Every British Constituent country, Territory, & Crown dependency, explained 

Imagine a country so confusing that you need to drop a prelude to explain your terminology

2:05 that sign is actually famous for being a failure. Someone sent the English text to a translator and got back the text in Welsh, so they made that sign. But what it actually says is "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated"

If you host the episode with Jay Foreman, you might also as well shout out his counties video for a better explainer of the situation with counties.

Northern Ireland wasn’t added to the U.K. in 1921. All of Ireland was part of the U.K prior to that. The south decided to leave thus leaving the north as the only part of Ireland still in the U.K.

As I Brit if feels fitting to be the first comment. Although to clarify Barbs: 1. Northern Ireland is classed as the 4th constituent nation by the UK government and many Brits will refer to it as one. 2. The period between 1603 and 1707 is known as The Union of The Crowns. King James was king of England, Scotland and Ireland but all of the Kingdoms were still fully governed by their own parliaments. 3. The modern devolved administrations in the Celtic constituent nations have varying degrees of autonomy. Scotland has the most devolved power, Wales doesn’t have as much and Northern Ireland has a good amount but this is sometimes handed back to the UK government if the Storemont assembly breaks down and can’t meet, which happens frequently. As you’d expect I’m eagerly anticipating the UK episode Barbs, especially as to how you deal with the famous people section as there are so many!

Just to clear up the Commonwealth Realms thing, they're not technically ruled by the British monarch, instead, they have their own independent monarchies, like the King of Canada, King of Australia, King of the Bahamas etc. It's just the person who fills those positions happens to be the same guy, Charles III. This ensures that all the realms are completely independent of each other, politically and constitutionally. So, for example, if Britain abolished its monarchy, Charles III would still be King of 14 other countries.

The funny thing about the Welsh sign seen at 2:00 is that the Welsh part translated into English says "I'm not in the office at this time. Send any work to be translated" :D

hello from the falkland islands, great video man

Great to see but the emphasis on Argentinean claim to Falkland Islands without mentioning that the people who live there are all British heritage and voted in a referendum to stay British undermines balance of opinion. Also, Scotland didn’t join the UK so much as it was a union of countries which was formed.

Good video, but there's one thing I'd like to correct. While Scottish Gaelic is only spoken by a very few number of people, Scots is still a fairly prominent minority language in Scotland. The exact numbers are disbuted, but about 30% of the population of Scotland are reported as being able to speak fluent Scots and most Scottish people will use a few Scots words in their regular vocabulary. It's a little complicated though because even though UNESCO and the UK government have recognised it as a minority language, some people still argue that it's a dialect of English and the history behind it all is fairly complicated. Plus since the language isn't really taught in schools and most of the population does regularly use some Scots words, it can be hard to differentiate between someone speaking full Scots and someone speaking English with a Scottish dialect. Overall, my point is that even though Gaelic is an endangered language (I think it's a bit harsh to say it's dying since it's decline has slowed massively over the past couple of decades), Scots is still fairly widely spoken. Also don't forget about Cornish in the actual episode, for such a small area the British isles has a lot of languages.

Hi, I am from Jersey and I thought I would add a few things if people are interested in know a bit more about what Barby’s explanation of the Channel Islands. Firstly, it is important to say that the Crown Dependencies are NOT a part of the UK, though we are under the sovereignty of the UK. This means that we are autonomous in all aspects except defence and foreign relations, though often Guernsey and Jersey do engage in their own foreign relations anyway. Also, despite being called ‘bailiwicks’ (pronounced as 'bay-lee-whick btw), Guernsey and Jersey are not ‘governed’ by the bailiff. Nowadays, each island is governed by a ‘Chief Minister’ that functions in the same was a prime minister, in that they are an elected official and govern the island through a council of ministers. The Baliff nowadays is just the head of the judiciary who also sits as the speaker of our government, hence why we are still called a ‘bailiwick’. Like, the Isle of Mann; Jersey and Guernsey also have a Lieutenant Governor, who is the King’s representative to the island and is who rubber-stamps all our laws. And yes we have our own languages of Jèrriais and Dgèrnésiais, which are dialects Norman. They are only slightly intelligible with French and only contain a handful of English loan-words (there are almost as many words from Old-Norse too). It is an endangered language so only a few thousand people speak the languages, though there is an initiative to teach the languages at schools and nurseries. There are also in-person and online courses for adults, as well as lots of material online if anyone is interested.

I was hoping this would explain all 650 parliamentary constituencies

The welsh do take their language seriously. I lived in southern Argentina and there's a community of welsh people there and you can see signs in welsh, towns with welsh names, and of course many people speak the language.

Hey, Guernsey / Alderney resident of the Channel Islands here. Just thought I’d let you know the languages here really is mostly English with a few people that learn French. Each island had their own dialect of French that has pretty much completely died out.however they do live on in weird ways such as people from Alderney calling A Garbage dump an “ impot “ with a silent T. One last thing, Baliwick is pronounced as “ Bay-lee-Whick “.

Fun Fact: The Channel Islands was once part of the Duchy of Normandy. Because of the Channel Islands wasn't reconquered by the French in the Medieval Period, the British monarch is the Duke of Normandy according to the Island inhabitants.

Released just 3 hours ago as over 300 comments, just shows how much we look forward to your videos. Some of the best content on the web. I'm from St Kitts and Nevis. I was trying desperately to connect with you y'all when you were here but had not idea how.

OMG we're finally getting close to the thing I have been waiting for FOR YEARS - the UK Geography Now episode!!! xx

Have waited years for the UK episode!! Really looking forward to it!!

Fun fact Malta was supposted to become the 5th member of the UK in the early 60's. A vote was even held with over 70%saying yes. However pressure from mant countries including the UK didn't want Malta to become aa member of the UK as it was 'an act of imperialism.' Kinda funny how America tried the same thing in the late 70s with the Panama canal. However still to this day there are people on Malta who wish for it to become either a 5th member of the UK or even a crown dependency (the crown dependency one is a little foggy so I may be wrong but feel free to tell me so.) After WW2 Winston Churchill wanted to annex the Danish territory the Faero Islands (into its own overseas territory) since the British did occupy them so the Zazis couldn't get them when denmark fell. However the old way of colonialism was long dead so it never happened but considering that the islands picked p a lot of british culture I wonder what would have happened if the islands were allowed to vote on the matter.

Hello from Cymru! Been watching Geography now since like 2017 or 16 when I was in school still. So cool to see you talk about home! Diolch yn fawr!

2:04 the sign literally translated from welsh to “i am currently out of office, please submit all work to the translation team”

just a note: scots and scottish gaelic are NOT the same language. scottish gaelic is a goidelic celtic language, and scots is a west germanic language. scots is the closest language to modern english, as both language diverged independently from early modern english (around 1150-1300). another note, scots is also not scottish english (neither is scottish gaelic for clarity's sake). scottish english is the dialect of english spoken by scottish people, while scots is a germanic language (specifically an anglo-frisian language) that developed alongside modern english, just from the same branch of the anglo-frisian branch of the west germanic language family.

I've been waiting for this! Can't wait for the UK episode, cheers from England

Waited so long for this episode, but thanks for doing it! Good job!

I had a fun time reading about the history of Sark this week which is an island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey which abolished feudalism in 2008 seemingly in part due to influence from the Barclay Brothers.

I don't know if you knew about this Geography Now, but the Pitcairn Islands had a huge controversy a few years ago detailing abuse between the male and female residents of the island. Just wanted to inform you about it.

Thanks Barbs! Just the video I’ve been waiting for.

I have been waiting for a video like this for years thanks

8:49 Small mistake: They are the Pitcairn Islands, not the Pitcarin Islands as the video and pronounciation suggest.

Great video as always! We love your videos!

love it. can't wait for the uk episode

Aww Geography Now is in the U letters. Ever since moving out of LA and finishing Associate school, I haven’t been able to find you. But happy to see you and you’re channel grow. Wishing you many blessings to you and your mom and friends. ❤

A British person here , just wanting to say I learned a lot from this video. in the U.K. they don’t seem to cover half of this in school.

I’m from Turks and Caicos Islands 🇹🇨 and I love watching your shows barbs!!!

So glad you made this video thanks so much! I remember emailing you years and years ago about doing an Isle of Man video, I’ll take this!

I like how the picture of the sign that you included in your bit about the welsh language translates to "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated".

Cant wait for the UK episode which I bet will easily be an hour !

I'm Manx living in Orkney, we would love to see you come here! Brilliant video Paul!

I can't wait for the UK episode!

Been waiting for the UK one for years! Thank you!

A video on all the British islands (Orkney, Shetland, Scilly Isles, Arran etc) would be a great video!

Nice Video! You did a Good Job of explaining all of The Territories of THE UK. And I'm also excited For The UK Episode along With The US Episode. 🇺🇸🇬🇧

Filler weeks are more fun than main episodes for me! Especially the ones breaking down a country’s regions as it makes them feel so so much more unique. We’ve got to see Mexico or (if you can handle the number of regions) China someday!

I’m from the Isle of Man so it’s great to see someone talking about us 🇮🇲

As a Brit I have so been looking forward to you doing your UK THANG ... and my goodness you did this SO WELL!

Scots and Scottish Gaelic are two different languages from different languages families. Scots is a Germanic language and sister language to English and is mostly mutually intelligible (varies with different regional dialects of each) Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language though.

i have been waiting for the UK episode since 2017!!! you will do us brits proud!!!!

thank you for this. I assist in a geography enrichment class and this will be useful when we cover the UK later this winter.

My only issue with this, as a former history student here in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 is that the UK didn't exist when "Wales joined" England had taken over an subjugated Wales for centuries (there were Welsh bowmen at the battle of Bannockburn 1314) so they were by default part of Great Britain as a subjugated part of England.

A couple errors: 1.) the crown dependencies (Isle of Man, Guernsey, and Jersey) are NOT part of the UK. They are self-governing possessions of the British Crown. The UK is responsible for their protection and are not sovereign. 2.) It's Pitcairn, not Pitcarin.

What an interesting video once again. I enjoyed watching this. Keep it up.

Looking forward to the UK epi, Barbs!

Great video! Even most of us Brits don’t understand this stuff, it is so complicated! This video shows how it all works really well! Amazing job 😊

As a very proud Brit, I thank you for this video keep up the amazing work ❤️🇬🇧

Wow!! , good video. Waiting for the UK episode. 🇬🇧

Can't wait for uk episode, epic !

Me thinks the UK will be the most in depth episode in this series as practically most modern day countries have historical links. Looking forward to it.....maybe consider doing 2 episodes?

Loved this episode and thanks Paul. However you inverted the map of the Isle of Man (at the 3:45 mark) and St. Helena is pronounced [ hell - EE - na ]. Thanks for showing my second home, Tristan da Cunha.

Yay, I was hoping he'd do more of these!

Awesome video Barbs! Buzzing for the UK episode, been waiting years for it since I subscribed at B

I feel calling this a filler episode , or in line with the flag friday ones where you says "no one wathches these" would be taking something away from these. This is a video covering something i always wanted. I've been confused about the isles and the carribean territories and have done my own research on them, but this video contextulizes it all, and most importantly puts it all in a good format which adds alot to the learning value. For the first time i feel i understand this subject matter

Pretty much Britain's entire Chagos Islander community now lives in the otherwise unremarkable town of Crawley, West Sussex. After the plane on which the Chagos Islanders were exiled landed in Gatwick Airport, they just settled in the nearest town, and they and their descendants are still mostly there today over fifty years later.

lol i love the welsh sign with the out of office message in welsh xD

Love your family relations analogies!

Hey, guys! I just stumbled on this channel. You all make it so entertaining, I love it! Also I haven’t seen a better looking group of people since I watched Friends that one time. 😃

As a resident of Jersey, I can debunk a few myths here. We are not in any way bilingual. Everyone here basically speaks English, and basically no one speaks French. We have more Portuguese and Polish culture over here than French, due to influx of immigration over the last couple of years. If you have any more questions about Jersey, just drop them down below :)

Another amazing video can not wait for the US UK and UAE video

Hey, I’m from the British Virgin Islands 🇻🇬 👋🏿

I hope when you finish all the countries you can give each these Territories ect their own episode

The only country that's so complicated that it needs two episodes,

Get in!!! So wanted this video for ages!!!! Posted so many times to ask this!!!!

Thanks for makeing this

Well explained video as always Barbs. Though at 4:01 Lieutenant Governor, you call it a call it a Loo-ten-ant Governor whereas over here it is a Leff-ten-ant Governor.

That photo you've used for the Welsh language is well known for being a mistake. The local council emailed the sign for translation and received an auto-generated Welsh response saying they were out of office. The local council just used that, printed it and put it out on the street not knowing their mistake.

Been waiting for the UK episode since practically the start of this channel XD

Excellent work!

Excellent stuff! The confusion that folks have over this is incredible. However, to add to the confusion, it's constituent country, not constituencies. That's something else entirely.

I really enjoy your videos.. they are so informative. I’ve learned a lot. I love Geography and travel.. What are you going to do when you run out of countries to talk about?😃

I really enjoy these filler week videos. Really interesting!

Nice work!

Happy to see my home of Guernsey mentioned. Looking forward to the UK episode. BTW bailiwick is pronounced beh-lee-wihk. If you have any questions about the channel Islands, I'd he happy to answer. Not as good with Jersey but (much to friends annoyance) I know a lot about guernsey.

"they still have their own parliaments" england: 😐

You could almost make an entire series on the UK episode there's so much to do with it.

Thanks! I really needed that :D

I hope in the main UK video you bring up specifically that Scotland and England were specifically in a personal union - two systems under one king until the Acts of Union about a century later that made them into a single entity. Also, maybe bring up that Scots has Germanic roots, just like English, and that it's not a Celtic language like Irish, or Welsh, or Scottish Gaelic?

Brit here. Loved the vid. In1707 the independent kingdoms of Scotland and England joined together to form the kingdom of Great Britain. Wales had been occupied by the English's since the 13th century. In 1536 Henry viii declared it part of England so it's not technically right to say Wales joined the UK in 1536. That's why there's no Welsh representation on the union flag as Wales didn't exist in a legal sense. In 1974 local government was reorganised and I believe that is when Wales was reaffirmed as an actual country in a legal sense. Of course Wales was always Wales to the people there. The United Kingdom came into existence in 1801 when Ireland United with great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Then in 1921 most of Ireland left the Union but the North opted to stay part. So we renamed ourselves the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It's not really that complicated it's just a lot.

I’m disappointed you’re not doing an episode for each of the British countries! We all have such distinct and unique cultures! It’d be great to see an episode for each.

Amazing work Barbs!!

One think to note about overseas territories & crown dependencies is they are not technically sovereign UK territory. They essentially operate as micro-states of which the UK controls foreign policy & defence. This differs from other examples of overseas land, such as in the case of France, of which they are actually part of the country.

Thanks to Pitcairn, the sun still never sets on the British “Empire”. Also it’s like a 2 week ride on a semi-cargo ship just to get there, there is zero way to arrive by air (St. Helena used to have this same problem, but they actually built an airport in a somewhat remote part of the island (guess to mitigate the noise.)

Finally, doing a UK episode we’ve been waiting for that

Love your videos bro!

Small correction Paul. South Georgia’s ‘Capital’ is actually King Edward point the BAS base in King Edward cove. While grytviken is in the same cove and very close it is not the capital but acts as a museum to the old whaling station. All administration including members of the SG government are found at KEP.

Very interesting video. Worth noting that depending on who you consult, Scotland has two native languages Scots Gaelic and Scots, which is closely related to English. There is a fairly robust debate about whether Scots is a language or just a dialect of English. About 200,000 people still speak "braid scots" and almost all working class people still use a lot of Scots words mixed in with standard English.

Yay 🎉 I am so happy you did this video.

This is a great video!

I'm from Scotland and I really just hope you say Edinburgh properly :) Looking forward to this one

Love the video! Being from Scotland all I would say is that Gaelic is not a dying language. It’s true, there is a minority of Scots who speak this these days. However, through Apps like Duolingo and Government funding Gaelic is enjoying a minor renaissance in past couple years and is slowly gaining in popularity. It is most definitely alive❤

Bossed it mate, well done.

Thank you! just was watching your filler week videos :)