Albion

The name Britain derives from the Roman word Britannia, but there are two conflicting arguments about why the ‘Great’ was stuck on the front of it. The first is that it is used to distinguish Britain from its similar sounding, but much smaller French neighbour, Brittany.

1474

Before Rome: the ‘Celts’ The idea came from the discovery around 1700 that the non-English island tongues relate to that of the ancient continental Gauls, who really were called Celts.

Christianity was present in Roman Britain from at least the third century until the end of the Roman imperial administration in the early fifth century.

By the early 5th century, the Roman Empire could no longer defend itself against either internal rebellion or the external threat posed by Germanic tribes expanding in Western Europe. This situation and its consequences governed the eventual permanent detachment of Britain from the rest of the Empire.

The name “England” is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means “land of the Angles”. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages.

In 1801 it formally joined with Great Britain as a single political entity, which became known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland—or the United Kingdom for short. However, the union lasted only until 1922, when Ireland (with the exception of six counties in the north) seceded.

three percent

When Ireland declared itself a republic in 1949, thus making it impossible to remain in the British Commonwealth, the UK government legislated that even though the Republic of Ireland was no longer a British dominion, it would not be treated as a foreign country for the purposes of British law.

Queen Elizabeth IISince 1952