Politics in the British Isles Politics in the British Isles The British Isles comprise two sovereign states, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, and three dependencies of the British Crown, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Ireland is a unitary state and a republic. Since 1998, it shares certain common institutions with Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom, from which it was partitioned in 1921. The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and also a unitary state comprising England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Also since 1998, the United Kingdom has devolved significant domestic powers (though differing in extent) to administrations in Northern
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