Referring to nationality.
Don't describe citizens of the United Kingdom as "English". The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish do not identify themselves as being from "England". If you need to refer to someone's nationality, you can use the most precise term, 'English', 'Northern Irish', 'Welsh' or 'Scottish'. To play safe, you can ask someone from which part of the UK they are from, as this covers every corner of the isles - including Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland and Scotland can be particularly problematic, and 'Scottish', 'Northern Irish', 'Irish', or 'British' can all be appropriate according to the political persuasion of the individual. Irish nationalists may avoid referring to Northern Ireland at all, referring instead to 'The Six Counties' or 'The North', or talk about 'Ireland' as a whole. 'Northern Irish' is less likely to offend, whereas referring to someone from Northern Ireland as 'British' or as 'Irish' can cause offence depending on a person's political ideology.
It is also worth noting that, while technically a county of England, the issue of identity in Cornwall is very sensitive amongst some people. It is best to refer to anyone you meet in Cornwall as Cornish, unless they have already explicitly stated their identity as English.
As a visitor from outside the UK, you are unlikely to cause serious offence. At worst, you will incur a minor rebuff and reaffirmation of their nationality, as in "I'm not English. I'm Scottish".
You don't have to be British to vote in the UK!
§ British, Irish, EU and qualifyingCommonwealth citizens aged 18 or over qualify to register to vote in UK elections in the borough where they reside with a 'considerable degree of permanence'.
§ This means that those who, for example, go to the UK to study or spend their gap year can register to vote, but not those who visit the UK on a short holiday.
§ A 'qualifying Commonwealth citizen'is a national of a Commonwealth country/territory (including Fiji, Zimbabwe, the whole of Cyprus and British Nationals (Overseas) from Hong Kong) who has any type of leave to enter or remain in the UK on the date of his/her electoral registration application.
§ Students are specifically permitted to register to vote at both their home and term-time addresses.
§ British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens can vote in all UK elections, whilst other EU citizens can vote in all elections except for UK Parliamentary elections.
§ You can still register to vote in the UK even if you are already registered to vote in another country.
§ You may be unable to open a bank account or apply for a mobile phone contract if you are not on the electoral roll.
Bank (public) holidays.
Each country within the UK has a number of bank holidays, on which the majority of people do not work. Shops, pubs, restaurants and similar are usually open. Many UK residents will take advantage of the time off to travel, both within the UK and abroad. This makes transport links busier than usual and tends to increase prices. If your travel dates are flexible you may wish to avoid travelling to or from the UK on bank holiday weekends.
The following 8 bank holidays apply in all parts of the UK:
§ New Year's Day (1st January)
§ Good Friday (the Friday immediately before Easter Sunday)
§ Easter Monday (the Monday immediately after Easter Sunday)
§ Early May Bank Holiday (the first Monday in May)
§ Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May)
§ Summer Bank Holiday (the last Monday in August, except in Scotland where it is the first Monday in August)
§ Christmas Day (25th December)
§ Boxing Day (26th December)
Northern Ireland has the following two additional bank holidays:
§ St Patrick's Day (17th March)
§ Battle of the Boyne / Orangemen's Day (12th July)
Scotland officially has two additional bank holidays:
§ the day after New Year's Day (2nd January)
§ St Andrew's Day (30th November)
In practice, with the exception of Easter, Christmas and New Year holidays, UK bank holidays are virtually ignored in Scotland in favour of local holidays which vary from place to place.
Where a bank holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it is moved to the following Monday. If both Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a weekend, the Boxing Day holiday is moved to the following Tuesday.
Regions.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a union made up of the following regions, home nations and territories:
Great Britain.
| | England the largest component, in terms both of size and, by far, population.
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| | Scotland the second largest home nation and occupies the northern third of Great Britain. The four archipelagos of Orkney, Shetland, and the Inner and Outer Hebrides are also part of Scotland.
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| | Wales located within the largely mountainous western portion of Great Britain.
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