Great Britain, therefore, is a geographic term referring to the island also known simply as Britain. It’s also a political term for the part of the United Kingdom made up of England, Scotland, and Wales (including the outlying islands that they administer, such as the Isle of Wight).
The terms Britain and Great Britain are, as we said above, synonymous geographical terms referring to the largest of the islands in the British Isles. But Britain and Great Britain are also used to refer to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland aka the United Kingdom aka the UK.
Never mind that few people outside of the United Kingdom understand the first thing about the British Royal Family or even about Britain vs. England vs. the U.K. You might think those things are the same, but they're not. We'll break it down below.
Venn Diagram Map created by Anna Debenham The map above demonstrates the difference between the British Isles, United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England. While the terms are often used interchangeably they actually mean different things./spotlight-united-kingdom-975481672-1efab32cbaad4a40b08cf5c3e424431f.jpg)
While many people use the terms United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England interchangeably, there is a difference between them—one is a country, the second is an island, and the third is a part of an island.