🌏 Chapter 2: What is the UK?

The UK is a diverse sovereign state composed of four distinct nations, each with its own history and, in most cases, its own devolved government. It is crucial for the test to distinguish between political unions and geographical regions.

📸 Visual Anchor: The Political vs. Geographical Hierarchy

Legend:

The Sovereign State: The United Kingdom (4 nations).
The Landmass: Great Britain (3 nations).
Autonomous Links: Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.

🗺️ Defining the Territories

The official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Term	Includes	Excludes
The UK	England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.	The Republic of
Ireland (which is independent).
Great Britain	England, Scotland, and Wales.	Northern Ireland.
Crown Dependencies	The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
These are NOT part of the UK.
Overseas Territories	St Helena and the Falkland Islands.	These
are linked to but NOT part of the UK.

🏛️ Governance and Devolved Power

Westminster: The UK is primarily governed by the parliament sitting in London, which handles "reserved" matters like defense and taxation.
Devolution: To provide local control, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have their own parliaments or assemblies with "devolved" powers over areas like education and health.
Self-Government: Crown dependencies have their own separate governments and legal systems.