Great Britain is an island off the northwest coast of continental Europe. It represents the majority of the territory of the United Kingdom. In its political sense, this toponym designates England, Wales and Scotland as well as most of the contiguous island territories excluding the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Located at the junction of the Atlantic and the North Sea, it is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea and from the continent by the English Channel. It is the largest and most populated island on the European continent.

The pound sterling, often abbreviated to pound, is the official monetary unit of the United Kingdom, the British Crown Dependencies, and the British Overseas Territories. However, several pounds sterling must be differentiated depending on the territory. It is symbolized by the ISO code GBP (Great Britain pound) and the symbol £, and is noted, in Anglo-Saxon countries, before the amount and not after: we therefore write locally “£7.50” and not £7.50 like in French.