England is about the size of Alabama.

Scotland is about the size of South Carolina.

Wales is about the size of Massachusetts.

These three countries together make up Great Britain.

With the addition of Northern Ireland, about the size of Connecticut, they make up the United Kingdom, which is a bit smaller than Wyoming.

The full name of the United Kingdom is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. The term ‘Britain’ is used informally to refer to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom was created by an Act of Parliament in 1801.

In the Middle Ages, Wales was made up of several small kingdoms or principalities which, by 1300, had come largely under English control. But Wales was only formally incorporated into England by Parliamentary legislation that began in 1536.

Scotland and England had separate monarchies until 1603, when King James VI of Scotland succeeded Queen Elizabeth I on the English throne. A full merger of the two countries, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain, followed in 1707.

Ireland had come under varying degrees of English influence from the 12th century onward, but was not united to Great Britain until 1801. In 1922 southern Ireland withdrew from the union.