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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe deriving its name from the Anglia peninsula, 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. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's 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's terrain is chiefly low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there is upland and mountainous terrain in the north (for example, the Lake District and Pennines) and in the west (for example, Dartmoor and the Shropshire Hills). The capital is London, which has the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. 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.

The Kingdom of England – which after 1535 included Wales – ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland (through another Act of Union) to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. (Full article...)

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Cabinet card of W.S. Gilbert in about 1880 by Elliott & Fry

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most famous of these include H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre, The Mikado. The popularity of these works was supported for over a century by year-round performances of them, in Britain and abroad, by the repertory company that Gilbert, Sullivan and their producer Richard D'Oyly Carte founded, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. These Savoy operas are still frequently performed in the English-speaking world and beyond.

Gilbert's creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, and numerous short stories, poems and lyrics, both comic and serious. After brief careers as a government clerk and a lawyer, Gilbert began to focus, in the 1860s, on writing light verse, including his Bab Ballads, short stories, theatre reviews and illustrations, often for Fun magazine. He also began to write burlesques and his first comic plays, developing a unique absurdist, inverted style that would later be known as his "topsy-turvy" style. He also developed a realistic method of stage direction and a reputation as a strict theatre director. In the 1870s, Gilbert wrote 40 plays and libretti, including his German Reed Entertainments, several blank-verse "fairy comedies", some serious plays, and his first five collaborations with Sullivan: Thespis, Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance. In the 1880s, Gilbert focused on the Savoy operas, including Patience, Iolanthe, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. (Full article...)

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June Muriel Brown (16 February 1927 – 3 April 2022) was an English actress and author. She was best known for her role as Dot Cotton on the BBC soap opera EastEnders (1985–1993; 1997–2020). In 2005, she won Best Actress at the Inside Soap Awards and received the Lifetime Achievement award at The British Soap Awards. Brown was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to drama and to charity, and promoted to an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours. In 2009, she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, making her the second performer to receive a BAFTA nomination for their work in a soap opera, after Jean Alexander. In February 2020, at the age of 93, she announced that she had left EastEnders permanently. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Anglo-Saxon helmet from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, 625 AD (replica) (from History of England)
Image 2Alfred 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 3Sir Isaac Newton, 1689. 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 4Dover Castle, 12th-13th century (from History of England)
Image 5Shoulder clasp from Sutton Hoo, 625 AD (from History of England)
Image 6The Billingsgate Fish Market in London in the early 19th century (from History of England)
Image 7Large miniature of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1590, after his appointment as the Queen's Champion, in tilting attire with the Queen's glove as her favour pinned to his hat (from Culture of England)
Image 8King'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 9The White Tower of the Tower of London, built in 1078 (from History of England)
Image 10The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of England)
Image 11Portrait of Edward VI, c. 1550 (from History of England)
Image 12The 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 13National performing arts are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as The Proms during the summer. (from Culture of England)
Image 14The Battersea Shield (detail), 350 BC (from History of England)
Image 15Remains of Hadrian's Wall (from History of England)
Image 16King Charles II (from History of England)
Image 17Tomb of Richard I of England and Isabella of Angoulême (from History of England)
Image 18The Palace of Westminster, a landmark of English architecture (from Culture of England)
Image 19The Ruthwell Cross, 8th century AD (from History of England)
Image 20Londinium (Roman London), c. 120 AD (from History of England)
Image 21First English Civil War at the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 (from History of England)
Image 22Hampton Court Palace (from Culture of England)
Image 23Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1340s-1400, author of The Canterbury Tales (from History of England)
Image 24One of only four surviving exemplifications of the 1215 text, Cotton MS. Augustus II. 106, property of the British Library (from History of England)
Image 25Chester, c. 1880 (from History of England)
Image 26Edward Elgar is one of England's most celebrated classical composers. (from Culture of England)
Image 27Flatford Mill ('Scene on a Navigable River') by John Constable, c. 1816 (from Culture of England)
Image 28The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School) (from History of England)
Image 29A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage, Dorset, England (from Culture of England)
Image 30King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom, and proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. (from Culture of England)
Image 31The Roman Baths in Bath; a temple was constructed on the site between 60–70CE in the first few decades of Roman Britain. It is a lasting monument from Roman Britain. (from Culture of England)
Image 32Artefacts from Bush Barrow at Stonehenge. Wessex culture, Early Bronze Age, c. 1900 BC (from History of England)
Image 33Countries where English has official status or is widely spoken (from Culture of England)
Image 34The Alfred Jewel, late 9th century (from History of England)
Image 35The Great Fire London, 1666. (from History of England)
Image 36Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 720 AD (from History of England)
Image 37England 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 38The English landscape garden at Stourhead, described as a 'living work of art' when first opened in the 1750s (from Culture of England)
Image 39The 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 40King Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 (from History of England)
Image 41Anglo-Saxon king with his Witan. Biblical scene in the Old English Hexateuch (11th century) (from History of England)
Image 42Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86 (from History of England)
Image 43Durham Cathedral, built 1093–1133 (from History of England)
Image 44The Lindisfarne Gospels (from Culture of England)
Image 45William 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 46Remains of the Roman baths at Bath, England. (from History of England)
Image 47King 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 48Canterbury Cathedral nave, 1377 (from History of England)
Image 49King Henry VIII (from History of England)
Image 50Caesar's first invasion of Britain (from History of England)
Image 51Canterbury 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 52Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, 8 May 1945 (from History of England)
Image 53Maps of territory held by Royalists (red) and Parliamentarians (green) during the English Civil War (1642–1645) (from History of England)
Image 54The Mob Quad of Merton College, University of Oxford, 13th-14th century (from History of England)
Image 55View of the ramparts of the hillfort of Maiden Castle (450 BC), as they look today (from History of England)
Image 56Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol played a major role in reviving the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal goodwill. (from Culture of England)
Image 57The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (from Culture of England)
Image 58Francis Bacon in a portrait by Pourbus the Younger, (1617). His works are seen as developing the scientific method and remained highly influential through the Scientific revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 59Christopher Lee (seen here as Dracula in 1958) starred in many of Hammer's British horror films. (from Culture of England)
Image 60King James I of England (from History of England)
Image 61Silbury Hill, c. 2400 BC (from History of England)
Image 62Elizabeth I (from History of England)
Image 63A pint of real ale (from Culture of England)
Image 64Frontispiece 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 65Procession of characters from Shakespeare's plays (from Culture of England)
Image 66Morris dancing (from Culture of England)
Image 67The Procession Picture, c. 1600, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers (from History of England)
Image 68Kingdoms and tribes in Britain, c. AD 600 (from History of England)
Image 69First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. (from Culture of England)
Image 70England in 878 (from History of England)
Image 71The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London. (from Culture of England)
Image 72Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry (from History of England)
Image 73Stinking Bishop cheese (from Culture of England)
Image 74Durham Cathedral, dating from 1093 (from Culture of England)
Image 75Astley's Amphitheatre, London circa 1808. Astley performed stunts in a 42 ft diameter ring; the standard size used by circuses ever since. (from Culture of England)
Image 76Stonehenge, erected in several stages from c.3000-2500 BC (from History of England)

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Canterbury (/ˈkæntərb(ə)ri/ (listen), /-bɛri/) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion owing to the importance of St Augustine, who served as the apostle to the pagan Kingdom of Kent around the turn of the 7th century. The city's cathedral became a major focus of pilgrimage following the 1170 martyrdom of Thomas Becket, although it had already been a well-trodden pilgrim destination since the murder of St Alphege by the men of King Canute in 1012. A journey of pilgrims to Becket's shrine served as the frame for Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century classic The Canterbury Tales. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

... that the 1643 Westminster Assembly, which was appointed by the Parliament of England to restructure the Church of England, produced the Westminster Confession, the foundation of the Presbyterian Church?
... that Declaration of Sports was a 1617 declaration of James I of England listing archery and dancing as permissible on Sundays and that Puritans in Parliament had it publicly burned in 1643?
... that Jemmy Button was a Yaghan from Tierra del Fuego who was bought for a mother-of-pearl button in 1830 and taken on HMS Beagle to meet the King and Queen of England?

In the news

25 January 2023 – Iran–European Union relations, Iran–United Kingdom relations: Iran places sanctions on more than 30 UK and EU-affiliated individuals in a tit-for-tat response to a new round of sanctions by the European Union over the Mahsa Amini protests. Sanctioned individuals include UK Attorney General Victoria Prentis, UK Army Chief of Staff Sir Patrick Sanders, and three staff members of Charlie Hebdo. (RFE/RL)
16 January 2023 –: Metropolitan Police Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection officer David Carrick pleads guilty to 49 offences, including 24 rapes, at Southwark Crown Court in London, UK. (BBC News)
14 January 2023 – Euston shooting: Six people are injured by a mass drive-by shooting in London, United Kingdom. (BBC News)
13 January 2023 –: The British government announces a ban on single-use plastic cutlery, plates, polystyrene cups, bowls, and balloon sticks in England beginning in October as part of an effort to reduce plastic pollution. The ban will apply to all retailers, takeaways, and food vendors. (BBC News)
9 January 2023 – British space programme: Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne fails to reach the Low Earth orbit with a payload of several small satellites after the rocket suffered a second-stage engine anomaly on its ascent to space, resulting in the loss of the payload. The mission, which launched from Spaceport Cornwall in South West England, would have been the first rocket launched from United Kingdom territory. (AFP via Hindustan Times)

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“

I have seen much to hate here, much to forgive. But in a world where England is finished and dead, I do not wish to live.

”

— Alice Duer Miller

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Related WikiProjects

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

Topics

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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