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Though I think a British citizen probably could give the right
answer I'll try to give an answer from the sources available to
me.
 
"United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern ireland"
 
'Great Britain' is the geographical name of that island of the
British Isles which comprises England, Scotland and Wales (so
called to distinguish it from 'Little Britain' or Brittany). By
the act of Union, 1801, Great Britain and Ireland formed a
legilative union as the United Kingdom of Grat Britain and
Ireland. Since the separation of Great Britain and Ireland in
1921 Northern Ireland remained within the Union which is now the
United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Northern Ireland. THE United
Kingdom (UK) does not include the Channel Islands or the Isle of
Man which are direct dependencies of the Crown with their own
legislaive and taxation systems. England and Wales form an
administrative entity, with some special arrangements for Wales.
 
Local government: There are two separate systems, one for England
and Wales and one for Sotland ...
 
Source: The stateman's year-book : statistical and historical
annual of the states of the world for the year 1991-1992 / ed. by
Brian Hunter. - 128th ed. - [London] : M[acmillan Press, 1991].
 
Though England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may send
separate teams to UEFA, FIFA (both soccer) and rugby tournaments
I think this is not because they are seen as independent states
but because the British have a bias as inventors of these games.
No other sources support the fact that these countries
internationally may be recognized as political independent
entities, though for historical reasons they are (partly)
independent entities within British political reality.
 
I hope the British can solve this riddle. Though we use these
four as separate entities in our regional classification the
reasons for this special handling are obscure. I would certainly
like to know what the truth is!
 
Jan Smits
Mapcurator Royal Library, National Library of The Netherlands
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