British Isles British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe that consists of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man and over six thousand smaller isles. They have a total area of about 315,159 km and a combined population of just under 70 million, and include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of the island of Ireland) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The islands of Alderney, Jersey, Guernsey and Sark, and their neighbouring smaller islands, are sometimes
Terminology of the British Isles the English term "British Isles". Another translation is "Oileáin Bhreataineacha", which was used in the 1937 translation from English to Irish of a 1931 geography book. Earlier dictionaries give "Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa" as the translation, literally meaning "West European Isles". Today the most common term "Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór" is used, meaning literally as "Ireland and Great Britain", as provided by terminological dictionaries. "Blighty" is a slang word for Britain derived from the Hindustani word "bilāyatī" ("foreign"). Depending on the user, it is meant either affectionately or archly. It was often used by British soldiers abroad in the First