A map of the Home Nations of the UK
*Red: England *Green: Northern Ireland *Blue: Scotland *Yellow: Wales

"Home nation" (common noun) redirects here; home nation is also used to refer to the host country of multi-sport events (eg. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A multi-sport event -- 246717740 ( talk) 1859 5 October 2008 (UTC is an organized sporting event often held over multiple days and featuring competition in many the Olympics), or other international sports championships.

Home Nations (often written as the common noun home nations) is a collective term used to refer to the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (UK) as separate entities, and distinct from the UK as states:

• England
• Northern Ireland
• Scotland
• Wales

The British media frequently use the term Home Nations to include Ireland as a whole, often when referring to sporting events. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Although the Republic of Ireland is no longer part of the UK, it is generally considered to have an especially close sporting relationship with Britain. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. British television channels like Sky Sports and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) give plentiful coverage to the Irish national rugby union and football teams, while Irish channels like Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) cover British events such as the Premier League however they don't use the term home nations with reference to Ireland. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered The Premier League, colloquially referred to as the Premiership, is an English professional league for football clubs

Occasionally the term Home Countries is used. ^[1]

Sporting events

'Home Nations' is often used in reference to sporting events in which each nation competes separately, such as rugby union's Six Nations Championship and the now defunct British Home Championship in association football. Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short The Six Nations Championship (referred to as RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons known before 2000 as the Five Nations Championship, is an annual international The British Home Championship (also known as the Home International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom

Between 1883 and 1909, what is now the Six Nations was played between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and was known as the Home International Championship; it reverted to that name when, from 1932 to 1939, France was excluded from the tournament even though, by then, Ireland had been partitioned into Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the independent Irish Free State (Republic of Ireland from 1949). The England national rugby union team represents England in Rugby union. The Ireland rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in Rugby union, which is a popular sport throughout both the Republic of Ireland and The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international Rugby union. The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The term continues to be used in rugby union and rugby league:^[2] the Ireland national rugby union team and Ireland national rugby league team both draw players from the Republic and Northern Ireland. History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games The Ireland rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in Rugby union, which is a popular sport throughout both the Republic of Ireland and The Ireland national rugby league team, is the professional Rugby league team representing Ireland. The term "Home Union" is used to refer to the four national governing bodies. ^[3]

In football, the British Home Championship (also known as the Home International Championship) was an annual competition contested between the UK's four national teams, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (later, Northern Ireland), between 1884-1914, 1919-1939, and 1946-1984. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered The English national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. The Wales national football team represents Wales in international men's football. This article deals with the Irish Football Association team up to 1950 when it last picked players from outside Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international football.

Other sports which use the term "Home Nations" include boxing, cricket,^[4] curling,^[5] cycling,^[1] disabled sports,^[5] fencing, hockey, golf, mountaineering, rowing, rugby league, skiing, swimming and tennis. Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries Curling is a team Sport with similarities to Bowls and Shuffle board, played by two teams of four players each on a rectangular sheet of carefully prepared Cycling is the use of Bicycles or - less commonly - Unicycles Tricycles Quadricycles and other similar wheeled Human powered vehicles Disabled sports are sports played by persons with a Disability, including physical and Intellectual disabilities. Fencing is the art of armed Combat involving Cutting, Stabbing, or slapping bludgeoning Weapons directly manipulated by hand Field hockey is a Team sport in which players attempt to score goals by hitting the Ball across the pitch with a stick “Alpinist” redirects here See also Alpinist (magazine Mountaineering is the Sport, Hobby or Profession of GB coxless pair of Toby Garbett & Rick Dunn at Henley Royal Regatta 2004 History See also History of rugby league The grass roots of rugby league can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games Snow skiing is a group of sports utilizing Skis as primary equipment Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through Water, usually without artificial assistance Tennis is a sport played between two players ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles)

The term is also used to refer to the seven representative teams — England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey — from the British Islands that participate in the Commonwealth Games. The term British Islands is used in the law of the United Kingdom to refer collectively to the following four states the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern The Commonwealth Games is a multinational Multi-sport event. Held every four years it involves the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. ^[1]

See also

• Symbols of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
• British Isles (terminology)
• Constitutional status of Cornwall
• Home rule
• Home Counties - counties in or surrounding London
• Home Islands - the central Japanese islands
• Constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina

References