England is the largest and most populous country in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is located in the northwest of continental Europe. Its citizens account for more than 82% of the population of the United Kingdom.
England is often mistakenly referred to as the United Kingdom, or the island of Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales. However, England is no longer legally recognized as an administrative or political unit - such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with varying degrees of autonomy in domestic affairs.
England became a united nation in the middle of the tenth century and took its name from the Angles, one of the many Germanic tribes living in the area in the fifth and sixth centuries.
England is one of the world's most powerful cultural institutions. It is the source of the English language and the Church of England, and English law forms the basis of the legal systems of many countries. This nation was the center of the British Empire, and the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. England became the first parliamentary democracy in the world and as a result many of the constitutional, governmental and legal elements that came from England were widely accepted by other nations.
Geography
The English territories occupy most of the 2-3rd of the southern part of the Great Britain and shares land borders with Scotland north and west Wales. Among other things, it is limited to the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel.
England is located in the middle of the southern third of the island of Great Britain, along with the coastal islands of the Isle of Wight. The northern border is Scotland and the west is Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, and is only 52 miles [52 km] from France. The Channel Channel, near Folkstone, connects directly with England and the European country. The English / French border is in the middle of the tunnel.
The English land area is 50,319 square kilometers (130,325 square kilometers), or slightly smaller than Louisiana in the United States.
Most of England consists of rolling hills, but there are many mountains to the north and a series of low mountains, the Pennines, which divide east and west. The dividing line between the types of countries is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line. There is also a low-lying, low eastern plain, the Fens, most of which are endemic to agricultural use.
The highest point in England is the Scafell Pike, which is 3208 feet (978 m) high in the Cumbrian Mountains of the Northwest of England. Other mountains and hills in England include the Chilterns, Cotswolds, Dartmoor, Lake District, Malvern Hills, North Downs, Peak District, Shropshire Hills, and Yorkshire Wolds.
History
The Cro-Magnons (the first modern humans) believe that they came to Europe about 40,000 years ago, and they settled in what was then England 27,000 years ago. Until about 6000 B.C.E., England was connected to Europe, and it was easily accessible to foreign hunters. About 4000 B.C.E., Neolithic immigrants brought agriculture, used stone tools, buried their dead in public tombs with stone or earth mounds, and performed rituals in henge monuments.
From about 2300 B.C.E., the Beaker people, who were burying their dead in individual cemeteries, usually with a drinking vessel, arrived from the lowlands and in the middle of the Rhine. These men could make copper and gold. Wessex officials were in charge of trade, and the subsequent prosperity enabled these officials to construct large green monoliths called Stonehenge.
The United Kingdom was formed
Under Acts of Union 1707, England (including Wales) and Scotland, which had been an individual union since the Union of the Crown in 1603, agreed to form a political union in the manner of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Since 1707, England, while ceasing to exist as an independent political party, has been a major factor in what is now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Because of its size and population, the dominant political and economic influence in the UK comes from England. London has always been the capital of the UK and built on its status as a UK economic and political center.
Religion
Unlike many countries, which do not operate legally, the UK is a legal Christian country. This is evident throughout the life of British society. The Church of England is an established Christian church in England, and operates as a "mother" and the highest branch of the Anglican Church worldwide. Originally founded as part of the Roman Catholic Church in 597 by Augustine of Canterbury in place of Pope Gregory I, the Church separated from Rome in 1534 during the reign of Henry VIII of England. Some bishops of the Church of England live in the Royal Household.
The British monarch is required to be a member of the Church of England under the Constitution of the Land of 1701 and is the Supreme Ruler. Roman Catholics are clearly forbidden to be kings, stemming from the controversy over the crown and whether Britain was previously Catholic or Protestant. The Church of England is based in Canterbury Cathedral and is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Small groups including the Religious Society of Friends and the Salvation Army, both established in England. The Roman Catholic Church re-established the monarchy in England in the nineteenth century. Attendance was greatly increased by foreigners, especially those from Ireland and Poland recently.
The tongue
The English language, spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, emerged as the official language of England, where it remains the official language, though not officially named. The Indo-European language at the Anglo-Frisian branch of the German family, is closely related to the Scots and the Frisians. When the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged with England, the "Old English" emerged; some of its writings and poems are still alive.
Culture
Many of the most important figures in the history of modern scientific thought and philosophy were born, or at one time or another, lived in England. World-renowned English researchers include scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, New Zealand-born Charles Darwin and Ernest Rutherford, philosophers such as John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell and Thomas Hobbes, and economists such as David Maynicard and John.
Karl Marx wrote many of his key works, including Das Kapital, during his exile in London, and the group that developed the first atomic bomb began its operation in England, during the war of codename tube alloys.