aidan as another patron saint of Britain.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-aiden_69-0">[70] Originally from Ireland, he worked at Iona amongst the Dál Riata and then Lindisfarne where he restored Christianity to Northumbria.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-aiden_69-1">[70] The Swaminarayan Temple at Neasden, London - one of the largest Hindu Temples in Europe<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-70">[71] Three constituent countries of the United Kingdom located on the island have patron saints; Saint George and Saint Andrew are represented in the flags of England and Scotland respectively.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-flaghistory_71-0">[72] These two saintly flags combined form the basis of the Great Britain royal flag of 1604.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-flaghistory_71-1">[72] Saint David is the patron saint of Wales.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-britsaints_72-0">[73] There are many other British saints, some of the best known include; Cuthbert, Columba, Patrick, Margaret, Edward the Confessor, Mungo, Thomas More, Petroc, Bede and Thomas Becket.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-britsaints_72-1">[73]

Numerous non-Christian religions are practised in Great Britain.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-73">[74] Jews were a small minority on the island since 1070. The Jews were expelled from England in 1290 but allowed to return in 1656.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-jews_74-0">[75] Their history in Scotland is quite obscure until later migrations from Lithuania.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-75">[76] Especially since the 1950s religions from the former colonies have become more prevalent; Islam is the most common of these with around 1.5 million adherents in Britain.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-easternreligion_76-0">[77] A total of more than 1 million people practise either Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism, religions introduced from India and South East Asia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-easternreligion_76-1">[77]

[edit] Settlements
See also: List of largest United Kingdom settlements by population===[edit] Capital cities=== The capitals of the three countries of the United Kingdom which comprise Great Britain are:
 * England: London
 * Scotland: Edinburgh
 * Wales: Cardiff

[edit] Other major cities
The largest cities in Great Britain by urban area population (not including the capital cities listed above) are Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

[edit] See also

 * List of islands of England
 * List of islands of Scotland
 * List of islands of Wales
 * Terminology of the British Isles

[edit] Footnotes

 * 1) ^ "The British Isles and all that ...". Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/britishisles. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
 * 2) ^ ONS: Population Estimates, June 2010<sup class="noprint Inline-Template"> [dead link]
 * 3) ^ a b Figure refers to the population of the United Kingdom excluding Northern Ireland, and includes about 500,000 persons on smaller islands.
 * 4) ^, Oxford English Dictionary, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Britain,&#32;"Britain:/ˈbrɪt(ə)n/ the island containing England, Wales, and Scotland. The name is broadly synonymous with Great Britain, but the longer form is more usual for the political unit."
 * 5) ^, Oxford English Dictionary, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Great+Britain,&#32;"Great Britain: England, Wales, and Scotland considered as a unit. The name is also often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom."
 * 6) ^ Peters, Pam (2004). The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-521-62181-X. "The term Britain is familiar shorthand for Great Britain"
 * 7) ^ Definitions and recommended usage varies. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary defines Britain as an island and Great Britain as a political unit formed by England, Scotland and Wales.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3">[4] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4">[5] whereas the Cambridge Guide to English Usage gives Britain as "familiar shorthand for Great Britain, the island which geographically contains England, Wales and Scotland".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5">[6]
 * 8) ^ "Islands by land area, United Nations Environment Programme". Islands.unep.ch. http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
 * 9) ^ "Population Estimates". National Statistics Online. Newport, Wales: Office for National Statistics. 24 June 2010. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pop0610.pdf. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
 * 10) ^ See Geohive.com Country data<sup class="noprint Inline-Template"> [dead link] ; Japan Census of 2000; United Kingdom Census of 2001. The editors of List of islands by population appear to have used similar data from the relevant statistics bureaux, and totalled up the various administrative districts that comprise each island, and then done the same for less populous islands. An editor of this article has not repeated that work. Therefore this plausible and eminently reasonable ranking is posted as unsourced common knowledge.
 * 11) ^ "says 803 islands which have a distinguishable coastline on an Ordnance Survey map, and several thousand more exist which are too small to be shown as anything but a dot". Mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. http://mapzone.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/didyouknow/howmany/q_14_27.html. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
 * 12) ^ a b "Key facts about the United Kingdom". Direct.gov.uk. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/LivingintheUK/DG_10012517. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
 * 13) ^ Ademuni-Odeke (1998).  Bareboat Charter (ship) Registration . Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 367. ISBN 90-411-0513-1. http://books.google.com/?id=rvIWmznNEGYC&pg=PA367&dq=great+britain+political+definition+isle+of+man.
 * 14) ^ "accessed 14 November 2009". Eosnap.com. http://www.eosnap.com/?tag=strait-of-dover. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
 * 15) ^ United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Island Directory Tables "Islands By Land Area". Retrieved from http://islands.unep.ch/Tiarea.htm on 13 August 2009
 * 16) ^ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition + corrections". International Hydrographic Organization. 1971. p. 42 [corrections to page 13]. http://www.iho-ohi.net/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S23_1953.pdf. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
 * 17) ^ Gupta, Sanjeev; Jenny S. Collier, Andy Palmer-Felgate & Graeme Potter (2007). "Catastrophic flooding origin of shelf valley systems in the English Channel". Nature 448 (7151): 342–5. Bibcode 2007Natur.448..342G. doi:10.1038/nature06018. PMID 17637667. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v448/n7151/full/nature06018.html. Retrieved 18 July 2007. Lay summary – msnbc.com (18 July 2007).
 * 18) ^ "Vincent Gaffney, "Global Warming and the Lost European Country"" (PDF). http://livebettermagazine.com/eng/magazine/pdf_docs/2008_01/Global_Warming_Gaffney.pdf. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
 * 19) ^ Gräslund, Bo (2005). "Traces of the early humans". Early humans and their world. London: Routledge. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-415-35344-1.
 * 20) ^ Lacey, Robert. Great Tales from English History. New York: Little, Brown & Co, 2004. ISBN 0-316-10910-X.
 * 21) ^ . UK: Aber. 2008-5. http://www.aber.ac.uk/aberonline/en/archive/2008/05/au7608/..
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 * 23) ^ Koch, John (2009).  Tartessian: Celtic from the Southwest at the Dawn of History in Acta Palaeohispanica X Palaeohispanica 9 . Palaeohispanica. pp. 339–51. ISSN 1578-5386. http://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/29/54/26koch.pdf. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
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