There is usually a lot of confusion when finding out the difference between the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia. Gaining a clear understanding of the countries requires an individual to have a good knowledge on different issues such as political system of a country, geographical location as well as cultural practices that are valued.
In terms of the number of states, the UK has a total of four countries namely Northern Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. On the other hand, the United States of America comprises of 50 states. Australia has a total of six states namely Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and the New South Wales.
It is important to note that unlike in the USA and UK, Australia has other separate regions that are still part and parcel of the country. These are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
Another difference between thee three countries is based on power sharing. In the United Kingdom, power comes from a central source whereby each of the country is expected to respect the laws and regulations that unite them as a bloc. In the US, all the 50 states rely on power that comes from the United States’ federal government.
In the case of Australia, power comes from the Australian law that was adopted sometimes back to assist in running the country. The Australian law is categorized into three main groups namely the legislative power, judicial power and finally the executive power.
The three countries also have differences in other areas such as in the provision of education and healthcare services to their citizens.
In the United Kingdom, all the states are free to make their own decisions on the different ways and means of providing education and healthcare to their citizens. In Australia, all the states are tasked with the responsibility of managing education within their individual states. Thus, the states should be able to identify appropriate sources of funds to use in running various learning institutions.
However, the type of curriculum in a particular state may vary but the different areas of jurisdiction remain intact without any significant interference. In the United States, similar education is offered collectively in all the states in order to achieve equality and quality delivery of education.
The sporting activities also contribute significantly towards assessing the differences between these three countries. For example in the United Kingdom when there are international competitions like commonwealth games, Olympics and football matches, each country produces its own team instead of coming up with a strong national team selected from all the four individual countries.
Therefore, the teams from a given country are identified as home nations in these competitions. This is not the case with the USA or Australia. In these two countries, the team to participate in these events is constituted from all the states. This is advantageous in the sense that it easier to come up with a strong team that can represent the country well.
In conclusion, it is also imperative to note that a clear understanding on the differences between the UK, USA and Australia, it is also important for an individual to have more information concerning these countries. Such information may entail finding out the year when these countries formed their states.