Cheers Tom :)

And hard luck in your game... I think James is a little gutted too ;)

On the subject of the Motherland here is UK:101 for youse colonials ;P

• England is a country.
  
• Britain is the island that consists of England, Wales and Scotland.
• Great Britain is the group of islands that consists of Britain and a whole bunch of other little islands (eg Anglesea, Shetlands, Skye, Man etc etc).
• The United Kingdom (or UK) is a shortened version of 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'.

I am sure one of my fellow 'Limeys' (is that term even used anymore?) will correct anything I have gotten wrong in my sleep-deprived state ;)

Basically (This may not be 100% accurate as there is soooo much history behind these relationships) the UK is made up of four (maybe more) countries (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man... although how Man exactly relates to the rest of the UK I am not entirely sure :P), one principality (Wales) and a host of semi-independent Islands (eg Jersey and Guernsey).

The UK also acts as Protectorate (i think that is the right term) of several (Puppet?) states around the world, The Falklands and Belize being just two.

Essentially the UK is governed from one administrative body in Westminster (a city in it's own right inside London) but each of the different 'states' has limited administrative powers and legislative bodies.

As an aside the country of Eire (Southern Ireland) is not included in any of the terms used above as it is totally independent of the UK.