Countries of the United Kingdom

The number of countries that make up the United Kingdom is often the subject of debate. In decreasing order of area they are:
The United Nations and UK government says that the United Kingdom is officially made up of 2 countries (England and Scotland), one principality (Wales) and one province (Northern Ireland). However, Wales has not formally been a principality since the 16th century with the . In 2011 the International Organization for Standards Wales the status of country to clear ambiguity and avoid further confusion, thus the first statement may be corrected to 3 countries and 1 province.