Proper noun

Singular England

Plural -

England

1. The southern part of the island of Great Britain, now specified geopolitically as one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

England ( /ˈɪŋɡlənd/ (help·info)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Its mainland is located in the southern and central part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; and adjoins the Irish Sea to the north-west, the Celtic Sea to the south-west, the North Sea to the east, and the English Channel separating it from continental Europe to the south. In addition to the mainland, England consists of over 100 smaller islands, including the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. The population of England is about 51 million, making up over 83% of the United Kingdom total.

England became a unified state in the year 927 and takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled Great Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries. England has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world being the place of origin of the English language, the Church of England and English law, which forms the basis of the common law legal systems of countries around the world. It formed the world's oldest parliamentary system and consequently the innovations that came from it have been widely adopted by other nations. During the 18th century England gave birth to the Industrial Revolution and became the first country in the world to industrialise. It is home to the Royal Society, which laid the foundations of modern experimental science.

England is a predominantly lowland country, although there are upland regions in the north (including the Lake District, Pennines and Yorkshire Moors) and in the south and south west (including Dartmoor, the Cotswolds, and the North and South Downs). The area has been settled by humans who have adopted various cultures for over 29,000 years. London, England's capital, is the largest metropolian area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. The population of England is concentrated in London and the South East, as well as conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East and Yorkshire, all of which developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century.

The Kingdom of England (including Wales) remained a sovereign state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union, putting into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulted in political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1800, Great Britain was united with Ireland through another Act of Union 1800 to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State was established as a separate dominion, but the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act in 1927 reincorporated into the kingdom six Irish counties to officially create the current United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

England, a country in northwest Europe, is the largest and most populous country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Sourced

• This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands,— This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
  • William Shakespeare, Richard II (1595) Act 2, Scene 1

• You often hear that the English climate has had a profound effect upon the English temperament. I don't believe it. I believe they were always like that.
  • Will Cuppy in W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, Garden Rubbish and Other Country Bumps (New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1937)

• 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 in W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, Garden Rubbish and Other Country Bumps (New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1937)

• The English take their pleasures sadly after the fashion of their country.
  • Maximillian, Duc de Sully, (1559-1641), Memoirs.

• To be an Englishman is to belong to the most exclusive club there is.
  • Ogden Nash, England Expects.

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Mon Jul 6 19:02:36 2009