The British Isles

The British Isles form a group lying off the north-west coast of Europe with a total area of 121,600 square miles. The largest islands are Great Britain proper (comprising the mainlands of England, Wales and Scotland) and Ireland (comprising Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic). Off the southern coast ofEnglandis the Isle of Wight and off the extreme south-west are the Isles of Scilly; off North Wales is Anglesey.Western Scotlandis fringed by numerous islands and to the far north are the important groups of the Orkneys and Shetlands. All these form administrative counties or parts of counties of the mainland, but the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea and the Channel Islands between Great Britain and France have a large measure of administrative autonomy and are not part of England, Wales or Scotland.