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
Invasions of the British Isles Invasions of the British Isles Invasions of the British Isles have occurred throughout history. Various sovereign states within the territorial space that constitutes the British Isles were invaded several times; by the Romans, Germanic peoples, Vikings and Norsemen that came from Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the French and the Dutch. Before the Romans came to Britain, and with them the advent of written records of the region, the majority of Britain was Celtic. How and when these peoples arrived in the British Isles is a matter of much conjecture; see Celtic settlement of Great Britain and Ireland for more details.