File talk:British Isles terms.gif

The current version of the map headed “Terminology of the British Isles” is potentially a very good visual representation of some occasionally not obvious concepts. Unfortunately it appears to include omissions, errors and confuse geographic and political names.

1. There used to exist a “Kingdom of Great Britain” in the 18th century but it there is no such thing any more. The term “Great Britain” is now only a geographic term being the geographic name for the largest island of the archipelago. As such it does not include any surrounding islands such as the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, Anglesey or the Isle of Wight. The area described by the red line marked “Great Britain” is neither a political nor a geographic entity. It is an incorrect use of the name of a real but other geographic entity.

2. There is a name “United Kingdom” underlined in yellow which correctly corresponds to the area enclosed by the yellow line. The Isle of Man and Channel Islands are also correctly encircled. There is a name “Republic of Ireland” underlined in green with no corresponding green boundary line. Finally, there is an off-green-purple coloured line enclosing the entire island of Ireland with no corresponding name. Is this two errors, a single erroneous conflation of politics and geography, a political aspiration or something else? As I understand it, none of these things belong on these pages.

3. The name “British Isles” at the top is confusing. It is coloured mid-blue but is not associated with a corresponding boundary. It is also coloured similarly to other political entities on the map while it is not a political entity but a geographic name on a political map. I note that it was originally associated with a corresponding boundary on an earlier version of this map. This map contains factually inaccuracies and is additionally confusing.

4. The two most prominently named areas are identified as “Great Britain” and “Ireland”. Neither of these areas exist as jurisdictions. The island of Ireland is divided between two jurisdictions. The Republic of Ireland's jurisdiction does not extend into Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland's jurisdiction does not extend into the Republic of Ireland. There is simply no such jurisdiction defined, even loosely, by the island of Great Britain or the area of the 18th century Kingdom of Great Britain or the area within the red line. It does not exist.

5. As a matter of clarity, it is not clear why, alongside these prominently named areas, that are not jurisdictions, are the entities of “United Kingdom” and “Republic of Ireland” that are jurisdictions, but are identified in half sized fonts. Other real jurisdictions, the Isle of Man and the Channel Island jurisdictions are allocated even smaller fonts. This is confusing.

6. There is no line that circumscribes the jurisdiction of the Republic of Ireland. Why not? This is a serious error.

7. Actual and important jurisdictions are entirely missed out. The Scottish Parliament, the devolved national legislature of Scotland has legislative competence over Scotland. Why is this jurisdiction of 5.3 million people not identified on the map? The National Assembly for Wales is the devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. Why is this jurisdiction of 3.1 million people not identified on the map? The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland and has power to legislate over the Northern Ireland. Why is this jurisdiction of 1.9 million people not identified on the map? The London Assembly alongside the Mayor of London has devolved legislative jurisdiction over London. This jurisdiction of 8 million people does not even exist on this map. One may point out, as a matter of fact, that these omissions compare with the maximum prominence offered the Republic of Ireland, a jurisdiction of 4.6 million people. There appears to be a question of balance here.

This map contains serious factually inaccuracies, serious omissions, is misleading, is questionably balanced and is additionally confusing. PeterColdridge (talk) 23:19, 20 October 2015 (UTC)

Britain

Would it be possible to add simply "Britain" (England and Wales only) to the map? This is not very common knowledge and the distinction between "Great Britain" and "Britain" ought to be known! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vikingr470 (talk • contribs) 17:21, 28 November 2015 (UTC)

Great Britain

Great Britain in terms of geography refers to the British mainland only and does not include the Northern Isles (Orkney, Shetland), the Outer Hebrides (Haris, Lewis, The Uists) nor the inner Hebrides (Skye, Islay...) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.28.169.222 (talk) 21:08, 22 April 2016 (UTC)