Portal:England

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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It shares a land border with Scotland to the north and another land border with Wales to the west, and is otherwise surrounded by the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south, the Celtic Sea to the south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west. Continental Europe lies to the south-east, and Ireland to the west. At the 2021 census, the population was 56,490,048. London is both the largest city and the capital.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic. It takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had extensive cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The Kingdom of England, which included Wales after 1535, ceased to be a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union brought into effect a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland that created the Kingdom of Great Britain.

England is the origin of the English language, the English legal system (which served as the basis for the common law systems of many other countries), association football, and the Anglican branch of Christianity; its parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England is home to the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world: the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, and the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209. Both universities are ranked amongst the most prestigious in the world.

England's terrain chiefly consists of low hills and plains, especially in the centre and south. Upland and mountainous terrain is mostly found in the north and west, including Dartmoor, the Lake District, the Pennines, and the Shropshire Hills. The London metropolitan area has a population of 14.2 million as of 2021, representing the United Kingdom's largest metropolitan area. England's population of 56.3 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century. (Full article...)

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One of Molyneux's celestial globes, which is displayed in Middle Temple Library – from the frontispiece of the Hakluyt Society's 1889 reprint of A Learned Treatise of Globes, both Cœlestiall and Terrestriall, one of the English editions of Robert Hues' Latin work Tractatus de Globis (1594)

Emery Molyneux (/ˈɛməri ˈmɒlɪnoʊ/ EM-ər-ee MOL-in-oh; died June 1598) was an English Elizabethan maker of globes, mathematical instruments and ordnance. His terrestrial and celestial globes, first published in 1592, were the first to be made in England and the first to be made by an Englishman.

Molyneux was known as a mathematician and maker of mathematical instruments such as compasses and hourglasses. He became acquainted with many prominent men of the day, including the writer Richard Hakluyt and the mathematicians Robert Hues and Edward Wright. He also knew the explorers Thomas Cavendish, Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh and John Davis. Davis probably introduced Molyneux to his own patron, the London merchant William Sanderson, who largely financed the construction of the globes. When completed, the globes were presented to Elizabeth I. Larger globes were acquired by royalty, noblemen and academic institutions, while smaller ones were purchased as practical navigation aids for sailors and students. The globes were the first to be made in such a way that they were unaffected by the humidity at sea, and they came into general use on ships. (Full article...)

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The historic counties of England are areas that were established for administration by the Normans, in many cases based on earlier kingdoms and shires created by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts and the Danes and Norse in the North. They are alternatively known as ancient counties, traditional counties, former counties or simply as counties. In the centuries that followed their establishment, as well as their administrative function, the counties also helped define local culture and identity. This role continued even after the counties ceased to be used for administration after the creation of administrative counties in 1889, which were themselves amended by further local government reforms in the years following.

Unlike the partly self-governing boroughs that covered urban areas, the counties of medieval England existed primarily as a means of enforcing central government power, enabling monarchs to exercise control over local areas through their chosen representatives – originally sheriffs and later the lord-lieutenants – and their subordinate justices of the peace. Counties were used initially for the administration of justice, collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation. They continue to form the basis of modern local government areas in many parts of the country away from the main urban areas, although the newly created areas sometimes have considerably altered boundaries from the historic counties on which they are based. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various England-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Battersea Shield (detail), 350 BC. (from History of England)
Image 2England playing Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground in the 2009 Ashes series. After winning the 2019 Cricket World Cup, England became the first country to win the World Cups in football, rugby union and cricket. (from Culture of England)
Image 3Shoulder clasp from Sutton Hoo, 625 AD (from History of England)
Image 4Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Primate of All England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior bishop of the Church of England. (It was the property of the Roman Catholic Church before the English Reformation.) (from Culture of England)
Image 5Portrait of Edward VI, c. 1550 (from History of England)
Image 6Flatford Mill ('Scene on a Navigable River') by John Constable, c. 1816 (from Culture of England)
Image 7The Lindisfarne Gospels (from Culture of England)
Image 8Sir Isaac Newton is regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 9The Great Fire London, 1666. (from History of England)
Image 10The Billingsgate Fish Market in London in the early 19th century (from History of England)
Image 11William Hogarth's depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest is an example of how English literature influenced English painting in the 18th century. (from Culture of England)
Image 12The Ruthwell Cross, 8th century AD (from History of England)
Image 13The Fairy Ring by William Holmes Sullivan, c.1908 (from Culture of England)
Image 14Countries where English is natively spoken or has official status (from Culture of England)
Image 15The English landscape garden at Stourhead, described as a 'living work of art' when first opened in the 1750s (from Culture of England)
Image 16Josiah Wedgwood was a leading entrepreneur in the Industrial Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 17One of only four surviving exemplifications of the 1215 text, Cotton MS. Augustus II. 106, property of the British Library (from History of England)
Image 18Bronze coins of Cunobelin, called "King of the Britons" by Suetonius. 1–42 AD. (from History of England)
Image 19Jack In the Green, a traditional English folk custom being celebrated in Hastings Old Town, known for its many pre-Victorian buildings. (from Culture of England)
Image 20King Charles II, a patron of the arts and sciences, supported the Royal Society, a scientific group whose early members included Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton. (from Culture of England)
Image 21View of the ramparts of the hillfort of Maiden Castle (450 BC), as they look today (from History of England)
Image 22The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found^[update]. It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments. (from Culture of England)
Image 23King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom. (from Culture of England)
Image 24Dover Castle, 12th–13th century (from History of England)
Image 25Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 720 AD (from History of England)
Image 26Portrait of the Royal Tudors. At left, Henry VII, with Prince Arthur behind him, then Prince Henry (later Henry VIII), and Prince Edmund, who did not survive early childhood. To the right is Elizabeth of York, with Princess Margaret, then Princess Elizabeth who didn't survive childhood, Princess Mary, and Princess Katherine, who died shortly after her birth. (from History of England)
Image 27The first general laws against child labour, the Factory Acts, were passed in Britain in the first half of the 19th century. Children younger than nine were not allowed to work and the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours. (from History of England)
Image 28Artefacts from Bush Barrow at Stonehenge. Wessex culture, Early Bronze Age, c. 1900 BC (from History of England)
Image 29First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. (from Culture of England)
Image 30Canterbury Cathedral nave, 1377 (from History of England)
Image 31King Henry VIII (from History of England)
Image 32The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (from Culture of England)
Image 33Silbury Hill, c. 2400 BC (from History of England)
Image 34The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of England)
Image 35King James I of England (from History of England)
Image 36First English Civil War at the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 (from History of England)
Image 37England in 878 (from History of England)
Image 38National performing arts are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as The Proms during the summer. (from Culture of England)
Image 39Elizabeth I (from History of England)
Image 40The Royal College of Music is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, established by royal charter in 1882. (from Culture of England)
Image 41Anglo-Saxon king with his Witan. Biblical scene in the Old English Hexateuch (11th century) (from History of England)
Image 42Durham Cathedral, dating from 1093 (from Culture of England)
Image 43A pint of real ale (from Culture of England)
Image 44The Mob Quad of Merton College, University of Oxford, 13th–14th century (from History of England)
Image 45Durham Cathedral. The Norman cathedral was built 1093–1133 (from History of England)
Image 46Anglo-Saxon helmet from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, 625 AD (replica) (from History of England)
Image 47King Charles II (from History of England)
Image 48Tomb of Richard I of England and Isabella of Angoulême (from History of England)
Image 49Maps of territory held by Royalists (red) and Parliamentarians (green) during the English Civil War (1642–1645) (from History of England)
Image 50A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage, Dorset, England (from Culture of England)
Image 51Stonehenge, erected in several stages from c.3000–2500 BC (from History of England)
Image 52The Roman Baths in Bath; a temple was constructed on the site between 60–70CE in the first few decades of Roman Britain. (from Culture of England)
Image 53King's College in Cambridge is regarded as one of the greatest examples of late English Gothic architecture. It has the world's largest fan vault, while the chapel's stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from their era. (from Culture of England)
Image 54The epic poem Beowulf, set in 6th century Scandinavia, composed c. 700–1000 AD. (from History of England)
Image 55Stinking Bishop cheese (from Culture of England)
Image 56Francis Bacon led the advancement of both natural philosophy and the scientific method and his works remained deeply influential in the Scientific Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 57Remains of Hadrian's Wall (from History of England)
Image 58Morris dancing (from Culture of England)
Image 59Remains of the Roman baths at Bath, England. (from History of England)
Image 60The Procession Picture, c. 1600, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers (from History of England)
Image 61Chester, c. 1880 (from History of England)
Image 62Edward Elgar is one of England's most celebrated classical composers. (from Culture of England)
Image 63Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, 8 May 1945 (from History of England)
Image 64Whitehall by Francis Dodd (1920) displaying the Palace of Westminster (from Culture of England)
Image 65Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1340s–1400, author of The Canterbury Tales (from History of England)
Image 66Procession of characters from Shakespeare's plays (from Culture of England)
Image 67Frontispiece of Bede's Life of St Cuthbert, showing King Æthelstan presenting a copy of the book to the saint himself. c. 930 (from History of England)
Image 68Christopher Lee (seen here as Dracula in 1958) starred in many of Hammer's British horror films. (from Culture of England)
Image 69Kingdoms and tribes in Britain, c. AD 600 (from History of England)
Image 70The White Tower of the Tower of London, built in 1078 (from History of England)
Image 71Alfred Hitchcock is often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, and was described as "a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius." (from Culture of England)
Image 72Gold torc from Snettisham, 70 BC (from History of England)
Image 73Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86 (from History of England)
Image 74The Alfred Jewel, late 9th century (from History of England)
Image 75Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol played a major role in reviving the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal goodwill. (from Culture of England)
Image 76The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School) (from History of England)
Image 77Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry (from History of England)
Image 78King Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 (from History of England)
Image 79Interior of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford (from Culture of England)

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Portrait of Henry VIII after Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1540–1547

Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated by the pope.

Born in Greenwich, Henry brought radical changes to the Constitution of England, expanding royal power and ushering in the theory of the divine right of kings in opposition to papal supremacy. He frequently used charges of treason and heresy to quell dissent, and those accused were often executed without a formal trial using bills of attainder. He achieved many of his political aims through his chief ministers, some of whom were banished or executed when they fell out of his favour. Thomas Wolsey, Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Cranmer all figured prominently in his administration. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

...that the Mendip Hills (commonly called The Mendips) are a range of limestone hills situated to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset?
...the England and Wales Cricket Board was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB), the National Cricket Association (NCA) and the Cricket Council?
...that the Flag of England is the St George's Cross?
...that the Tudor rose (pictured) is a traditional heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the Tudor dynasty?

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In the news

20 June 2025 –: The United Kingdom parliament votes to approve a bill allowing terminally ill adults to voluntarily end their lives, moving towards legalizing assisted suicide in England and Wales. (DW) (BBC News)
10 June 2025 – Fossil fuel phase-out: The British government announces it will invest £14.2 billion (US$19 billion) to construct the new Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, England, to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels. (AP) (Reuters)
26 May 2025 – 2025 Liverpool parade incident: A vehicle ploughs into crowds of Liverpool F.C. fans celebrating their Premier League title win in the city centre of Liverpool, England. 109 people are injured, and a suspect is detained by Merseyside Police. (BBC News)

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“

The rustics of England, especially those inhabiting the South hams (villages) of Devonshire, have great fun Wassailing the Orchards on Christmans Eve, New Year's and Twelfth Nigh (Boxing Day), when they drink toasts to the largest apple trees and sprinkle them with cyder (cider) carried by the beadle, the parish clerk, or some other such obsolete individual. The Devonshire people do this because they did it the year before.

”

— Will Cuppy

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England • Bedfordshire • Brighton • Cheshire • Cornwall • Derbyshire • Dorset • Greater Manchester • Hampshire • Lincolnshire • London • Merseyside • Northamptonshire • North East England • Sheffield • Surrey. Warwickshire • West Midlands • Worcestershire • Yorkshire

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Cities and major towns: Blackpool • Birmingham • Bristol • Chelmsford • Leeds • Liverpool • London • Manchester • Newcastle • Nottingham • Oxford • Portsmouth • Sheffield • Southampton • Stoke-on-Trent

Culture: The Football Association • Rugby Football Union • England and Wales Cricket Board • English inventions and discoveries

Geography: Geology • Climate • Mountains and hills • Islands • Rivers

Economy: Bank of England • London Stock Exchange • Chancellor of the Exchequer • Monetary Policy Committee • HM Treasury

History: Timeline of English history • Prehistoric Britain • Roman Britain • Anglo-Saxon England • Norman England • Plantagenet England • House of Lancaster • House of York • House of Tudor • House of Stuart

Governance: Kingdom of England • Prime Minister of the United Kingdom • Parliament of the United Kingdom • Home Secretary • Local Government Boundary Commission for England • Administrative divisions of England • English law

Symbols: Flags • Flag of England • St George's Cross • Tudor rose • Coat of arms of England

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