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My understanding is that Great Britain refers to the main island, which includes England, Scotland, and Wales. United Kingdom includes the island as well as Northern Ireland.
Yes, that is spot on. And just because I'm a Brit, is there any difference between America and the US? Or is America just an ambiguity from the continent and the actual country?
The only time there's any difference between America and the US is when one refers to continents. In normal conversation, America and the US are interchangeable.
US is USA, which is United States of America. Saying America (In the south: Amurica) here usually means USA/US. In other countries, I'm not sure. But, like @Graviton said, they are interchangeable for the most part. You could say, “I'm going to America,” or you could say, “I'm going to the US.”
If I have this right, as an American, England is the head of what was the British empire. Wales is in England. I think Great Britain includes Scotland as part of the British Isle, but not 100%. They have their own government. North Ireland is still British and Ireland is a separate country.
They all (except Ireland) have representation in the English Parliament. Some countries, Canada, Australia, others, have an independent government with a Parliament style and have the British royalty as figureheads, as previous colonies. If you think that’s complicated, try the Celts to Romans to Angles to Normans transition.
@stymie of Suwannee you're slightly wrong I'd say. England, Scotland, and Wales make up Great Britain, and N Ireland and GB are the 4 kingdoms that make up the United Kingdom.
I think all four of them were separate until England decided to conquer the two other countries to get control of the whole island. Then they got greedy and tried to take Ireland, but Ireland fought back in terms of politics, hence the divide between the North and Republic.