British Isles

The British Isles are a Archipel located at the North-West of the continental Europe including/understanding mainly the Great Britain and the Ireland as well as many smaller islands located in the vicinity such as the island of Man, the Scillies, the Hébrides, the the Shetland and the the Orkneys.

The archipelago counts more than 6.000 islands adding up 315.134 km ². Although called “ British ”, it is divided since 1922 into two sovereign states, the the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, plus a dependence of the crown of the United Kingdom, the Island of Man. Although they do not form part of British Isles geographically, the Channel Islands are generally arranged politically among British Isles and are divided into two baillages: that of Jersey and that of Guernesey.

Geography

England:

southern Three-quarter of the Great Britain - the largest island of the archipelago with 216.777 km ² (9 {{E}} of the world), is 69% of the surface of the archipelago
Archipel of the Scillies, in the extreme south-west
Île of Wight, in the south

Scotland:

northern Quarter of Great Britain
Archipelago of the Hébrides in the west, whose Skye and Lewis is the largest islands
Îles of Firth off Forth
Îles of Firth off Clyde, in south-west, in particular Arran and Bute
Archipel of the the Orkneys, in north
Archipel of the Shetland, in the extreme north

Ireland:

Ireland - the second island of the archipelago (3rd of Europe) with 84.406 km ² (27% of the archipelago), divided between the Irish Republic and the Northern Ireland (in the North-East, which belong to the the United Kingdom)
Îles of Aran, in the west

Wales:

In the western center of Great Britain
Anglesey, in the North-West

Other islands:

Island of Man, between Great Britain and Ireland
Channel Islands according to certain classifications
the small island of Rockall, in the Atlantic Ocean northern, whose British sovereignty is disputed by several other countries.

Demography

80% of the population of British Isles are concentrated in England. In Ireland, Scotland and with the Wales, the population is densest close to their respective capitals, in their neighborhoods. The most important agglomerations of population (of more than 1 million inhabitants) are located in the following zones:

London and its conurbation: 8,5 million
West the Midlands and its conurbation: 2,28 million
Dublin and its conurbation: 1,7 million
West Yorkshire and its conurbation: 1,5 million
Glasgow: 1,2 million

The population in England unceasingly increased throughout the decades, while those of Scotland and the Wales increased little during the 20th century - the population in Scotland not having changed since 1951. Ireland carries today still the prints of the Grande Famine which prevailed there between 1845 and 1849, even 1951: the population does not represent any more whereas less than one tenth of the population of British Isles of the million victims die, others emigrate massively towards the the United Kingdom or the the United States.

Political co-operation between the islands

Between 1801 and 1922, the Great Britain and the Ireland formed the United Kingdom by the Acte of the union in 1801. Following the War of Irish independence, only 6 counties of the Northern Ireland (having a strong majority of Protestants) remain attached to the the United Kingdom, the 26 others are linked in the Irish Republic. There remains however several fields of co-operation between the islands:

Circulation enters the islands: since the independence of the Irish Republic, a zone of freedom of movement continued to exist through all the areas. In 1997, the European Union officially recognized in the Traité of Amsterdam a “Common Zone of circulation”. However, it would seem that the situation is likely to change under the decision of the British government, even if that is not a certainty.
right to vote: All the citizens of British Isles have a joint right to vote in the jurisdictions of the archipelago, except for the presidential elections and the referendums in Ireland.
Diplomacy: the British embassies have, by a bilateral agreement, the right to represent and act as an Irish embassy when the Irish Republic is not present in certain countries.

Nationality of the inhabitants of the Northern Ireland: the citizens of the Northern Ireland can choose their nationality: Irish, British or dual nationality. The council britannico-Irish was created in 1999 according to the Accord of Belfast of 1998, also called Accord of the Good Friday. It is composed of all the political parties of the islands.

History

Time pre-Roman and Roman

The density of the history of British Isles is connected to the evolution of the geographical structure of the islands:

the Âge of ice leaves a cold and wet mountain landscape. The grounds were used especially with the breeding as cattle. The agricultural production and artisanal was thus limited (in Scotland, one does not find a trace of activity of pottery), the population was much less dense than in Europe. Consequently, the political organization was not very developed.
Until 6500 av J.C., which we call “the United Kingdom” was connected to continental Europe by a strip of land, today in the place of the English Channel.

The Neolithic population present on the islands developed the techniques of agriculture in order to better make profitable the grounds while making them more fertile. The contruction of the Stonehenge in the south of England show that the simple religious structures become more and more complex and are ritualisées.

Around 1000 years front J.C., the Celts come from the North of Europe, after having crossed the west of Europe while passing through Gaulle, arrive in British Isles. For this reason, the Scot, the Welsh and especially Irish preserved this Celtic culture to be different from the Anglo-Saxons.

400-1066 av jc: The Saxon ones, Vikings and Celts

The Middle Ages

The 16th century, century of Tudors

The 17th century towards the rebellion

18th: glorious revolution with the French revolution

1815-1914: the Old one of the reforms

the 20th century

British Isles today (2007)

See too

List of British Isles
United Provinces (British Isles)

Simple: British Isles

Random links: