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| Mar 30 2007, 9:22 AM EDT (current) | wahaby300 | 10778 words added, 85 photos added |
| Mar 30 2007, 9:20 AM EDT | wahaby300 |
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| Motto: Dieu et mon droit (French for "God and my right") | ||||
| Anthem: God Save the King/Queen | ||||
 | ||||
| Capital | London (de facto) | |||
| Largestcity | London 51°30.4167′N 0°7.65′W | |||
| Officiallanguage(s) | English (de facto) | |||
| Unification | ||||
| - by Athelstan | AD 927 | |||
| Area | ||||
| - Total | 130,395km²(1st in UK) | |||
| 50,346sqmi | ||||
| Population | ||||
| - 2006 est. | 50,690,000 1(1st in UK) | |||
| - 2001 census | 49,138,831 2 | |||
| - Density | 388.7/km²(1st in UK) 976/sqmi | |||
| GDP (PPP) | 2006 | |||
| - Total | $ 1.8 trillion IMF 2006 | |||
| - Per capita | $ 35,300 IMF 2006 | |||
| Currency | Pound sterling (GBP) | |||
| HDI (2006) |  0.940 high (18th) 3 | |||
| Time zone | GMT (UTC0) | |||
| - Summer(DST) | BST (UTC+1) | |||
| Internet TLD | .uk4 | |||
| Calling code | +44 | |||
| Patron Saint | St. George | |||
| 1Office for National Statistics - UK population grows to more than 60 million 2Office for National Statistics - 2001 census Population profile - England. 3Figures for the UK 4ISO 3166-1 is GB, but .gb is unused. |
[edit] Etymology
See also: List of meanings of countries' names England is named after the Angles (Old English genitive case, "Engla" — hence, Old English "Engla Land"), the largest of a number of Germanic tribes who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries, who are believed to have originated in the peninsula of Angeln, in modern-day northern Germany. Their name has had a variety of different spellings. The earliest known reference to these people is under the name Anglii by Tacitus in chapter 40 of his Germania,[8] written around 98. He gives no precise indication of their geographical position within Germania, but states that, together with six other tribes, they worshipped a goddess named Nerthus, whose sanctuary was situated on "an island in the Ocean." The terms Angelfolc, Anglorum and Anglis were all used by Bede in Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) when referring to England and the English people.[9] The origin of the word itself is uncertain. It may come directly from the Germanic god Ingwaz or Ingui,[10] and the Ingvaeones federation of which the Angles were part.[edit] History
[edit] Prehistoric Britain
[edit] Roman conquest of Britain
By AD 43, the time of the main Roman invasion of Britain, Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Like other regions on the edge of the empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans and their economic and cultural influence was a significant part of the British late pre-Roman Iron Age, especially in the south.[edit] Anglo-Saxon England
Further information: Anglo-Saxon conquest of England The History of Anglo-Saxon England covers the history of early mediaeval England from the end of Roman Britain and the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Conquest by the Normans in 1066. Fragmentary knowledge of Anglo-Saxon England in the 5th and 6th centuries comes from the British writer Gildas (6th century) the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (a history of the English people begun in the 9th century), saints' lives, poetry, archaeological findings, and place-name studies. The dominant themes of the 7th to 10th centuries were the spread of Christianity and the political unification of England. Christianity is thought to have come from three directions — Rome from the south and Scotland and Ireland to the north and west. Heptarchy is a term used to refer to the existence (as believed) of the seven petty kingdoms which eventually merged to become the Kingdom of England during the early 10th century. These included Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms tended to coalesce by means of warfare. As early as the time of Ethelbert of Kent, one king could be recognised as Bretwalda, or "Lord of Britain". Generally speaking, the title fell in the 7th century to the kings of Northumbria, in the 8th to those of Mercia, and finally, in the 9th, to Egbert of Wessex, who in 825 defeated the Mercians at Ellendun. In the next century his family came to rule all England.
[edit] Kingdom of England
Originally, England (or Angleland) was a geographical term to describe the territory of Britain which was occupied by the Anglo-Saxons, rather than a name of an individual nation state. The Kingdom of England was not founded until the separate petty kingdoms were unified under Alfred the Great King of Wessex, who later proclaimed himself King of the English after liberating London from the Danes in 886. For the next few hundred years, the Kingdom of England would fall in and out of power between several West-Saxon and Danish kings. For over half a century, the unified Kingdom of England became part of a vast Danish empire under Cnut, before regaining independence for a short period under the restored West-Saxon lineage of Edward the Confessor. The Kingdom of England continued to exist as an independent nation-state right through to the Acts of Union and the Union of Crowns. However the political ties and direction of England were changed forever by the Norman conquest in 1066.
[edit] Norman conquest
The Norman conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. It is an important watershed in English history for a number of reasons. The conquest linked England more closely with Continental Europe and lessened Scandinavian influence. The success of the conquest established one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe, created the most sophisticated governmental system in Europe, changed the English language and culture, and set the stage for English-French conflict that would last into the 19th century. The events of the conquest also paved the way for a pivotal historical document to be produced - the Domesday Book. The Domesday Book was the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William the Conqueror. The survey was similar to a census by a government of today and is England's earliest surviving public records document. The Norman conquest, to this day, remains the last successful military conquest of England.
[edit] Medieval England
The next few hundred years saw England as an important part of expanding and dwindling empires based in France, with the "King of England" being a subsidiary title of a succession of French-speaking Dukes of territories in what is now France. Only when English kings realised that their losses in France meant that England was now their richest and most important possession did they accept the same "nationality" and language as their subjects in England. They used England as a source of troops to enlarge their personal holdings in France for many years (Hundred Years' War); in fact the English crown did not relinquish its last foothold on mainland France until Calais was lost during the reign of Mary Tudor (the Channel Islands are still crown dependencies, though not part of the UK). The Principality of Wales, under the control of English monarchs from the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284, became part of the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542. Wales shared a legal identity with England as the joint entity originally called England and later England and Wales. [edit] Reformation The English Reformation was the process whereby the external authority of the Roman Catholic Church in England was abolished and replaced with Royal Supremacy and the establishment of a Church of England outside the Roman Catholic Church and under the Supreme Governance of the English monarch. The English Reformation differed from its other European counterparts in that it was more of a political than a theological dispute which was at the root of it.[12] The break with Rome started in the reign of Henry VIII. The English Reformation ultimately paved the way for the spread of Anglicanism in the church and other institutions.
[edit] English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651. The first (1642–1645) and second (1648–1649) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war of (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son Charles II and the replacement of the English monarchy with the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653) and then with a Protectorate (1653–1659): the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell. The monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England came to an end, and the victors consolidated the already-established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Constitutionally, the wars established a precedent that British monarchs could not govern without the consent of Parliament although this would not be cemented until the Glorious Revolution later in the century. Charles II was the restored House of Stuart King of England in 1660, shortly after Cromwell's death.[edit] Great Britain and the United Kingdom
When the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland merged to form the unified Kingdom of Great Britain under the Acts of Union in 1707, both England and Scotland lost their individual political, though not legal, identities. This union has subsequently changed its name twice: firstly on the merger with the Kingdom of Ireland following the Act of Union in 1800 creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, and then following the secession from the union of the Irish Free State under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Throughout these changes, England retained a separate legal identity from its partners, with a separate legal system (English law) from those in Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland law) and Scotland (Scots law), and eventually the strong feelings of the Welsh were acknowledged when it was decided that the name would henceforth be "England and Wales".[edit] Politics
There has not been a Government of England since 1707 when the Kingdom of England merged with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, although both kingdoms had been ruled by a single monarch since 1603 under James I. Prior to the Acts of Union 1707, England was ruled by a monarch and the Parliament of England. The Scottish and Welsh governing institutions were created by the UK parliament along with strong support from the majority of people of Scotland and Wales, and are not independent of the rest of Britain. However, this gave each country a separate and distinct political identity, leaving England (83% of the UK population) as the only part of Britain directly ruled in nearly all matters by the British government in London. In Cornwall, a region of England claiming a distinct national identity, there has been a campaign for a Cornish assembly along Welsh lines by nationalist parties such as Mebyon Kernow. Regarding parliamentary matters, a long-standing anomaly called the West Lothian question has come to the fore. Before Scottish devolution, purely-Scottish matters were debated at Westminster, but subject to a convention that only Scottish MPs could vote on them. The "Question" was that there was no "reverse" convention: Scottish MPs could and did vote on issues relating only to England and Wales. Welsh devolution has removed the anomaly for Wales, but not for England: Scottish and Welsh MPs can vote on English issues, but Scottish and Welsh issues are not debated at Westminster at all. This problem is exacerbated by an over-representation of Scottish MPs in the government, sometimes referred to as the Scottish mafia; as of September 2006, seven of the twenty-three Cabinet members are Scottish, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Defence Secretary. In terms of national administration, England's affairs are managed by a combination of the UK government, the UK parliament, a number of England-specific quangos, such as English Heritage, and the mostly unelected Regional Assemblies (a kind of nascent executive for each English Region). There are calls for a devolved English Parliament, and some English people and parties go further by calling for the dissolution of the Union entirely. However, the approach favoured by the current Labour government was (on the basis that England is too large to be governed as a single sub-state entity) to propose the devolution of power to the Regions of England. Lord Falconer claimed a devolved English parliament would dwarf the rest of the United Kingdom.[13] Referendums would decide whether people wanted to vote for directly-elected regional assemblies to watch over the work of the non-elected Regional Development Agencies. During the campaign, a common criticism of the proposals was that England did not need "another tier of bureaucracy".[14] On the other hand, many said that they were not decentralising enough, and amounted not to devolution, but to little more than local government reorganisation, with no real power being removed from central government, and no real power given to the regions, which would not even gain the limited powers of the Welsh Assembly, much less the tax-varying and legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament (but Welsh powers are now being expanded). They said that power was simply re-allocated within the region, with little new resource allocation and no real prospects of Assemblies being able to change the pattern of regional aid. Late in the process, responsibility for regional transport was added to the proposals. This was perhaps crucial in the North East, where resentment at the Barnett Formula, which delivers greater regional aid to adjacent Scotland, was a significant impetus for the North East devolution campaign. However, a referendum on this issue in North East England on 4 November 2004 rejected this proposal, and plans for referendums in other Regions (such as Yorkshire) were shelved.
[edit] Subdivisions
[edit] Geography
[edit] Climate
England has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round, though the seasons are quite variable in temperature. However, temperatures rarely fall below −5 °C (23 °F) or rise above 30 °C (86 °F). The prevailing wind is from the southwest, bringing mild and wet weather to England regularly from the Atlantic Ocean. It is driest in the east and warmest in the south, which is closest to the European mainland. Snowfall can occur in Winter and early Spring, though it is not that common away from high ground. The highest temperature ever recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on August 10, 2003 at Brogdale, near Faversham, in Kent.[15] The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on January 10, 1982 at Edgmond, near Newport, in Shropshire.[16][edit] Major rivers
[edit] Major conurbations
The largest cities in England are much debated but according to the urban area populations (continuous built up areas) these would be the fifteen largest conurbations. (Population figures taken from 2001 census)
- Greater London Urban Area - 8,278,251
- West Midlands conurbation - 2,284,093
- Greater Manchester Urban Area - 2,240,230
- West Yorkshire Urban Area - 1,499,465
- Tyneside - 879,996
- Liverpool Urban Area - 816,216
- Nottingham City Area - 666,358
- Sheffield Urban Area - 640,720
- Greater Bristol - 551,066
- Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton - 461,181
- Portsmouth Urban Area - 442,252
- Leicester Urban Area - 441,213
- Bournemouth Urban Area - 383,713
- Reading/Wokingham Urban Area - 369,804
- Teesside - 365,323
[edit] Economics
[edit] Demographics
England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse nation in the United Kingdom with 50,431,700 inhabitants, or 84% of the UK's total.[24] England has the 4th largest population in the European Union and 25th largest in the world country by population if it were a sovereign state. The country's population is 'ageing', with a declining percentage of the population under age 16 and a rising one of over 65. Population continues to rise and in every year since 1901, with the exception of 1976, there have been more births than deaths.[25] England is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, with 383 people per square kilometre (992/sqmi),[26] making it second only to the Netherlands. There is a debate over the extent to which the population of England (and indeed that of Britain as a whole) is composed of long-standing indigenous stock or descended from various groups of settlers and immigrants who have arrived over millennia. The Cheddar Man has been cited as demonstrating that a substantial proportion of the present day population may be descended from groups that populated the island in prehistory (The Times, 8 March 1997). The often given view of English ethnicity is that it is a mixed one with large influences from various waves of Celtic, Norse, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norman invasions. The economic prosperity of England has also made it a destination for economic migrants from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This was particularly true during the Industrial Revolution.[edit] Culture
England has a vast culture that encompasses elements both old and new. The modern culture of England is sometimes difficult to identify and separate clearly from the culture of the wider United Kingdom, so intertwined are its composite nations. However, the traditional and historic culture of England is more clearly defined. English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artifacts and environments of England. The English have played a significant role in the development of the arts and sciences.[edit] Architecture
See also: Category:English architectsand Architecture of the United Kingdom England has played a big part in the advancement of architecture, boasting some of the finest buildings and architecture in the world. England is home to some of the finest mediaeval castles and forts in the world (see Castles in England), including Warwick Castle, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle (the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, it is the oldest in continuous occupation). It also has some of the most distinguished country houses and historic homes in the world (see List of historic houses in England). English architects have devised a number of styles over the centuries, including Tudor architecture, English Baroque, the Georgian style and Victorian architecture. Two of the best known contemporary English architects are Norman Foster, designer of 30 St Mary Axe (the Gherkin); and Richard Rogers, designer of the Lloyd's Building.
[edit] Art
England is home to the National Gallery, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St. Ives, and the Tate Modern. Significant figures in English art include William Blake, William Hogarth, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable in the 18th and early 19th centuries, through to the influential William Morris in the late 19th, to L. S. Lowry, Henry Moore and Francis Bacon during the 20th century, and names such as David Hockney and Damien Hirst in the present day.[edit] Cuisine
Dishes originating in or associated with England include:- Bangers and mash
- Cornish pasty
- Fish and chips
- Full English breakfast
- Jellied eels
- Lancashire hotpot
- Mince pies
- Pie and mash
- Pork pie
- Shepherd's pie
- Spotted Dick
- Steak and kidney pie
- Sunday roast
- Toad in the hole
- Yorkshire pudding
[edit] Engineering and innovation
See also: Category:English inventorsand Category:English inventions As birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, England was home to many significant inventors during the late 18th and early 19th century. Famous English engineers include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges. Recent English inventors include James Dyson, inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner. Other notable figures in the fields of engineering and innovation include:- Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the world wide web)
- James Blundell (performed the first blood transfusion)
- Edwin Beard Budding (Inventor of the lawnmower)
- George Cayley (inventor of the seat belt)
- Thomas Fowler (inventor of the thermosiphon)
- Stephen Perry (inventor of the rubber band)
- E. Purnell Hooley (Inventor of tarmac)
- Joseph Swan (developer of the light bulb)
- Percy Shaw (inventor of the Cat's eye road safety device)
- Richard Trevithick (builder of the earliest steam locomotive)
- Frank Whittle (inventor of the jet engine)
[edit] Folklore
English folklore is rich and diverse. Many of the land's oldest legends share themes and sources with the Celtic/Gaelic folklore of Wales, Scotland and Ireland, a typical example being the legend of Herne the Hunter, which shares many similarities with the traditional Welsh legend of Gwyn ap Nudd. Successive waves of pre-Norman invaders and settlers, from the Romans onwards, via Saxons, Jutes, Angles, Norse to the Norman Conquest have all influenced the myth and legend of England. Some tales, such as that of The Lambton Wyrm show a distinct Norse influence, whilst others, particularly some of the events and characters associated with the Arthurian legends show a distinct romano-gaulic slant.[27] The most famous body of English folktales concerns the legends of King Arthur, although it would be wrong to regard these stories as purely English in origin as they also concern Wales and, to a lesser extent, Ireland and Scotland. They should therefore be considered as part of the folklore of the British Isles as a whole. Post-Norman stories include the tales of Robin Hood, which exists in many forms, and stories of other folk heroes such as Hereward The Wake and Dunn of Cumbria who, although being based on historical characters, have grown to become legends in their own right. Finally, other historical figures come to have legends associated with them (such as Sir Francis Drake and 'Drake's Drum'). These figures then move out of the realm of historical fact and into the realm of mythology.
[edit] Literature
The English language boasts a rich and prominent literary heritage. England has produced a wealth of significant literary figures including playwrights William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Webster, as well as writers Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, William Makepeace Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelly, HG Wells, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, DH Lawrence, EM Forster, Virginia Woolf, George Orwell and Harold Pinter. Others, such as Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton and J.K. Rowling have been among the best-selling novelists of the last century. Among the poets, Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sydney, Thomas Kyd, John Donne, Andrew Marvell, Alexander Pope, Lord Byron, John Keats, John Milton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and many others remain read and studied around the world. Among men of letters, Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt and George Orwell are some of the most famous. England continues to produce writers working in all branches of literature, and in a wide range of styles; contemporary English literary writers attracting international attention include Martin Amis, Julian Barnes and Zadie Smith.[edit] Music
Composers from England have often not achieved recognition as broad as that earned by their literary counterparts, and particularly during the nineteenth century were overshadowed in international reputation by other European composers; however, many works of earlier composers such as Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, and Henry Purcell are still frequently performed today, and a revival of England's musical status began during the twentieth century with the prominence of composers such as Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, William Walton, Eric Coates, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten. In popular music, English bands and solo artists have been cited as among the most influential and best-selling musicians of all time. Acts such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Coldplay, Oasis and Sir Elton John are amongst the biggest selling in the world. England is also credited with being the birthplace of many pop-culture movements such as glam rock, drum and bass, grindcore, progressive rock, punk, shoegazing, acid house and garage.
[edit] Science and philosophy
See also: Category:English scientistsand Category:English philosophers Prominent English figures from the field of science and mathematics include Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Christopher Wren, Alan Turing, Francis Crick, and Andrew Wiles. England played an important role in the development of Western philosophy, particularly during the Enlightenment. Jeremy Bentham, leader of the Philosophical Radicals, and his school are recognised as the men who unknowingly laid down the doctrines for Socialism.[31] Bentham's impact on English law is also considerable. Aside from Bentham, major English philosophers include Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Bernard Williams and Bertrand Russell.[edit] Sport
[edit] Language
[edit] English language
As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue today (although not officially designated as such). An Indo-European language in the Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it is closely related to Scots and Frisian. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged into England, "Old English" emerged; some of its literature and poetry has survived. Used by aristocracy and commoners alike before the Norman Conquest (1066), English was displaced in cultured contexts under the new regime by the Norman French language of the new Anglo-Norman aristocracy. Its use was confined primarily to the lower social classes while official business was conducted in a mixture of Latin and French. Over the following centuries, however, English gradually came back into fashion among all classes and for all official business except certain traditional ceremonies, some of which survive to this day. But Middle English, as it had by now become, showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins; and more recent years, Modern English has extended this custom, being always remarkable for its far-flung willingness to incorporate foreign-influenced words. It is most commonly accepted that because of the legacy and impact of the British Empire, the English language is now the world's unofficial lingua franca, while English common law is also the foundation of legal systems throughout the English-speaking countries of the world.
[edit] Additional languages
UK legislation does not recognise any language as being official,[32] but English is the only language used in England for general official business. The other national languages of the UK (Welsh, Irish, Scots and Scottish Gaelic) are confined to their respective nations, except Welsh to some degree, and only Welsh is treated by law as an equal to English (and then only for organisations which do business in Wales). The only non-Anglic native spoken language in England is the Cornish language, a Celtic language spoken in Cornwall, which became extinct in the nineteenth century but has been revived and is spoken in various degrees of fluency, currently by around 2000 people.[33] This has no official status (unlike Welsh) and is not required for official use, but is nonetheless supported by national and local government under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Cornwall County Council has produced a draft strategy to develop these plans. There is, however, no programme as yet for public bodies to actively promote the language. Scots is spoken by some adjacent to the Anglo-Scottish Border, and Welsh is still spoken by some natives around Oswestry, Shropshire, on the Welsh border. Most deaf people within England speak British sign language (BSL), a sign language native to Britain. The British Deaf Association estimates that 250,000 people throughout the UK speak BSL as their first or preferred language,[34] but does not give statistics specific to England. Neither Cornish nor BSL are official languages of the UK and most British government departments and hospitals have limited facilities for deaf people. The BBC broadcasts several of its programmes with BSL interpreters. Different languages from around the world, especially from the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, have been brought to England by immigrants. Many of these are widely spoken within ethnic minority communities, with Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Greek, Turkish and Cantonese being the most common languages that people living in Britain consider their first language. These are often used by official bodies to communicate with the relevant sections of the community, particularly in big cities, but this occurs on an "as needed" basis rather than as the result of specific legislative ordinances. Other languages have also traditionally been spoken by minority populations in England, including Romany. Despite the relatively small size of the nation, there are a many distinct English regional accents. Those with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood elsewhere in the country. Use of foreign non-standard varieties of English (such as Caribbean English) is also increasingly widespread, mainly because of the effects of immigration and post-colonialism.[edit] Religion
Due to immigration in the past decades, there is an enormous diversity of religious belief in England, as well as a growing percentage who have no religious affiliation. Levels of attendance in various denominations have begun to decline. The percentages of religion as of 2001 are as follows: Christianity: 71.7%, Islam: 3.1%, Hindu: 1.1%, Sikh: 0.7%, Jewish: 0.5%, and Buddhist: 0.3%. Those who declined to answer as well as those with no faith totalled 22.3%.[1][edit] Christianity
[edit] Other religions
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, immigration from South Asia and the Middle East has resulted in a considerable growth in Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism in England. Cities and towns with large Muslim communities include Birmingham, Blackburn, Bolton, Bradford, Leicester, London, Luton, Manchester and Oldham. The Jewish community in England is mainly located in the Greater London area, particularly the north west suburbs such as Golders Green.[edit] Education
The education system in England is run by the Department for Education and Skills, or DfES. The education is split into several types; Private schools provide a paid for education on top of taxes, and are also known as Public or Independent schools, and State schools, funded through taxes. Education is the responsibility of Department for Education and Skills at national level and, in the case of publicly funded compulsory education, of Local Education Authorities. The education structures for Wales and Northern Ireland are broadly similar to the English system, but there are significant differences of emphasis in the depth and breadth of teaching objectives in Scotland. Traditionally the English system emphasises depth of education, whereas the Scottish system emphasises breadth. Significant universities which educate students from all over the world including Oxford University and Cambridge University. See also: List of universities in England
[edit] Transport
BAA Limited runs many of England's airports, its flagship being London Heathrow Airport, the largest airport by traffic volume in Europe and one of the world's busiest airports, and London Gatwick Airport, the second largest. The third largest is Manchester Airport. This is run by Manchester Airport Group, which also owns various other airports. Other major airports include London Stansted Airport in Essex, about thirty miles (50km) north of London and Birmingham International Airport, in Birmingham. The growth in private car ownership in the latter half of the twentieth century led to a number of major road-building programmes. Important trunk roads built include the A1 Great North Road from London to Newcastle and Edinburgh, and the A580 road between Liverpool and Manchester. The Preston Bypass was the first section of motorway and opened in 1958 - it now forms part of the M6 motorway, the country's longest motorway running from Rugby through North West England to the Scottish border. Other major roads include the M1 motorway from London to Leeds up the East of the country, the M25 motorway which encircles London, the M4 motorway from London to South Wales, the M62 motorway from Liverpool to Manchester and Yorkshire, and the M5 motorway from Birmingham to Bristol and the South West. The National Rail network of 10,072 route miles (16,116 route km) in Great Britain, of which the majority is in England. Urban rail networks are also well developed in London and several other cities, including the Manchester Metro and the London Underground. The London Underground is the oldest and most extensive underground railway in the world, and as of 2007 consists of 253 miles (407 kilometres) of line[35] and serves 275 stations.[36] There are around 4,400 miles of navigable waterways in England, of which roughly half is owned by British Waterways. It is estimated that 165 million journeys are made by people on Britain's waterways annually. The Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at Tilbury, one of the three major ports in the UK. Ports in the UK handled over 560 million tonnes of domestic and international freight in 2005.[37] The government department overseeing transport is the Department for Transport.
[edit] English people
As an ethnic group, the English trace their heritage to the Romano-Britons,[38] Anglo-Saxons,[39] the Danish-Vikings[40] that formed the Danelaw during the time of Alfred the Great and the Normans.[41][42] Regardless of ethnic connotations, the simplest view is that an English person is someone who is from England and holds British nationality, regardless of his or her racial origin. It has, however, been a notoriously complicated, emotive and controversial identity to delimit. Centuries of English dominance within the United Kingdom has created a situation where to be English is, as a linguist would put it, an "unmarked" state. The English frequently include their neighbours in the wider term of "British", while the Scots and Welsh tend to be more forward about referring to themselves by one of those more specific terms.[citation needed] This reflects a more subtle form of English-specific patriotism in England; St George's Day, the country's national day, is barely celebrated.[43] It is believed by some historians that the 'natural culture' of England contains the legacies of Brythonic tribes of Celts and Anglo-Saxons that appeared in waves of gradual migration.[citation needed] It also is seen as being influenced by the Scandinavian legends such as Beowulf, and by the Norman Conquest.[citation needed] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a common early location for English identity.[citation needed] The Scandinavian influences of the Normans are also hotly disputed as the Norse occupants of Normandy spent three to five generations in (Post Roman Frankia) France before advancing to England.[citation needed] Due to the inefficiency in determining the German population of England, which was greatly diminished by William the Conqueror, exactly how many of the Normans took "Celtic" wives preceding this invasion is unknown, and the issue may very well be unsolvable. Modern celebration of English identity is often found around its sports, one field in which the British Home Nations often compete individually. The English Association football team, Rugby Union team and Cricket team often cause increases in the popularity of celebrating Englishness. According to research and the analysis of names in Britain in 2006, the town of Ripley in Derbyshire has the highest proportion of people of ethnic-English origin.[44] The analysis put 42.2 million adult voters in mainland Britain into 200 ethnic groups, based on both given names and surnames. Of Ripley's inhabitants, 88.5% have an English-ethnic background. Heanor, also in Derbyshire, was in second place, followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, and Boston, Lincolnshire.[edit] Nomenclature
The country is named after the Angles, one of several Germanic tribes who settled the country in the 5th and 6th centuries. There are two distinct linguistic patterns for the name of the country. The majority of European languages use names similar to "England":
| The Celtic names are quite different:
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- the slang "Blighty", from the Hindustani "bila yati" meaning "foreign" (which coincidentally resembles "Britain")
- "Albion", an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century. Supposedly referring to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover, this term has also been interpreted as a relative of Alba, today the Scots Gaelic name for Scotland. Whatever its origins, "Albion" originally referred to the whole island of Great Britain and is still sometimes seen that way today— but is more often used for England.
- More poetically, England has been called "this sceptred isle...this other Eden" and "this green and pleasant land", quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in Richard II) and William Blake (And did those feet in ancient time).
[edit] National symbols and insignia
[edit] St George's Cross
The St George's Cross is a red cross on a white background. It is the official national flag of England. In the past it was rarely seen flying, but in recent times has experienced an increase in popularity. It is believed to have been adopted for the uniform of English soldiers during the Crusades of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From about 1277 it officially became the national flag of England. St George's Cross was originally the flag of Genoa and was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the powerful Genoese fleet. The maritime Republic of Genoa was rising and going to become, together with its rival Venice, one of the most important powers in the world. The English Monarch paid an annual tribute to the Doge of Genoa for this privilege. The cross of St George would become the official Flag of England. A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with St George and England, along with other countries and cities (such as Georgia, Milan and the Republic of Genoa), which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. It remained in national use until 1707, when the Union Jack (more properly known as the Union Flag, except when used at sea) which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606, was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag. The flag of England no longer has much of an official role, but it is widely flown by Church of England properties and at sporting events. The Flag of St. George has gained popularity in recent years, and is widely seen flown out of houses, or on cars during important sporting tournaments in which England is competing. (Paradoxically, the latter is a fairly recent development; until the late 20th century, it was commonplace for fans of English teams to wave the Union Flag, rather than the St George's Cross).[edit] Three Lions
[edit] Rose
The Tudor rose is the national floral emblem of England, and was adopted as a national emblem of England around the time of the Wars of the Roses.[46] The rose is used in a variety of contexts in its use for England's representation. Technically, the rose of England should always be a Tudor, or half-red-half-white rose,[47] symbolising the end of both the Wars of the Roses and the subsequent marriage between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. This symbolism is reflected in the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom and the crest of the FA. However, the rose of England is often displayed as a red rose (which also symbolises Lancashire), such as the badge of the England national rugby union team. A white rose (which also symbolises Yorkshire) is also used on different occasions.
[edit] National anthem
England does not have an official designated national anthem, as the United Kingdom as a whole has "God Save The Queen" as its national anthem. The following though are widely regarded as unofficial English national hymns:- "I Vow to Thee, My Country": words by Cecil Spring-Rice, music by Gustav Holst
- "Land of Hope and Glory": words by A C Benson, music by Edward Elgar (although this refers to all of the United Kingdom, not only England)
- "Nimrod": music by Edward Elgar
- "Jerusalem": words by William Blake, music by Hubert Parry
[edit] Gallery of images
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 Statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, opposite the Palace of Westminster in central London. Another cast of the same statue is found in Oslo, Norway. | | | |
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 York Minster, an Anglican Gothic cathedral in York, Northern England. York Minster is the largest Medieval church in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations. | | | |
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