"Great Britain" and "United Kingdom" are often used interchangeably.

But despite their similar colloquial uses, the two names have different meanings — though they both reference similar regions, making it hard to discern which one is more accurate. To help understand the distinction, start with the larger region known as the British Isles. "The British Isles" is a broad term for the thousands of islands that are located off the coast of mainland Europe, just north of France. This geographical entity includes the United Kingdom and Ireland, plus thousands of smaller islands such as the Isle of Skye, the Shetland Islands, and the Hebrides that belong to them. It's also worth noting that, due to the contentious political history between the British and the Irish, many Irish people refer to this area as the Atlantic Archipelago instead.

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