England

Coordinates: 53°08′N 1°23′W / 53.13°N 1.38°W / 53.13; -1.38
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England
Flag of England
Ethnic groups
List
Religion
(2021)[1]
List
Demonym(s)English
GovernmentPart of a constitutional monarchy, direct government exercised by the UK Government
• Monarch
Charles III
Parliament of the United Kingdom
• House of Commons533 MPs (of 650)
Establishment
by 12 July 927
1 May 1707
Area
• Total[a]
132,930 km2 (51,320 sq mi)[2]
• Land[b]
130,310 km2 (50,310 sq mi)[2]
Population
• Mid-2022 estimate
Neutral increase 57,106,398[3]
• 2021 census
Neutral increase 56,490,048[1]
• Density
438/km2 (1,134.4/sq mi)[3]
GVA2021 estimate
 • Total£1.760 trillion
 • Per capita£31,138[4]
GB-ENG

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.[6] The country is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers roughly 62%, and over 100 smaller adjacent islands. It has land borders with Scotland to the north and 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. The population was 56,490,048 at the 2021 census. London is both the largest city and the capital.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic, but 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 a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century.[7] The Kingdom of England, which included Wales after 1535, ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707 when the Acts of Union put the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year into effect; this resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland that created the Kingdom of Great Britain.[8]

England is the origin of many well-known worldwide exports, including 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 Church of England; its parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations.[9] The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation.[10] 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 among the most prestigious in the world.[11][12]

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 country's capital is London, the greater metropolitan of which 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,[13] 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.[14]

Toponymy

The name "England" is derived from the

Malcolm III went "out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland", thus using it in the more ancient sense.[17]

The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by

Arthurian legend. Albion is also applied to England in a more poetic capacity,[22]
though its original meaning is the island of Britain as a whole.

History

Prehistory

Sun shining through row of upright standing stones with other stones horizontally on the top.
Stonehenge, a Neolithic monument

The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of

ice sheets began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula.[25] The sea level was lower than the present day and Britain was connected by land bridge to Ireland and Eurasia.[26]
As the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000 years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later.

The

Beaker culture arrived around 2,500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores.[27] It was during this time that major Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge (phase III) and Avebury were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, which were in abundance in the area, the Beaker culture people made bronze, and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron smelting allowed the construction of better ploughs, advancing agriculture (for instance, with Celtic fields), as well as the production of more effective weapons.[28]

The Battersea Shield is one of the most significant pieces of ancient Celtic art found in Britain.

During the

invade twice in 55 BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a client king from the Trinovantes
.

Ancient history

The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor

Roman architecture, aqueducts, sewers, many agricultural items and silk.[32] In the 3rd century, Emperor Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (now York), where Constantine was subsequently proclaimed emperor a century later.[33]

There is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, probably much earlier. According to

decline of the Roman Empire, Britain was left exposed by the end of Roman rule in Britain and the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars.[35] Celtic Christian monastic and missionary movements flourished. This period of Christianity was influenced by ancient Celtic culture in its sensibilities, polity, practices and theology. Local "congregations" were centred in the monastic community and monastic leaders were more like chieftains, as peers, rather than in the more hierarchical system of the Roman-dominated church.[36]

Middle Ages

Studded and decorated metallic mask of human face.
Replica of the 7th-century ceremonial Sutton Hoo helmet from the Kingdom of East Anglia

Council of Whitby (664), which was ostensibly about tonsures (clerical haircuts) and the date of Easter, but more significantly, about the differences in Roman and Celtic forms of authority, theology, and practice.[36]

During the settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including

Denmark and Norway. However, the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of Edward the Confessor
in 1042.

King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, fought on Saint Crispin's Day and concluded with an English victory against a larger French army in the Hundred Years' War

A dispute over the succession to Edward led to an unsuccessful Norwegian Invasion in September 1066 close to York in the North, and the successful Norman Conquest in October 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy invading at Hastings late September 1066.[42] The Normans themselves originated from Scandinavia and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries.[43] This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had a profound and permanent effect on the English language.[44]

Subsequently, the House of Plantagenet from Anjou inherited the English throne under Henry II, adding England to the budding Angevin Empire of fiefs the family had inherited in France including Aquitaine.[45] They reigned for three centuries, some noted monarchs being Richard I, Edward I, Edward III and Henry V.[45] The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including the signing of Magna Carta, an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic monasticism flourished, providing philosophers, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The Principality of Wales became a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century[46] and the Lordship of Ireland was given to the English monarchy by the Pope. During the 14th century, the Plantagenets and the House of Valois claimed to be legitimate claimants to the House of Capet and of France; the two powers clashed in the Hundred Years' War.[47] The Black Death epidemic hit England; starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's inhabitants.[48]

Between 1453 and 1487, a civil war known as the

War of the Roses waged between the two branches of the royal family, the Yorkists and Lancastrians.[49] Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the Tudors, a branch of the Lancastrians headed by Henry Tudor who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field where the Yorkist king Richard III was killed.[50]

Early modern period

Queen Elizabeth I
(1558–1603)

During the

1535–1542 acts. There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again, forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism. The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor age of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ("the Virgin Queen"). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history that represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of great art, drama, poetry, music and literature.[53] England during this period had a centralised, well-organised, and effective government.[54]

Competing with

Dutch and French in the East. During the Elizabethan period, England was at war with Spain. An armada sailed from Spain in 1588 as part of a wider plan to invade England and re-establish a Catholic monarchy. The plan was thwarted by bad coordination, stormy weather and successful harrying attacks by an English fleet under Lord Howard of Effingham. This failure did not end the threat: Spain launched two further armadas, in 1596 and 1597
, but both were driven back by storms.

Union with Scotland

The political structure of the island changed in 1603, when the

King of Great Britain, although this had no basis in English law.[57] Under the auspices of James VI and I the Authorised King James Version
of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century.

English Restoration restored the monarchy under King Charles II and peace after the English Civil War
.

Based on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the

Restoration. With the reopening of theatres, fine arts, literature and performing arts flourished throughout the Restoration of the "Merry Monarch" Charles II.[59] After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, it was constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Among the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior approval of Parliament.[60] Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch.[61] With the founding of the Royal Society
in 1660, science was greatly encouraged.

In 1666 the

Prince William of Orange to defeat James and become the king. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. Under the Stuart dynasty England expanded in trade, finance and prosperity. The Royal Navy developed Europe's largest merchant fleet.[63] After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed,[64] the two countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.[56] To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate.[65]

Late modern and contemporary periods

Georgian period
from the Terrace of Somerset House looking towards St. Paul's, c. 1750

Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other

English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth in British overseas trade protected by the Royal Navy paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire. Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution, a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development.[66] The opening of Northwest England's Bridgewater Canal in 1761 ushered in the canal age in Britain.[67] In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway – the Stockton and Darlington Railway – opened to the public.[67]

multi-storey square industrial buildings beyond a river
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement between the Royal Navy and the combined fleets of France and Spain during the Napoleonic Wars.[68]

During the

Britishness and a united national British people, shared with the English, Scots and Welsh.[73]

The Victorian era is often cited as a Golden Age. Painting done by William Powell Frith to show cultural divisions.

London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era, and trade within the British Empire – as well as the standing of the British military and navy – was prestigious.[74] Technologically, this era saw many innovations that proved key to the United Kingdom's power and prosperity.[75] Political agitation at home from radicals such as the Chartists and the suffragettes enabled legislative reform and universal suffrage.[76]

Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for the United Kingdom as part of the

decolonisation, and there was a speeding-up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and Frank Whittle's development of the jet engine led to wider air travel.[78] Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, providing publicly funded health care to all permanent residents free at the point of need. Combined, these prompted the reform of local government in England in the mid-20th century.[79]

Since the 20th century, there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of the

common market initiative called the European Economic Community which became the European Union. Since the late 20th century the administration of the United Kingdom has moved towards devolved governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.[82] England and Wales continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom.[83] Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism.[84] There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by referendum.[85]

Governance

Politics

Photograph of rectangular floodlight building, reflected in water. The building has multiple towers including one at each end. The tower on the right includes an illuminated clock face.
The Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

England is part of the United Kingdom, a

government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707,[87] putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union, joined England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.[64] Before the union England was ruled by its monarch and the Parliament of England. Today England is governed directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, although other countries of the United Kingdom have devolved governments.[88]

In the House of Commons which is the lower house of the British Parliament based at the Palace of Westminster, there are 532 members of parliament (MPs) for constituencies in England, out of the 650 total.[89] England is represented by 345 MPs from the Conservative Party, 179 from the Labour Party, seven from the Liberal Democrats, one from the Green Party, and the Speaker of the House.

Since devolution, in which other countries of the United Kingdom – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – each have their own devolved parliament or assemblies for local issues, there has been debate about how to counterbalance this in England. Originally it was planned that various regions of England would be devolved, but following the proposal's rejection by the North East in a 2004 referendum, this has not been carried out.[85]

Law

The Royal Courts of Justice

The

legal precedent – stare decisis – to the facts before them.[92]

The court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the

Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice for civil cases, and the Crown Court for criminal cases.[93] The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court for criminal and civil cases in England and Wales. It was created in 2009 after constitutional changes, taking over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.[94] A decision of the Supreme Court is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, which must follow its directions.[95]

The Secretary of State for Justice is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system and prisons and probation in England.[96] Crime increased between 1981 and 1995 but fell by 42% in the period 1995–2006.[97] The prison population doubled over the same period, giving it one of the highest incarceration rates in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000.[98] His Majesty's Prison Service, reporting to the Ministry of Justice, manages most prisons, housing 81,309 prisoners in England and Wales as of September 2022.[99]

Subdivisions

The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division, controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government.

Outside the London region, England's highest tier is the 48

British monarch locally.[100] Some counties, such as Herefordshire, are only divided further into civil parishes. The royal county of Berkshire and the metropolitan counties have different types of status to other ceremonial counties.[102]

The second tier is made up of

shire counties
. In 1974, all ceremonial counties were two-tier; and with the metropolitan county tier phased out, the 1996 reform separated the ceremonial county and the administrative county tier.

England is also divided into local government districts.

.

At the community level, much of England is divided into

councils; in Greater London only one such parish, Queen's Park, exists as of 2014 after they were abolished in 1965 until legislation allowed their recreation
in 2007.

London

From 1994 until the early 2010s England was divided for a few purposes into regions; a

with the regional structure outside London abolished.

Ceremonially and administratively, the region is divided between the

Geography

Landscape and rivers

The Malvern Hills located in the English counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The hills have been designated by the Countryside Agency as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Geographically, England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the

to the west
by Wales.

England is closer than any other part of mainland Britain to the European continent. It is separated from France (Hauts-de-France) by a 21-mile (34 km)[106] sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone.[107] England also has shores on the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

The ports of London,

Severn Bore (a tidal bore), which can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height.[109] However, the longest river entirely in England is the Thames, which is 215 miles (346 km) in length.[110]

The village of Glenridding and Ullswater in Cumbria.

There are many

lakes in England; the largest is Windermere, within the aptly named Lake District.[111] Most of England's landscape consists of low hills and plains, with upland and mountainous terrain in the north and west of the country. The northern uplands include the Pennines, a chain of uplands dividing east and west, the Lake District mountains in Cumbria, and the Cheviot Hills, straddling the border between England and Scotland. The highest point in England, at 978 metres (3,209 ft), is Scafell Pike in the Lake District.[111] The Shropshire Hills are near Wales while Dartmoor and Exmoor are two upland areas in the south-west of the country. The approximate dividing line between terrain types is often indicated by the Tees–Exe line.[112]

The Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, originating from the end of the

national parks, the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District. In the West Country, Dartmoor and Exmoor of the Southwest Peninsula include upland moorland supported by granite.[114]

The

cliffs of Dover. This also includes relatively flat plains such as the Salisbury Plain, Somerset Levels, South Coast Plain and The Fens
.

Climate

England has a

maritime climate: it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0 °C (32 °F) in winter and not much higher than 32 °C (90 °F) in summer.[115] The weather is damp relatively frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are May, June, September and October.[115]
Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

Important influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the

Edgmond, Shropshire.[117]

Nature and wildlife

The Eurasian wren, a common bird in England[118]

The fauna of England is similar to that of other areas in the

National Trust, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. There are 229 NNRs in England covering 939 square kilometres (363 square miles). Often they contain rare species or nationally important populations of plants and animals.[120]
.

The

coniferous forests (mainly plantations) which also benefit certain forms of wildlife. Some species have adapted to the expanded urban environment, particularly the red fox, which is the most successful urban mammal after the brown rat, and other animals such as common wood pigeon, both of which thrive in urban and suburban areas.[124]

Major conurbations

The

English Midlands.[125] There are 50 settlements which have designated city status in England
, while the wider United Kingdom has 66.

While many cities in England are quite large, such as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Bradford, Nottingham, population size is not a prerequisite for city status.[126] Traditionally the status was given to towns with diocesan cathedrals, so there are smaller cities like Wells, Ely, Ripon, Truro and Chichester.

Economy

England's economy is one of the largest and most dynamic in the world, with an average

mixed market economy, it has adopted many free market principles, yet maintains an advanced social welfare infrastructure.[128]

London is the financial capital of England and the United Kingdom.

The economy of England is the largest part of the UK's economy.[129] England is a leader in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries, particularly aerospace, the arms industry, and the software industry. London, home to the London Stock Exchange, the United Kingdom's main stock exchange and the largest in Europe, is England's financial centre, with 100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations being based there.[130] London is the largest financial centre in Europe and as of 2014 is the second largest in the world.[131]

London has also been named as the fastest growing technology hub in Europe, with England having over 100 unique tech companies with a value of $1 billion or more.

state-owned institution since 1946, is the United Kingdom's central bank.[134] The bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, although not in other parts of the UK. The government has devolved responsibility to the bank's Monetary Policy Committee for managing the monetary policy of the country and setting interest rates.[135]

A grey coloured car.
Aston Martin manufacture luxury vehicles in England.

England is highly industrialised, but since the 1970s there has been a decline in traditional heavy and manufacturing industries, and an increasing emphasis on a more

crude oil and petroleum from the English parts of North Sea oil along with Wytch Farm, aircraft engines and alcoholic beverages.[136] The creative industries accounted for 7 per cent GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6 per cent per annum between 1997 and 2005.[137]

Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanised and efficient by European standards, producing 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force.[138] Two-thirds of production is devoted to livestock, the remainder to arable crops.[139] The main crops that are grown are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets. England retains a significant fishing industry. Its fleets bring home a variety of fish, ranging from sole to herring. England is also rich in natural resources including coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, and silica.[140]

Science and technology

Torso of man with long white hair and dark coloured jacket
Sir Isaac Newton is one of the most influential figures in the history of science.

Prominent English figures from the field of science and mathematics include Sir

.

England was a leading centre of the

steam engine helped spawn the Industrial Revolution.[143]

The Father of Railways, George Stephenson, built the first public inter-city railway line in the world, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. With his role in the marketing and manufacturing of the steam engine, and invention of modern coinage, Matthew Boulton (business partner of James Watt) is regarded as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in history.[144] The physician Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine is said to have "saved more lives ... than were lost in all the wars of mankind since the beginning of recorded history."[145]

Inventions and discoveries of the English include the

light bulb, steam locomotives, the modern seed drill and many modern techniques and technologies used in precision engineering.[147]

The

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge,[148] is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. Founded on 28 November 1660,[148] It is the oldest national scientific institution in the world.[149] The Royal Institution of Great Britain was founded in 1799 by leading English scientists, including Henry Cavendish.[150] Some experts claim that the earliest concept of a metric system was invented by John Wilkins in 1668.[151]

Scientific research and development remains important in the

Transport

The Department for Transport is the government body responsible for overseeing transport in England. The department is run by the Secretary of State for Transport.

England has a dense and modern transportation infrastructure. There are many

National Cycle Route
offers cycling routes nationally.

Rail transport in England is the oldest in the world: passenger railways originated in England in 1825.[159] Much of Britain's 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of rail network lies in England, covering the country fairly extensively. There is rail transport access to France and Belgium through an undersea rail link, the Channel Tunnel, which was completed in 1994.

Great British Railways is a planned state-owned public body that will oversee rail transport in Great Britain from 2024. The Office of Rail and Road is responsible for the economic and safety regulation of England's railways.[160] Crossrail was Europe's largest construction project with a £15 billion projected cost, opened in 2022.[161] High Speed 2, a new high-speed north–south railway line, is under construction.[162]

There is a

world's second busiest airport measured by number of international passengers.[164]

By sea there is ferry transport, both local and international, including from Liverpool to Ireland and the Isle of Man, and Hull to the Netherlands and Belgium.[165] There are around 4,400 miles (7,100 km) of navigable waterways in England, half of which is owned by the Canal & River Trust,[165] however, water transport is very limited. The River Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at the Port of Tilbury in the Thames Estuary, one of the United Kingdom's three major ports.[165]

Energy

Wind turbines at Den Brook, Devon. The UK is one of the best sites in Europe for wind energy, and wind power production is its fastest growing supply.[166][167]

Successive governments have outlined numerous commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Notably, the UK is one of the best sites in Europe for wind energy, and wind power production is its fastest growing supply.[167] Wind power contributed 26.8% of UK electricity generation in 2022.[168] England is home to Hornsea 2, the largest offshore wind farm in the world, situated in waters roughly 89 kilometres off the coast of Yorkshire.[169]

The Climate Change Act 2008 was passed in Parliament with an overwhelming majority across political parties. It sets out emission reduction targets that the UK must comply with legally. It represents the first global legally binding climate change mitigation target set by a country.[170] UK government energy policy aims to play a key role in limiting greenhouse gas emissions, while meeting energy demand. Shifting availabilities of resources and development of technologies also change the country's energy mix through changes in costs.[171]

The current energy policy is the responsibility of the

net zero by 2050.[175]

Healthcare

William Beveridge's 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services served as the basis for the post-World War II welfare state.

The

healthcare system responsible for providing the majority of healthcare in the country. The NHS began on 5 July 1948, putting into effect the provisions of the National Health Service Act 1946. It was based on the findings of the Beveridge Report, prepared by the economist and social reformer, William Beveridge.[176] The NHS is largely funded by general taxation and National Insurance payments;[177] it provides most of its services free at the point of use, although there are charges for some people for eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of personal care.[178]

The government department responsible for the NHS is the

Royal Colleges
.

The average life expectancy is 77.5 years for males and 81.7 years for females, the highest of the four countries of the United Kingdom.[180] The south of England has a higher life expectancy than the north, but regional differences seem to be slowly narrowing: between 1991–1993 and 2012–2014, life expectancy in the North East increased by 6.0 years and in the North West by 5.8 years.[180]

Demography

Population

Map of England with regions shaded in different shades of blue.
The metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, colour-coded to show population
Population of England and Wales by administrative areas. Their size shows their population, with some approximation. Each group of squares in the map key is 20% of total number of districts.

With over 56 million inhabitants, England is by far the most populous country of the United Kingdom, accounting for 84% of the combined total.[3] England taken as a unit and measured against international states would be the 26th largest country by population in the world.[181]

The

Poles.[182] Other people from much further afield in the former British colonies have arrived since the 1950s: in particular, 6% of people living in England have family origins in the Indian subcontinent, mostly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.[182][189] About 0.7% are Chinese.[182][189] 2.90% of the population are black, from Africa and the Caribbean, especially former British colonies.[182][189] In 2007, 22% of primary school children in England were from ethnic minority families,[190] and in 2011 that figure was 26.5%.[191] About half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to immigration.[192]

England contains one indigenous national minority, the Cornish people, recognised by the UK government under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in 2014.[193]

Language

Language Native speakers

(thousands)[194]

English 46,937
Polish 529
Punjabi 272
Urdu 266
Bengali 216
Gujarati 212
Arabic 152
French 145
Portuguese 131
Welsh 8
Cornish 0.6
Other 2,267
Population 51,006

English, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated in what is now England, where it remains the principal tongue. According to a 2011 census, it is spoken well or very well by 98% of the population[195] and is widely spoken around the world.[196]

regional accents
.

Cornish died out as a community language in the 18th century but is being revived,[198] and is now protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.[199] It is spoken by 0.1% of people in Cornwall,[200] and is taught to some degree in several primary and secondary schools.[201]

third language from the ages of seven, most commonly French, Spanish or German.[202] It was reported in 2007 that around 800,000 school students spoke a foreign language at home,[190] the most common being Punjabi and Urdu. However, following the 2011 census data released by the Office for National Statistics, figures now show that Polish is the main language spoken in England after English.[203] In 2022, British Sign Language became an official language of England when the British Sign Language Act 2022 came into effect.[204]

Religion

In the 2011 census, 59.4% of the population of England specified their religion as Christian, 24.7% answered that they had no religion, 5% specified that they were

Protestant.[207]

There are

supreme governor of the Church of England, which has around 26 million baptised members (of whom the vast majority are not regular churchgoers). It forms part of the Anglican Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as its symbolic worldwide head.[208] Many cathedrals and parish churches are historic buildings of significant architectural importance, such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral, and Salisbury Cathedral
.

Westminster Abbey is a notable example of English Gothic architecture. The coronation of the British monarch traditionally takes place at the Abbey.

The second-largest Christian denomination is the

Doctors of the Church
.

A form of

Congregationalists, Unitarians and The Salvation Army.[212]

The patron saint of England is Saint George; his symbolic cross is included in the flag of England.[213] There are many other English and associated saints, including Cuthbert, Edmund, Alban, Wilfrid, Aidan, Edward the Confessor, John Fisher, Thomas More, Petroc, Piran, Margaret Clitherow and Thomas Becket. There are non-Christian religions practised. Jews have a history of a small minority on the island since 1070.[214] They were expelled from England in 1290 following the Edict of Expulsion, and were allowed back in 1656.[214]

Especially since the 1950s, religions from the former British colonies have grown in numbers, due to immigration. Islam is the most common of these, now accounting for around 5% of the population in England.[215] Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are next in number, adding up to 2.8% combined,[215] introduced from India and Southeast Asia.[215]

A small minority of the population practise ancient

2011 census, there are roughly 53,172 people who identify as Pagan in England,[f] including 11,026 Wiccans.[g] 24.7% of people in England declared no religion, compared with 14.6% in 2001.[216] Norwich had the highest such proportion at 42.5%, followed by Brighton and Hove
at 42.4%.

Education

The Department for Education is the government department responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including education.[217] State-funded schools are attended by approximately 93% of English schoolchildren.[218] Education is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education.[219]

Children between the ages of 3 and 5 attend nursery or an Early Years Foundation Stage reception unit within a primary school. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 attend primary school, and secondary school is attended by those aged between 11 and 16. State-funded schools are obliged by law to teach the National Curriculum; basic areas of learning include English literature, English language, mathematics, science, art & design, citizenship, history, geography, religious education, design & technology, computing, ancient & modern languages, music, and physical education.[220]

The University of Oxford was founded in 1096, making it the world's second-oldest university.

The Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the OECD currently ranks the overall knowledge and skills of British 15-year-olds as 13th in the world in literacy, mathematics, and science with the average British student scoring 503.7, well above the OECD average of 493.[221]

Although most English secondary schools are comprehensive, there are selective intake

Office for Standards in Education, and in private schools by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.[223]

After finishing compulsory education, students take

NVQ and others. Tertiary colleges provide both academic and vocational courses.[224]

Higher education

Higher education students normally attend university from age 18 onwards, where they study for an

tuition fees and living costs.[h] The first degree offered to undergraduates is the bachelor's degree, which usually takes three years to complete. Students are then able to work towards a postgraduate degree, which usually takes one year, or a doctorate, which takes three or more years.[227]

England's universities include some of the highest-ranked universities in the world. As of 2024, four England-based universities, the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Imperial College London, and University College London, are ranked among the top ten in the 2024 QS World University Rankings. The University of Cambridge, founded in 1209, and the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, are the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world.[228]

The

St Paul's School, Harrow School and Rugby School are fee-paying institutions.[232]

Culture

Architecture

Many ancient

Roman forts, stockades and aqueducts.[234] It was the Romans who founded the first cities and towns such as London, Bath, York, Chester and St Albans. Perhaps the best-known example is Hadrian's Wall stretching right across northern England.[234] Another well-preserved example is the Roman Baths at Bath, Somerset.[234]

A castle of square plan surrounded by a water-filled moat. It has round corner towers and a forbidding appearance.
Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex.

castles were created; the best known include the Tower of London, Warwick Castle, Durham Castle and Windsor Castle.[237]

Throughout the Plantagenet era, an

English Baroque style of architect Christopher Wren being particularly championed.[238]

modernist forms have appeared whose reception is often controversial, though traditionalist resistance movements continue with support in influential places.[i]

Gardens

landscape artists of the seventeenth century, the landscape garden was described as a "living work of art" when first opened in the 1750s.[240]

Landscape gardening, as developed by

English landscape garden. Gardening, and visiting gardens, are regarded as typically English pursuits. The English garden presented an idealized view of nature. At large country houses, the English garden usually included lakes, sweeps of gently rolling lawns set against groves of trees, and recreations of classical temples, Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape.[241]

By the end of the 18th century, the English garden was being imitated by the

public parks and gardens which appeared around the world in the 19th century.[242] The English landscape garden was centred on the English country house and manor houses.[241]

RHS Chelsea Flower Show is held every year by the Royal Horticultural Society and is said to be the largest gardening show in the world.[244]

Folklore

Robin Hood and Maid Marian with Richard I of England

English folklore developed over many centuries. Some of the characters and stories are present across England, but most belong to specific regions. Common folkloric beings include

dwarves. While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, such as the tales featuring Offa of Angel and Wayland the Smith,[245] others date from after the Norman invasion. The legends featuring Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood, and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham, are among the best-known of these.[246]

During the

Arthurian myth.[247][248][249] These were derived from Anglo-Norman, Welsh and French sources,[248] featuring King Arthur, Camelot, Excalibur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table such as Lancelot. These stories are most centrally brought together within Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).[j]

Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries.

Cuisine