Changes

[[Image:british-isles.gif|right|250px|thumb|Map of the British Isles]]

[[Image:british-isles.gif|right|250px|thumb|Map of the British Isles]]

The British Isles are a [[Archipelago|group of islands]] off the northwestern coast of continental Europe.<ref>"Geographical terms also cause problems and we know that some will find certain of our terms offensive. Many Irish object to the term the 'British Isles';..." The Dynamics of Conflict in Northern Ireland: Power, Conflict and emancipation. Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd. Cambridge University Press. 1996

The '''British Isles''' are a [[Archipelago|group of islands]] off the northwestern coast of continental Europe.<ref>"Geographical terms also cause problems and we know that some will find certain of our terms offensive. Many Irish object to the term the 'British Isles';..." The Dynamics of Conflict in Northern Ireland: Power, Conflict and emancipation. Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd. Cambridge University Press. 1996

An Irishman's Diary Myers, Kevin; The Irish Times (subscription needed) 09/03/2000, Accessed July 2006 'millions of people from these islands — 'oh how angry we get when people call them the British Isles'; Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490-1700. (London: Penguin/Allen Lane, 2003): “the collection of islands which embraces England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales has commonly been known as the British Isles. This title no longer pleases all the inhabitants of the islands, and a more neutral description is ‘the Atlantic Isles’” (p. xxvi); On 18 July 2004 The Sunday Business Post questioned the use of British Isles as a purely geographic expression, noting: [The] "Last Post has redoubled its efforts to re-educate those labouring under the misconception that Ireland is really just British. When British Retail Week magazine last week reported that a retailer was to make its British Isles debut in Dublin, we were puzzled. Is not Dublin the capital of the Republic of Ireland?. When Last Post suggested the magazine might see its way clear to correcting the error, an educative e-mail to the publication...:Retrieved 17 July 2006 </ref> Geographically speaking, the British Isles are comprised of [[Great Britain]], [[Ireland]] and a number of smaller islands including the [[Scottish]] islands in the north and some of the [[Channel Islands]] in the south. Politically, the island of Ireland has been divided into two states since 6 December 1922: [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and [[Northern Ireland]], the latter of which remains part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]].  

An Irishman's Diary Myers, Kevin; The Irish Times (subscription needed) 09/03/2000, Accessed July 2006 'millions of people from these islands — 'oh how angry we get when people call them the British Isles'; Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490-1700. (London: Penguin/Allen Lane, 2003): “the collection of islands which embraces England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales has commonly been known as the British Isles. This title no longer pleases all the inhabitants of the islands, and a more neutral description is ‘the Atlantic Isles’” (p. xxvi); On 18 July 2004 The Sunday Business Post questioned the use of British Isles as a purely geographic expression, noting: [The] "Last Post has redoubled its efforts to re-educate those labouring under the misconception that Ireland is really just British. When British Retail Week magazine last week reported that a retailer was to make its British Isles debut in Dublin, we were puzzled. Is not Dublin the capital of the Republic of Ireland?. When Last Post suggested the magazine might see its way clear to correcting the error, an educative e-mail to the publication...:Retrieved 17 July 2006</ref> Geographically speaking, the British Isles are comprised of [[Great Britain]], [[Ireland]] and a number of smaller islands including the [[Scottish]] islands in the north and some of the [[Channel Islands]] in the south. Politically, the island of Ireland has been divided into two states since 6 December 1922: [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and [[Northern Ireland]], the latter of which remains part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]].  

Following the independence from the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] of most of Ireland consequent on the [[Irish War of Independence]] (1916-1922), the term's usage has declined greatly. <ref> "...I have called the Atlantic archipelago – since the term ‘British Isles’ is one which Irishmen reject and Englishmen decline to take quite seriously." Pocock, J.G.A. [1974] (2005). "British History: A plea for a new subject". The Discovery of Islands. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 29. OCLC 60611042.

Following the independence from the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] of most of Ireland consequent on the [[Irish War of Independence]] (1916-1922), the term's usage has declined greatly.<ref>"...I have called the Atlantic archipelago – since the term ‘British Isles’ is one which Irishmen reject and Englishmen decline to take quite seriously." Pocock, J.G.A. [1974] (2005). "British History: A plea for a new subject". The Discovery of Islands. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 29. OCLC 60611042.

"...what used to be called the "British Isles," although that is now a politically incorrect term." Finnegan, Richard B.; Edward T. McCarron (2000). Ireland: Historical Echoes, Contemporary Politics. Boulder: Westview Press, p. 358.; "In an attempt to coin a term that avoided the 'British Isles' - a term often offensive to Irish sensibilities - Pocock suggested a neutral geographical term for the collection of islands located in northwest Europe which included Britain and Ireland: the Atlantic archipelago..." Lambert, Peter; Phillipp Schofield (2004). Making History: An Introduction to the History and Practices of a Discipline. New York: Routledge, p. 217.</ref> For historical and political reasons related to British rule over Ireland, it is expressly avoided in official communication between the sovereign states of [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]], and several alternative names have emerged in British-Irish relations such as IONA (Islands of the North Atlantic) and the Atlantic Archipelago. However, at present the term 'Britain and Ireland' appears to be more popular.<ref> "..the term is increasingly unacceptable to Irish historians in particular, for whom the Irish sea is or ought to be a separating rather than a linking element. Sensitive to such susceptibilities, proponents of the idea of a genuine British history, a theme which has come to the fore during the last couple of decades, are plumping for a more neutral term to label the scattered islands peripheral to the two major ones of Great Britain and Ireland." Roots, Ivan (1997). "Union or Devolution in Cromwell's Britain". History Review.; The British Isles, A History of Four Nations, Second edition, Cambridge University Press, July 2006, Preface, Hugh Kearney. "The title of this book is ‘The British Isles’, not ‘Britain’, in order to emphasise the multi-ethnic character of our intertwined histories. Almost inevitably many within the Irish Republic find it objectionable, much as Basques or Catalans resent the use of the term ‘Spain’. As Seamus Heaney put it when he objected to being included in an anthology of British Poetry: 'Don’t be surprised If I demur, for, be advised My passport’s green. No glass of ours was ever raised To toast the Queen. (Open Letter, Field day Pamphlet no.2 1983)"(Note: sections bolded for emphasis do not appear bold in original publications)</ref>.

"...what used to be called the "British Isles," although that is now a politically incorrect term." Finnegan, Richard B.; Edward T. McCarron (2000). Ireland: Historical Echoes, Contemporary Politics. Boulder: Westview Press, p. 358.; "In an attempt to coin a term that avoided the 'British Isles' - a term often offensive to Irish sensibilities - Pocock suggested a neutral geographical term for the collection of islands located in northwest Europe which included Britain and Ireland: the Atlantic archipelago..." Lambert, Peter; Phillipp Schofield (2004). Making History: An Introduction to the History and Practices of a Discipline. New York: Routledge, p. 217.</ref> For historical and political reasons related to British rule over Ireland, it is expressly avoided in official communication between the sovereign states of [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]], and several alternative names have emerged in British-Irish relations such as IONA (Islands of the North Atlantic) and the Atlantic Archipelago. However, at present the term 'Britain and Ireland' appears to be more popular.<ref>"..the term is increasingly unacceptable to Irish historians in particular, for whom the Irish sea is or ought to be a separating rather than a linking element. Sensitive to such susceptibilities, proponents of the idea of a genuine British history, a theme which has come to the fore during the last couple of decades, are plumping for a more neutral term to label the scattered islands peripheral to the two major ones of Great Britain and Ireland." Roots, Ivan (1997). "Union or Devolution in Cromwell's Britain". History Review.; The British Isles, A History of Four Nations, Second edition, Cambridge University Press, July 2006, Preface, Hugh Kearney. "The title of this book is ‘The British Isles’, not ‘Britain’, in order to emphasise the multi-ethnic character of our intertwined histories. Almost inevitably many within the Irish Republic find it objectionable, much as Basques or Catalans resent the use of the term ‘Spain’. As Seamus Heaney put it when he objected to being included in an anthology of British Poetry: 'Don’t be surprised If I demur, for, be advised My passport’s green. No glass of ours was ever raised To toast the Queen. (Open Letter, Field day Pamphlet no.2 1983)"(Note: sections bolded for emphasis do not appear bold in original publications)</ref>

==Geography==

==Geography==