British Isles

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British Isles
A map of the British Isles and their location in Europe.
British Isles (orthographic projection).svg
Location North-western Europe
Adjacent bodies of water Atlantic Ocean
Total islands 6,000+
Area 315,159 km2 (121,684 sq mi)[5]
Highest elevation 1,344 m (4,409 ft)
Highest point Ben Nevis
Sovereign states and dependent territories
Capital and largest settlement Saint Peter Port
Area covered 78 km2 (30 sq mi; 0%)
Capital and largest settlement Saint Helier
Area covered 118 km2 (46 sq mi; 0%)
Capital and largest city Dublin
Area covered 70,282 km2 (27,136 sq mi; 22.3%)
Capital and largest settlement Douglas
Area covered 572 km2 (221 sq mi; 0.2%)
Capital and largest city London
Area covered 244,111 km2 (94,252 sq mi; 77.5%)
Population 68,017,607 (as of 2011)
Density 216 /km2 (559 /sq mi)
Additional information
Time zone
 • Summer (DST)
Drives on the left

The British Isles are a group of islands off the north-western coast of continental Europe that consist of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles.[6] Situated in the North Atlantic, the islands have a total area of approximately 315,159 km2,[5] and a combined population of just under 70 million. Two sovereign states are located on the islands: Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of the island with the same name)[7] and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The British Isles also include three Crown Dependencies: the Isle of Man and, by tradition, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands, although the latter are not physically a part of the archipelago.[8][9]



The term British Isles is controversial in Ireland,[6][14] where there are objections to its usage due to the association of the word British with Ireland.[15] The Government of Ireland does not recognise or use the term[16] and its embassy in London discourages its use.[17] As a result, Britain and Ireland is used as an alternative description,[15][18][19] and Atlantic Archipelago has had limited use among a minority in academia,[20][21][22][23] although British Isles is still commonly employed.[18] Within them, they are also sometimes referred to as these islands.


The earliest known references to the islands as a group appeared in the writings of sea-farers from the ancient Greek colony of Massalia.[24][25] The original records have been lost; however, later writings, e.g. Avienus's Ora maritima, that quoted from the Massaliote Periplus (6th century BC) and from Pytheas's On the Ocean (circa 325–320 BC)[26] have survived. In the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus has Prettanikē nēsos,[27] "the British Island", and Prettanoi,[28] "the Britons".[25] Strabo used Βρεττανική (Brettanike),[29][30][31] and Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, used αἱ Πρεττανικαί νῆσοι (the Prettanic Isles) to refer to the islands.[32] Historians today, though not in absolute agreement, largely agree that these Greek and Latin names were probably drawn from native Celtic-language names for the archipelago.[33] Along these lines, the inhabitants of the islands were called the Πρεττανοί (Priteni or Pretani).[25][34] The shift from the "P" of Pretannia to the "B" of Britannia by the Romans occurred during the time of Julius Caesar.[35]

The classical writer, Ptolemy, referred to the larger island as great Britain (megale Britannia) and to Ireland as little Britain (mikra Brettania) in his work, Almagest (147–148 AD).[36] In his later work, Geography (c. 150 AD), he gave these islands the names[37] Alwion [sic], Iwernia, and Mona (the Isle of Man), suggesting these may have been native names of the individual islands not known to him at the time of writing Almagest.[38] The name Albion appears to have fallen out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Great Britain, after which Britain became the more common-place name for the island called Great Britain.[35]

The earliest known use of the phrase Brytish Iles in the English language is dated 1577 in a work by John Dee.[39] Today, this name is seen by some as carrying imperialist overtones[18] although it is still commonly used. Other names used to describe the islands include the Anglo-Celtic Isles,[40][41] Atlantic archipelago, British-Irish Isles,[42] Britain and Ireland, UK and Ireland, and British Isles and Ireland.[43] Owing to political and national associations with the word British, the Government of Ireland does not use the term British Isles[16] and in documents drawn up jointly between the British and Irish governments, the archipelago is referred to simply as "these islands".[44] Nonetheless, British Isles is still the most widely accepted term for the archipelago.[44]


An image showing the geological shelf of the British Isles.




There are about 136 permanently inhabited islands in the group, the largest two being Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is to the east and covers 83,700 sq mi (217,000 km2).[47] Ireland is to the west and covers 32,590 sq mi (84,400 km2).[47] The largest of the other islands are to be found in the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland to the north, Anglesey and the Isle of Man between Great Britain and Ireland, and the Channel Islands near the coast of France.

The islands are at relatively low altitudes, with central Ireland and southern Great Britain particularly low lying: the lowest point in the islands is Holme, Cambridgeshire at −2.75 m (−9.02 ft).[48] The Scottish Highlands in the northern part of Great Britain are mountainous, with Ben Nevis being the highest point on the islands at 1,343 m (4,406 ft).[49] Other mountainous areas include Wales and parts of Ireland, however only seven peaks in these areas reach above 1,000 m (3,281 ft). Lakes on the islands are generally not large, although Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is an exception, covering 150 square miles (390 km2).[citation needed] The largest freshwater body in Great Britain (by area) is Loch Lomond at 27.5 square miles (71 km2), and Loch Ness, by volume whilst Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of 310 m (1,017 ft).[50] There are a number of major rivers within the British Isles. The longest is the Shannon in Ireland at 224 mi (360 km).[citation needed] The river Severn at 220 mi (354 km)[citation needed] is the longest in Great Britain. The isles have a temperate marine climate. The North Atlantic Drift ("Gulf Stream") which flows from the Gulf of Mexico brings with it significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for the islands' latitudes.[51] Winters are cool and wet, with summers mild and also wet. Most Atlantic depressions pass to the north of the islands, combined with the general westerly circulation and interactions with the landmass, this imposes an east-west variation in climate.[52]

Flora and fauna[edit]

Some female red deer in Killarney National Park, Ireland.




Few species of reptiles or amphibians are found in Great Britain or Ireland. Only three snakes are native to Great Britain: the common European adder, the grass snake and the smooth snake;[53] none are native to Ireland. In general, Great Britain has slightly more variation and native wild life, with weasels, polecats, wildcats, most shrews, moles, water voles, roe deer and common toads also being absent from Ireland. This pattern is also true for birds and insects. Notable exceptions include the Kerry slug and certain species of wood lice native to Ireland but not Great Britain.



Population density per km² of the British Isles' regions.

The demographics of the British Isles today are characterised by a generally high density of population in England, which accounts for almost 80% of the total population of the islands. In elsewhere on Great Britain and on Ireland, high density of population is limited to areas around, or close to, a few large cities. The largest urban area by far is the Greater London Urban Area with 9 million inhabitants. Other major populations centres include Greater Manchester Urban Area (2.4 million), West Midlands conurbation (2.4 million), West Yorkshire Urban Area (1.6 million) in England,[54] Greater Glasgow (1.2 million) in Scotland[55] and Greater Dublin Area (1.1 million) in Ireland.[citation needed]

The population of England rose rapidly during the 19th and 20th centuries whereas the populations of Scotland and Wales have shown little increase during the 20th century, with the population of Scotland remaining unchanged since 1951. Ireland for most of its history comprised a population proportionate to its land area (about one third of the total population). However, since the Great Irish Famine, the population of Ireland has fallen to less than one tenth of the population of the British Isles. The famine, which caused a century-long population decline, drastically reduced the Irish population and permanently altered the demographic make-up of the British Isles. On a global scale, this disaster led to the creation of an Irish diaspora that numbers fifteen times the current population of the island.

The linguistic heritage of the British Isles is rich,[56] with twelve languages from six groups across four branches of the Indo-European family. The Insular Celtic languages of the Goidelic sub-group (Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic) and the Brittonic sub-group (Cornish, Welsh and Breton, spoken in north-western France) are the only remaining Celtic languages—the last of their continental relations becoming extinct before the 7th century.[57] The Norman languages of Guernésiais, Jèrriais and Sarkese spoken in the Channel Islands are similar to French. A cant, called Shelta, is spoken by Irish Travellers, often as a means to conceal meaning from those outside the group.[58] However, English, sometimes in the form of Scots, is the dominant language, with few monoglots remaining in the other languages of the region.[59] The Norn language of Orkney and Shetland became extinct around 1880.[60]




The Alfred Jewel (9th century)


Viking invasions began in the 9th century, followed by more permanent settlements, particularly along the east coast of Ireland, the west coast of modern-day Scotland and the Isle of Man. Though the Vikings were eventually neutralised in Ireland, their influence remained in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford. England however was slowly conquered around the turn of the first millennium AD, and eventually became a feudal possession of Denmark. The relations between the descendants of Vikings in England and counterparts in Normandy, in northern France, lay at the heart of a series of events that led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, which conquered England, remain associated to the English Crown as the Channel Islands to this day. A century later the marriage of the future Henry II of England to Eleanor of Aquitaine created the Angevin Empire, partially under the French Crown. At the invitation of a provincial king and under the authority of Pope Adrian IV (the only Englishman to be elected pope), the Angevins invaded Ireland in 1169. Though initially intended to be kept as an independent kingdom, the failure of the Irish High King to ensure the terms of the Treaty of Windsor led Henry II, as King of England, to rule as effective monarch under the title of Lord of Ireland. This title was granted to his younger son but when Henry's heir unexpectedly died the title of King of England and Lord of Ireland became entwined in one person.


James VI of Scotland (James I of England)

Scotland, meanwhile had remained an independent Kingdom. In 1603, that changed when the King of Scotland inherited the Crown of England, and consequently the Crown of Ireland also. The subsequent 17th century was one of political upheaval, religious division and war. English colonialism in Ireland of the 16th century was extended by large-scale Scottish and English colonies in Ulster. Religious division heightened and the King in England came into conflict with parliament. A prime issue was, inter alia, over his policy of tolerance towards Catholicism. The resulting English Civil War or War of the Three Kingdoms led to a revolutionary republic in England. Ireland, largely Catholic was mainly loyal to the king. Following defeat to the parliaments army, large scale land distributions from loyalist Irish nobility to English commoners in the service of the parliamentary army created the beginnings a new Ascendancy class which over the next hundred years would obliterate the English (Hiberno-Norman) and Gaelic Irish nobility in Ireland. The new ruling class was Protestant and British, whilst the common people were largely Catholic and Irish. This theme would influence Irish politics for centuries to come. When the monarchy was restored in England, the king found it politically impossible to restore all the lands of former land-owners in Ireland. The "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 repeated similar themes: a Catholic king pushing for religious tolerance in opposition to a Protestant parliament in England. The king's army was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne and at the militarily crucial Battle of Aughrim in Ireland. Resistance held out, and a guarantee of religious tolerance was a cornerstone of the Treaty of Limerick. However, in the evolving political climate, the terms of Limerick were superseded, a new monarchy was installed, and the new Irish parliament was packed with the new elite which legislated increasing intolerant Penal Laws, which discommoded both Dissenters and Catholics.

The Kingdoms of England and Scotland were unified in 1707 creating the Kingdom of Great Britain. Following an attempted republican revolution in Ireland in 1798, the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were unified in 1801, creating the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands remaining outside of the United Kingdom but with their ultimate good governance being the responsibility of the British Crown (effectively the British government). Although, the colonies of North American that would become the United States of America were lost by the start of the 19th century, the British Empire expanded rapidly elsewhere. A century later it would cover one third of the globe. Poverty in the United Kingdom remained desperate however and industrialisation in England led to terrible condition for the working class. Mass migrations following the Irish Famine and Highland Clearances resulted in the distribution of the islands' population and culture throughout the world and a rapid de-population of Ireland in the second-half of the 19th century. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom after the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty (1919–1922), with the six counties that formed Northern Ireland remaining as an autonomous region of the UK.


Subdivisions of the British Isles


Ireland, the United Kingdom and the three Crown Dependencies are all parliamentary democracies, with their own separate parliaments. All parts of the United Kingdom return members to parliament in London. In addition to this, voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland return members to a parliament in Edinburgh and to assemblies in Cardiff and Belfast respectively. Governance in the norm is by majority rule, however, Northern Ireland uses a system of power sharing whereby unionists and nationalists share executive posts proportionately and where the assent of both groups are required for the Northern Ireland Assembly to make certain decisions. (In the context of Northern Ireland, unionists are those who want Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom and nationalists are those who want Northern Ireland join with the rest of Ireland.) The British monarch is the head of state for all parts of the isles except for the Republic of Ireland, where the head of state is the President of Ireland.

Ireland and the United Kingdom are both part of the European Union (EU). The Crown Dependencies are not a part of the EU however do participate in certain aspects that were negotiated as a part of the UK's accession to the EU.[61][62][63] Neither the United Kingdom or Ireland are part of the Schengen area, that allow passport-free travel between EU members states. However, since the partition of Ireland, an informal free-travel area had existed across the region. In 1997, this area required formal recognition during the course of negotiations for the Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union and is now known as the Common Travel Area.


In addition, some civil bodies are organised throughout the islands as a whole. For example the Samaritans, which is deliberately organised without regard to national boundaries on the basis that a service which is not political or religious should not recognise sectarian or political divisions.[citation needed] The RNLI, the life boats service, is also organised throughout the islands as a whole, covering the waters of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.[65]


British–Irish Council[edit]





The United Kingdom and Ireland have separate media, although British television, newspapers and magazines are widely available in Ireland,[68] giving people in Ireland a high level of familiarity with cultural matters in the United Kingdom. Irish newspapers are also available in the UK, and Irish state and private television is widely available in Northern Ireland.[citation needed] Certain reality TV shows have embraced the whole of the islands, for example The X Factor, seasons 3, 4 and 7 of which featured auditions in Dublin and were open to Irish voters, whilst the show previously known as Britain's Next Top Model became Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model in 2011. A few cultural events are organised for the island group as a whole. For example, the Costa Book Awards are awarded to authors resident in the UK or Ireland. The Man Booker Prize is awarded to authors from the Commonwealth of Nations and Ireland. The Mercury Music Prize is handed out every year to the best album from a British or Irish musician or group.




HSC Stena Explorer, a large fast ferry the formerly operated HolyheadDun Laoghaire route between Great Britain and Ireland.

London Heathrow Airport is Europe's busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic and the Dublin-London route is the busiest air route in Europe.[69] The English Channel and the southern North Sea are the busiest seaways in the world.[70] The Channel Tunnel, opened in 1994, links Great Britain to France and is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world.

The idea of building a tunnel under the Irish Sea has been raised since 1895,[71] when it was first investigated. Several potential Irish Sea tunnel projects have been proposed, most recently the Tusker Tunnel between the ports of Rosslare and Fishguard proposed by The Institute of Engineers of Ireland in 2004.[72] A rail tunnel was proposed in 1997 on a different route, between Dublin and Holyhead, by British engineering firm Symonds. Either tunnel, at 50 mi (80 km), would be by far the longest in the world, and would cost an estimated £15 billion or €20 billion. A proposal in 2007,[73] estimated the cost of building a bridge from County Antrim in Northern Ireland to Galloway in Scotland at £3.5bn (€5bn).

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "British Isles". Terminology Database. Foras na Gaeilge / Dublin City University. Retrieved 23 September 2010. the British Isles s pl (Tíreolaíocht · Geography; Polaitíocht · Politics; Stair · History; Logainmneacha » Ceantar/Réigiún · Placenames » Area/Region) Na hOileáin bhriontanacha 
  2. ^ University of Glasgow Department of Celtic 
  3. ^ Office of The President of Tynwald (PDF) 
  4. ^ "RÈGLEMENT (1953) (AMENDEMENT) SUR L’IMPORTATION ET L’EXPORTATION D’ANIMAUX". States of Jersey. Retrieved 2 February 2012. 
  5. ^ a b COUNTRY/TERRITORY INDEX, ISLAND DIRECTORY, United Nations Environment Programme. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b "British Isles", Encyclopædia Britannica
  11. ^
  12. ^ Koch
  17. ^ Sharrock, David (3 October 2006), "New atlas lets Ireland slip shackles of Britain", The Times (UK), retrieved 7 July 2010, A spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London said: “The British Isles has a dated ring to it, as if we are still part of the Empire. We are independent, we are not part of Britain, not even in geographical terms. We would discourage its usage [sic].” 
  24. ^ Foster, p. 1.
  25. ^ a b c Allen, p. 172–174.
  26. ^ Harley, p. 150.
  32. ^ Marcianus Heracleensis; Müller, Karl Otfried; et al. (1855). "Periplus Maris Exteri, Liber Prior, Prooemium". In Firmin Didot, Ambrosio. Geographi Graeci Minores 1. Paris. pp. 516–517.  Greek text and Latin Translation thereof archived at the Open Library Project.DjVu
  33. ^ Davies, p. 47.
  34. ^ Snyder, p. 68.
  35. ^ a b Snyder, p. 12.
  36. ^ Claudius Ptolemy (1898). "Ἕκθεσις τῶν κατὰ παράλληλον ἰδιωμάτων: κβ',κε'". In Heiberg, J.L. Claudii Ptolemaei Opera quae exstant omnia (PDF). vol.1 Syntaxis Mathematica. Leipzig: in aedibus B.G.Teubneri. pp. 112–113. 

    British-Irish Isles, the (geography) see BRITISH ISLES

    British Isles, the (geography) A geographical (not political or CONSTITUTIONAL) term for ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, WALES, and IRELAND (including the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND), together with all offshore islands. A more accurate (and politically acceptable) term today is the British-Irish Isles.

  43. ^ "". Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  46. ^ Ibid., p. 5.
  47. ^ a b [2]
  50. ^ Gazetteer for Scotland Morar, Loch
  52. ^ Ibid., pp. 13–14.
  53. ^ "Guide to British Snakes". Wildlife Britain Retrieved 17 August 2010. 
  54. ^
  57. ^ Waddel, John; Conroy, Jane (1999), Spriggs, Matthew, ed., "Celts and Other: Maritime Contact and Linguistic Change", Archaeology and Language (London: Routledge) 35, p. 127, ISBN 0-415-11786-0, Continental Celtic includes Gaulish, Lepontic, Hispano-Celtic (or Celtiberian) and Galatian. All were extinct by the seventh century AD. 
  62. ^ "States of Guernsey: Constitution". Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  63. ^ "Relationship with European Union – Isle of Man Government – Chief Secretarys Office". Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  64. ^ Goldsmith, 2008, Citizenship: Our Common Bond, Ministry of Justice: London Archived 20 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  66. ^ [Communiqué of the British-Irish Council], February 2008
  67. ^ Martina Purdy, 28 February 2008 2008, Unionists urged to drop boycott, BBC: London
  68. ^ "Ireland". Retrieved 17 October 2008. 
  70. ^ Hardisty, Jack (1990), The British Seas: an Introduction to the Oceanography and Resources of the North-west European Continental Shelf, London: Routledge, p. 5, ISBN 0-415-03586-4, No only are the English Channel and the Southern North Sea, in particular, the busiest shipping clearways in the world, but the seas are also sources of the European community's industrial wealth (fisheries, petroleum, aggregates, and power) ad sinks for the disposal of refuse from its intensely urbanized and industrialized coats. 
  72. ^ Tunnel 'vision' under Irish Sea, BBC, 23 December 2004 
  73. ^ BBC News, From Twinbrook to the Trevi Fountain, 21 August 2007

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]