Scotland Is Not a Country
Monday July 5, 2004
I regularly receive email complaining that Scotland is not on my list of the 193 countries of the world. I write back, telling the mis-informed individual why Scotland is not a country. Now, I've put together a nice article to serve as my final answer that Scotland is Not a Country! Interestingly, I never receive email from people in England, Northern Ireland, or Wales complaining.
Comments
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page823.asp
“The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain, however, comprises only England, Scotland and Wales. Great Britain is the largest island of the British Isles. Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic form the second largest island.
The UK is just under 1,000 km long from the south coast of England to the extreme north of Scotland, and is 500 km across at its widest point. It shares a single land border with the Irish Republic. Despite its relatively small size the UK boasts incredibly varied and often very beautiful scenery.
The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom. They are largely self-governing with their own legislative assemblies and systems of law. But the British Government is responsible for their defence and international relations.”
Scotland IS a country. I was born and raised there. Yes, it is part of Great Britain but it is a country which is attached to England and Wales, just as France, Germany, Spain and other countries are attached.
Scotland is a country and part of UK !
The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland comprise the island of Ireland, correct. However they are not in the British Isles. This is a term which is incredibly offesnive, and was only ever used to justify British dominance of Ireland.
As a term it is not recognised or used by any governments, international organisations, geographers, historians, etc.
The official term used for the islands located off the north western coast of Europe is the North Altantic Archpelego.
I am extremly confused. The man that wrote this article claims scotland IS a country, but two others claim it is NOT. I think that I agree with the two other people though. Janis and 123Triad, thank you YOU should be writing the article!!!!!
I agree with Janis And 123Traid thank you two very MUCH!!!!!!!!!
Hi Matt
We’ve discussed this before, but I think your readers should know that your definition of a country is only one opinion, an opinion that is not shared by many people in other countries.
The definition and criteria that you give for a “country” are really the definition of something else, namely, a sovereign “state” under international law. This is also known as “Westphalian sovereignty”, so-called because the modern concept of a state, with the criteria you list, derives from the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which ended the Thirty Years’ War.
Now, it is true that people often use the word “country” when they mean “sovereign state in international law in the Westphalian sense”. This makes sense. For one thing, it is a lot shorter. “Country” is the convenient, short English word for this concept in everyday speech. For example, a TV report of an international summit would refer to the “countries” that were represented. The context makes it clear the reporter is talking about “countries” in the sense of nation states.
But, in the English language, the word “country” has other meanings in other contexts. A traveller who is asked what countries he visited on his European trip might answer: “I went to Scotland, Germany and Denmark”. And that would also be right. The United Kingdom Government says that, officially, the UK comprises four countries. That is also correct usage. And if, after reading this, you decide you need a break by taking a walk in the country, then that is also correct English.
The fact is, in English, some words have more than one meaning. The technical grammatical term for this feature is “polysemy”, which comes from Latin for “many meanings”.
A moment’s thought will give you many examples of words with polysemy — words that have more than one meaning depending on context. A listener or reader can usually easily tell from the context which meaning of a word is the one intended.
“Animal” is one such word. If a biologist was asked to classify living things into plant and animal life, then “plant” would include grass and trees and “animal” would include fish, birds, reptiles and all mammals. But if you asked the average person in the street to name some “animals”, they might mention cows, cats and dogs, but would not think of fish or birds, or humans, as “animals” in that context. This is because the word “animal” has a range of technical and common meanings depending on context.
“State” is another word with several meanings. State generally means a sovereign state in the Westphalian sense, such as the USA or the United Kingdom. However, in some countries, the word “state” is used for subnational units of the federation, such as the states of the USA, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. These are not “states” in the strict sense of a sovereign entity in international law. But when someone mentions the “State of California”, everyone understands that the speaker does not mean California is a “state” in the international law sense.
It is the same with “country”. Officially, the United Kingdom consists of four countries: Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are legally and officially countries within the UK, just as California is legally and officially a
“state” of the USA.
True, Scotland is not currently a state in the Westphalian sense, because it does not meet the sovereignty criteria listed in your article. But that is not in issue. The point is, Scotland is, and always has been a country.
You telling me that Scotland is not a “country” would be like me telling you that California is not a “state”. That is what they are called by the people who live in them, that is how they are known by their neighbours, and that is their official legal designation by their governments. If you like, you can try to tell people that they should use the word “country” in your way, and your way only. But, at the end of the day, they don’t.
There are many examples in history of countries existing as part of larger sovereign states.
Prior to the break-up of the former USSR, the Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Latvia and many others were historical and geographic countries existing within the one sovereign state of the USSR.
It was the same with Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia within the former Yugoslavia. The United Nations even now recognises the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, though the Greeks dispute whether it was ever a country in either sense.
Another good example comes from the history of the former British Empire. Until their independence from the British Empire last century, Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand were – for the purposes of international law – part of that Empire and not sovereign states in their own right. Their emergence as separate states in international diplomacy after the First World War was resisted by some countries, especially the USA, leading to several diplomatic tussles. For example, in the 1920s, the USA refused to treat directly with Australia but would deal only through the “Imperial Government” in London, which was the only government in the Empire that the USA recognised as representing a sovereign state. Even though Australia had its own seat at the League of Nations, the Harding administration refused to deal directly with Australia in the negotiations leading up to the Washington Naval Treaty.
But I suspect the average American of 1922 would have thought you a little odd if you told them that, according to your definition, a country is only a country if it is a sovereign state, and therefore Canada and Australia and India were not “countries”. Whether or not they were sovereign states at that time, they have always been called “countries”. India is one of the oldest in the world. It may have lost its sovereignty for a time, but it never ceased being a country.
So it is with Scotland and England and Wales today. They may have merged their sovereignties for the purposes of international diplomacy, but they remain historical and geographical countries in their own right. As an aside, the Scottish and English Parliaments merged the sovereignties of the two countries by their Acts of Union of 1707. Some people argue that those Acts reserve to Scotland the right to leave the Union and become again a separate sovereign state if it chooses.
To sum up, you have chosen to use “country” as meaning only a sovereign state in international law. That is one meaning of the word but not the only one. It confuses people to pretend that it is the only meaning. Your readers need to know that it has other meanings in common use, especially outside America.
I agree that Scotland is not currently a sovereign state. It does not meet the criteria of a sovereign state, which you listed. But that is beside the point.
The simple fact is this, and there is no denying it. In the way in which the word “country” is used in Scotland and in the United Kingdom, and as that word is commonly understood by many if not most people elsewhere — Scotland is historically, officially and geographically a country.
Thanks for the opportunity to debate.
Regards,
Mark
Actually, if you go to the official site of Scotland, even they admit they are not a country.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/publicInfo/faq/category2.htm
So read it and weep, people.
On the contrary, AC, that site says (and I quote):
“it is common usage nowadays to describe the four constituent parts of the UK (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland) as “countries”.”
But Mark …
The author of the article never claimed that California is a “state” in the sense that France is, so your argument is a big ol’ paper tiger.
Clearly in a list of “countries” where the word means independent state, Scotland doesn’t belong. That is preciusely the usage the author is using and completely consistent.
I think people have trouble getting over this because some part of the brain refuses to believe that a well-known group of European (largely) English-speaking people can still be colonized in 2009.
Scotland is as much a “country” as the Basque region, Tibet, Quebec and Kurdistan… that is to say not at all.
This issue came up in a pub quiz of mine and the arguments I’ve heard for Scotland being a country in the common use of the word have all been maddenlingly evasive.
If it makes anyone with Celtic leanings feel better, “England” isn’t a country either.
- Chris
What a bunch of ignorant missinformed people you are,Stating Scotland is not a country and why dont we put Wales,England,NIreland into that categorie.
what medicine are you people on.
Scotland has and always will be a country as is Wales,England and N/Ireland all have different cultures ,borders etc.
When it comes to the common wealth games which will be held in Scotland on 2012 by the way.
Scotland is recognised as is all the other countrys that make up the UK
The UK is unique to anywhere else in the world …..
Whats the bets you lot are from the USA most of you people are descendant from English/Scottish/Irish and Welsh people.
You probably dont no it but the song that is sung on New year {Auld Lang Syne} probably by most of us here was made by Robert Burns who
was Scottish poet from Scotland.
61% of American Presidents are of Scots or Scots-Irish descent.
[Your statment Scotland isnt a country] is an absolute joke the people of this country has brought many things Inventions to the world for that matter.
As a Scottish person your thinking is very flawed and damn wright offensive go and take some more medication.
While your at it educate yourselfs on the history of Scotland you idiotic people.
I am a Scot and proud of it.Our country is seperate to England by a border which is called Hadrians Wall.We recognize all countries large and small.Our country was unified with England,Wales,Ulster because of Scottish politicians accepting bribes from their English counteparts.Our Country has suffered in the name of religion and the Monarchy thats in place now is only recognized by the Scots who prefer to be in the United Kingdom. We are seperate from England,Wales,Ulster because of our culture.Scottish people are descendants from Picts,Gaels,Scots and Vikings.We will oneday become independent from Londons control.The only way to find out for yourself is to visit Scotland and to learn its romantic history and take in its beautiful scenery
Scotland is a country that was taken over a long time ago by the english, and now has similar rights as the nations do in the usa. Why do you think you speak english and not scottish/scots? We became part of great britain. Scotland, England and Wales, yes- all of us, do NOT have the same rights as other individual countries, such as france and germany, as an example. So much confusion! We are therefore not recognised as ‘real’ countries. We should be happy that our country of Great Britain is indeed great, allowing freedom of speech amongst many other choices that some other countries refuse to give their residents. Surely the most obvious proof of this is that we actually have a SCOTTISH PRIME MINISTER. lol. So, to all nationalist or indeed racist scots, wake up. We work far better together. We are far too small to become independant. The same goes for england and wales! Scotland is a country, but only in name and history. As far as everything else goes, we are one. As to all the nutjobs waving the scottish flags and thinking we need to become totally independant, all i can say is WAKE UP. You are just as bad as the nutjobs waving the royal flag. LOL! Even prince charles would agree.
whats this shit all about ? of course scotland is a country, and a proud one. just cause we’re attached to england doesnt mean we’re part of tose bastards, or just cause we are part of great britain doesnt mean we can’t be classed as a country ? clearly this man hasnt got a rats ars what hes on about haha
matt, you are a sad, sad man
“The author of the article never claimed that California is a “state” in the sense that France is, so your argument is a big ol’ paper tiger.”
Quizmasterchris is either misunderstanding or deliberately misrepresenting Mark’s point. What he actually said was:
“You telling me that Scotland is not a “country” would be like me telling you that California is not a “state”. That is what they are called by the people who live in them, that is how they are known by their neighbours, and that is their official legal designation by their governments. If you like, you can try to tell people that they should use the word “country” in your way, and your way only. But, at the end of the day, they don’t.”
Mark’s point was that Matt himself acknowledges that there can be more than one definition for a word. His own list has two definitions for “state,” one capitalised, one not. Furthermore, Matt immediately changes his terminology to “States and Independent Countries.” Scotland’s relationship to the UK is similar to that of California’s to the US, though Scotland has far more autonomy than any American state. So much for your paper tiger. It’s so much easier to refute a point when you just make something up and refute that instead.
A colony? That’s just idiotic. Mark is right. You’re wrong.
Quizmasterchris is a berk. a quick read at http://www.quizmasterchris.com shows that those, ah, \”evasive\” arguments kick the quizmaster\’s arse with documents and reference books! The quizmaster\’s rebuttal is little more than a tantrum. Everyone is wrong but himself and Matt and his proof is…….ah….er…..he went to university. One poor bloke apologised for causing offence, demonstrated in a rather lengthy display of incoherent spluttering rage, which the quizman accepted with astonishing ill grace. Apparently the OED is unqualified to define the words of the English language! Of course he knows best. He hosts a pub quiz!
Who cares what a knowitall American thinks?
QUOTE [I regularly receive email complaining that Scotland is not on my list]
Well add it as your wrong there should be ,I will actualy do it for as you dont seem clued up on the UK or whatever you silly people want to call it,United Kingdom ,Great Britain………….
Scotland – Edinburgh
England – London
Wales – Cardiff
Nothern/Ireland – Belfast
Another QUOTE I write back, telling the mis-informed individual why Scotland is not a country]
NO you are the misinformed………
QUOTE Interestingly, I never receive email from people in England, Northern Ireland, or Wales complaining]
Thats because you have your Title as
Scotland Is Not a Country why not rename your title as Scotland,England,Wales,Nireland is not a country .
Do you have something against Scotland ?
And to Quizmasterchris lol at you QuoteThis is where my poli sci degree actually comes in handy ]
Even with your degree your still stupid by what your saying in your article and the spelling lol come over to Scotland and do your quiz see how you get on silly people.
QUOTE [I regularly receive email complaining that Scotland is not on my list]
Well add it as your wrong there should be ,I will actualy do it for as you dont seem clued up on the UK or whatever you silly people want to call it,United Kingdom ,Great Britain………….
Scotland – Edinburgh
England – London
Wales – Cardiff
Nothern/Ireland – Belfast
Another QUOTE I write back, telling the mis-informed individual why Scotland is not a country]
NO you are the misinformed………
QUOTE Interestingly, I never receive email from people in England, Northern Ireland, or Wales complaining]
Thats because you have your Title as
Scotland Is Not a Country why not rename your title as Scotland,England,Wales,Nireland is not a country .
Do you have something against Scotland ?
And to Quizmasterchris lol at you QuoteThis is where my poli sci degree actually comes in handy ]
Even with your degree your still stupid by what your saying in your article and the spelling lol come over to Scotland and do your quiz see how you get on silly people.
AC, on the website you are referring to (http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/publicInfo/faq/category2.htm) where EXACTLY do THEY admit that Scotland is not a country? Allow me to reproduce the EXACT text…
Is Scotland a country?
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the full name of the country. Scotland is a kingdom within the United Kingdom (UK), and forms part of Britain (the largest island) and Great Britain (which includes the Scottish islands).
As the UK has no written constitution in the usual sense, constitutional terminology is fraught with difficulties of interpretation and it is common usage nowadays to describe the four constituent parts of the UK (Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland) as “countries”.
German as I am I never understood the makeup of the countries of the islander. Federal in sports (only some!!) and name but French like centralist about administration. Is not the English parliament in London ruling all other “states” such as Scotland, is it? Is it true that the UK thing has not even a written constitution? I remember a boy stating with pride filled lungs that he was a Scotsman. Germans are, if at all, proud to be German, not Westphalian or Saxon. But it is not so that our states would not matter, e.g. nobody likes Bavarians
I mean Germany is way easier to understand, listen: 13 prime ministers plus 3 governing mayors, a chancellor, a president and an abundance of parliaments… see?!
The only way to reinstate that Scotland is its own country is to go a long way back in time.The exact date 1320,the occasion -the declaration of Arbroath.Scotland is recognized as a seperate country by the Pope “so that Scotland could live,work and trade in peace”.As for being taken over by the English that is wrong.What did take over Scotland was religion and that had a lot to do with the Stuart dynasty.I am not anti-english but am proud of the country i was born in and raised.We should have every right to wave our flags as other countries wave theirs….for a wee bit hill and glen
Yes rigt, Scotland is not a country because a administrative region which make part from UK and the official name is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ,also Wales is one of the country under the UK administration…Thank you
To all the people who think Scotland isnt her own country…..UP YER KILT and I hope you get bitten by a thousand midgies.You soon will be running out of SCOTLAND!no thank-you sir
The UK is a state made of four COUNTRIES. This article is offensive.
people who find this offensive are the same idiots who write in to points of view to complain that some tv show used a nasty word and offended them. Who cares if some says where your from is not a country or not. Point is internationally scotland, england wales, and Northern ireland, are not countries techincally or politically. Its very much a heritage thing to call them countries, whilst they are known as countries they do not have the same rights as other countries such as france. That was the authors point. Problem was in the title but i believe this was a response to someone claiming scotland is a country. He does state in his article that the same applies to england wales and N ireland. I am half scottish and spend a lot of time in scotland with my scottish family. I can safeley say that scots would be alot more offenended by this than the english would if it was the other way around. seriously it doesnt matter call it what you want, and we will call it what we want. I claim UK is the country. I call my self Brittish and I will even say the country I live in is no a country. That is england.
Scotland is a country. And this article is offensive.
hi, yes Scotland is a country. there are four countries that make up the United Kingdom. that’s kind of why its called united as all the COUNTRIES are united into one larger one.
what would you call it then if its not a county? it couldn’t be classed as a principality as its head of state doesn’t have the title of prince or princess. the head of state is the queen and it has always had a king or queen. so it is a country
i am Scottish and i live in England, which i have most my life. and you are the first person i have heard saying that.
if you say Scotland isn’t a country. England isn’t then either because that’s in the united kingdom.
Alba gu bràth
matt, of course Scotland is a country. you are clearly just another ignorant american. at least know what your writing about before you go ahead and do it
bastard.
it has its own soccer team right? ok. its a country.
FREEEEEEDOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Scotland is indepentent and was till the english s came in and took them over. Matt, your a dumbass, and scott is a moron. SCOTLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For all the people listed above ranting about others being ignorant, please at least learn the difference between your and you’re. That way you look less foolish.
See:
http://survivingtheworld.net/Lesson8.html
Of course Scotland is a country retard. I have a British passport and my sister has a Scottish passport. Countries have their own passports. You don’t get a California passport dumbass.
Wow just shut up Scotland is 100% not a country. I don’t care how much you want it to be a country it’s not! THE UNITED KINGDOM IS THOUGH. Scotland is no longer a sovereign nation sorry get yourself a clue. and by the way Matt there are 195 countries in the world that meet the appropriate criteria.
@ Mark: You’re completely incorrect it used to be a country and it isn’t anymore sorry get over it.
Oh and common usage doesn’t make it acceptable it’s just people saying things that are wrong. For anyone to say that Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England are the four countries of the United Kingdom is wrong. They are more like provinces or states of the United Kingdom because that is what they act like. They do not by completely act as independent countries do. However, the United Kingdom does.
The word by should not be at the end of my last comment it was a typo
oooh Matt Rosenberg, if you are the writer of this blog you have made a mistake my friend by saying that Scotland is not a country
Eat humble pie now before more people prove you wrong…..
You seem to think that the definition of a ‘country’ is that it must be independent with its own sovereignty
If this is your criteria then read on as the following nations would no longer be countries>>>
Australia
as Australia is NOT a sovereign Country of the world, it is part of the British commonwealth and is not independent and the Queen is head of state, her head appears on the money and she can over rule their parliaments decisions (although seldom used)
They have a parliament as Scotland does and a Prime Minister as Scotland does
Canada
as with Australia this is not a sovereign country as it has the queen as head of state and no president and the queens head is on their money and they have a prime minister
New Zealand as above
Shall I go on??? As I can name 36 other nations of this earth in these categories
Of course Australia, Canada, New Zeeland and Scotland are countries in their own rights and lovely countries they are too…
Just imagine the USA a new nation when it was under British Rule and part of the empire/commonwealth was the USA not a country back then of course it was!!
It was just not a sovereign country until it took its complete independence, then it joined those countries which are the sovereign nations of the world
But there are many many countries which are not sovereign nor fully independent but nevertheless are still countries
HISTORY
in the year of our LORD 1706 the act of union TREATY was signed this was a document which can be found in London Tower and in Arbroath Scotland, this claimed that the 2 sovereign countries of SCOTLAND and ENGLAND shall remain countries with their own legal system, educational systems moneys (as Scotland has its own money with no queens head on it but Scottish historical figures appear on Scottish bank notes)
And these 2 new countries would be referred to as ”CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTRIES OF THE NEW ISLAND OF BRITAIN”
With their voices being represented internationally in matter such as defence and foreign affairs under the United Kingdom
Wales was later annexed into the UK ‘set up’ by the English
Ireland as a whole island was in too, until the early part of the 20th century until the south became sovereign again but the north never left the uk AS of political and religious differences were argued at that time and the province of ULSTER stayed in the uk whilst the rest of Ireland became a sovereign land this became known later as Northern Ireland
So think of the UK like a mini European Union(EU) with member countries
One day the EU will be a super state made up of member countries with their own sovereignties compromised for the larger European Union set up
But I bet you will have under EU in your country list a sub menu asking for member country of registering persons? E.g. Netherlands Germany etc…
The official members of the UK as today stands are
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTRY OF SCOTLAND
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COUNTRY OF ENGLAND
THE PRINCIPALITY OF WALES
THE PROVENCE OF IRELAND KNOWN AS ULSTER
If you say Scotland or England are not countries after this then people should laugh at you, as your history is poor
2 final points
just like Irish Republic did , Scotland is forecasted to take back her complete sovereignty within 10 to 20 years, as in 1999 the Scottish people voted to have their Parliament back (in a referendum) after 300 years of it being dissolved £450million was spent on building this Parliament which has been housing the Scottish Government re-established with most of its former powers back for over a decade
And in 2010 a bill is being raised in the Scots parliament to take this vote to the Scots citizens for all of the rest of their powers back (hence sovereignty again just like Ireland did in the early 20th century)
Whether Scotland does leave the union or not will only change her country status to one of sovereign or not
Finally how did we get the GREAT in Great Britain???
Well this goes back to Roman days
When the countries were known as
Scotland (Caledonia)
Ireland (Hibernia)
England was split into many fragmented kingdoms such as Wessex and Anglia for example and Wales (Gallia) but collectively England and Wales were known as BRITANNICA named after a roman senators wife
Scotland and Ireland were not part of this BRITANNICA at that time and were separate as Caledonia and Hibernia
England and Wales stayed known collectively as Britons all the way up till 1707 when this union treaty of these countries was signed
Geographically Scotland’s Inclusion could not be called part of Britain which historically was only England and Wales
so they called it Greater Britain
like Greater New York or Greater London to take in areas GEOGRAPHICALLY OUT WITH THE OFFICIAL BOUNDARIES
AND THIS ‘GREATER’ SIZED NEW VERSION OF THE EXISTING AND ANCIENT BRITAIN WAS SHORTENED TO
‘GREAT BRITAIN’ IN TIME
Scotland has been a Country for around 2000years or more roughly how many other countries on earth today can say this and how dare anyone deny them there right to exist as a country
Scotland also has the oldest NATIONAL flag of any recognized Country on Earth today the Saltire (St.Andrews Cross) this was made the oldest when China ditched their ancient flag in favour of the new red communist flag that China has today
I hope this was a sensible read lol
all the best
Kenny
History Dept
Constituent countries are not the same as independent countries. Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland are not officially recognized as sovereign nations of the world.
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/countries_of_the_world.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_world
here are some not so sovereign nations:
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/List_of_not_fully_sovereign_nations
The only thing you did was write a lot of useless paragraphs that contained some factual and some nonfactual information and ultimately your main argument is incorrect. Today they are just the four constituent countries (they act more as provinces or states not as actual countries would therefore they shouldn’t ever be referred to as countries it is incorrect to do so) that form the sovereign country of the United Kingdom.
Thank you everyone you’ve all been great.
Your message was owned by Willis Parns Inc. shutting down morons daily since 1889.
Constituent countries are not the same as independent countries. Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland are not officially recognized as sovereign nations of the world.
The only thing you did was write a lot of useless paragraphs that contained some factual and some nonfactual information and ultimately your main argument is incorrect. Today they are just the four constituent countries (they act more as provinces or states not as actual countries would therefore they shouldn’t ever be referred to as countries it is incorrect to do so) that form the sovereign country of the United Kingdom.
Thank you everyone you’ve all been great.
Your message was owned by Willis Parns Inc. shutting down morons daily since 1889.
see:
and:
and:
my links aren’t showing up go to any search engine and you can find at least three different lists of sovereign nations that all say the same thing and that Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England aren’t sovereign countries.
None of what i wrote is my opinion they are just facts that are not disputable.
Oh and one other thing Scotland has no intentions of becoming a sovereign country and if you aren’t sovereign then you aren’t really a country. They can be compared to the status of states in the USA. Individual states are not countries and neither are the 4 constituent parts to the UK.
In short reply this time
Your link listed regions within a country who struggle at times for recognition
Scotland has its own banknotes/currency. Law. Educational system. Economy. Government. First minister. Etc ……..
How many autonomous strugglers have that?
Please find and go to link for the scottish government
Please. Find and go to link for. The Scottish Government
Sorry they aren’t recognized as an independent country anymore end of story not debatable go get a clue.
None of those things matter they are still not considered a country sorry just stop arguing. You’re just incorrect so shut up and move on. They used to be a country and they aren’t anymore it’s not really hard to comprehend. As much as you think they should be an independent country they are not recognized as one it’s a fact that you can look up anywhere.
Oh and by the way the Parliament of the United Kingdom has complete power over all the political bodies within it. Meaning those political bodies in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are secondary. Kind of like state governments are secondary to our federal government. OH WAIT AND THE STATES (that aren’t countries by themselves) MAKE UP A LARGER BODY OF LAND THAT IS IN FACT A COUNTRY LIKE THE UNITED STATES. KIND OF LIKE THE UNITED KINGDOM.
kekekekekeke thx owned gg hf no re
Oh i know what you’re going to say next but but but Scotland was originally a country and the states were not. Too bad things change.
you have several reaql problems 616
firstly your arrogance is unattractive
you seem to think that in order to exist as a country you have to be sovereign or you are not a real country you say
you are so short sighted that you cannot see that there are countries who true, are not soverign but nevertheless are countries
for example i notice that MONACO appears on your list of ”official countries”
it used french money/now euro is describeding itself as a principality and has next to no government
yet this qualifies in this list hahaha
truth is to ALL READERS
ignore this guy 616 he is an idiot
and please understand that there are different levels of being a country sovereign or not!!
scotland is not a soverign country if you stuck by this at first i would have agreed with you but you went full throttle and said scotland is not a country
where the scottish governmnet and British governments both say they are indeed countries
oh
and please stop thinking that the world revolves around the thinking of american people and the concept of american individual states
the governments of both scotland and the UK ‘described scotland and england as countries”
oh, but that was still not good enough for you that reputable countries of the world just have to be wrong in saying this so what do you do you go about redefining this as ‘ well that kinda means states not countries’ like the USA states ermm i mean
whos the dumb ass
you are 616
i am from the west coast of Scotland, born and bred here and still live here
and i can definatley assure you and everyone else that Scotland is a country no matter how many times you want to argue against it
finally readers
i can understand your confusion over thi8s with the UK set up of four countries making up a an island union and where scotland may lay within this
how many of you out there can honestly also say that ENGLAND too is not a country but a region??
i can assure you that England is a country too
and any english readers who read this will not accept anything less
i think 616 we should just ”agree to disagree” and leave it at that and let people make their own minds up eh….
typing error
reaql meant as ‘real’
thi8s meant as ‘this’
apologies
No sorry just stop you’re an idiot and you’re wrong. England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are NOT countries at all just look it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it’s not hard to find. They are not countries anymore so just shut the fuck up
Nobody should be listening to you all you need to do is just look it up please go do that. Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales are NOT countries anymore period. That’s it end of story that’s all there is to it. You’re 100% wrong and i feel bad if you actually are from a history department and children actually have to listen to your dribble every day. You need to stay up on your facts because you’re dead wrong about this and anyone can see that you are all they have to do is look it up and see that no countries in the world recognize Scotland as an independent country.
Oh and by the way Monaco is an official country and recognized as one by the rest of the world so I’m sorry just stop your ridiculous moronic arguments. I’ve never seen someone so wrong think that they are so right. I GUESS IT’S NOT A LIE IF YOU BELIEVE IT RIGHT. LOOK AT ANY LEGITIMATE SOURCE AND IT WILL TELL YOU THAT SCOTLAND IS NOT RECOGNIZED AS A COUNTRY AND MONACO IS. It’s sad these lunatics are working in our educational system.
Oh nevermind I see you’re from Scotland that makes sense now. You’re obviously too bias to participate in this discussion. You want Scotland to be a country so it is in your mind (EVEN THOUGH IT”S NOT!!!!!!) ahahahaha you dolt.
Can you agree that a country does NOT need to be independant and soverign?
I see that and so does most people out there
Scotland competes on the world stage at sports such as soccer, rugby,golf, and many others. And is recognised by these well respected governing sports bodies as a country. Albeit not an independant country
Please believe me when I say that they only allow countries to compete at these events. And regions or territories are not allowed
Hence why scotland is there. Recognised as a country. Oh. But according to 616. These people got it wrong too. shame on them
The head of the FEDERATION OF INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ASSOCIATIONS. FIFA and all the others gladly didn’t attend your history class.
I have never argued that scotland is recognised as an independant country. Because its not
I do know its a country which is not independant. Just like england is a country too. And does any reader put there think that england is a administrive region?????? Or a country. ??? Same with scotland???
So 616
Despite your ramblings. Let the people add comments and decide and contribute to this at their leisure. And as I said before
We will jjust have to agree to disagree
Let it be now
Sports have nothing to do with whether you’re a country or not lol. Taiwan competes as well but they aren’t considered an official country they are supposedly part of China. Yes we can agree to disagree I disagree with you and so do the facts good day sir.
the UK is made of four different COUNTRIES that make up one! Alright i live there
so stop banging on about a load of shit you annoying twat.
What about Islands. This claims that there are 193 COUNTRIES, but the UK is NOT a country it is an island, as is Australia. So, this is wrong factually also. Love you know what award Matt Rosenberg got, but I can tell you now it couldn’t of been geography! Perhaps it was just for being an American maybe? They do thnk they know everything about everything when they haven’t a clue about anything.
final comment to the readers (excluding 616 as I am not speaking to him anymore)
please go (or copy and paste this link into you browser and press go)
to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_(disambiguation)
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland
and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6739007.stm
(www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6739007.stm )
please go to these sites especially wikipedia.com link as there you will see how a respectable and more reputable organisation works
wikipedia has it correct stating that Scotland is a country of europe and forms the top 3rd part of the Island of Great Britain and is a constituent country of the United Kingdom
please visit these links
then ask yourselves this how can still these sites and people get it wrong when a certain individual here states that it is not so
so i am happy that wikipedia have set the record straight and done their job correctly by reporting the correct information on the country of scotland just as i have been saying here and many many others too have been saying
oh
and i am signing out here for the last time ever ! so write what you want as i wont be back to have my nationality insulted time and time again on the rag of a site
I’m off to Wikipedia where they get things right !!!!
and i will urge ALL SCOTS everywhere to ban this site as it is offensive and wrong
so long…………………..
You obviously don’t know anything about geography. Islands can be countries there is nothing in the definition of a country that excludes an island from being considered one. You’re an idiot.
Scotland is a country, it is part of the United Kingdom which is a constitutional monarchy. However it is not a sovereign. In other words its formally administered by the UK government not the Scottish government (which is limited to specific local affairs like US states). Whereas Canada/AUS/NZ for example are also commonwealth realms, however they are dominions meaning generally self-governing territories of the monarch. The PM of Canada would handle domestic relations, and the Governor General (appointed by the Queen) would represent the moanrch in international relations.
3 words: Statute of Westminster
Actually Ken, Wikipedia should only be used as a site to supplement real sites. An example would be if i go to Wikipedia and get information but then i go to a .gov or a .edu site and they have conflicting information with Wikipedia, it’s simple that means Wikipedia is wrong. I’m sure most people realize or at least i hope that they realize that Wikipedia can be edited by anyone and they don’t even need a user name! (which is free anyways). Wikipedia is misinforming you in this case and I’m sure if you continue to use it as your bible it will misinform you many more times in the future. I suggest you try and get your information from real websites instead of a public run website full of half truths and misinformation.
this comment has been owned by Willis Parns Inc. Shutting down misinformed people since 1889.
Oh and one thing to Jon since he is obviously a moron too. Four “countries” do not make up one country. when four previous countries combine to make a country they cease to be countries. They become the same as provinces or states.
Of course Scotland is a country! I dont know how anyone can say otherwise, dont be so stupid!
Just because it is part of GB doesn’t mean it’s not a country.
I am Scottish and proud! When someone asks my nationality I say “Scottish” not “Brittish”. I am Brittish on paper but I dont consider myself Brittish.
Saying Scotland is not a country is absolutely ridiculous.
We have a capital city ffs, we have our own language, own parliament, own money, own flag ect.
People who say Scotland isn’t a country are pedantic twats.
You can still have all of that and you can still have your Scottish pride without being a country. Scotland is not an INDEPENDENT country please read the argument more carefully. There is no argument that can be made otherwise. It is not officially recognized as an independent country by ANY OTHER COUNTRY in the world end of story. It doesn’t mean that you don’t still have your own culture. All it means is exactly what it is, Scotland is not an independent country and the United Kingdom is, get over it. Stop arguing about something that there isn’t two sides to it is not debatable just go look into it the information is available to you everywhere.
You can certainly believe whatever you want to however, it doesn’t make you right because you cannot escape the facts.
Firstly, I consider myself to be Scottish above British – and I strongly believe in our national identity – BUT I would still agree that Scotland is not strictly speaking a country. National Geographic describes a country as “a political entity with its own independent government, geographical space, and, in most cases, laws, a military, and taxes.” Yes we’ve got some of that, but most of it falls under the balloon of the UK. National Geographic goes on to say “However, political, ethnic, and cultural considerations frequently blur the lines.” So a lot of it is down to semantics. Common usage of the word allows us to refer to ourselves as a country without it being correct in the true sense of the word.
Hannah, just because we’ve got a capital city doesn’t mean we are a country. Every American state has a capital, as does every Australian state/territory.
For F*ck sake. Scotland’s a f*cken country. I wish the author would just shut the f*ck up.
One quick question:
If Scotland has a referendum and the majority of people vote to break away from The United Kingdom, would it then be a “Country”?
First of all whoever anonymous is they’re wrong. To D”OHN that wouldn’t necessarily be called a referendum it would be a secession and Scotland and its inhabitants are not looking to secede from the United Kingdom. First of all it wouldn’t be an easy time doing it and secondly they are better off being part of the UK instead of going independent.
If Scotland was not a country, then the Union would become void. It was not a Union between regions. It was a Union between the countries of Scotland and England and that still stands.
But Scotland now needs a voice in the European Union – and not in this now out-of-date British Union with England. The laws and power is now in the EU. This isn’t 1707.
Scotland with vast fishing waters and massive natural resources needs its voice to be heard. Vote Yes for independence. It is a must! Any other way and you are now against Scottish interests.
No you’re obviously an idiot. There is no call within Scotland to become independent again. Oh and by the way you’re right it was the joining of 4 countries that made up the United Kingdom however once they come together to form one larger country they themselves cease to be countries. It’s common to call them the four countries of the United Kingdom but it is still incorrect. Just because a lot of people refer to it as that does not change the facts. They now serve the same purpose as states or provinces would.
England and Scotland first had the same monarch in 1603 when King James VI of Scotland succeded Queen Elizabeth I of England to the English throne by hereditary right. His Great Grandaughter Queen Anne became the last Queen of England and Scotland and the first Quenn of Great Britain when the 1707 act of Union was passed in both the scottish and English parliment. Both parliments were combined into one parliment based at London and where united into one, single country called the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
Scotland now has a devolved parliment that was brought in relativley recentley, Scotland is ran a bit like an american state and is not an independent country, not is England.
Im British and I know a lot about English and Scottish History.
Listen, I love what you just said and I completely agree with it, it’s the same thing I’ve been arguing. However, you don’t need to be British to know that, and quite frankly it’s startling how many British people don’t understand that. I’m proud to say I’m not a Brit and I know more about that situation than most of the people that live there.