British Islands in the context of "Sark"

The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) are fourteen territories that maintain a constitutional or historically recognised connection with the United Kingdom (UK) and constitute part of its sovereign territory, yet lie outside the British Islands. These territories are remnants of the former British Empire which remained under British sovereignty following decolonisation, albeit with varying constitutional statuses.

The permanently inhabited territories exercise varying degrees of internal self-governance, although the UK retains ultimate constitutional oversight, and authority over defence, foreign relations and internal security. While three of the territories are inhabited primarily by military or scientific personnel, the remainder host substantial civilian populations. All fourteen territories recognise the British monarch as head of state and oversight is primarily exercised by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The total land area of all the BOTs make up 18,015 km (6,956 sq mi), roughly the size of Fiji, which was itself a former British colony.

The British Isles are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland), and over six thousand smaller islands. They have a total area of 315,159 km (121,684 sq mi) and a combined population of almost 75 million, and include two sovereign states, the Republic of Ireland (which covers roughly five-sixths of Ireland) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands, off the north coast of France, are normally taken to be part of the British Isles, even though geographically they do not form part of the archipelago. Under the UK Interpretation Act 1978, the Channel Islands are clarified as forming part of the British Islands, not to be confused with the British Isles.

The oldest rocks are 2.7 billion years old and are found in Ireland, Wales and the north-west of Scotland. During the Silurian period, the north-western regions collided with the south-east, which had been part of a separate continental landmass. The topography of the islands is modest in scale by global standards. Ben Nevis, the highest mountain, rises to only 1,345 metres (4,413 ft), and Lough Neagh, which is notably larger than other lakes in the island group, covers 390 square kilometres (151 sq mi). The climate is temperate marine, with cool winters and warm summers. The North Atlantic drift brings significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for the latitude. This led to a landscape that was long dominated by temperate rainforest, although human activity has since cleared the vast majority of forest cover. The region was re-inhabited after the last glacial period of Quaternary glaciation, by 12,000 BC, when Great Britain was still part of a peninsula of the European continent. Ireland was connected to Great Britain by the British-Irish Ice Sheet before 14,000 BC, and was not inhabited until after 8000 BC. Great Britain became an island by 7000 BC with the flooding of Doggerland.

The primary legislation governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Its provisions apply to the British Islands (comprising the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), and the Crown dependencies, of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and the 14 British Overseas Territories.

The six classes of British nationality provide differing levels of civil and political rights, reflecting the United Kingdom's historical legacy as a colonial power. The primary form is British citizenship, which is linked to the British Islands and confers full rights. Those connected with a current overseas territory are classified as British Overseas Territories citizens (BOTCs), and since 2002, nearly all BOTCs, except those associated solely with Akrotiri and Dhekelia, have also held British citizenship. Other residual forms of British nationality generally linked to former colonies and now largely closed to new acquisition include the statuses of British Overseas citizen, British subject, British National (Overseas) and British protected person. These categories do not confer automatic right of abode in the United Kingdom and offer limited entitlements.