Country or region

[Unregistered]

Dear teachers!

I have this doubt which I hope you can clear up for me. In one of my lessons (I'm a teacher of English)one of my students asked me whether England was a country or just a region of the United Kingdom. I answered: "It's a country!", but then the class told me that their Geography teacher had taught them that England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland were just regions of the U.K. I was puzzled!! Is that right? Does it mean that I've been teaching my students "false facts"? I promised them that I would find an answer to give them, and I thought this was really the best way, and...here I am. CAn you help, please?

Seagull

[Teia]

Dear teachers!

I have this doubt which I hope you can clear up for me. In one of my lessons (I'm a teacher of English)one of my students asked me whether England was a country or just a region of the United Kingdom. I answered: "It's a country!", but then the class told me that their Geography teacher had taught them that England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland were just regions of the U.K. I was puzzled!! Is that right? Does it mean that I've been teaching my students "false facts"? I promised them that I would find an answer to give them, and I thought this was really the best way, and...here I am. CAn you help, please?

Seagull

England is an internal division of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

A country need only fail on one of the eight criteria to not meet the definition of independent country status. England does not meet all eight criteria; it fails on six of the eight criteria...

England is Not a Country

other source:Is England a country or a state? - Thorn Tree Forum - Lonely Planet

There is only one sovereign country - the United Kingdom. Scotland, Wales, England and NI are regions with varying degrees of autonomy.

In my opinion , England is the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
For further information see :England - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Tdol]

You may well be right technically, but most English people would consider it to be a country IMO. I think many would regard the UK as a nation, made up of four countries. I doubt that many would consider it to be a region. It is a bit of a mess, though.