England

Lore & Background

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 extensive 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, forming the Kingdom of Great Britain. England is the origin of the English language, the English legal system, 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.

In Their Own Story

The rain slicked the Wembley turf as Geoff Hurst struck the ball in extra time, sending it screaming toward the crossbar. The net rippled, but the linesman's flag remained motionless. In that suspended second of silence before the referee pointed to the center circle, the entire nation held its breath. It was not just a goal; it was the culmination of a century of hope, finally crystallizing into gold as the whistle blew and England became champions.

Reader's Guide

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 London metropolitan area has a population of over 15 million as of 2025, 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.

Did You Know?

• The name 'England' is derived from the Old English name Englaland, meaning 'land of the Angles'.
• The earliest recorded use of the term 'Engla londe' is in the late-9th-century translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
• The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, using the Latin word Anglii.
• A romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend.
• Albion is applied to England in a more poetic capacity, though its original meaning is the island of Britain as a whole.