Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your England shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the England offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of England at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a England? Wrong! If the England is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about England then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling England? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about England and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your England wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your England then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the England site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about England, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your England, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = England|conventional_long_name =|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms|national_motto = (
French language)"God and my right"|national_anthem = No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen". See also
Proposed English National Anthems.]|map_caption = |capital = London (
de facto)] (
de facto)1]|established_date1 =
927|area_rank =|government_type =
Constitutional monarchy|leader_name1 = [Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|leader_title2 =
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|leader_name2 =
Gordon Brown MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005|area_magnitude = 1 E11|area_km2 = 130,395|area_sq_mi = 50,346|percent_water =|population_estimate = 50,714,000²|population_estimate_rank =|population_estimate_year = 2006|population_census = 49,138,831|population_census_year = 2001|population_density_km2 = 388.7|population_density_sq_mi = 976|population_density_rank =|GDP_PPP = $1.9 trillion|GDP_PPP_rank = 6th|GDP_PPP_year = 2006|GDP_PPP_per_capita = US$38,000|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 6th|GDP_nominal = $2.2 trillion|GDP_nominal_rank = 5th|GDP_nominal_year = 2006|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $44,000|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 10th|HDI = 0.940|HDI_rank =|HDI_year = 2006|HDI_category = high|currency =
Pound sterling³|calling_code = 44|footnote1 = English is established by [De facto usage. Cornish language is officially recognised as a
Regional language or
Minority language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Cornish-language name for England is
Pow Sows.], as part of the
European Union. ISO 3166-1 is Great Britain, but .gb is unused.-->
England (pronounced International Phonetic Alphabet: ) (, Middle English:
Engelond) is the largest and most populous constituent country England -- Britannica Student Encyclopedia. URL retrieved on 6 June
2007. of the
United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total population of the United Kingdom, National Statistics Online - Population Estimates. URL accessed
6 June 2007. whilst the mainland territory of England occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of
Great Britain and shares land borders with
Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the North Sea, Irish Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and
English Channel.
England became a unified state during the 10th century and takes its name from the
Angles, one of a number of
Germanic peoples tribes who settled in the territory during the 5th and 6th centuries. The capital city of England is London, which is the largest city in United Kingdom, and the largest city in the
European Union by most, but not all, measures.The official definition of LUZ (Larger Urban Zone) is used by the European Statistical Agency (
Eurostat) when describing
conurbations and areas of high population. This definition ranks London highest, above Paris (see
Larger Urban Zones (LUZ) in the European Union); and a ranking of population within municipal boundaries also puts London on top (see
Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits). However, research by the
University of Avignon in France ranks Paris first and London second when including the whole urban area and hinterland, that is the outlying cities as well (see Largest urban areas of the European Union).
England ranks amongst the world's most influential and far-reaching centres of cultural development. About England. WeAreTheEnglish.com. URL accessed September 12, 2006. England - Culture. Britain USA. URL accessed September 12, 2006. It is the place of origin of both the
English language and the Church of England, and
English law forms the basis of the legal systems of many countries; in addition, London, the country's capital, was the centre of the British Empire, and the country was also the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. ace.mmu.ac.uk England was the first country in the world to become
Industrialisation. England is home to the
Royal Society, which laid the foundations of modern experimental
science. England was the world's first parliamentary democracy BBC NEWS ] 2006. and consequently many constitutional, governmental and English law innovations that had their origin in England have been
Anglosphere.
The Kingdom of England was a separate state until
1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707 resulted in a
political union with the
Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, with the Principality of Wales already in the English state. Great Britain is the term in use for the largest island in the
British Isles, with the name's origins in the Celts 'People of the Islands', or
Pretani.
Etymology and usage
England is List of meanings of countries' names after the Angles, the largest of a number of
Germanic tribes who settled in England in the fifth and sixth centuries, and who are believed to have originated in the peninsula of
Angeln, in what is now Denmark and northern GermanyThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. (The further etymology of this tribe's name remains uncertain, although a popular theory holds that it need be sought no further than the word angle itself, and refers to a fish-hook-shaped region of Holstein. OED (etymology) entry for Angle)
The Angles' name has had a variety of different spellings. The earliest known reference to these people is under the Latinised version
Anglii used by Tacitus in chapter 40 of his
Germania (book), Germania by Tacitus. URL accessed November 18, 2006. written around 98 AD. 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 early 8th century historian Bede, in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (
Ecclesiastical History of the English People), refers to the English people as
Angelfolc (in English) or
Angli (in
Latin language). Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. URL accessed 19 November, 2006.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known usage of "England" referring the southern part of the island of Great Britain was in 897, with the modern spelling first used in 1538. OED entry for England
The word "England" is often used colloquially—and incorrectly—to refer to Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a wholewiktionary:England. There are many instances of this usage in history, where patriotic references to "England" actually intend to include Scotland and Wales as wellEngland expects that every man will do his duty - Nelson. This term is used throughout the world and even by English people; the usage is problematic and causes offence in many parts of Britain.
History
Prehistoric England
, a Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monument in
Wiltshire, thought to have been erected c.2000-2500BC.Bones and flint tools found in
Norfolk and
Suffolk show that
Homo erectus lived in what is now England around 700,000 years ago. Bone find may rewrite history, BBC News, June 4, 2002. URL accessed 20 November 2006 At this time, England was linked to mainland
Europe by a large land bridge. The current position of the English Channel was a large river flowing westwards and fed by tributaries that would later become the
Thames and the Seine. This area was greatly depopulated during the period of the last major ice age, as were other regions of the British Isles. In the subsequent recolonisation, after the thawing of the ice, genetic research shows that present-day England was the last area of the British Isles to be repopulated,Stephen Oppenheimer, The Origins of the British, Constable and Robinson circa 13,000 years ago. The migrants arriving during this period contrast with the other of the inhabitants of the British Isles, coming across land from the south east of Europe, whereas earlier arriving inhabitants came north along a coastal route from Iberia. These migrants would later adopt the
Celts culture that came to dominate much of western Europe.
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. It was first invaded by the Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 55 BC, but it was conquered fully by the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Like other regions on the edge of the
Global 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. With the fall of the Roman empire 400 years later, the Romans left England.
Anglo-Saxon 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 fifth 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 seventh to tenth centuries were the spread of Christianity and the political unification of England. Christianity is thought to have come from three directions — from
Rome to 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:
Northumbria,
Mercia, East Anglia,
Kingdom of Essex, Kingdom of Kent, Kingdom of 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 ("Lord of Britain"). Generally speaking, the title fell in the 7th century to the kings of Northumbria, in the eighth to those of Mercia, and finally, in the ninth, to
Egbert of Wessex, who in 825 defeated the Mercians at the
Battle of Ellendun. In the next century his family came to rule all England.
Kingdom of England
at Winchester.Originally, England (or Englaland) 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. It became politically united through the expansion of the kingdom of Wessex, whose king
Athelstan of England brought the whole of England under one ruler for the first time in 927, although unification did not become permanent until 954. In 1016 England was conquered by the Danish king Canute the Great, and became the centre of government for his short-lived empire which also included Denmark and
Norway. In 1042 England became a separate kingdom again with the accession of Edward the Confessor, heir of the native English dynasty.
The Kingdom of England (including Wales) continued to exist as an independent nation-state right through to the
Acts of Union 1707 and the Union of Crowns. However the political ties and direction of England were changed forever by the Norman Conquest in 1066.
Mediæval England
in 1215. It was one of the first steps towards the creation of modern democracy..The next few hundred years saw England as an important part of expanding and dwindling empires based in
France, with the "Kings of England" using 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 (queen consort of France) (the Channel Islands are still crown dependencies, though not part of the UK).
The 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 State (law) with England as the joint entity originally called
England and later
England and Wales.
An pandemic of catastrophic proportions, the
Black Death first reached England in the summer of 1348. The Black Death is estimated to have killed between a third and two-thirds of Europe's population. England alone lost as many as 70% of its population, which passed from 7 million to 2 million in 1400. The plague repeatedly returned to haunt England throughout the 14th to 17th centuries. Plague - LoveToKnow 1911 The
Great Plague of London in 1665–1666 was the last plague outbreak. Spread of the Plague
Reformation
(1588).During the
English Reformation in the 16th century, the external authority of the Roman Catholic Church in England was abolished and replaced with
Royal Supremacy and ultimately describes the establishment of a Church of England, outside the Roman Catholic Church, under the Supreme Governance of the English monarch. The English Reformation differed from its European counterparts in that it was a political, rather than purely
theological, dispute at root.Cf. "The Reformation must not be confused with the changes introduced into the Church of England during the 'Reformation Parliament' of 1529–36, which were of a political rather than a religious nature, designed to unite the secular and religious sources of authority within a single sovereign power: the Anglican Church did not until later make any substantial change in doctrine". Roger Scruton,
A Dictionary Political Thought (Macmillan, 1996), p. 470. The break with Rome started in the
reign of
Henry VIII.
The English Reformation paved the way for the spread of
Anglicanism in the church and other institutions.
English Civil War
united the whole of the British Isles by force and created the
Commonwealth of England.The
English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between
Roundheads and
Cavaliers from 1642 until 1651. The First English Civil War (1642–1645) and Second English Civil War (1648–1649)
civil wars pitted the supporters of
Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the
Third English Civil War war of (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of
Charles II of England 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 The Protectorate (1653–1659): the personal rule of
Oliver Cromwell. After a brief return to Commonwealth rule, in 1660
The Crown was restoration (England) and Charles II accepted Convention Parliament (1660) invitation to return to England. During the interregnum (England) 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.
Great Britain and the United Kingdom
The
Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland remained separate, until 1707, when under the Acts of Union, both England and Scotland lost their individual political (though not Legal systems of the world) identities. This union has subsequently changed its name twice; firstly on the merger with the Kingdom of Ireland following the Act of Union 1800 in 1800 creating the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Then following the secession from the union of the Irish Free State under the terms of the
Government of Ireland Act 1920, it became the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Throughout these changes, England (including Wales) 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".
Politics
manuscript, showing the
Parliament of England in front of the king c. 1300There 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 have been ruled by a single monarch since 1603. Prior to the Acts of Union of 1707, England was ruled by a
List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the Parliament of England.
The Scottish and Welsh governing institutions were created by the UK parliament with support from the majority of people of Scotland and Wales in
referendum in 1997 and are not independent of the rest of Britain. However, this gave each country a separate political entity which left England 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., Parliament of the
United Kingdom.Because Westminster is the UK parliament but also votes on local English matters devolution of national matters to parliament/assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has refocused attention on a long-standing anomaly called the West Lothian question. The "Question" is that there is no convention or rule whereby Scottish MPs are barred from voting on issues relating only to England and Wales in the post devolution era.
Welsh devolution has removed the anomaly for Wales, but highlighted the anomaly for England: Scottish and Welsh MPs can vote on English issues, but purely Scottish and Welsh issues are debated in Scotland and Wales, not at Westminster; in fact Scottish MPs are even unable to vote on such issues affecting their
own constituencies. 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 of the United Kingdom members are Scottish, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Defence Secretary. In addition, Scotland traditionally benefited from moderate
malapportionment in its favour, increasing its representation to a degree disproportionate to its population. In 2004 the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 was passed which rectified this to a degree, reducing the number of MPs representing Scottish constituencies from 73 to 59 and brought the number of voters per constituency closer to that in England. This change was implemented in the
United Kingdom general election, 2005.
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 in England (a kind of nascent executive for each English Region).
There are calls for a devolved English Parliament, and certain English parties go further by calling for the dissolution of the Union entirelyhttp://www.englishindependenceparty.comhttp://www.englishindependence.com. However, the approach favoured by the current
British Labour Party 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. BBC politics. URL accessed November 12, 2006. Referendums would decide whether people wanted to vote for directly-elected
Regions of England assemblies to watch over the work of the non-elected Regional Development Agency.
During the campaign, a common criticism of the proposals was that England did not need "another tier of bureaucracy". BBC talking point. URL accessed November 12, 2006. On the other hand, many said that they were not
decentralisation 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 Northern England referendums, 2004 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.
Subdivisions
Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the
Counties of England. These have their origin in the shires, the subdivisions of the kingdom of Wessex, which were extended over the rest of England as Wessex expanded to unite the country in the ninth and tenth centuries. Some of these new shires, particularly in the south-east of England, retained the extent and names of the kingdoms or subdivisions of kingdoms which had existed there before, such as
Kingdom of Sussex and Kingdom of Kent, but most were new creations, named after their principal town with the suffix "-shire" added, for example
Warwickshire from
Warwick. In the far north of England, the system took longer to become regularised and County Durham,
Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland emerged after the Norman Conquest. The counties each had a county town.
Since these
Historic counties of England were drawn up before the
Industrial Revolution and the mass urbanisation of England, the changes in the distribution of population and the demands on local administration resulting from those developments have led to a series of local government reorganisations since the latter part of the nineteenth century. The solution to the emergence of large urban areas was the creation of large Metropolitan Counties of England centred on cities (an example being Greater Manchester). The creation of Unitary Authority, where
Districts of England gained the administrative status of a county, began with the 1990s UK local government reform of local government. Today, some confusion exists between the
Ceremonial counties of England (which do not necessarily form an administrative unit) and the
metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties.
Shire county (or "shire counties") are divided into one or more non-metropolitan district. At the very lowest level, England is divided into civil parish, though these are not to be found everywhere (many urban areas for example are unparished area). Parishes are prohibited from existing in Greater London.
England is now also divided into Regions of England, which do not have an elected authority and exist to co-ordinate certain local government functions across a wider area. Greater London is an exception, however, and is the one region which now has a representative Greater London Authority as well as a directly elected Mayor of London. The 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city.
Geography
England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the
Isle of Wight. It is Anglo Scottish border by
Scotland and to the west by
Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, divided from France only by a 52 km (24 Mile#Statute_miles or 21 nautical mile)source:http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcP3Main/ukcCorporate/ukcAboutUs/ukpHistory.htm sea gap. The
Channel Tunnel, near
Folkestone, directly links England to the European
Continental Europe. The English/
France border is halfway along the tunnelsource:http://www.travelbritain.com/England/Kent/index.html.
Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the
Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east,
the Fens, much of which has been drained for agricultural use.
The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in English language the normal meaning of
city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. For the official definition of a UK (and therefore English) city, see
City status in the United Kingdom. However, by any definition
London is by far the largest urban area in England and one of the largest and busiest cities in the world.
Birmingham is the second largest, both in terms of the city itself and its urban conurbation. A number of other cities, mainly in central and northern England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Manchester, Leeds,
Liverpool, Newcastle upon Tyne,
Sheffield,
Bristol,
Coventry,
Bradford , Leicester, Nottingham and Kingston upon Hull.
The largest natural harbour in England is at
Poole, on the south-central coast. Some regard it as the second largest harbour in the world, after Sydney, Australia, although this fact is disputed (see
harbours for a list of other large natural harbours).
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 south-west, bringing mild and wet weather to England regularly from the Atlantic Ocean. It is driest in the
East England and warmest in the
South of England, 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
degree Celsius (101.3 Fahrenheit) on
August 10, 2003 at Brogdale, near Faversham, in
Kent. Temperature record changes hands BBC News, September 30, 2003. URL accessed September 12, 2006. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is −26.1 °C (−15.0
Fahrenheit) on January 10, 1982 at
Edgmond, Shropshire, near
Newport, Shropshire, in
Shropshire. English Climate Met Office. URL accessed September 12, 2006.
Major rivers
was the
List of largest suspension bridges suspension bridge in the world.
Major conurbations
is the largest city in England, the
United Kingdom, and the European Union.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):{] ||align="right"| 8,278,251| West Midlands conurbation ] ||align="right"| 2,240,230| West Yorkshire Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 879,996| Liverpool Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 666,358|
Sheffield Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 551,066|
Sussex coast ||align="right"| 461,181| Portsmouth Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 441,213|
South East Dorset conurbation ||align="right"| 383,713| Reading/Wokingham Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 365,323|}
Economics
is a major business and commercial centre, ranking alongside New York City as the leading centre of global
finance.England's economy is the second largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It follows the Anglo-Saxon economy. England's economy is the largest of the four economies of the United Kingdom, with 100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations based in London. Financial Centre, by the Corporation of the City of London. URL accessed 20 November, 2006. As part of the United Kingdom, England is a major centre of world economics. One of the world's most highly industrialised countries, England is a leader in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries, particularly aerospace, the arms industry and the manufacturing side of the software industry. shopping complex in Birmingham city centre attracted 36.5 million visitors in its début year upon opening in 2003.London exports mainly manufactured goods and imports materials such as
petroleum, tea, wool, raw sugar,
timber, butter,
metals, and meat, Fact Monster. URL accessed 18 November, 2006. exporting over 30,000 tonnes of beef last year, worth around £75,000,000, with France, Italy,
Greece, the Netherlands,
Belgium and Spain being the biggest importers of beef from England. Eblex. URL accessed 18 November, 2006.
The central bank of the United Kingdom, which sets interest rates and implements monetary policy, is the
Bank of England in London. London is also home to the London Stock Exchange, the main stock exchange in the UK and the largest in Europe. London, is one of the international leaders in finance The Competitive Position of London as a Global Financial Centre (November 2005), City of London government. and the largest financial centre in Europe.
Traditional heavy and manufacturing industries have declined sharply in England in recent decades, as they have in the United Kingdom as a whole. At the same time,
service industries have grown in importance. For example,
tourism is the sixth largest industry in the UK, contributing 76 billion pounds to the economy. It employs 1,800,000 full-time equivalent people — 6.1% of the working population (2002 figures). Visit Britain. URL accessed 18 November, 2006. The largest centre for tourism is London, which attracts millions of international tourists every year.
As part of the United Kingdom, England's official currency is the
Pound Sterling (also known as the
British pound or GBP).
Demography
With 50,431,700 inhabitants, or 84% of the UK's total, Population Estimates National Statistics Online, August 24, 2006. URL accessed September 12, 2006 England is the most populous nation in the United Kingdom; as well as being the most ethnically diverse. England would have the fourth largest population in the European Union and would be the 25th largest List of countries by population in 2005 if it were a sovereign state.
The country's population is 'aging', 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. Population Estimates National Statistics Online, August 24, 2006. URL accessed September 12, 2006. England is one of the most densely-populated countries in Europe, with 383 people per square kilometre (992/sq mi),http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=760. URL accessed 19 November 2006 making it second only to the
Netherlands.
The generally accepted view is that the ethnic background of the English populace, before 19th- and 20th century immigration, was a mixed European one deriving from historical waves of Celtic, Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxons, Norsemen, and
Normans invasions, along with the possible survival of
Cruithne (people) ancestry.
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.
Since the fall of the
British Empire, many denizens of former colonies have migrated to Britain including the
Indian sub-continent and the British
Caribbean. A
BBC-published report of the 2001 census, by the Institute for Public Policy Research stated that the vast majority of immigrants settled in London and the South East of England. The largest groups of residents born in other countries were from the
Republic of Ireland,
India,
Pakistan, Germany, and the
Caribbean. Though Germany was high on the list, this was mainly the result of children being born to British forces personnel stationed in that country. BBC - "British Immigration Map Revealed" Accessed 16 May, 2007
About half the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to
Foreign-born population of Great Britain, 2001 immigration. In 2004 the number of people who became British citizens rose to a record 140,795 - a rise of 12% on the previous year. This number had risen dramatically since 2000. The overwhelming majority of new citizens come from
Africa (32%) and Asia (40%), the largest three groups being people from Pakistan, India and
Somalia. BBC Thousands in UK citizenship queue One in five babies in the UK are born to immigrant mothers, according to official statistics released in 2007 that also show the highest birth rates in Britain for 26 years. 21.9% of all births in the UK in 2006 were to mothers born outside the United Kingdom compared to just 12.8% in 1995. 1 in 5 babies in Britain born to immigrants
In 2005, an estimated 565,000 migrants National Statistics Online - Immigration over half a million arrived to live in the UK for at least a year, while 380,000 people emigrated from the UK for a year or more, with Australia,
Spain and
France most popular destinations. Indians largest group among new immigrants to UK 1500 immigrants arrive in Britain daily, report says Largest group of arrivals were people from the
Indian subcontinent who accounted for two-thirds of net immigration, mainly fuelled by family reunion. 1,500 migrants enter UK a day
The European Union allows free movement between the member states. While France and Germany put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration, the UK (along with Ireland) did not impose restrictions. Following Poland's entry into the EU in May 2004 it is estimated that by the start of 2007 about 375,000
Poles have registered to work in the UK, although the total Polish population in the UK is believed to be 750,000. Many Poles work in seasonal occupations and a large number is likely to move back and forth including between Ireland and other EU Western nations. A quarter of Eastern European migrants, often young and well-educated, plan to stay in Britain permanently. Most of them had originally intended to go home but have changed their minds after living there. 750,000 and rising: how Polish workers have built a home in Britain.
Culture
England has a vast and influential 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, artefacts and environments of England. London's
British Museum, British Library and
National Gallery, London contain some of the finest collections in the world.
The English have played a significant role in the development of the
arts and
sciences. Many of the most important figures in the history of modern western scientific and philosophical thought were either born in, or at one time or other resided in, England. Major English thinkers of international significance include scientists such as
Sir Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Charles Darwin and New Zealand-born Ernest Rutherford, philosophers such as
John Locke,
John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell and
Thomas Hobbes, and economists such as David Ricardo, and John Maynard Keynes.
Karl Marx wrote most of his important works, including
Das Kapital, whilst in exile in Manchester, and the team that developed the first atomic bomb began their work in England, under the wartime codename tube alloys.
Architecture
of
St. Paul's Cathedral designed by Sir
Christopher Wren.England has played a significant part in the advancement of Western architecture. It is home to some of the finest mediaeval
castles and forts in the world, including
Warwick Castle, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle (the largest inhabited
castle in the world and the oldest in continuous occupation). It is also known for its numerous grand country houses, and for its many mediaeval and later churches and cathedrals.
English architects have contributed to a number of styles over the centuries, including
Tudor architecture,
English Baroque, the
Georgian architecture style and Victorian movements such as
Gothic Revival. Among the best-known contemporary English arc
{{Infobox Country or territory|native_name = England|conventional_long_name =|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms|national_motto = (
French language)"God and my right"|national_anthem = No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen". See also
Proposed English National Anthems.]|map_caption = |capital =
London (
de facto)] (
de facto)1]|established_date1 =
927|area_rank =|government_type =
Constitutional monarchy|leader_name1 = [Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|leader_title2 =
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|leader_name2 = Gordon Brown MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2005|area_magnitude = 1 E11|area_km2 = 130,395|area_sq_mi = 50,346|percent_water =|population_estimate = 50,714,000²|population_estimate_rank =|population_estimate_year = 2006|population_census = 49,138,831|population_census_year = 2001|population_density_km2 = 388.7|population_density_sq_mi = 976|population_density_rank =|GDP_PPP = $1.9 trillion|GDP_PPP_rank = 6th|GDP_PPP_year = 2006|GDP_PPP_per_capita = US$38,000|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 6th|GDP_nominal = $2.2 trillion|GDP_nominal_rank = 5th|GDP_nominal_year = 2006|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $44,000|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 10th|HDI = 0.940|HDI_rank =|HDI_year = 2006|HDI_category = high|currency = Pound sterling³|calling_code = 44|footnote1 = English is established by [De facto usage. Cornish language is officially recognised as a
Regional language or Minority language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Cornish-language name for England is
Pow Sows.], as part of the European Union. ISO 3166-1 is
Great Britain, but
.gb is unused.-->
England (pronounced
International Phonetic Alphabet: ) (, Middle English:
Engelond) is the largest and most populous
constituent country England -- Britannica Student Encyclopedia. URL retrieved on 6 June 2007. of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total population of the United Kingdom, National Statistics Online - Population Estimates. URL accessed 6 June 2007. whilst the mainland territory of England occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of
Great Britain and shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the North Sea, Irish Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and
English Channel.
England became a unified state during the 10th century and takes its name from the
Angles, one of a number of
Germanic peoples tribes who settled in the territory during the 5th and 6th centuries. The capital city of England is
London, which is the largest city in
United Kingdom, and the largest city in the European Union by most, but not all, measures.The official definition of LUZ (Larger Urban Zone) is used by the European Statistical Agency (
Eurostat) when describing
conurbations and areas of high population. This definition ranks London highest, above Paris (see Larger Urban Zones (LUZ) in the European Union); and a ranking of population within municipal boundaries also puts London on top (see Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits). However, research by the University of Avignon in France ranks Paris first and London second when including the whole urban area and
hinterland, that is the outlying cities as well (see Largest urban areas of the European Union).
England ranks amongst the world's most influential and far-reaching centres of cultural development. About England. WeAreTheEnglish.com. URL accessed September 12, 2006. England - Culture. Britain USA. URL accessed September 12, 2006. It is the place of origin of both the
English language and the
Church of England, and
English law forms the basis of the legal systems of many countries; in addition, London, the country's capital, was the centre of the British Empire, and the country was also the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. ace.mmu.ac.uk England was the first country in the world to become
Industrialisation. England is home to the
Royal Society, which laid the foundations of modern experimental science. England was the world's first parliamentary democracy BBC NEWS ] 2006. and consequently many constitutional, governmental and
English law innovations that had their origin in England have been
Anglosphere.
The Kingdom of England was a separate state until 1 May 1707, when the
Acts of Union 1707 resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, with the Principality of Wales already in the English state. Great Britain is the term in use for the largest island in the
British Isles, with the name's origins in the Celts 'People of the Islands', or
Pretani.
Etymology and usage
England is
List of meanings of countries' names after the Angles, the largest of a number of
Germanic tribes who settled in England in the fifth and sixth centuries, and who are believed to have originated in the peninsula of Angeln, in what is now
Denmark and northern GermanyThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. (The further etymology of this tribe's name remains uncertain, although a popular theory holds that it need be sought no further than the word angle itself, and refers to a fish-hook-shaped region of
Holstein. OED (etymology) entry for Angle)
The Angles' name has had a variety of different spellings. The earliest known reference to these people is under the Latinised version
Anglii used by Tacitus in chapter 40 of his Germania (book), Germania by Tacitus. URL accessed November 18, 2006. written around 98 AD. 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 early 8th century historian
Bede, in his
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (
Ecclesiastical History of the English People), refers to the
English people as
Angelfolc (in English) or
Angli (in Latin language). Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. URL accessed 19 November, 2006.
According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, the first known usage of "England" referring the southern part of the island of Great Britain was in 897, with the modern spelling first used in 1538. OED entry for England
The word "England" is often used colloquially—and incorrectly—to refer to Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole
wiktionary:England. There are many instances of this usage in history, where patriotic references to "England" actually intend to include Scotland and Wales as well
England expects that every man will do his duty - Nelson. This term is used throughout the world and even by English people; the usage is problematic and causes offence in many parts of Britain.
History
Prehistoric England
, a
Neolithic and
Bronze Age megalithic monument in
Wiltshire, thought to have been erected c.2000-2500BC.Bones and flint tools found in Norfolk and
Suffolk show that
Homo erectus lived in what is now England around 700,000 years ago. Bone find may rewrite history, BBC News, June 4, 2002. URL accessed 20 November 2006 At this time, England was linked to mainland
Europe by a large land bridge. The current position of the English Channel was a large river flowing westwards and fed by tributaries that would later become the Thames and the
Seine. This area was greatly depopulated during the period of the last major ice age, as were other regions of the British Isles. In the subsequent recolonisation, after the thawing of the ice, genetic research shows that present-day England was the last area of the British Isles to be repopulated,Stephen Oppenheimer, The Origins of the British, Constable and Robinson circa 13,000 years ago. The
migrants arriving during this period contrast with the other of the inhabitants of the British Isles, coming across land from the south east of Europe, whereas earlier arriving inhabitants came north along a coastal route from Iberia. These migrants would later adopt the Celts culture that came to dominate much of western Europe.
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. It was first invaded by the Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 55 BC, but it was conquered fully by the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Like other regions on the edge of the Global 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. With the fall of the Roman empire 400 years later, the Romans left England.
Anglo-Saxon 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 fifth 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 seventh to tenth centuries were the spread of Christianity and the political unification of England. Christianity is thought to have come from three directions — from
Rome to 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:
Northumbria,
Mercia, East Anglia, Kingdom of Essex, Kingdom of Kent,
Kingdom of 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 ("Lord of Britain"). Generally speaking, the title fell in the 7th century to the kings of Northumbria, in the eighth to those of Mercia, and finally, in the ninth, to Egbert of Wessex, who in 825 defeated the Mercians at the
Battle of Ellendun. In the next century his family came to rule all England.
Kingdom of England
at Winchester.Originally, England (or Englaland) 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. It became politically united through the expansion of the kingdom of Wessex, whose king
Athelstan of England brought the whole of England under one ruler for the first time in 927, although unification did not become permanent until 954. In 1016 England was conquered by the Danish king Canute the Great, and became the centre of government for his short-lived empire which also included Denmark and
Norway. In 1042 England became a separate kingdom again with the accession of Edward the Confessor, heir of the native English dynasty.
The Kingdom of England (including Wales) continued to exist as an independent nation-state right through to the Acts of Union 1707 and the Union of Crowns. However the political ties and direction of England were changed forever by the
Norman Conquest in 1066.
Mediæval England
in 1215. It was one of the first steps towards the creation of modern democracy..The next few hundred years saw England as an important part of expanding and dwindling empires based in
France, with the "Kings of England" using 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 (queen consort of France) (the Channel Islands are still crown dependencies, though not part of the UK).
The 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 State (law) with England as the joint entity originally called
England and later
England and Wales.
An
pandemic of catastrophic proportions, the
Black Death first reached England in the summer of 1348. The Black Death is estimated to have killed between a third and two-thirds of Europe's population. England alone lost as many as 70% of its population, which passed from 7 million to 2 million in 1400. The
plague repeatedly returned to haunt England throughout the 14th to 17th centuries. Plague - LoveToKnow 1911 The
Great Plague of London in 1665–1666 was the last plague outbreak. Spread of the Plague
Reformation
(1588).During the
English Reformation in the 16th century, the external authority of the Roman Catholic Church in England was abolished and replaced with
Royal Supremacy and ultimately describes the establishment of a Church of England, outside the Roman Catholic Church, under the Supreme Governance of the English monarch. The English Reformation differed from its European counterparts in that it was a political, rather than purely theological, dispute at root.Cf. "The Reformation must not be confused with the changes introduced into the Church of England during the 'Reformation Parliament' of 1529–36, which were of a political rather than a religious nature, designed to unite the secular and religious sources of authority within a single sovereign power: the Anglican Church did not until later make any substantial change in doctrine". Roger Scruton,
A Dictionary Political Thought (Macmillan, 1996), p. 470. The break with
Rome started in the reign of Henry VIII.
The English Reformation paved the way for the spread of Anglicanism in the church and other institutions.
English Civil War
united the whole of the British Isles by force and created the Commonwealth of England.The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between
Roundheads and Cavaliers from 1642 until 1651. The First English Civil War (1642–1645) and
Second English Civil War (1648–1649) civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War war of (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of
Charles II of England 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 The Protectorate (1653–1659): the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell. After a brief return to Commonwealth rule, in 1660 The Crown was restoration (England) and Charles II accepted
Convention Parliament (1660) invitation to return to England. During the
interregnum (England) 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.
Great Britain and the United Kingdom
The Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland remained separate, until 1707, when under the Acts of Union, both England and Scotland lost their individual political (though not Legal systems of the world) identities. This union has subsequently changed its name twice; firstly on the merger with the Kingdom of Ireland following the Act of Union 1800 in 1800 creating the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Then following the secession from the union of the
Irish Free State under the terms of the
Government of Ireland Act 1920, it became the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Throughout these changes, England (including Wales) 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".
Politics
manuscript, showing the
Parliament of England in front of the king c. 1300There 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 have been ruled by a single monarch since 1603. Prior to the Acts of Union of 1707, England was ruled by a List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the
Parliament of England.
The Scottish and Welsh governing institutions were created by the UK parliament with support from the majority of people of Scotland and Wales in
referendum in 1997 and are not independent of the rest of Britain. However, this gave each country a separate political entity which left England 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., Parliament of the United Kingdom.Because Westminster is the UK parliament but also votes on local English matters devolution of national matters to parliament/assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has refocused attention on a long-standing anomaly called the West Lothian question. The "Question" is that there is no convention or rule whereby Scottish MPs are barred from voting on issues relating only to England and Wales in the post devolution era.
Welsh devolution has removed the anomaly for Wales, but highlighted the anomaly for England: Scottish and Welsh MPs can vote on English issues, but purely Scottish and Welsh issues are debated in Scotland and Wales, not at Westminster; in fact Scottish MPs are even unable to vote on such issues affecting their
own constituencies. 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 of the United Kingdom members are Scottish, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Defence Secretary. In addition, Scotland traditionally benefited from moderate
malapportionment in its favour, increasing its representation to a degree disproportionate to its population. In 2004 the
Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 was passed which rectified this to a degree, reducing the number of MPs representing Scottish constituencies from 73 to 59 and brought the number of voters per constituency closer to that in England. This change was implemented in the
United Kingdom general election, 2005.
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 in England (a kind of nascent executive for each English Region).
There are calls for a devolved English Parliament, and certain English parties go further by calling for the dissolution of the Union entirelyhttp://www.englishindependenceparty.comhttp://www.englishindependence.com. However, the approach favoured by the current
British Labour Party 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. BBC politics. URL accessed November 12, 2006. Referendums would decide whether people wanted to vote for directly-elected
Regions of England assemblies to watch over the work of the non-elected Regional Development Agency.
During the campaign, a common criticism of the proposals was that England did not need "another tier of bureaucracy". BBC talking point. URL accessed November 12, 2006. On the other hand, many said that they were not decentralisation 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
Northern England referendums, 2004 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.
Subdivisions
Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the
Counties of England. These have their origin in the shires, the subdivisions of the kingdom of Wessex, which were extended over the rest of England as Wessex expanded to unite the country in the ninth and tenth centuries. Some of these new shires, particularly in the south-east of England, retained the extent and names of the kingdoms or subdivisions of kingdoms which had existed there before, such as Kingdom of Sussex and Kingdom of Kent, but most were new creations, named after their principal town with the suffix "-shire" added, for example
Warwickshire from Warwick. In the far north of England, the system took longer to become regularised and County Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland and
Westmorland emerged after the Norman Conquest. The counties each had a county town.
Since these
Historic counties of England were drawn up before the Industrial Revolution and the mass urbanisation of England, the changes in the distribution of population and the demands on local administration resulting from those developments have led to a series of local government reorganisations since the latter part of the nineteenth century. The solution to the emergence of large urban areas was the creation of large Metropolitan Counties of England centred on cities (an example being
Greater Manchester). The creation of Unitary Authority, where Districts of England gained the administrative status of a county, began with the 1990s UK local government reform of local government. Today, some confusion exists between the Ceremonial counties of England (which do not necessarily form an administrative unit) and the
metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties.
Shire county (or "shire counties") are divided into one or more non-metropolitan district. At the very lowest level, England is divided into
civil parish, though these are not to be found everywhere (many urban areas for example are unparished area). Parishes are prohibited from existing in Greater London.
England is now also divided into
Regions of England, which do not have an elected authority and exist to co-ordinate certain local government functions across a wider area.
Greater London is an exception, however, and is the one region which now has a representative Greater London Authority as well as a directly elected
Mayor of London. The 32
London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city.
Geography
England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is Anglo Scottish border by Scotland and to the west by
Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, divided from France only by a 52 km (24
Mile#Statute_miles or 21 nautical mile)source:http://www.eurotunnel.com/ukcP3Main/ukcCorporate/ukcAboutUs/ukpHistory.htm sea gap. The Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, directly links England to the
European Continental Europe. The English/
France border is halfway along the tunnelsource:http://www.travelbritain.com/England/Kent/index.html.
Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the
Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east,
the Fens, much of which has been drained for agricultural use.
The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in English language the normal meaning of city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. For the official definition of a UK (and therefore English) city, see
City status in the United Kingdom. However, by any definition London is by far the largest urban area in England and one of the largest and busiest cities in the world. Birmingham is the second largest, both in terms of the city itself and its urban conurbation. A number of other cities, mainly in central and northern England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Manchester,
Leeds,
Liverpool,
Newcastle upon Tyne,
Sheffield, Bristol, Coventry, Bradford , Leicester, Nottingham and
Kingston upon Hull.
The largest natural harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast. Some regard it as the second largest harbour in the world, after Sydney, Australia, although this fact is disputed (see
harbours for a list of other large natural harbours).
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 south-west, bringing mild and wet weather to England regularly from the Atlantic Ocean. It is driest in the East England and warmest in the South of England, 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 degree Celsius (101.3
Fahrenheit) on
August 10,
2003 at
Brogdale, near Faversham, in Kent. Temperature record changes hands BBC News, September 30, 2003. URL accessed September 12, 2006. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is −26.1 °C (−15.0 Fahrenheit) on January 10,
1982 at
Edgmond, Shropshire, near Newport, Shropshire, in
Shropshire. English Climate Met Office. URL accessed September 12, 2006.
Major rivers
was the List of largest suspension bridges
suspension bridge in the world.
Major conurbations
is the largest city in England, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.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):{] ||align="right"| 8,278,251| West Midlands conurbation ] ||align="right"| 2,240,230| West Yorkshire Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 879,996| Liverpool Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 666,358|
Sheffield Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 551,066| Sussex coast ||align="right"| 461,181|
Portsmouth Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 441,213|
South East Dorset conurbation ||align="right"| 383,713| Reading/Wokingham Urban Area ] ||align="right"| 365,323|}
Economics
is a major business and commercial centre, ranking alongside
New York City as the leading centre of global
finance.England's economy is the second largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It follows the Anglo-Saxon economy. England's economy is the largest of the four economies of the United Kingdom, with 100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations based in London. Financial Centre, by the Corporation of the City of London. URL accessed 20 November, 2006. As part of the United Kingdom, England is a major centre of world economics. One of the world's most highly industrialised countries, England is a leader in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries, particularly
aerospace, the
arms industry and the manufacturing side of the
software industry. shopping complex in
Birmingham city centre attracted 36.5 million visitors in its début year upon opening in 2003.London exports mainly manufactured goods and imports materials such as
petroleum, tea, wool, raw sugar, timber,
butter,
metals, and
meat, Fact Monster. URL accessed 18 November, 2006. exporting over 30,000 tonnes of beef last year, worth around £75,000,000, with
France, Italy,
Greece, the
Netherlands,
Belgium and Spain being the biggest importers of beef from England. Eblex. URL accessed 18 November, 2006.
The central bank of the United Kingdom, which sets interest rates and implements monetary policy, is the
Bank of England in London. London is also home to the
London Stock Exchange, the main stock exchange in the UK and the largest in Europe. London, is one of the international leaders in finance The Competitive Position of London as a Global Financial Centre (November 2005), City of London government. and the largest financial centre in
Europe.
Traditional heavy and manufacturing industries have declined sharply in England in recent decades, as they have in the United Kingdom as a whole. At the same time, service industries have grown in importance. For example, tourism is the sixth largest industry in the UK, contributing 76 billion pounds to the economy. It employs 1,800,000 full-time equivalent people — 6.1% of the working population (2002 figures). Visit Britain. URL accessed 18 November, 2006. The largest centre for tourism is London, which attracts millions of international tourists every year.
As part of the United Kingdom, England's official currency is the Pound Sterling (also known as the
British pound or GBP).
Demography
With 50,431,700 inhabitants, or 84% of the UK's total, Population Estimates National Statistics Online, August 24, 2006. URL accessed September 12, 2006 England is the most populous nation in the United Kingdom; as well as being the most ethnically diverse. England would have the fourth largest population in the European Union and would be the 25th largest
List of countries by population in 2005 if it were a sovereign state.
The country's population is 'aging', 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. Population Estimates National Statistics Online, August 24, 2006. URL accessed September 12, 2006. England is one of the most densely-populated countries in Europe, with 383 people per square kilometre (992/sq mi),http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=760. URL accessed 19 November 2006 making it second only to the Netherlands.
The generally accepted view is that the ethnic background of the English populace, before 19th- and 20th century immigration, was a mixed European one deriving from historical waves of
Celtic,
Roman Empire,
Anglo-Saxons, Norsemen, and Normans invasions, along with the possible survival of
Cruithne (people) ancestry.
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.
Since the fall of the
British Empire, many denizens of former colonies have migrated to Britain including the
Indian sub-continent and the British Caribbean. A
BBC-published report of the 2001 census, by the Institute for Public Policy Research stated that the vast majority of immigrants settled in London and the South East of England. The largest groups of residents born in other countries were from the Republic of Ireland,
India, Pakistan,
Germany, and the
Caribbean. Though Germany was high on the list, this was mainly the result of children being born to British forces personnel stationed in that country. BBC - "British Immigration Map Revealed" Accessed 16 May, 2007
About half the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to Foreign-born population of Great Britain, 2001 immigration. In 2004 the number of people who became British citizens rose to a record 140,795 - a rise of 12% on the previous year. This number had risen dramatically since 2000. The overwhelming majority of new citizens come from
Africa (32%) and
Asia (40%), the largest three groups being people from Pakistan, India and
Somalia. BBC Thousands in UK citizenship queue One in five babies in the UK are born to immigrant mothers, according to official statistics released in 2007 that also show the highest birth rates in Britain for 26 years. 21.9% of all births in the UK in 2006 were to mothers born outside the United Kingdom compared to just 12.8% in 1995. 1 in 5 babies in Britain born to immigrants
In 2005, an estimated 565,000 migrants National Statistics Online - Immigration over half a million arrived to live in the UK for at least a year, while 380,000 people emigrated from the UK for a year or more, with Australia,
Spain and France most popular destinations. Indians largest group among new immigrants to UK 1500 immigrants arrive in Britain daily, report says Largest group of arrivals were people from the
Indian subcontinent who accounted for two-thirds of net immigration, mainly fuelled by family reunion. 1,500 migrants enter UK a day
The European Union allows free movement between the member states. While France and Germany put in place controls to curb Eastern European migration, the UK (along with Ireland) did not impose restrictions. Following
Poland's entry into the EU in May 2004 it is estimated that by the start of 2007 about 375,000 Poles have registered to work in the UK, although the total Polish population in the UK is believed to be 750,000. Many Poles work in seasonal occupations and a large number is likely to move back and forth including between Ireland and other EU Western nations. A quarter of Eastern European migrants, often young and well-educated, plan to stay in Britain permanently. Most of them had originally intended to go home but have changed their minds after living there. 750,000 and rising: how Polish workers have built a home in Britain.
Culture
England has a vast and influential 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, artefacts and environments of England. London's British Museum,
British Library and
National Gallery, London contain some of the finest collections in the world.
The English have played a significant role in the development of the
arts and sciences. Many of the most important figures in the history of modern western scientific and philosophical thought were either born in, or at one time or other resided in, England. Major English thinkers of international significance include scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Charles Darwin and New Zealand-born Ernest Rutherford, philosophers such as John Locke, John Stuart Mill,
Bertrand Russell and
Thomas Hobbes, and economists such as David Ricardo, and John Maynard Keynes. Karl Marx wrote most of his important works, including Das Kapital, whilst in exile in Manchester, and the team that developed the first atomic bomb began their work in England, under the wartime codename tube alloys.
Architecture
of St. Paul's Cathedral designed by Sir Christopher Wren.England has played a significant part in the advancement of Western architecture. It is home to some of the finest mediaeval
castles and forts in the world, including
Warwick Castle, the Tower of London and Windsor Castle (the largest inhabited castle in the world and the oldest in continuous occupation). It is also known for its numerous grand country houses, and for its many mediaeval and later churches and cathedrals.
English architects have contributed to a number of styles over the centuries, including Tudor architecture, English Baroque, the Georgian architecture style and Victorian movements such as
Gothic Revival. Among the best-known contemporary English arc
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