The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with a population of over 69 million in 2024. It covers 94,354 square miles (244,376 km2). The capital and largest city of England and the UK is London; Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Formed in 1707 from the union of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, and England's satellites Wales and Ireland, the country was originally called the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1800 the name was changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. That was the current status during the lifetime of American author L. Frank Baum. In 1922, the UK recognised the Irish Free State as an autonomous identity, resulting in the truncation of the UK.
As the majority of the UK's land and population are located in England, the terms United Kingdom, Britain, and England are sometimes used interchangeably.
Some of Baum's non-Oz writings are set in England or use otherwise England as an important plot point. E.g., The Master Key.
Ruth Plumly Thompson modeled many of her small kingdoms within the Land of Oz on an idealised fantasy version of English history, popularised by the stories of King Arthur. The real King Arthur, assuming there was one, lived in Roman-Celtic Britain before the development of the English nationality and language, but was spread to popular literature by English poets who relocated him to their own time.
Other Thompson small kingdoms are based on a romantic view of Scotland.
Thompson's early stories of the Ozian knight Sir Hokus of Pokes imply that he is an immigrant from England, but ultimately she decided not to use this origin story.
In Jack Snow's The Magical Mimics in Oz, some of the flowers in Story Blossom Garden have "Scottish" mannerisms.
Eloise Jarvis McGraw was an author of historical fiction set in England. Like Thompson, she based many of her Ozian characters and settings on English history.
Some Oz movies, including Return to Oz (1985), were filmed in England.