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
Glossary of names for the British to denote 'English'. Southeast Asian Hokkien and Teochew speakers also call the British angmor lang (紅毛人), which literally means 'red-haired people'. One possible origin of this term is the association of red-haired people with the British Isles. The following terms are used to mean 'Britain' or 'British' and use etymologies mostly unrelated to "Britain": These terms are also used to refer to England in unofficial contexts. More formal names also exist, such as the Chinese Liánhéwángguó and Japanese Rengōōkoku literally meaning 'United Kingdom'. Separate words exist in all of these languages for each of the constituent parts of the UK,