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I guess that's reasonable, though it appears the name goes back to the 1st century, so the UK is named after the Isles, rather than the other way around?

Has anyone proposed a viable alternative?




> the UK is named after the Isles

Great Britain may have been named after one of the isles, but the controversy arises because the UK spans (part of, but not all of) the two main isles.

> Has anyone proposed a viable alternative?

I don't know what would count as "viable" if you reject "Britain and Ireland" and "Atlantic Archipelago".


Sorry, I didn't mean to reject anything.

> Great Britain may have been named after one of the isles

Great Britain is the largest island of the isles. The UK's full name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; ie there's no political entity of Great Britain (and never has been).


> The UK's full name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Indeed. I suppose if Ireland's full name were "The Republic of Little Britain" there wouldn't be a controversy about the term "British Isles".

> there's no political entity of Great Britain (and never has been).

Unless you include the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain




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