Great Britain
Great Britain (commonly shortened to Britain) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of England, Scotland and Wales. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world.[6][note 1] It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The island of Ireland, with an area 40 per cent that of Great Britain, is to the west—these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands and named substantial rocks, form the British Isles archipelago.[8]
This article is about the island. For the state of which it is a part, see United Kingdom. For the historical state, see Kingdom of Great Britain. For other uses, see Great Britain (disambiguation).
Other native names
- Breten Veur (Cornish)
- Great Breetain (Scots)
- Breatainn Mhòr (Scottish Gaelic)
- Prydain Fawr (Welsh)
- Albion
- Breten Veur (Cornish)
- Great Breetain (Scots)
- Breatainn Mhòr (Scottish Gaelic)
- Prydain Fawr (Welsh)
- Albion
209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi)[1]
9th
1,345 m (4413 ft)
London (pop. 8,878,892)
60,800,000 (2011 census)[3]
3rd
302/km2 (782/sq mi)
Connected to mainland Europe until 9,000 years ago by a landbridge now known as Doggerland,[9] Great Britain has been inhabited by modern humans for around 30,000 years. In 2011, it had a population of about 61 million, making it the world's third-most-populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan,[10][11] and the most populated island outside of Asia.
The term "Great Britain" can also refer to the political territory of England, Scotland and Wales, which includes their offshore islands.[12] This territory and Northern Ireland constitute the United Kingdom.[13] The single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the 1707 Acts of Union between the kingdoms of England (which at the time incorporated Wales) and Scotland.