Officially the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
England is NOT the same as the UK! Most definitely not!
The name, Britain, is a reference to the land of the Brythonic speakers - I am one such person, as a Cornish speaker. The others are the Welsh. These are the true Britons.
Today, 'Britain' is a political construct consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales, as NIBiker said. However, there is one more significant area to include, that everybody forgets - the forgotten land with its forgotten people - Cornwall and the Cornish.
Because Cornwall has a Duke (i.e. Charles Windsor) who has the same powers, rights and privileges in Cornwall as his mother does in the rest of the UK, with the sole exception of Cornwall, Cornwall should really be recognised as a completely seperate territory within the UK. However, to do so would throw up a bizarre anomaly that Cornwall has a head of state who is not the Queen of England! So, rather than officially disclose such a royal anomaly, the state prefers to brush the Cornish question under the carpet, along with the extensive history of the Duchy of Cornwall's feudal exploitation of Cornish mineral assets which have provided a tidy profit for successive heirs to the throne. How were the great buildings of state purchased? How were several royal palaces constructed? etc, etc, etc Answer - with money obtained by feudal means from Cornwall.
Unfortunately, this issue is regarded by state authorities as so 'sensitive' that school children are not taught about such things in school. You Americans might find it quite bizarre that an issue of such great constitutional significance is regarded as a state secret.
The net result of all this brushing under the carpet is that most UK citizens (with the exception of many Scottish and Welsh) believe that Cornwall is just a 'county' of England. Well, I hope that the above few snippets will confirm that this is most certainly not the case!
