The British Isles are a group of islands of the northwest coast of continental Europe. The total area of this archipelago is 315,134 km2. Two largest islands of the British Isles — Great Britain and Ireland — constitute 95,6% of this area. The remaining islands, including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the Shetlands, the Anglesey, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, etc. occupy only 4,4% or 13,950 km2 of the overall territory of this archipelago. All in all the British Isles include over 1,000 islands, where only 51 have an area larger than 20 km2. Smaller islands that are also parts of England, Scotland and Wales are collectively known as Britain’s islands or the British islands (not isles).
