Calling all non UK Mumsnetters if you can answer a quick question ...

[A580Hojas]

Hi there. Do you think the average person in your country, wherever you live, would know about and could name Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland? Eg. do they know there are 4 countries within the UK and then also ROI which is a separate?

Think they’d get those might struggle to name England though.

They would probably know those areas if you asked them about them iyswim. So know where they are and that they are of the U.K.

But they also use the word England to refer to the whole of the U.K. so I don’t think they would automatically say the U.K. is made of england, scotland, wales and NI iyswim.

In the same way, they would know the Republic of Ireland but would refer to Ireland as the whole island or the republic indifferently if that makes sense.

Btw they would NOT see Scotland etc… as a country in themselves but as part of the country that the U.K. is.

I have been in the U.K. more than 20 years and it’s still not right to me to day they are countries as such… The stuff about Scotland and England etc… having different teams at football or rugby is still puzzling to me (let alone when NI is joining with the RoI instead!)

Yes, but they'd consider them regions of the UK, not countries.

Ireland would refer to the Republic by default, and could also mean the whole island.

Many would say England when they mean UK.

And yes to people finding it confusing (and unfair) to have several football teams for one country.

I'm Italian and yes everyone I know knows this. We were tought that in elementary school by our english teachers.

Yes I think most people here in Ireland could as we are your neighbours.

difference between UK and GB can be confusing for some

Although very few people could name the provinces in the Netherlands, referring to the whole country as Holland

Why isn't England included or am I being thick

I'm in Australia. Most of my friends here are POMs so yeah, they'd know!

I would also think that plenty of Australians would know that there's England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, although I'm not sure they'd be able to differentiate N Ireland and ROI

What a weird OP.

Could you name every country in the continent of Africa? South America? etc.

Even Europe, eh?

Well, my American neighbour did tell me that when they told their parents they were moving to the U.K., their DF asked “Do they speak English in the U.K.?” So evidently, some Americans do not know that England is part of the U.K.

Yeah I can, thanks to lockdown and Sporcle.

Why is it weird? I'm not claiming to be able to name every country anywhere! That's pretty weird that you think that's relevant. I'm just trying to get a handle on how well the separate countries of the UK are known outside of the UK.

Um yes of course..I remember learning about this in school (in a non UK but European country). My dh who is from India and any one else that I've met from India also have a really solid grasp of geography and history and just generally a lot of general knowledge. To be honest I can imagine they'd be pretty offended if anyone assumed they didn't know basic stuff like this.

I think you get a lot of people in GB that don't know Rep of Ireland is a separate country. Particularly newscasters/ newspapers who like to call Irish oscar winners or sportspeople British 🙄🤬