Expressing the 'Top-Flex Identity!
In a typical British or Commonwealth city, there usually exist any number of art galleries, historical museums, and local festivities even in the slowest-paced of communities. Even in the British Overseas Territories, such as Bermuda, such national amenities also exist under similar circumstances.
The historic arrival of Christianity to the general region of the British Isles is largely associated with Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, and Saint Patrick, depending on the specific country in question. Though now divided between the United Kingdom and Ireland, each of the historic saints continue to be celebrated on associated days, though Saint George is occasionally moved when the Church of England identifies the date as potentially conflicting with the Easter holiday.
To celebrate the different saints on the British Isles, the most important dates for the United Kingdom and Ireland include March 1 for Saint David 🏴, March 17 for Saint Patrick 🇮🇪, April 23 for Saint George 🏴, and November 30 for Saint Andrew 🏴.
The traditional flags of England and Scotland continue to be celebrated in their respective countries to this day. However, England is the red-on-white Saint George’s Cross while Scotland and Ireland are each identified with saltire flags. Though Ireland is today referred to by the tricolor arrangement by Irish Nationalists, the historic flag representing Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Saltire, had actually been a red-on-white saltire flag design, only somewhat different from the situation with England. While the colors may match England, the design of the saltire more closely matches Scotland, with white on blue instead of red on white.
While the United Kingdom is most notable with the dominance of England, the countries of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland can also claim cultural values independently of the dominant nation. Even though London is the capital of the entire United Kingdom, as well as of just England, the city does not provide much in terms of the cultural values of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, or even locations elsewhere within England, especially beyond Middlesex and East Anglia.
Of the communities within the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, the most important cities in terms of being locations of country governments are London, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; Cardiff, Wales; and Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, England also claims Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and a number of smaller communities of regional and cultural significance, while Scotland also claims Glasgow, Inverness, Elgin, Dundee, and Aberdeen quite similarly. While Wales is largely on the rural side, the major communities beyond Cardiff also include Newport in the Monmouthshire (Gwent) area as well as Swansea further west. Even more rural is the general area of Northern Ireland, though Londonderry also represents a cultural and central hub within the Six Counties in addition to Belfast in County Antrim and County Down.
The Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey each contain zero (0) communities at nearly the same scale of urbanization as the communities on Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, of the communities within the region, the capital cities are Douglas, Isle of Man; St. Helier, Jersey; and St. Peter Port, Guernsey.
Even smaller territories are identified within the British Overseas Territories, including the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, and Montserrat—all within the general area of the Atlantic Ocean. While Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha are also located within the Atlantic, each of these territories is located in the South Atlantic, and the British also maintain Gibraltar in Europe; Akrotiri and Dhekelia on Cyprus; the British Indian Ocean Territory in the namesake Indian Ocean; the Falkland Islands of the Southern Ocean; and Pitcairn.
Today, of the communities with identifiable capital cities, most notably in the Caribbean and North Atlantic, the communities do not actually contain sizable cities, with George Town in the Cayman Islands representing the most populated community in the British Overseas. The other capitals include, but are not limited to, Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos; Road Town, British Virgin Islands; The Valley, Anguilla; Hamilton, Bermuda; and Plymouth, Montserrat, though the last capital city has recently recorded a population of zero (0) following the impacts of a volcanic eruption in the area.
The contents of this post intend specifically to represent the subdivisions of each European state, including the split countries of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Historic counties are to be preferred, if and when possible, but especially in the case of the British Isles.
Italy 🇮🇹
The historic counties of England, Scotland, and Wales have been of cultural significance as each county has determined the heritage of the people of the region and the descending diaspora related to every county. While Ireland and the Isle of Man also play large roles, along with Jersey and Guernsey, the primary settlements on Great Britain have also been of significance regarding the situation of a generally Celtic region.
While much of the British Empire has successfully dissolved, the vast majority of the global population, with notable exceptions such as China, have historical ties to the United Kingdom, however indirectly the ties may be. Today, the United Kingdom typically refers to England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Within the United Kingdom, the constituent countries include England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The capital city of England, London, also represents the capital city of the entire United Kingdom. Scotland, further north, contains the capital city, Edinburgh, and another major city, Glasgow. For Wales, the Welsh capital is at Cardiff; and for Northern Ireland, the capital is at Belfast. Northern Ireland specifically refers to Counties Armagh, Antrim, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone. The other counties of Ireland are identified as part of the Republic of Ireland, a separate sovereign state.
Common English names beyond London proper include Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Lancaster, Norwich, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, just to name a few. Wales, however, does not contain a significant community beyond the southern end of the country at Cardiff, though the Isle of Anglesey in the very northwest is a notable geographical feature of Wales.
Beyond Great Britain proper, additional islands associated with the constituent countries include the Orkney Islands (Scotland), the Shetland Islands (Scotland), the Isles of the Clyde (Scotland), and the Isle of Anglesey (Wales), just to name a few.
The three Crown Dependencies are not necessarily part of the United Kingdom proper; however, each of the islands remains part of the Commonwealth of Nations and is dependent on the British Crown, as the name applies. The three Crown Dependencies are Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man, with the Isle of Sark and a few other associated islands part of Guernsey. The Isle of Man is also referred to as “Mann” and has the capital town at Douglas within the island. Manx is co-official with the English language throughout the island, located directly in between the Scottish Lowlands and Northern Ireland, though on the international stage, the Isle of Man may identify separately from the United Kingdom.
Both of the Channel Island territories, Jersey and Guernsey, are governed by bailiffs and are thus referred to as the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, respectively. While Jersey is effectively just the principal island, Guernsey also claims associated islands, including the car-free islands of Herm and Sark. Today, the capital towns of the bailiwicks of the Channel Islands are St. Helier, Jersey; and St. Peter Port, Guernsey.
Within the European continent, the British Overseas Territories include the territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Gibraltar is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, with the Spanish community of La Línea de la Concepción located immediately to the north and the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, otherwise surrounded by Morocco, on the opposite side of the Strait of Gibraltar marking the western beginning of the Mediterranean Sea. Akrotiri and Dhekelia represent one British Overseas Territory, though the specific regions of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are located on different sections of the southern side of the island of Cyprus and may overlap with or otherwise be disputed with Cypriot territory.
Also related to the military are the Falkland Islands and the British Indian Ocean Territory, with the Falkland Islands located nearby to the southern tip of South America and the northern peninsular tip of Antarctica. Civilian territories also exist throughout the British Overseas, including the Caribbean islands of the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla, and Montserrat; as well as the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda. Within the South Pacific are the Pitcairn Islands; within the Antarctic region the British Antarctic Territory. Elsewhere, the overseas include South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha.
Of the most prominent inhabited territories, the territorial capitals include George Town, Cayman Islands; Cockburn Town, Turks and Caicos Islands; Road Town, British Virgin Islands; The Valley, Anguilla; Plymouth, Montserrat; and Hamilton, Bermuda. Outside the Caribbean and Atlantic regions, Jamestown is the capital of Saint Helena, and Stanley is the capital of the Falkland Islands.
Outside the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies, and the British Overseas Territories, a number of sovereign states located elsewhere are also included within the definition of the Commonwealth, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, and South Africa, just to name a few. Of all the sovereign states attached to the British Commonwealth today, the island nations of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago are located within the Caribbean region. Belize is also located in the Americas, though in Central America rather than in the Caribbean proper. Canada and Guyana also represent Commonwealth realms on the North American and South American mainlands, respectively. Interestingly, within Europe, the island nations of Malta and Cyprus are also represented within the Commonwealth.
Within the African continent, the outlying insular nations of Mauritius and Seychelles are each included within the Commonwealth; however, the Comoros are more attached to French and Francophone heritage and as such are not included within the scope of the Commonwealth of Nations. Within the African mainland, the nations of Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia are all identified within the Commonwealth, and Burundi has requested to join the Commonwealth because of historical ties to Rwanda directly to the north, all in the region officially known as East Africa. Cameroon and Gabon are also located on the continent though in Middle Africa. Within the region of Southern Africa, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, and Botswana are all included. West Africa is also represented through the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
For Oceania, the Melanesian nations of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu are included, along with the Micronesian nations of Kiribati and Nauru. Within the region of Polynesia are the island nations of Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
The Southeast Asian nations of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore are also included within the definition of the Commonwealth, along with the Southern Asian nations of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.
Numerous Welsh settlers, including Welsh Quakers in particular, have been significant in the colonial history of Pennsylvania, and especially within the inner Philadelphia area, for the religious tolerance associated with the Mid-Atlantic as well as economic similarities. While Welsh settlers were also occasionally associated with Maryland and even New Jersey, the Welsh influence in Pennsylvania is quite widespread within just the minimal area of Philadelphia and the surrounding area, including Bala Cynwyd, Bryn Mawr, Upper and Lower Merion (from Merioneth), and numerous other places.
Additional Welsh settlers were associated with the Merrick family of New England and just a few other New England families connected to Wales, as well as a similarly smaller number of families bound for the Southern Colonies. However, British colonial migration has not been the only source of Welsh immigration to the United States. In more recent generations, the Welsh cultural heritage has become more integrated with Cornish and Devonian English traditions, and the entire region had become a society in decline, thus resulting in a significant amount of emigration with an end result of additional settlers and settlement in the United States, often again east of the Mississippi River in places including Illinois and Pennsylvania.
In the modern day, the counties associated with Northern Ireland are typically identified as a mix of Scots and Irish influences, especially with the massive British colonization of Ireland, particularly from Scotland 🏴. Outside the context of Scotland, however, the British colonization of Ireland had also involved settlers from select portions of England as well, though the Anglo-Irish population was not nearly as significant as the Scots-Irish population, particularly in the context of the United States. For Newfoundland, now a part of Canada, however, the Anglo-Irish cultural traits represented the dominant heritage of the region.
While many of the settlers to the Ulster region were from Scotland 🏴, the colonists to the Munster, Leinster, and Connacht regions were more often associated with England 🏴 and Wales 🏴.
Welsh names are often associated with the Celtic roots of Wales, with pronunciations largely attached to the Welsh orthographic system, which often results in names apparently lacking vowels or having a lack of vowels, as in Bryn Mawr, Gwynedd, Bala Cynwyd, Merion (from Merioneth), Carmarthen, Caernarfon, Gwent (formerly known by the English name of Monmouth), and Glamorgan. While Cardiff is the English 🏴 spelling of the capital city of Wales, the Welsh 🏴 spelling is “Caerdydd.”
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