England

Region: Europe

Official language: None (English, de facto)

Population: 68,459,055 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Englishman(men)/Englishwoman(men) or Briton(s), British (collective plural) (noun), English or British (adjective)

Land area: 130,281 sq km (50,302 sq miles)

Capital: London

National anthem: None (Unofficial anthems include “God Save the Queen” and “Rule Britannia”)

National holiday: None

Population growth: 0.45% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +0

Flag: The flag of England is a Saint George’s Cross centered on a white background.

Independence: April 12, 1927 (Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act establishes current name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland); notable earlier dates: 927 (minor English kingdoms united); March 3, 1284 (enactment of the Statute of Rhuddlan uniting England and Wales); 1536 (Act of Union formally incorporates England and Wales); May 1, 1707 (Acts of Union formally unite England and Scotland as Great Britain); January 1, 1801 (Acts of Union formally unite Great Britain and Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland); December 6, 1921 (Anglo-Irish Treaty formalizes partition of Ireland; six counties remain part of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland)

Government type: constituent country of the United Kingdom, which is a constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: Shares the common law system of the UK; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998

England is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, located in northwestern Europe. It occupies the southern part of the island of Great Britain, with coastlines on the English Channel, the North Sea, and the Irish Sea. England was the seat of the British Empire, which controlled colonies all over the world from the seventeenth century until the mid-twentieth century.

English dominance over Great Britain has been so strong throughout history that many people consider the terms synonymous, something that is disliked by the other member countries of the United Kingdom—Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. England has made major contributions to world culture, particularly in literature and drama. English has become a global language, and the English playwright William Shakespeare is one of the most widely read and influential writers in history.

People and Culture

Population: Most English people are of Anglo-Saxon descent, though there are also many Irish and Scots who live there, as well as large ethnic minorities from the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The largest minority groups in England are from Asia and the Caribbean, particularly Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, and Chinese.

Most people live in the southeast of England, but there are many large urban areas in the north, including the industrial cities of Birmingham and Manchester. London, with 9.648 million people (2023), is located in the southeast; it is the capital of the United Kingdom and among the largest cities in Europe.

The United Kingdom ranked 15 out of 193 countries and territories on the 2022 United Nations Human Development Index.

Language: English is the major language not only in England, but also in the Commonwealth countries and in its former colonial territories, including the United States. English is one of the world’s most widely used languages, with approximately 400 million native speakers and hundreds of millions who speak English as a second language.

English derives mainly from Anglo-Saxon, but with heavy influences from France and Scandinavia. Many regional variations exist in pronunciation and vocabulary. The major distinctions are among Northern England, the Midlands, East Anglia, and South East England. The most prestigious variety is “Received Pronunciation,” also known as the “Queen’s (or King’s) English,” based on upper- and middle-class speech.

Religion: The Church of England is the official church. The most senior bishop is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who heads the Church’s southern province. The second most senior bishop is the Archbishop of York, based in Northern England. The Archbishop of Canterbury also presides over the Anglican Communion, a worldwide confederation of national churches derived from the Church of England.

England’s non-Christian populations include Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jews.

Indigenous People: England’s modern population is comprised largely of native English (Anglo-Saxon); the country’s name means “land of the English.” There are also large populations of Celtic and Scandinavian heritage. The earliest inhabitants were the Britons, a Celtic people who dominated southern Britain until the Roman conquest in 43 CE.

Beginning in the fifth century, Britain was settled by Germanic peoples known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who eventually combined as the Anglo-Saxons. The Vikings arrived from Scandinavia in the ninth century and established a realm in eastern England known as the Danelaw. The Norman Conquest in the eleventh century added a strong French element. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, racial tension has broken out between the “native” English and immigrants from the Commonwealth countries and their children.

Education: England has an extensive public education system, with 99 percent literacy. Children must attend twelve years of school, from ages five through sixteen. The educational system is under the UK Department for Education and Skills (DfES), headed by the Secretary of State for Education.

Primary education goes from ages five to eleven, and secondary education from ages twelve to sixteen. State-run secondary schools include community schools, foundation schools, and religious schools. “Public schools” are actually private schools; the name refers to the fact that they are open to any member of the public who can pay the fees.

England has many notable institutions of higher learning. The oldest and most prestigious are the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, founded in the Middle Ages. Other important universities include the University of London, founded in the nineteenth century.

Health Care: England is part of the United Kingdom’s nationalized health care system, the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS is responsible to the British Department of Health and has a separate organizational structure for each country within the United Kingdom. Reforms have decentralized NHS responsibilities to give more authority to local doctors and the local health authorities (Primary Care Trusts). As of 2024, life expectancy in the UK as a whole was an estimated 80.1 years for men and 84.4 years for women.

Food: English cuisine suffered a poor reputation throughout history. It was widely criticized for being bland. However, this reputation began changing in the nineteenth century, with the arrival of immigrants from Britain’s overseas possessions. Today, Indian and Pakistani immigrants have popularized spicy dishes such as curry. French and Italian cuisine has become widely popular, along with American-style fast food and Western-style Asian dishes. Tea is the national drink of England, and known worldwide as one of the country’s cultural mainstays.

Arts & Entertainment: England’s cultural life is centered in London, a cosmopolitan city with many theaters and arts festivals, as well as numerous symphony orchestras, opera companies, and dance companies. Cultural institutions in England include hundreds of museums, art galleries, and libraries, many of which are found in London. Among the most famous are the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the British Library.

The United Kingdom has around three hundred theaters, a third of which are in London. Among the most famous is the Royal National Theatre. London has three main opera companies: the Royal Opera, the English National Opera, and Covent Garden. Dance companies include the English National Ballet, the Northern Ballet Theatre, and the Birmingham Royal Ballet.

England has been the birthplace of many famous musicians and musical groups, of all genres. Great English orchestras include the London Philharmonic. Since the 1950s, England has made major contributions to rock and pop music, with internationally famous groups such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

England has a thriving media culture. Newspapers include The Times of London and tabloids such as The Daily Mail. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC), the state-funded broadcaster, operates television, radio, film, and Internet divisions and operates a global news organization known as the BBC World Service, the largest international broadcaster in the world.

The English are noted sports fans and have exported their national games of cricket and football (soccer) around the world. Rugby is also popular. English teams play several different tournaments against the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish national teams. They also play in international tournaments.

The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England (English Heritage) is a governmental organization responsible for maintaining many historic homes, as well as ancient structures such as Stonehenge. The agency is overseen by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport.

Holidays: England’s public holidays are known as “bank holidays,” referring to the fact that on these days banks are closed and no other business is done. Most employees have the day off, while essential public workers, such as policemen, receive additional pay.

Boxing Day (or St. Stephen’s Day) is celebrated December 26, the day after Christmas.

Guy Fawkes Day, November 5, commemorates the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a band of conspirators tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in order to restore Catholicism as the official religion.

Environment and Geography

Topography: England covers 130,365 square kilometers (50,334 square miles), approximately half of Britain’s total 243,000 square kilometers (93,000 square miles). Much of the country is surrounded by water, but there is relatively little inland water. There are, however, many rivers. The longest are the Thames (which runs through London) and the Severn, in southwestern England. Other important rivers are the Avon, which runs through Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford, and the Trent, the Humber, and the Mersey.

Much of southern England is covered with rolling hills, though there are also several large plains. The east and southeast are low and often marshy; the Fens are a marshy region near Norfolk. The central Midlands are a large plain. Northern England is covered with mountains and moors.

There are two main mountain ranges. The Pennines run north-south in north central England. The Cumbrian Mountains, in northwestern England, are home to the Lake District. Among the hilly regions are the Chiltern Hills and Cotswold Hills, in southern England.

Several islands off the British coast are within English jurisdiction: the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, and the Scilly Islands off the coast of Cornwall.

Natural Resources: England is rich in natural resources. Coal has been the most important industrial mineral, mined since the 1700s. It was the main power source during the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The last deep coal mines in England closed in 2015, although several surface coal mines remain open. Other industrial minerals include sand, limestone, gravel, and gypsum. In ancient times, Britain was an important source of minerals such as iron ore, tin, and copper, but these are produced only in relatively small quantities today.

Most of England was covered by forests in ancient times. By the Middle Ages, human settlement had reduced the forests to about 15 percent of the land. Britain’s remaining forests cover about 8 percent of the country. Most of the country’s wooded lands are in private hands. The remaining 25 percent are managed by Britain’s Forestry Commission.

Plants & Animals: England is noted for the rich variety of its plant and animal life. There is relatively little large game, due to hunting and human settlement, but there are still large populations of various wild animals. Large mammals include deer; the red and roe species are native, while others, such as the fallow deer, were introduced from elsewhere. Smaller mammals include badgers, foxes, and rabbits. Fox hunting, long popular with the English upper class, has come under attack in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as being cruel to animals. Common game birds include grouse, woodcocks, and pheasants.

Climate: England’s climate is quite mild, even though the country is located far north of the equator. Much of the mildness is due to warm sea currents. England has a reputation for wet weather. Southern England tends to receive less than 700 millimeters of rainfall per year, while northern regions can receive as much as 2,000 millimeters of precipitation annually. Snow is relatively rare except in the mountains. The southern coastal regions are quite sunny, while the mountains are usually cloudy.

Temperatures are relatively mild throughout the year in the southern and coastal areas, though winters can sometimes be quite cold. The mean annual temperature in low-lying areas is around 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit), while in the mountains it can drop to around 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit).

Economy

England is the largest constituent part of the United Kingdom, which had a GDP of $3.7 trillion in 2023. London is one of the world’s oldest and most revered financial centers. English companies are world leaders in direct foreign investment.

Industry: England is a highly industrialized nation. The major industries include manufacturing (including aerospace and automotive), electronics, finance, chemicals, electronics, mass media, and tourism. As the largest economy within the United Kingdom, England provides the major share of Britain’s exports.

Agriculture: Only a small percentage of England’s economy is dedicated to agriculture, though the rural-urban distinction remains an important part of English life. Major crops include cereals, potatoes, and vegetables. Livestock farming focuses on cattle, sheep, and poultry.

Tourism: Tourism in England is vibrant, and there were an estimated 40.8 million tourist arrivals to the greater UK in 2019. This number plummeted to just 11.1 million following travel restrictions that resulted from the global COVID-19 pandemic that began that same year.

Some visitors from former colonies such as the United States look upon England as the “Mother Country,” and many travel there in order to gain a sense of their own heritage. Others visit England for its natural beauty and to visit quaint towns and villages. Some of the most popular attractions in London are Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and Kew Gardens.

Government

There was no “Kingdom of England” until 927, when the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex conquered the last of its neighbors. This kingdom lasted until Duke William of Normandy invaded England in 1066 and defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings. William, now known as “the Conqueror,” imported French feudalism and a Norman aristocracy, thus bringing England more fully into the European mainstream.

England eventually dominated the rest of the British Isles, conquering Wales in 1282 and making it a principality under English rule; King Henry VIII formally annexed it in the 1530s. The crowns of England and Scotland joined in 1603 in the person of James IV of Scotland, who also became James I of England. The two countries remained separate kingdoms, however, until the Act of Union of 1707, when they were joined as the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, this became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Since then, England has been ruled by the British Parliament at Westminster.

The twentieth century has seen a move toward devolution, or giving more power to the United Kingdom’s constituent countries. In 1999, the UK Parliament reinstituted the Scottish Parliament (which had not met since 1707) and established a National Assembly for Wales, to have authority over many local issues. There is, however, no purely “English Parliament,” something which some groups would like to reestablish.

The UK Deputy Prime Minister has overall responsibility for local government in England. The highest level is the nine regions, including Greater London (which has an elected mayor rather than an appointed council). Beneath the regions are unitary authorities or “two-tier” authorities (county council and district council). The unitaries were established in the 1990s to replace the traditional county system. These counties were historically known as shires (such as Gloucestershire), but these jurisdictions now have only historical significance.

England and Wales share a legal system, based on “common law,” a system of precedents built up over the years rather than a single, systematic code. Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own laws and courts, but the British House of Lords serves as the ultimate court of appeal in all three countries, except for criminal cases in Scotland. Local courts known as magistrates’ courts can try less serious offenses such as theft and burglary. Crown Courts handle more serious cases, such as murder, manslaughter, and robbery.

The Lord Chancellor (also titled the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs) heads the English judicial system, assisted by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. The UK Home Secretary has day-to-day responsibility for police, prisons, and criminal law in England.

The main political parties in early twenty-first century England are the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democratic Party.

Keir Starmer was elected prime minister in the July 2024 election, which saw a sweeping Labour party victory after 14 years of Conservative or Conservative-led governments, with Labour becoming the largest party in the House of Commons.

Interesting Facts

• The dish known as “Beef Wellington” was named for the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon’s army at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
• The world owes the sandwich to an eighteenth-century English nobleman, the Earl of Sandwich. A famous gambler, the earl reputedly refused to leave the gaming table in order to eat, so he had a servant bring him meat placed between two pieces of bread.
• Some of the best-selling recording artists in history are from England: The Beatles, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd.
• In January 2020, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union in a move known commonly as Brexit.

Bibliography

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Summers, Kimberly Dillon. United Kingdom. ABDO, 2012.

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United Kingdom, 2023 Annual Research: Key Highlights. World Travel & Tourism Council, 2023, researchhub.wttc.org/factsheets/united-kingdom. Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.

"United Kingdom." The World Bank, 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/united-kingdom. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

“United Kingdom.” The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 30 Dec. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-kingdom/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.

“United Kingdom.” BBC Country Profiles, 9 Jul. 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18023389. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.