Protomartyr, I agree with you. I think the British Isles is 'that group of Islands of which Great Britiain is the largest', so it includes GB itself, the island of Ireland, Isles of Wight and Man, Channel Islands, Hebridies, Shetlands, Orkneys, Scilly Isles and countless other islands around the coasts of that grouping.

However, you could, reasonably correctly, describe this as the group of Islands around Great Britain over which the King had domain until partition of Ireland. Eire is the only part of the British Isles over which Elizabeth is not currently soverign.

dholloway:

"geoeconosociopolitical" Very nice. Mind if I use it? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

james,

One could ask the question: Did the Romans refer to the place as 'Insuli Britannus'? If so, the term pre-dates the Realm and thus has been in constant use for at lest two thousand years.

One could and I have no idea. I doubt they did in the modern sense as they didn't colonize Scotland (Caledonia) and thus missed all the northern islands, but that is just an impression. I was just thinking about it an a modern context. As I said above, in essence you are right because the term is geographical rather than political.

[This message has been edited by james (edited 08-07-2000).]

PS the Romans certainly separated different parts of the British Isles - Britannia, Caledonia, Hibernia, etc.

[This message has been edited by james (edited 08-07-2000).]

IMO you are in a country when you "clear" customs and immigration. At all other times prior to that "event" occuring you are "in bond" and technically in a "no man's land" according to my US friend who works at the INS here in YYC.

[This message has been edited by Carioca Canuck (edited 08-07-2000).]

I believe the answer is yes to all of your 5 cases. I believe a couple replies clearly represent cases where the answer would be no, but not yours.

President C might suggest you were not in, but only to, but let us not follow that issue.

The question is why is this important? I went to Yale, only to say hello to someone I knew. Does this mean I went to Yale...sure, but only to say hello, not to attend classes. Because of this the question is poorly phrased if you wish to have a meaningful answer.

Answer to all. WHEN you clear customs and leave then airport precinct IMHO.

In Australia for instance all airports are controlled by the FAC. The cops who nab you for any offence WITHIN an airport are the Australian Federal Police. Get booked for speeding 100 yards outside an airport, and they are STATE Police.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif ranles!

isn’t there one called 100 countries club?
to prove one has been to 100 countries, one has to have immigration stamps on one’s passport from each country...

while travelling in europe by train, i eagerly awaited (and made sure) the immigration officers that came on board at the borders to stamp my passport.... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

so i guess if you get stamped by the immigration, that means you are IN...

Stamps are not worth too much IMHO. I've been to far too many countries without them - particularly arriving by boat, car, train or even just late- and yet each time at NRT I would need to be stamped to go to the NWA or Silver Kris lounge to meet someone during a 5 hr layover.

Besides, I don't think you need proof! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif And I don't know if the club is worth it either! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I'm more than eligible and 've never joined! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Nor has anyone I know! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

[quibble]Slightly inaccurate on Tahiti. French Polynesia (of which Papeete, Tahiti is the capital) is a territoire d'outre-mer and not part of "metropolitan France" (which includes only l'Hexagone. This is technically a lower status than a département d'outre-mer (which refers to French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion) or a collectivité territoriale (St. Pierre et Miquelon and Mayotte).[/quibble]

However, even given that status, French Polynesia is entitled to one senator and two deputies. Therefore, on balance, if you've been there, you've been to France IMO.

Fascinating Silverpie - thnaks! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

DOM-TOM or not DOM-TOM, that is the question. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

Thanks for the clarification, silverpie.

I recall the club for 100 countries is called the Century Club. Based in USA.

A client of mine in MEL,called Arthur J who all his life was an avid traveller wanted to join a few years ago.

He filled out his stuff and sent it in. His "tally" was over 200 different countries visited.

He got a polite sort of letter back saying "you must be mistaken Sir, as even our most travelled member only has 180 countries to his credit".

Mr J simply posted them Regisitered mail, a fist full of used up passports. He instantly became their most travelled member!!

He told me some members claimed all kinds of bizarre "countries" to their credit like Tasmania!

http://www.travelerscenturyclub.org/
The rules of the travelers century club are that even if you only change planes in an airport that counts.
I believe that they allow associate membership at 75 countries.
So far I'm at 80 by their count.

They count as separate countries areas that are geographically or ethnographically separate from the mother country. They also bundle some of the Carribbean islands together.


[This message has been edited by erdoc (edited 08-07-2000).]

Well, since nations are the creations of law, the answer lies in legality.

The sovereignty of a nation extends iusque ad coelum, iusque ad inferos (unto heaven and unto hell), in other words, all the way up in the sky, and all the way down in the earth.

Technically speaking, you are 'in' a country as soon as you enter the airspace of a nation's 12 mile limit, you are legally within the jurisdiction of that sovereign government. Since the country can legally stop you at that point, that is the point at which you become the subject of their sovereignty.

However, the status of a commercial aircraft is affected by International Convention whereby signatory states have abrogated their sovereignty. Accordingly, until the aircraft actually lands, the passengers and crew are subject to the jurisdiction of the country of registration of the aircraft.

However, once you are on the ground, you are most definitely in the country concerned.

As for the 'embassy front yards' suggestion, foreign missions, be they embassies, permanent missions or consulates are not, and never have been the territory of the Sending State. They are, however, immune from the jurisdiction of the Receiving State, which renders them inviolable. This does not serve to annex the territory.

Leaving aside decolonialization and secession, in my recollection there have been only three examples of countries annexing their own territory to another jurisdiction:

1. Italy ceded the Vatican City to the Holy See by the Lateran Treaty.

2. The United States ceded the land for the United Nations Headquarters to the UNO.

Anybody know what the third example was? (Hints: It happened between these two events, it involved a considerably smaller piece of territory, and though it was very temporary it is still commemorated to this day.)