Which country is the smallest of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom?

Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom by area.

Northern Ireland covers about 14,130 square kilometres, less than Wales, Scotland or England. It occupies the northeastern part of the island of Ireland and shares its only land border with the Republic of Ireland.

The United Kingdom is a sovereign state made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This constitutional arrangement explains why Northern Ireland is commonly called a country within the UK, even though it is not an independent sovereign state.

A frequent mix-up is the Isle of Man, which is smaller but is not one of the United Kingdom’s constituent countries. The Isle of Man is a self-governing Crown Dependency and is separate from the UK.