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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. 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. 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.

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. 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 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, 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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St Giles’ Church, Wormshill

Wormshill (/wɜːrmzˈhɪl/ wurmz-HIL), historically Wormsell, is a small village and civil parish within the Borough of Maidstone, Kent, England. The parish is approximately 7 miles (11 km) south of the Swale and 8 mi (13 km) east of Maidstone. The village of Frinsted lies 0.6 mi (1 km) to the east and Bicknor 1+1⁄2 mi (2.4 km) to the north-west; while Hollingbourne is 3 mi (5 km) to the south-west. The village lies on an exposed high point of the North Downs, within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Archaeological and toponymic evidence of Wormshill's existence predates its appearance in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village contains a number of heritage-listed buildings, which include a Norman church, a public house and one of the oldest surviving post office buildings in the United Kingdom. The fields and woodland surrounding Wormshill have changed little in the past 500 years, and the village itself remains rural with a low population density compared to the national average. The population of 200 is a mixture of agricultural workers employed by local farms, and professional residents who commute to nearby towns. (Full article...)

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The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from its foundation until 1992, when the top 22 clubs split from it to form the Premier League. The Football League was rebranded as the "English Football League" (EFL) from the 2016–17 season.

The EFL is divided into the Championship, League One and League Two, with 24 clubs in each division, 72 in total, with promotion and relegation between them; the top Championship division clubs change places with the lowest-placed clubs in the Premier League, and the bottom clubs of League Two with the top clubs of the National League. Currently four of the EFL clubs are from Wales – Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham and Newport County – the rest of the 72 are located in England. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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

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Top: Steve Harris (L), Dave Murray (R)
Middle: Adrian Smith (L), Bruce Dickinson (R)
Bottom: Nicko McBrain (L), Janick Gers (R)

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most of the band's history has consisted of Harris, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers. As pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal movement, Iron Maiden released a series of UK and US Platinum and Gold albums, including 1980's debut album, 1981's Killers, and 1982's The Number of the Beast – its first album with Bruce Dickinson, who in 1981 replaced Paul Di'Anno as lead singer. The addition of Dickinson was a turning point in their career, establishing them as one of heavy metal's most important bands. The Number of the Beast is among the most popular heavy metal albums of all time, having sold almost 20 million copies worldwide.

After some turbulence in the 1990s, the return of lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith in 1999 saw the band undergo a resurgence in popularity, with a series of new albums and highly successful tours. Their three most recent albums — The Final Frontier (2010), The Book of Souls (2015), and Senjutsu (2021) — have all reached No. 1 in more than 25 countries. Iron Maiden have sold over 130 million copies of their albums worldwide and have obtained over 600 certifications. The band is considered to be one of the most influential and revered rock bands of all time. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

The tower of St. Paul's Church, in Brighton

...that the Rev. Arthur Wagner, the first curate of the Church of St. Paul, Brighton, England, commissioned stained glass windows of his mother, father and aunt for the church?
...that Scots' Dike was constructed by the English and the Scots in 1552 to mark the division of the Debatable Lands and thereby settle the exact boundary between the kingdoms of Scotland and England?
...that the famed message "England expects that every man will do his duty" is misquoted on Nelson's Column in London?

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In the news

17 April 2024 –: Scientists announce that they have identified fossil remains of the Ichthyotitan, the largest marine reptile currently known, in the Westbury Formation in England. (NOS)
29 March 2024 –: Pouria Zeraati, an Iranian dissident journalist working for IITV, is injured in a stabbing in London. He is hospitalized in stable condition. (BBC News)

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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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