British Isles naming dispute "British-Irish Isles" and the Islands of the North Atlantic. In documents drawn up jointly between the British and Irish governments, the archipelago is referred to simply as "these islands". To some, the dispute is partly semantic, and the term is a value-free geographic one, while, to others, it is a value-laden political one. The Crown dependencies of the Channel Islands may also for geo-political reasons be included in the British Isles, despite not being geographically part of the archipelago. United Kingdom law uses the term British Islands to refer to the UK, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man as a
Norse activity in the British Isles Norse activity in the British Isles Norse activity in the British Isles occurred during the Early Medieval period when members of the Norse populations of Scandinavia travelled to Great Britain and Ireland to settle, trade or raid. The Norsemen who came to the British Isles have been generally referred to as Vikings, but it is debated whether the term "Viking" represented all Norse settlers or just those who raided. At the start of the Early Medieval period, Norse kingdoms of Scandinavia had developed trade links across southern Europe and the Mediterranean, giving them access to foreign imports such as silver,