Is Scotland a country or is the UK a country?

12 comments

1. They’re both countries.

2. The UK is a sovereign state (a country), comprised of a union between the countries of England, Wales, Scotland on Northern Ireland.

3. They’re both countries. The UK is a country made of three other countries and a province (NI, it’s complicated).

4. Where did that definition of a country come from?

5. And Google exists

6. The definition of country can be slightly hazy, which is why people often refer to States instead to reduce ambiguity around this sort of thing. Whatever Scotland is, we aren’t a State.

7. It is and it kind of isn’t. It’s more of a country than Wales, less of a country than the UK

8. To clarify; neither are Courtney.

9. There’s no legal definition of a country. Scotland is a country in some respects, a constituent nation of the country called the UK in other respects.
   You can legitimately use your definition of a country. Someone else can legitimately disagree.

10. Oh my lord

11. This sort of confusion isn’t confined to the UK.

    Is the Netherlands a country? You would probably say yes, obviously, but it’s as much of a country as Scotland is. The Netherlands is a country which is a constituent part of The Kingdom Of The Netherlands (which also includes Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten), just as Scotland is a country which is a constituent part of the United Kingdom Of Great Britain And Northern Ireland (which also includes England, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

    Edit: Also Denmark is a country which is a constituent of The Kingdom Of Denmark (which also includes the Faroe Islands and Greenland).

12. A country isn’t necessarily that well defined. It is a country within a wider sovereign state aka a country. We are a Union.