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Forums - General - What's up with the UK?

Potable_Toe on 28 June 2012
homer said:
Troll_Whisperer said:
The UK is one kingdom (not several) but it's composed of several countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus dependencies and overseas territories (islands).

There's a British parliament that represents them all, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own regional bodies. England does not have a parliament, because England represents such a high percentage of the UK's population the British parliament kind of represents England anyway (though polls show that most English people would like to have an English parliament).

I don't know much about the Commonwealth, but it's some sort of agreement beween countries that used to belong to the British empire. It has little practical purpose as far as I know.

Could Scotland theoretically leave the UK if they wanted to? Is it like a Union of countries akin to the European union only of the nations on the island or is it more like the US or perhaps a mixture of both???

Ultimately they could leave if they  really desired to, so long as it was ratified by Parliament, infact there is a very considerable independance movement headed by the SNP (Scottish National Party).

 

As far as the Commonwealth is concerned you could very much think of it as a UN but only for previous constituants of the British Emipre, any nation that was once a part of the Empire can apply and there are a few benefits to it such as variouis funds for charitable and social work (local initiatives such a building sports centres or job creation projects in developing nations/members). But I suppose the biggest benefit of it is that it also acts as a free trade agreement between all members. The most public part of it though is probably the Commonwealth Games which is the Third largest sporting event after the Football World Cup and the Olympics.



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homer on 28 June 2012
cybermeerkat said:

I live in the UK by the way, and no scotland can't leave the UK because England rules Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, There's only one government in the UK which is in England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are not independent countries.  

Ok. Can Wales pass laws that apply only to Wales like say, if they wanted to legalize or illegalize something, could they? Are there prime ministers/governors for Scotland and Wales or only one Prime Minister/governor for all of the UK?



"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." -My good friend Mark Aurelius

cybermeerkat on 28 June 2012

All Laws in England applies to everywhere in the UK. If the british govermant want's to legalize or illegalize something then it would apply to all countries in the UK but i guess David Camaron could legalize or illegalize something in a particular country in the UK.. But yes there's only one Prime Minister in the UK. David Cameron is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.



Sal.Paradise on 28 June 2012

The most important thing to remember is that despite their shared language, there are many different social customs in England, compared to the US. 

For example nobody owns a watch in the UK, and they are actually removed from devices like phones and tablets. Instead, everyone in the country relies on the sound of a large clocktower known as Big Ben, in 'Landan Town', and stops to count the 'bongs' every hour.

So, say it hits midday, it will make 12 'bongs' and everyone will stop what they're doing to count them. When it's finished, most people will shout "Oi! It's twelve bong!" and we'll all know what time it is - twelve bong. 

 




cybermeerkat on 28 June 2012

No lol that doesn't happen. That was a bad joke.



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Mr Khan on 28 June 2012
llewdebkram said:

GB (Great Britain) = England, Scotland, Wales

UK (United Kingdom) = England, Scotland, wales, Northern ireland

British Overseas terretories = Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, St Helena and St Helena Dependencies (Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), South Georgia and South Sandwich Island, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, The Turks & Caicos Islands

Commonwealth (approx 30% of world population)= Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Zambia

Obviously I did not know all these off by heart and Ihad no idea there were so many countries involved in making up our old 'empire'

 

As for all your other questions...you are asking for a LOT of info as the UKs history is vast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Kingdom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations

Some of those make no sense on that list. Cameroon (except for a tiny part of the country) and Mozambique were never part of the British Empire. Plus i thought South Africa had abandoned the commonwealth when they took up Apartheid.



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

cybermeerkat on 28 June 2012

Most countries in South Africa are part of the Commonwealth. The reason Mozambique is part of the Commonwealth is because  In 1996 Mozambique voluntarily joined the Commonwealth. In part because most of its neighbours were members. It is the only country to join the Commonwealth that was never part of the British Empire having been a Portuguese colony.



homer on 28 June 2012
llewdebkram said:

GB (Great Britain) = England, Scotland, Wales

UK (United Kingdom) = England, Scotland, wales, Northern ireland

British Overseas terretories = Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, St Helena and St Helena Dependencies (Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), South Georgia and South Sandwich Island, Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, The Turks & Caicos Islands

Commonwealth (approx 30% of world population)= Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Zambia

Obviously I did not know all these off by heart and Ihad no idea there were so many countries involved in making up our old 'empire'

 

As for all your other questions...you are asking for a LOT of info as the UKs history is vast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_Kingdom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations


India is still part of commonwealth? Pakistan too? Dang??? 30 % of world population? British Empire still kicking. I thought their time was over in the mid 20th century but apparently their fall was vastly exaggerated.



"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." -My good friend Mark Aurelius

TeddostheFireKing on 29 June 2012

This has probably been covered already, but this video answers pretty much all of your questions very well :)



Slimebeast on 29 June 2012

The UK rocks. It's a shame I haven't been there yet.

I am half way towards the grave and there's so many interesting countries I haven't traveled to. Life is hard.