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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 approximately 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. 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 a significant 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 among 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 country's capital is London, the metropolitan area 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, 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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Engraving of Elizabeth Raffald, from her cookery book

Elizabeth Raffald (née Whitaker; 1733 – 19 April 1781) was an English author, innovator and entrepreneur.

Born and raised in Doncaster, Yorkshire, Raffald went into domestic service for fifteen years, ending as the housekeeper to the Warburton baronets at Arley Hall, Cheshire. She left her position when she married John, the estate's head gardener. The couple moved to Manchester, Lancashire, where Raffald opened a register office to introduce domestic workers to employers; she also ran a cookery school and sold food from the premises. In 1769 she published her cookery book The Experienced English Housekeeper, which contains the first recipe for a "Bride Cake" that is recognisable as a modern wedding cake. She is also possibly the inventor of the Eccles cake. (Full article...)

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Simon Forman (31 December 1552 – 5 or 12 September 1611) was an Elizabethan astrologer, occultist and herbalist active in London during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and James I of England. His reputation, however, was severely tarnished after his death when he was implicated in the plot to kill Sir Thomas Overbury. Astrologers continued to revere him, while writers from Ben Jonson to Nathaniel Hawthorne came to characterize him as either a fool or an evil magician in league with the Devil. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Jack 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 2Frontispiece 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 3Canterbury Cathedral nave, 1377 (from History of England)
Image 4The Procession Picture, c. 1600, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers (from History of England)
Image 5Londinium (Roman London), c. 120 AD (from History of England)
Image 6Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, 8 May 1945 (from History of England)
Image 7Kingdoms and tribes in Britain, c. AD 600 (from History of England)
Image 8The Billingsgate Fish Market in London in the early 19th century (from History of England)
Image 9King Henry VIII (from History of England)
Image 10King Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 (from History of England)
Image 11The Ruthwell Cross, 8th century AD (from History of England)
Image 12The Battersea Shield (detail), 350 BC. (from History of England)
Image 13England 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 14Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1340s–1400, author of The Canterbury Tales (from History of England)
Image 15Anglo-Saxon king with his Witan. Biblical scene in the Old English Hexateuch (11th century) (from History of England)
Image 16Francis 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 17Remains of the Roman baths at Bath, England. (from History of England)
Image 18First English Civil War at the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 (from History of England)
Image 19The Lindisfarne Gospels (from Culture of England)
Image 20Morris dancing (from Culture of England)
Image 21Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86 (from History of England)
Image 22Canterbury 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 23The 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 24The 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 25King'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 26Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol played a major role in reviving the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal goodwill. (from Culture of England)
Image 27Dover Castle, 12th–13th century (from History of England)
Image 28Chester, c. 1880 (from History of England)
Image 29Shoulder clasp from Sutton Hoo, 625 AD (from History of England)
Image 30Alfred 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 31The White Tower of the Tower of London, built in 1078 (from History of England)
Image 32King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom. (from Culture of England)
Image 33Silbury Hill, c. 2400 BC (from History of England)
Image 34Whitehall by Francis Dodd (1920) displaying the Palace of Westminster (from Culture of England)
Image 35Sir 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 36The Great Fire London, 1666. (from History of England)
Image 37England in 878 (from History of England)
Image 38Stonehenge, erected in several stages from c.3000–2500 BC (from History of England)
Image 39Portrait 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 40King 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 41The epic poem Beowulf, set in 6th century Scandinavia, composed c. 700–1000 AD. (from History of England)
Image 42The Royal College of Music is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, established by royal charter in 1882. (from Culture of England)
Image 43The 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 44Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry (from History of England)
Image 45Gold torc from Snettisham, 70 BC (from History of England)
Image 46Stinking Bishop cheese (from Culture of England)
Image 47The Alfred Jewel, late 9th century (from History of England)
Image 48King James I of England (from History of England)
Image 49The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of England)
Image 50Elizabeth I (from History of England)
Image 51The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School) (from History of England)
Image 52The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (from Culture of England)
Image 53Countries where English is natively spoken or has official status (from Culture of England)
Image 54National performing arts are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as The Proms during the summer. (from Culture of England)
Image 55Remains of Hadrian's Wall (from History of England)
Image 56A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage, Dorset, England (from Culture of England)
Image 57A pint of real ale (from Culture of England)
Image 58Artefacts from Bush Barrow at Stonehenge. Wessex culture, Early Bronze Age, c. 1900 BC (from History of England)
Image 59The English landscape garden at Stourhead, described as a 'living work of art' when first opened in the 1750s (from Culture of England)
Image 60Maps of territory held by Royalists (red) and Parliamentarians (green) during the English Civil War (1642–1645) (from History of England)
Image 61Edward Elgar is one of England's most celebrated classical composers. (from Culture of England)
Image 62The Mob Quad of Merton College, University of Oxford, 13th–14th century (from History of England)
Image 63View of the ramparts of the hillfort of Maiden Castle (450 BC), as they look today (from History of England)
Image 64King Charles II (from History of England)
Image 65Christopher Lee (seen here as Dracula in 1958) starred in many of Hammer's British horror films. (from Culture of England)
Image 66Portrait of Edward VI, c. 1550 (from History of England)
Image 67Tomb of Richard I of England and Isabella of Angoulême (from History of England)
Image 68Durham Cathedral, dating from 1093 (from Culture of England)
Image 69William 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 70Anglo-Saxon helmet from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, 625 AD (replica) (from History of England)
Image 71Flatford Mill ('Scene on a Navigable River') by John Constable, c. 1816 (from Culture of England)
Image 72Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 720 AD (from History of England)
Image 73Durham Cathedral. The Norman cathedral was built 1093–1133 (from History of England)
Image 74First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. (from Culture of England)
Image 75One of only four surviving exemplifications of the 1215 text, Cotton MS. Augustus II. 106, property of the British Library (from History of England)
Image 76Interior of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford (from Culture of England)
Image 77Procession of characters from Shakespeare's plays (from Culture of England)
Image 78Bronze coins of Cunobelin, called "King of the Britons" by Suetonius. 1–42 AD. (from History of England)

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Extract from the 1194 Pipe roll

The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rolls or the Great Rolls of the Pipe, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury, and its successors, as well as the Exchequer of Ireland. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records concerning English governance kept by the English, British, Irish and United Kingdom governments, covering a span of about 700 years. The early medieval ones are especially useful for historical study, as they are some of the earliest financial records available from the Middle Ages. A similar set of records was developed for Normandy, which was ruled by the English kings from 1066 to 1205, but the Norman Pipe rolls have not survived in a continuous series like the English.

They were the records of the yearly audits performed by the Exchequer of the accounts and payments presented to the Treasury by the sheriffs and other royal officials; and owed their name to the shape they took, as the various sheets were affixed to each other and then rolled into a tight roll, resembling a pipe, for storage. They record not only payments made to the government, but debts owed to the crown and disbursements made by royal officials. Although they recorded much of the royal income, they did not record all types of income, nor did they record all expenditures, so they are not strictly speaking a budget. The Pipe Roll Society, formed in 1883, has published the Pipe rolls for the period up to 1224. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

A trade-cog, the main horse-transport type used during the invasion of England

...that Mary Somerville was the first to sign John Stuart Mill's petition to give women the right to vote?
...that William the Conqueror's transport of over 2000 horses across the English Channel during the Norman invasion of England is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry?
...that the Premier League's proposal to play some matches outside England was condemned by the Football Supporters' Federation as an "outrageous desecration of the national game"?

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20 June 2024 –: Two Just Stop Oil activists film themselves cutting through a metal fence and spraying orange paint on two private jets at Stansted Airport in Essex, England, United Kingdom. Police arrest the activists for criminal damage. (BBC News)
4 June 2024 –: The National Health Service declares a "critical incident" after several hospitals in London, including King's College Hospital, say they have cancelled appointments and turned away patients after a cyberattack on their Synnovis IT systems. (AP)

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“

An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.

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— George Mikes

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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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