How many islands make up the british isles and how many are inhabited?
The British Isles is an archipelago consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and many smaller surrounding islands. There are some problems associated with the use of this term and its definition. There are more than 6,000 islands, amounting to a total land area of 121,674 square miles (315,134 km²). Some sources include the Channel Isles in the British Isles although geographically they are an offshore French island group. The Faeroe Isles are geographically associated, but have never been under British rule and are not normally regarded as part of the British Isles. There is some dispute and disagreement over the term British Isles. The term is defined in dictionaries as “Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands”, however, the association of the term British with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as its association with the island of Great Britain cause the term to be regarded as objectionable or inappropriate to many people in Ireland when it is used
