The ‘United Kingdom’ refers to a political union between, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Although the UK is a fully independent sovereign state, the 4 nations that make it up are also countries in their own right and have a certain extent of autonomy. From 1801 to 1922, the United Kingdom included the whole of Ireland, but now only includes Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland operates as a sovereign state of its own, although it’s physically close to the UK. The Isle of Man and the Channel Island (Jersey and Guernsey) are what we call ‘Crown Dependencies’ but are not part of the UK.

Source: Evans Evans