NI and Goodreads GB/IE confusion

Emmy1

Hi there! So being a Goodreads user for ages I just noticed last month that they have giveaways!

But the geographical restrictions was confusing at first! As someone from Northern Ireland I wasn't sure whether to enter the GB giveaways, as I'm not actually from GB. But I entered a GB only one anyway as it was a book I was dying to read, and I actually won it! I was worried that I was going to get an email saying I was excluded as I wasn't from GB, but nope it was delivered with no bother which was great! I also started to enter (the albeit rarer) IE only ones just to see what would happen as well, and I won one last week, and it was delivered no bother to NI yesterday!

So anyone from Northern Ireland who has been a bit wary of entering Goodreads competitions due to them not knowing which country we qualify under, I guess we can enter both if the author doesn't mind! :j

Although I do really wish Goodreads would change it from GB to UK, would make things much easier haha!

WeAreGhosts

You are from GB - the full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK and GB are one and the same thing.

cagsd

I thought Great Britain referred to the big island made up of England, Wales and Scotland? It is quite confusing though as the UK includes NI. I think lots of people don't know the difference, Goodreads included!

Torry_Quine

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

You are from GB - the full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK and GB are one and the same thing.

No they aren't the same as you show by saying the UK is Great Britain and Northern Ireland!

cagsd wrote: »

I thought Great Britain referred to the big island made up of England, Wales and Scotland? It is quite confusing though as the UK includes NI. I think lots of people don't know the difference, Goodreads included!

You're correct. Great Britain doesn't include N. Ireland

Emmy1

Yep that's right cagsd GB is the largest island of the British Isles, so that's England, Scotland, and Wales. The UK was initially formed under the union of GB with Ireland in 1801, and then in 1922 it became the UK of GB and NI with the partition of Ireland.

Sorry I sound like a complete nerd, but my history degree is kicking in haha!

But yep, the confusing terms make comping harder! Like the 'Open to residents of Ireland' on some competitions, I assume that's meaning all-ireland and not just ROI but who knows lol.

Marg2k8

Interesting to learn this. So if GB is the biggest island in the British Isles, does that mean that islands such as the Isle of Wight are not actually part of GB, although they would be part of The UK and part of the British Isles?

Emmy1

The Isle of Wight is just classified as a part of England I believe, and as England is a part of GB so too would the Isle of Wight by extension. Although I'm not 100% on that!

cagsd

Marg2k8 wrote: »

Interesting to learn this. So if GB is the biggest island in the British Isles, does that mean that islands such as the Isle of Wight are not actually part of GB, although they would be part of The UK and part of the British Isles?

Yes I'm sure that's what we were taught at school!

"The British Isles" is everything including GB, all of Ireland and all the islands such as Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Scottish Isles etc etc.

"Great Britain" is the big island.

"The UK" or as We Are Ghosts correctly states above its full title of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is everything bar Eire.